Topic: Google

Google Wallet's Plan to Destroy PayPal and End Cash Forever

Sean Narvasa/Flickr

Among the many adventures that Google has announced at its annual developer conference this week is a multi-pronged plan to integrate Google Wallet into every aspect of your shopping life.

By Rebecca Greenfield

Jan 25, 2012

Google Isn't Very Good at Knowing Things About Us

Google doesn't do a very good job identifying us based on our Internet habits, according to our very small and not-too-scientific, 12-person study of The Atlantic Wire staff.

Comments | 1,062 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Jan 25, 2012

Evil or Useful? A Practical Guide to Google's New Privacy Policy

It's easy to get upset about Google's newly announced changes to its privacy policy, because as many have now pointed out, despite Google's mission to not be "evil," the changes have some pretty evil implications.

Comments | 6,391 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Jan 24, 2012

Whether You Like It or Not, Google Will Track Your Email

As tech bloggers gawked at Apple's record high earnings report, Google quietly announced that some changes to its privacy policy would kick into effect on March 1 and users will not be able to opt out.

Comments | 6,472 Views

By Dino Grandoni

Jan 24, 2012

The Pope Thinks You're Tweeting Too Much

Normally we don't take advice on social media from 84-year-old priests, but let's hear Pope Benedict XVI out on this one.

Comments | 2,931 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Jan 23, 2012

Google Plays to Our Egos to Win Us Over on Google+

Six months after the Google+ debut, Google's trying to lure users into engaging it by playing to our egos with its new social search features. 

Comments | 702 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Jan 23, 2012

Google+ Will Now Let You Get Creative with User Names

After months and months of fielding complaints from users and criticism from privacy advocates, Google will finally let people use pseudonyms on Google+. 

Comments | 1,286 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Jan 23, 2012

This Facebook Hack Reverses Google's Self-Promoting Social Search

To prove a point, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter employees have joined forces to create a hack that gets around Google's preferential social search, providing the real, most relevant social-network related results.

Comments | 5,681 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Jan 20, 2012

Google Says Google+ is Very Popular

Google's making its Google+ user engagement sound like a bonanza success story, but is it really as great as the company suggests?

Comments | 889 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Jan 19, 2012

Google Missed the Ball Hard Last Quarter

After a less bullish than expected earnings report, Google's stock plummeted nearly ten percent in after hours trading.

Comments | 541 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Jan 18, 2012

Wikipedia, Google Launch Their Anti-SOPA Protests

WikipediaGoogle, and Craigslist are leading today's Internet protest march by changing their home pages in defiance of the SOPA and Protect IP bills.

Comments | 3,943 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Jan 17, 2012

Preparing for a Web on Strike

Sides both for and against SOPA are preparing for Wednesday's day of action, as other big Internet sites, like Wikipedia and Google, have joined Reddit in its protest.

Comments | 1,345 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Jan 16, 2012

Rupert Murdoch vs. The Internet

The newly minted Twitter sensation Rupert Murdoch has started weighing in on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in a frankly entertaining -- however poorly thought-out -- way.

Comments | 4,558 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Jan 13, 2012

FTC Is Officially Looking into Google's Self-Promoting Search Features

Google still doesn't think it did anything wrong, even as the Federal Trade Commission folds its new search features that promote Google+ into its anti-trust investigations of the company.

Comments | 1,954 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Jan 13, 2012

Kenyan Controversy Shows Google Not Immune to Scandal

Only a few weeks into the new year and Google's gotten itself into its third scandal of 2012, involving some shady solicitations for business in Kenya, and all the bad PR is starting to affect its business.

Comments | 2,242 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Jan 12, 2012

Here's Why Google's Facing an Antitrust Complaint Over Search Plus

After changing its search features earlier this week Google got all sorts of Internet complaints, now it's being hit with an actual complaint from the Electronic Privacy Information Center, who has filed a letter to the Federal Trade Commission.

Comments | 1,515 Views

By Dino Grandoni

Jan 12, 2012

Stat of the Day

More Android Devices Activated Every Day Than Babies Born

At the Consumer Electronics Show today, we've learned this somewhat astonishing stat -- even by Google's standards.

