Articles about Google
Google's latest letdown: Simply not enough billions since October
Google's coffers swelled once again in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2014, with revenues hitting $18.10bn, a 15.3 per cent year-on-year increase.
The figures for the full year to December 31 were similarly encouraging. Revenues for all of fiscal 2014 amounted to $66bn, which was 18.9 per cent higher than 2013's sales. Net …
Google+ GOING, GOING ... ? Newbie Gmailers no longer forced into mandatory ID slurp
Google has quietly removed mandatory signups to its unloved "network thingy" Google+, which new Gmail users had been automatically shoved into when creating accounts on the ad giant's web-based email service.
The Chocolate Factory was criticised by former employee and Digg founder Kevin Rose in January this year for linking …
Google's Gmail staggers to feet in China as access partially restored
Access to Gmail in China appears to have at least been partially restored, after Google's web addresses were blocked over the weekend.
The People's Republic has consistently denied having deliberately blocked Google's services as part of its "Great Firewall" effort.
According to the Google transparency report, which displays …
Google unleashes build-it-yourself 'Ara' SLABLET phones (in Puerto Rico)
Google will this year launch its modular DIY smartphone, dubbed Project Ara, but only in the US territory of Puerto Rico.
Ara, announced by Google 15 months ago, was developed by Motorola's Advanced Technologies and Products (ATAP) group as a fully modular system where components such as batteries, screens, GPS and cameras, can …
GOTCHA: Google caught STRIPPING SSL from BT Wi-Fi users' searches
Google's "encryption everywhere" claim has been undermined by Mountain View stripping secure search functions for BT WiFi subscribers piggy-backing off wireless connections, sysadmin Alex Forbes has found.
The move described as 'privacy seppuku' by Forbes (@al4) meant that BT customer searches were broadcast in clear text and …
Google puts Chrome credentials on USB drives for two-factor authentication
Google has announced support for a platform which will allow users to log into applications by pressing a button on a secured USB drive.
The company announced that it will add support for the Security Key platform into Google applications on Chrome. The decision brings two-factor authentication to0 Google's apps.
Security Key …
Google's Mr Roboto Andy Rubin bids sayonara to Chocolate Factory
Longtime Google exec and former Android boss Andy Rubin, who lately led the Chocolate Factory's robotics efforts, has resigned.
The online giant confirmed the move to El Reg via email on Thursday.
"I want to wish Andy all the best with what's next," Google CEO Larry Page said in the emailed statement. "With Android he created …
French Google fund to pay for 1 million print run of Charlie Hebdo next week
Money put into a fund by Google as a sweetener for French publishers during the link tax row of 2013 will be used to pay for next week’s edition of Charlie Hebdo.
Following an attack by gunmen on the magazine's offices in Paris on Wednesday – in which 12 people were killed – the media world has come together to support the …
Mystery Google barges TORPEDOED by US govt: Showrooms declared death traps
Google's ambitious plan to build floating showrooms out of giant barges was killed over fears the boats were death traps.
Documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal reveal the advertising giant ran afoul of US Coast Guard safety inspectors, who believed the barges posed a serious fire hazard to those on board.
In particular …
Google Glassholes are UNDATEABLE – HP exec
Hoping to woo the ladies with your shiny new Google Glass? Don't bother, because no woman in her right mind would let a Glasshole anywhere near her data centre, an HP bigwig has claimed.
Ray Edwards, managing director for HP’s New Ventures division at Network Portfolio and Architecture, reportedly slammed the sex appeal of …
BLAM! Max Sound flings vid codec sueball Number FOUR at Google
Tech firm Max Sound has filed a new lawsuit against Google and YouTube over a video-streaming patent used in new Nexus devices.
The firm has added a suit in Mannheim in Germany to two other patent suits filed earlier this year in Delaware and California and a fourth suit filed in Berlin’s district court.
Max Sound claims that …
Google hopes to cure its 'flu sneezes
Google has responded to criticism of its Flu Trends, and decided that as well as big data, it needs real data.
As noted earlier this year, search data alone overpredicts influenza outbreaks, because there are so many symptoms that can lead people to ask the all-seeing eye “do I have the 'flu?”
