Google Privacy Violation Round Up
December 18, 2017
Concerned about Google’s devil-may-care approach to some privacy issues? I am not. I love the Google. I was dismayed when I read the critical “real” news story “ “Google’s Privacy Practices Are A Matter Of Public Concern.” Read the article and see if you agree that Google really wandered off the privacy reservation with these alleged actions:
- Using the Safari workaround to suck data from Apple iPhones in the UK
- The allegations by the Spanish Data Protection Commission that Google “illegally” used data gathered by its street view service
- The allegation that Google tracked user locations even if the feature had been disabled by the owner of the phone.
Here in Harrod’s Creek we want the Internet to be more Googley. The article appears to take a different view.
Stephen E Arnold, December 18, 2017
Compare Two Devices Within Google Search Results
December 18, 2017
Is Google chasing Consumer Reports now? A very brief write-up at Android Police reveals, “Google Search Can Now Compare Specifications Between Devices and Highlight Differences.” Reporter Corbin Davenport writes:
Google occasionally adds new features to its web search or makes design changes, sometimes without a public announcement. Most recently, Google began rolling out a rounded interface to the mobile search. Now, the company appears to be testing a new comparison feature. For some users, searching for two devices with ‘vs’ in the middle (for example, ‘Pixel 2 vs Pixel 2 XL’) brings up a new comparison chart. A few rows are visible on the main results, and tapping the blue button expands it to show every detail. There’s even a mode to highlight differences between the two. It doesn’t seem to work with three or more devices, only two.
I cannot say whether the feature has been rolled out across the board as of this writing, but it did work on my Android phone. What else does Google have up its sleeve?
Cynthia Murrell, December 18, 2017
Bing Feverishly Tries to Catch Google
December 18, 2017
Google’s kid brother, Bing, has been trying to get the world’s attention basically since its inception. However, the king of search is a tough one to upstage. Bing thinks it has a bright idea on how to best Google, as we discovered in a recent eWeek story, “Microsoft Bing Delivers More ‘Birdseye’ Views of Points of Interest.”
According to the story, Bing thinks the answer lies in their mapping option,
Bird’s Eye uses oblique imagery processing technology to provide detail-packed views that can help travelers navigate their surroundings by sight.
Oblique imagery is a great complement to Aerial 2D imagery because it has much more depth and provides a view of your destination that is more familiar and in line with what people expect,” stated Microsoft Bing staffers in a blog post. “You can see Bird’s Eye imagery in Bing Maps, and this view can offer a better context for navigation because building facades can be used as landmarks.
It’s admirable that Bing is trying to outdo Google, but more detailed maps are probably not the way to go about it. At the end of the day, it all comes down to search power and Bing just doesn’t have it. Google has such a foothold in the market that the competition looks pretty silly by comparison, like how Firefox and Yahoo recently sued one another.
Patrick Roland, December 18, 2017
Quick Question: Why Not Loon Balloons, Google?
December 16, 2017
I read “Google Is Using Light Beam Tech to Connect Rural India to the Internet.” I understand. But the question just hangs there like a hot air balloon on a still day:
Why not use the vaunted Loon balloons?
I have an idea or two. What do you think about cost, complexity, and the weather? Yep, weather. As in weather balloons.
Does this pop the loon balloon big idea or just shine light on a loon balloon?
Stephen E Arnold, December 16, 2017
Pinterest Searches Now Powered by Dollars
December 15, 2017
Oh, Pinterest why did it take you so long? Search Engine Watch shares the long awaited and non-surprising news that: “Pinterest Moves Into Paid Search: What You Need To Know.” If you have a craft, design, decoration, wedding, book, dog, clothing, etc. business, then Pinterest Ads Manager is now open for business and ready to host your ads. Pinterest hopes that its new ad platform will deliver a competitive advertising experience similar to Google AdWords.
This announcement comes at the end of a lengthy campaign to get the product right, with early partners including eBay, Target, and bid management platform Kenshoo. The newly released self-serve paid search platform provides the same experience these early partners have enjoyed, without the need to go through Pinterest or a third party to get started. The Ads Manager allows brands to create and optimize their promoted Pins and will also track and report on campaign performance.
Pinterest has long desired to monetize its search and the image-driven social platform is perfect to suggest products and services to consumers. Monetizing search has its own unique challenges, but they are practically the same ones Facebook had when they launched their own ad platform. Pinterest used its statistics to lure potential advertisers:
97% of Pinterest searches are non-branded
There are now over 200 million Pinterest users (up from 150
million in 2016)
More than 2 billion searches take place on Pinterest each month
75% of all Pins saved by users come from businesses.
Pinterest heavily borrowed search ideas from other social networks, such as the keyword targeting. However, Pinterest wants to be seen as a separate and highlight its unique features as different Google’s AdWords. It is another market to target users and get attention to products. It is brand new and exactly the same!
Whitney Grace, December 15, 2017
Googles Data Police Fail with Creepy Videos
December 13, 2017
YouTube is suffering from a really strange problem lately. In various children’s programming feeds, inappropriate knockoff videos of popular cartoon characters keep appearing. It has parents outraged, as we learned in a Fast Company article, “Creepy Kids Videos Like These Keep Popping Up on YouTube.”
The videos feature things like Elle from “Frozen” firing machine guns. According to the story:
A YouTube policy imposed this year says that videos showing “family entertainment characters” being “engaged in violent, sexual, vile, or otherwise inappropriate behavior” can’t be monetized with ads on the platform. But on Monday evening Fast Company found at least one violent, unlicensed superhero video, entitled “Learn Colors With Superheroes Finger Family Song Johny Johny Yes Papa Nursery Rhymes Giant Syringe,” still included ads. A YouTube spokesperson didn’t immediately comment, but by Tuesday the video’s ads had been removed.