Comments | 806 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Jan 11, 2012

Google Didn't Want to Favor Google+ in Its New Search, It Just Happened That Way

After drawing criticism for favoring Google+ over other sites in its new social search, Google claims it would integrate Facebook and Twitter if it could, but it can't so it won't. 

Comments | 2,243 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Jan 10, 2012

Google's New Search Engine Assumes People Use Google+

Today, the search engine started integrating Google+ into the standard search engine, with Search, plus Your World, " transforming Google into a search engine that understands not only content, but also people and relationships," writes Google fellow Amit Singhal on The Official Google Blog.

Comments | 4,553 Views

By Ted Mann

Jan 7, 2012

Your Latest Anti-SOPA Celeb? Al Gore

The former Vice President comes out against the Stop Online Piracy Act.

Comments | 2,995 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Jan 3, 2012

Corporate Rock Concerts Say A Lot About the Tech Companies Hosting Them

Regardless of whatever you read about the social media bubble leaking air, America's biggest companies have so much money, they have to make up reasons to spend it -- like paying rock stars ungodly sums to play at corporate conferences.

Comments | 1,502 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Jan 3, 2012

Google Is Punishing Itself for Sponsored Posts

There may be some reasonable explanations, but ultimately it's pretty clear that Google violated its own link buying policies with a recent campaign for Google Chrome.

Comments | 4,552 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Jan 2, 2012

Google's Iowa Caucus Media Playground

Sponsoring the media hangout center at the Polk County Convention Complex for this year's Iowa caucus, Google is wooing political journalists with tricked-out treadmills and bean bag chairs.

Comments | 2,379 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Dec 29, 2011

Loyalists Really, Truly Believe Google+ Is Succeeding

This morning The New York Times reported what sounded like good news for Google+, but on closer inspection, the news may not say too much about the site's success.

Comments | 876 Views

By Dino Grandoni

Dec 27, 2011

Chart of the Day

A Look at All the Apps We Downloaded Christmas Morning

A good indication that, despite complaints on Twitter, we got the smartphones we wanted for Christmas? Just check out all the apps we downloaded to celebrate the birth of Jesus this year.

Comments | 2,069 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Dec 27, 2011

Breaking Down a Google iPad Killer Rumor

Today Fox News is reporting that Eric Schmidt promised an iPad killer in six months, based on a comment the Google CEO said last week to Italian paper Corriere della Sera.

Comments | 3,388 Views

By Dino Grandoni

Dec 23, 2011

Chart of the Day

Most Googled Celebrity Death of 2011 Was Ryan Dunn

Of all the famous people who died this year -- a titan of the tech industry, a leader of a massive terrorist organization, a quixotic dictator, a troubled but talented young singer -- the person who sent the most people searching for information on Google was ... Jackass's Ryan Dunn.

Comments | 4,311 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Dec 15, 2011

What Mattered This Year, According to the Internet

Considering we live a lot of our lives online, looking at the Internet zeitgeist provides an accurate and interesting glimpse of the year's most salient topics.

Comments | 690 Views

By Dino Grandoni

Dec 12, 2011

Stat of the Day

Google's Top Three Executives Own Eight Jets

It's a pretty good sign that your company is doing well if its three top executives own eight jets between them, as Google's does.

Comments | 644 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Dec 8, 2011

Google's New Social Reader App Looks Awesome

Just over a month after the dustup caused by axing some features in Reader, the new Google Currents news app brings custom-made editions from over 150 media partners, RSS feeds and Google+ streams into one Flipboard-like interface.

Comments | 831 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Dec 8, 2011

How to Make the Ugly New Gmail Pretty Again

Instead of just sitting around and complaining on Twitter about the new Gmail, do something about it. 

Comments | 19,897 Views

By Eric Randall

Dec 8, 2011

What People Want to Know About the Presidential Candidates

Google autocomplete, designed to help speed you along by guessing what you're looking for as you type a Google search, has some interesting thoughts on what people want to know about the 2012 presidential candidates.

Comments | 654 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Dec 8, 2011

The Likelihood of Internet TV Predictions

With the Internet TV model not quite perfected, the field is wide open for predictions and theories on what the future holds for the seemingly inevitable conjoining of television with web offerings. 

Comments | 517 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Dec 6, 2011

More Android App Downloads Doesn't Mean More Money for Developers

The announcement of Android's 10 billionth app download should be great news for developers. After all, more downloads means more money, right? Actually, it might not.