The response, announced by the …
Google: Hey kids, dump all your files over here with us!
Google said that it will be offering unlimited storage for students on its Apps for Education service.
The Chocolate Factory announced via blog post that it would be rolling out a series of updates to the Apps for Education platform that will include unlimited storage for students with accounts on the service.
The company said …
Google hauls Java-on-Android spat into US Supreme Court
Google's long and bitter dispute with Oracle over the Java implementation in Android is set to go all the way to the US Supreme Court.
The court has listed Google's request to have the US Court of Appeals' decision in the case reviewed.
The row has been bubbling along since 2011, when Oracle alleged Google owed it “billions” …
Google recommends pronounceable passwords
Google has updated its password manager to recommend pronounceable passwords within its flagship Chrome browser.
The experimental feature was the latest development which could make it into the regular versions of Chrome as part of steady improvements to its password capture, storage and generation.
Chrome evangelist and …
Google Calendar jumps into Inbox/Gmail era
Google's refreshed its Google Calendar Android app, and is promising an iOS version to follow.
The big-ticket item on the list is that the Calendar will suck stuff out of your e-mails, so (in the limited imagination of those that provide real-world use-cases) an airline confirmation would be spotted in your inbox and would …
Google Contributor: Ad-block killer – or proof NO ONE will pay for news?
Google has offered to charge people a monthly subscription fee to read articles and gawp at photos online.
Paying for published news and features has never been attempted before, which makes Google's Contributor system a milestone for civilization.
People who subscribe to websites using Contributor will see "thank you" messages …
Businessman takes Google to High Court to block online abuse from search results
The case of former Morgan Stanley banker Daniel Hegglin, who is attempting to compel Google to block anonymous abusive posts against him, opened in the High Court today.
The defamatory postings amount to a campaign of anonymous abuse against Hegglin, and include allegations that he is "a murderer, a Nazi, a Ku Klux Klan …
Google DoubleClick goes TITSUP. ENJOY your AD-FREE WORLD!
Updated
Publishers across the web are seeing a huge surge in site load speeds, after Google's DoubleClick ad tech collapsed within the past hour.
At time of writing, Google was yet to respond to The Register's request for comment.
But its servers have clearly suffered a major meltdown.
Readers who don't use ad-blockers because they …
Google it! Ruskie gov user data slurps jumped 25% last year
Google user data access requests from the Russian government jumped a whopping 25 per cent in the last six months of 2013, Mountain View has revealed in a rejigged version of its "Transparency Report".
The ad giant said it had tweaked the way it presented the information requested by governments around the world to try to "make …
Google sues Mississippi Attorney General 'for doing MPAA's dirty work'
Google is taking legal action against the Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, alleging he exceeded his authority in suing the ad giant over piracy – and taking his cues from the Motion Picture Ass. of America.
In October 2013, Hood filed a subpoena against Google, accusing the web ad giant of encouraging online piracy, …
Most convincing PHISHING pages hoodwink nearly half of you – Google
Nearly half (45 per cent) of those who visit the most convincing phishing pages are tricked into handing over personal information, according to Google.
This effectiveness drops to just three per cent in the case of the most obviously scummy phishing sites, while the online giant reports that the account hijackers work quickly, …
Google extends app refund window to two hours
Google has extended the period during which it will permit you to “return” apps to its Play store and receive a refund.
As this archive.org link shows, as recently as September 3rd the “Return paid apps & apps” page offered a 15 minute refund window.
Today's version of the page says you now have two hours before the transaction …
Android gives Google a search monopoly? Not so fast, says judge
A US District Court judge has cast doubt on an antitrust lawsuit filed against Google, describing the damages sought as "speculative."
The class-action suit filed earlier this year alleges that Google engages in illegal anti-competitive behavior by requiring makers of Android smartphones to bundle its search app on their devices …
Google v Oracle: US Supreme Court turns to Obama in Java copyright war
The US Supreme Court hasn't decided whether it will hear arguments in the long-running dispute between Google and Oracle over Java copyrights, and it has asked the Obama administration to weigh in before it makes up its mind.
On Monday, the Supremes posted a memo inviting US Solicitor General Donald Verrilli, Jr to "express the …
Google gobbles Fitbit whiz Gecko Design to strengthen those things that don't shift ads
Google has bought up Gecko Design, the industrial design house behind products like the One Laptop Per Child PC and Fitbit.