The videos may well draw ire from legislators, as Congress takes an increasingly close look at user-generated content online in the wake of Russian election manipulation.
It feels like they really need to have a tighter rein on content. But it would surprise us if this Congress would impose too much on YouTube’s parent company, Google. With Net Neutrality likely being erased by Congress, the idea of any deeper oversight is unlikely. If anything, we think Google will be given less oversight.
Patrick Roland, December 13, 2017
Google Is Taught Homosexuality Is Bad
December 12, 2017
The common belief is that computers and software are objectives, inanimate objects capable of greater intelligence than humans. The truth is that humans developed computers and software, so the objective, inanimate objects are only as smart as their designers. What is even more hilarious is the sentiment analysis AI development process requires tons of data for the algorithms to read and teach itself to recognize patterns. The data used is “contaminated” with human emotion and prejudices. Motherboard wrote about how artificial bias pollutes AI in the article, “Google’s Sentiment Analyzer Thinks Being Gay Is Bad.”
The problem when designing AI is that if it is programmed with polluted and biased data, then these super intelligent algorithms will discriminate against people rather than being objective. Google released its Cloud Natural Language API that allows developers to add Google’s deep learning models into their own applications. Along with entity recognition, the API included a sentiment analyzer that detected when text contained a positive or negative sentiment. However, it has a few bugs and returns biased results, such as saying being gay is bad, certain religions are bad, etc.
It looks like Google’s sentiment analyzer is biased, as many artificially intelligent algorithms have been found to be. AI systems, including sentiment analyzers, are trained using human texts like news stories and books. Therefore, they often reflect the same biases found in society. We don’t know yet the best way to completely remove bias from artificial intelligence, but it’s important to continue to expose it.
The problem with programming AI algorithms is that it is difficult to feed it data free of human prejudices. It is difficult to work around these prejudices, because they are so ingrained in most data. Programmers are kept on their toes to find a solution, but it is not a one size fits all one. Too bad they cannot just stick with numbers and dictionaries.
Whitney Grace, December 12, 2017
Cricket More Popular Than Koran
December 11, 2017
In the West, we tend to think that Islamic countries spend all waking hours of the day praying, reading the Koran, and doing other religious-based activities. We forget that these people are just as human as the rest of the world and have a genuine interest in other things, like sports. While not the most popular sport in North America, cricket has billions of fans and is very popular in Pakistan reports Research Snipers in the article, “Most Popular Keywords Searched On Google Pakistan.”
Google Trends is a free service the search engine provides that allows people to see how popular a search query is. It shows how popular the search query is across a global spectrum. When it comes to Pakistan, the most popular search terms of 2017 are as follows:
Top keywords searched in Pakistan in 2017, till now are
-
Pakistan
-
Cricket Pakistan
-
Pakistan Cricket Team
-
India
-
Pakistan India
-
News Pakistan
Pakistan Jobs.
People in Pakistan are huge sports fans of the British sport and shopping apparently. The Google AutoComplete tool suggests search terms based on letters users type into the search box. Wen “A” is typed into a Pakistan Google search box, Amazon pops up. Pakistanis love to shop and the sports cricket. They are not any different than the rest of the world.
Whitney Grace, December 11, 2017
Personalizing a Chromebook Search Takes Some Elbow Grease
December 8, 2017
Chromebooks are a great laptop and cost a fraction of the price of an Apple or a Microsoft PC. There is a learning curve for new users to Chromebooks, because they lack the familiar PC and Apple interfaces. With a little elbow grease, however, and research any Chromebook user can become an expert. The Verge shares a how-to article, “How To Customize Your Google Chrome And Chromebook Searches” that can get new users started.
The Chromebook OS lacks customization options, especially when it comes to search. There is a little-known feature in Chrome OS that allows users to customize their search options. What is great about this option is that it syncs customization across all Chrome browser you use.
The article provides a step by step guide on how to activate the search customization option and also includes some tips on how to improve you search overall.
Those customizations aren’t just limited to the Google search bar on Chromebooks. Basically, as long as you’re logged into Chrome, your customizations for the search bar will sync across to any Chrome Browser you’re using. So whether you use a Chromebook or just use the Chrome browser, here’s how to supercharge your searches for the stuff you use most often.
Read the article and learn how your Chromebook functions with search. The learning curve is small and it will be well worth it.
Whitney Grace, December 8, 2017
Google and Amping the Pressure in the Ad Fire Hose
December 7, 2017
Screen real estate for mobile devices is limited. The number of queries on desktop boat anchor computers has flat lined, even for “real” researchers. What’s the fix?
A partial answer may appear in “Improving Search and Discovery on Google.” I learned from the write up:
- More related searches. Google helps a busy person consider alternative ways of obtaining needed information.
- Featured snippets. Google decides what’s important so a busy person does not have to think or assess too much.
- Knowledge panels. Google helps a user obtain “real” knowledge. No thinking required.
Each of these search boosters allow Google to line up and display more advertising. Each time one clicks or swipes, Google obtains another item of data to allow its system to “predict” what a user wants and needs.
Now that’s relevance. Ads and feedback.
Why? To the user, search is just “there.” To Google, it’s a way to consume that Adwords inventory in my opinion.
Relevance? What could be more relevant than information which makes thinking easy?
Keep the money flowing in I say.
Stephen E Arnold, December 7, 2017
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