Category: google

Although the “privacy sandbox” from Google is likely to continue to evolve, the underlying concepts and objectives certainly reveal where it’s headed. With the Chrome announcement of a two-year target timeline to kill the third-party cookie, I thought it would be useful to help make sense of Chrome’s proposals to address advertising use cases without third-party cookies. The Context First, at this time all four major browsers have publicly disclosed a privacy ideology. Chrome differs from the rest in that their position includes support for the economic benefits of digital advertising – in particular,…

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The video timeline feature is getting more visibility in mobile search. Google’s “key moments” feature, also known as “in this video,” is now showing on more than one video in mobile search results. Users can also now hide and expand the feature. Previously the feature, which lets users skip to “key moments” in a video, appeared only on the first video listing. Australian SEO consultant Brodie Clark spotted the change Tuesday. Brodie Clark@brodieseo Wowsers, Key Moments (AKA “in this video”) on steroids in this test. Previously, this feature would only show in…

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Currently limited to India, the Google+-like feature gives personal brands and individuals some control over their own search results. Google is experimenting with public search profile cards for individuals that would appear alongside regular search results, Android Police first reported on Thursday. The test is currently limited to India and the company currently has no plans for a wider launch, a Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land. Why we care If this feature receives a wider rollout, personal brands will have a new way to distinguish themselves on the search results, providing…

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Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian is on record as calling his former employer’s cloud offerings “a disgrace.” Oracle is currently facing an inventor lawsuit, filed by Union Asset Management Holding AG. The lawsuit alleges that Oracle mislead investors regarding the success of its cloud business and that it bullied customers into paying for cloud licenses they didn’t want to artificially inflate the business. The lawsuit also accuses Oracle’s former co-CEOs, as well as Kurian himself, of dumping the stock at inflated prices based on their firsthand knowledge of how bad…

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Google still plans to remove featured snippets from the right rail on desktop and move the feature into the main listings. URLs shown in featured snippets that appear in the right rail of Google desktop results will continue to be included in the main organic listings, for the time being, anyway. For now, the right-sidebar featured snippet also appears as a regular listing within the main results column. Why we care Google still plans to remove featured snippets from the right rail and move the feature to the main listings.…

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John Mueller said that the Google team goes through reconsideration requests in batches, so sometimes it can feel like there is a backlog. Google’s John Mueller said that when you get a manual action in Google Search Console and then submit that reconsideration request that Google will likely go through those requests in batches, group them into categories either by language or by type. What are reconsideration requests. A reconsideration request is a request to have Google review your site after you fix problems identified in a manual action or security issues notification.…

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According to the New York Post, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is planning to review the Google-Fitbit deal over concerns about consumer privacy. We reported last month that Google had agreed to acquire Fitbit for $2.1 billion. As part of the announcement, Google did its best to reassure current users that it would respect their privacy and that their personal data would not be sold to third parties or be used for advertising. A couple of weeks later, it came to light that Facebook had also been interested in the wearable company, losing out in…

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Smart Compose, one of Google’s more controversial features is making the jump from Gmail to Docs. Smart Compose is an AI-driven feature that Google unveiled last year. The feature was built on Smart Reply and uses machine learning to suggest words while composing an email. Many language generation models suggest words based on the preceding word. Smart Compose goes beyond that, looking at the email subject line and the preceding email, if you’re replying to one. Google is now beginning the process of integrating Smart Compose into Docs. Smart Compose for…

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The new element appears to not have a fixed position but resides below the local pack, sometimes right below. Google is starting to show a new option to “search by photos” box in certain local verticals. It appears only in mobile results right now and is distinct from “interesting finds” and “discover more places,” which are also photo-centric boxes in SERPs. This was discovered initially by Mike Blumenthal. Examples of the “Search by photos” option appearing in Google Search for some local queries. No fixed position. The above result is for “Tacos near…

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Facebook is also being investigated in another multistate action lead by New York. Highly anticipated, it’s now official. State attorneys general have launched formal probes of Google and Facebook. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton will lead an investigation of alleged anti-competitive behavior by Google and, separately, New York Attorney General Letitia James is spearheading another multistate probe into Facebook. The latter was announced last week. All 50 states pile on. The Google investigation, made formal today, is supported by all 50 state attorneys general — every single state. The Facebook investigation so far has…

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