"This is an incredible opportunity for everyone at Gecko," Jacques Gagne, Gecko's president and founder, gushed on the company website. "We are very excited and honored to join Google(x) and work on a …
Google's Chrome to pull plug on plugins next September
Google is moving ahead with its plan to end support for Netscape plugins in its Chrome browser – and has set next September as the date for when they will stop working altogether.
The Chocolate Factory announced its intention to drop the venerable Netscape Plugin API (NPAPI) tech in September 2013. At the same time, it urged …
Google says NYET! to Putin, pulls techies out of Russia – report
Google has refused to deny that it's pulling its engineering team out of Russia, leaving only sales and marketing people behind.
The reported shuttering of Google's engineering office comes after restrictive laws were passed by the Russian parliament that will force the web giant, and others like it, to keep all data on Russians …
Google's elves work on Santa to rein(deer) in grinchware
Google's elves have been busy working on a toy for all the girls and boys who run Mac OS and worry about getting a virus.
“Santa” is billed as “a binary whitelisting/blacklisting system for Mac OS X”, can be found on GitHub and “keeps track of binaries that are naughty and nice.”
Nice binaries get to run. Naughty binaries get a …
Google grand fromage Eric Schmidt: Backing climate denier lobby a 'mistake'
Google has become the latest tech giant to wonder if backing the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is such a good idea.
Last month, Microsoft withdrew its support for the group, saying it was no longer participating in the organisation's Communications and Technology Task Force.
Google is another high-profile member …
German data commish makes a Hamburger out of Google
In another likely-to-be-fruitless attempt to rein in the globalisation of privacy invasion, Hamburg is telling Google to seek punters' permission for a range of services that build user profiles.
The news comes just a day after Brussels told Android OEMs they could either open the skirts on their contracts with Google, or face …
'Yeah, I'm like, SO backing Microsoft over Google, YAH'
CoTW
A close runner-up – but still no cigar – was commentard Pat Att, who, on the news that Google was funding the printing of millions of copies of Charlie Hebdo, came out and said:
Well done Google fund
And well done The Register for showing the Charlie Hebdo covers.
#JeSuisCharlie
No further comment needed on that one.
Driving …
EU dangles $6bn threat over Google in endless search abuse probe
Formal charges will be meted out to Google if its latest offer to tweak its search engine in Europe fails to satisfy regulators, Brussels stressed today.
The American web giant is accused of abusing its dominance position in search – for example, allegedly unfairly burying its rivals way down in its web search results.
The …
SCREW YOU, EU: BBC rolls out Right To Remember as Google deletes links
The BBC will publish a summary of articles removed from Google search rankings under the infamous "right to be forgotten" rules.
At a public meeting, the Beeb's editorial policy chief, David Jordan, said the public also had a "right to remember".
A ruling by the European Court of Justice in May ordered Google to remove links …
Google boss Larry Page gives Sundar Pichai keys to the kingdom
Ten years after joining Google and with running Android, Chrome, and Google Apps already on his plate, Sundar Pichai's star has now risen even higher, gaining a new tranche of responsibilities in the process.
On Friday, Google CEO Larry Page sent out a memo, seen by Re/code, advising employees that in addition to his current …
Google's plan to become your phone company
Google hopes to become your next cell phone operator by using license-free spectrum to offer cheaper internet access.
The internet giant is readying to take on cell giants AT&T and Verizon with a team of wireless executives focused on gaining access to unused spectra and using new technologies to make fast data sharing possible …
GOOGLE is COMING FOR YOUR CHILDREN
Comment
Google is developing children-specific versions of its products aimed at the under-12s, smashing one of the tech industry's taboos.
Pavni Diwanji, Google VP of engineering, says of the playground invasion that the goal is to "change our products to be fun and safe for children", or so she told USA Today.
The paper drily notes …
Google spent record cash lobbying Congress in 2014 – report
Google poured a record amount of cash into lobbying the US Federal Government last year, outspending its tech rivals and even the major telecommunications companies, a nonprofit group has found.