Comments | 968 Views

By Dino Grandoni

Dec 5, 2011

Google and Firefox Aren't Friends, But Are Still Friendly

Despite competing heavily for Web browser dominance, Google and Mozilla still enjoy a friendly (if perhaps tenuous) corporate partnership, according to Talking Points Memo

Comments | 536 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Dec 2, 2011

Google Wants to Take On Amazon with Cheap Shipping

Google is reportedly looking to partner with major retailers and UPS to offer shipping for online purposes, a move that (if successful) could undercut Amazon's dominance in the online shopping market.

Comments | 1,616 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Dec 1, 2011

Some Limitations of Using Google to Find Racist Voters

As a recent study claiming to measure how many votes Obama lost in 2008 because of racism demonstrates why it's problematic to rely on Google search results as a metric for racist voting patterns.

Comments | 2,243 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Dec 1, 2011

Yes, Even iPhones Can Spy on You, Too

An Apple hacker has discovered that Carrier IQ, the shady smartphone software recently found to be logging keystrokes on Android, BlackBerry and Nokia devices, is also installed on the iPhone. Don't worry, fanboys. It's off by default -- probably.

Comments | 8,966 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Nov 30, 2011

Your Smartphone Is Spying on You

An Android developer recently discovered a clandestine application called Carrier IQ built into most smartphones that doesn't just track your location; it secretly records your keystrokes, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Comments | 26,231 Views

By Dino Grandoni

Nov 30, 2011

How Google Doodles Are Made

Google Doodles have become the best success story of corporate branding in recent years: they're addictingly fun, go viral instantly, and creates some positive press for a company that otherwise gets criticized for its privacy shenanigans.

Comments | 4,992 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Nov 23, 2011

Britney Spears Is the Best Thing to Happen to Google+

This morning, Google+ got some major celebrity cachet with Britney Spears surpassing Google CEO Larry Page as the most followed person on the network.

Comments | 2,718 Views

By Ted Mann

Nov 19, 2011

Kindle Fire's App Problems: Google and Apple

The Amazon tablet doesn't have native Google apps, angering some would-be users. And Apple doesn't want them to use a certain marketing term.

Comments | 16,729 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Nov 17, 2011

Yelp's IPO Filing Highlights Its Reliance on Google

The social media parade towards Wall Street continued on Thursday with Yelp filing its S-1 form for a $100 million initial public offering.

Comments | 1,572 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Nov 16, 2011

The iPhone Gmail App Returns

If at first you don't succeed, try again in a couple of weeks. 

Comments | 1,743 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Nov 14, 2011

Google's Top Secret Research Lab Isn't So Top Secret

While everyone buzzes about the mysterious Google building filled with robots featured in Monday's New York Times, Steven Levy at Wired is bragging about his business card collection.

Comments | 1,731 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Nov 14, 2011

More College Grads Want to Work for Tech Firms Over Wall Street

As the Occupy movement perseveres and Google's stock price continues to skyrocket, it's no surprise that American youth don't want to work at investment banks.

Comments | 633 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Nov 10, 2011

Apple's (Mostly) Hidden Tricks to Make an iPhone More Like an Android

Ashamed of its thieving, Apple has hidden some of its more blatant Android pilfers.

Comments | 11,208 Views

By Dino Grandoni

Nov 9, 2011

Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL Try This Whole Partnership Thing (Again)

Three of the old fogies of the tech industry can't seem to get enough of tousling in bed together.

Comments | 258 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Nov 8, 2011

Tech Roundup: Google+ Backlash, Another Firefox Upgrade, iPhone Approval

A Google+ backlash, a third Firefox update in three months, and Consumer Reports finally -- finally! -- recommends the iPhone.

Comments | 714 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Nov 7, 2011

Demand Media Wasn't Totally Shut Down by Google

Demand Media isn't doing so badly, considering Google tweaked its all-powerful search engine to bury the fruit of the content farm.

Comments | 1,059 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Nov 7, 2011

Another Way Google Is Disappointing Power Users for the Sake of Google+

Google is resurrecting the "+" search feature to make it easier to find new brand pages on Google+, but like many of the other recent changes, repurposing old functionality for Google+ is alienating the search engine's dedicated users. 

Comments | 1,288 Views

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