According to advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, Google spent US$16.83m on lobbying in 2014, a 20 per cent year-on-year increase and the …
Euro Parliament VOTES to BREAK UP GOOGLE. Er, OK then
The European Parliament is gunning for Google. In a completely unenforceable symbolic gesture today, it voted to “unbundle search engines from commercial services” (which would, in effect mean the breakup of Google).
The so-called "Resolution on the Digital Single Market" – proposed by German MEP Andreas Schwab and his Spanish …
Checkmate, GoDaddy – Google starts flogging dot-word domain names
Google has finally launched a domain-name shop, providing a clean and simple management interface that will put it in direct competition with market leader GoDaddy.
Called Google Domains, the service emerged from testing today – and allows anyone in the United States (international expansion coming soon) to register domain names …
Google to go Loony within the year
Google reckons its Loon balloons are going to be delivering a service within the next year, and has revealed that it's abandoned the radio kit it first tested in favour of LTE.
When it first started playing with its stratospheric connectivity in 2013, the Chocolate Factory would only reveal that it had a “3G-like” communications …
Hey, scammers. Google's FINE with your dodgy look-a-like apps
Attackers can easily craft third party scripts to imitate Google to trick users into granting authorisation to their email accounts, says infosec chap Andrew Cantino.
The Mavenlink engineer said Mountain View did not make it sufficiently clear when users were approving third party access to their data, thus making social …
Google roolz! Nest buys Revolv, KILLS new sales of home hub
Google's thermostat maker Nest Labs has snapped up upstart Revolv for an undisclosed sum.
The takeover comes after Mountain View acquired Nest at the beginning of this year for $3.2bn.
Revolv, which only hit the connected home market in 2013, announced the deal on its website.
It abruptly added that sales of its automation hub …
Boggling bum babe Kim fails to 'break the internet' – Robin Williams instead tops Google charts
Legendary comedian Robin Williams has, we're told, topped 2014's chart of the most searched for thing or person on Google.
Apparently, porn doesn't count because people are always searching for it, whereas Google is interested in stuff that "trends" – pops out of nowhere and soars in popularity before fading away, in other words …
Rupert Murdoch says Google is worse than the NSA
Media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has taken to Twitter and labelled Google worse than the NSA.
Here's The Dirty Digger's missive:
NSA privacy invasion bad, but nothing compared to Google.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) August 17, 2014
Murdoch and Google have history, with the former accusing the latter of stealing his newspapers …
Sony Pictures email hack: The bitter 'piracy war' between Google and Hollywood laid bare
Emails obtained after the Sony Pictures hacking attack have revealed just how badly the Motion Picture Ass. of America has been cocking up its fight against piracy.
One set of leaked conversations, spotted by TorrentFreak, occurred between Sony studio executives talking about the problem of Google searches showing links to …
Ex-NSA lawyer warns Google, Apple: IMPENETRABLE RIM ruined BlackBerry
An ex-NSA lawyer believes BlackBerry's ongoing downfall stems from the company's use of strong encryption – and Apple and Google are next to wither on the vine.
Nope, it makes no sense to us, either.
Speaking at the Dublin Web Summit this week, Stewart Baker, a former NSA lawyer and assistant secretary for the Department of …
Would you buy a domain from Google? Industry weighs in on web giant's move
Earlier today, Google opened the doors to its Google Domains shop: its attempt to disrupt the internet domains market by going head-to-head with big daddy GoDaddy.
The domain-name industry itself is meeting in Las Vegas at the NamesCon 2015 conference, so we asked a few attendees what they thought of the move.
Richard Lau, …
Google's Canadian 'memory hole' to continue
Google – and arguably free speech – has suffered another “memory hole” setback in its Canadian wrangle with kit vendor Equustek Solutions, and in response has begun taking down links well beyond Canada where the court case is taking place.
As we reported in June, the court battle involves Google only incidentally. Equustek's …
Google swallows SMARTSPOON manufacturer Lift Labs
Google has made an investment in a truly shaky business with the purchase of a company which makes smartspoons for Parkinson's sufferers.
Mountain View has slurped Lift Labs, which makes a "tremor-cancelling" spoon called Liftware. This device looks like an ordinary spoon, but contains microchips and sensors to work out the …
