As the “chatbot wars” rage in Silicon Valley, the growing proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) tools specifically designed to generate human-like text has left many baffled. Educators in particular are scrambling to adjust to the availability of software that can produce a moderately competent essay on any topic at a moment’s notice. Should we go… Read more »
Today, if you want to find a good moving company, you might ask your favourite search engine – Google, Bing, or DuckDuckGo perhaps – for some advice. After wading past half a page of adverts, you get a load of links to articles on moving companies. You click on one of the links and finally… Read more »
Sudden mass layoffs at the biggest technology companies on Earth could be an opportunity for Australian organisations to fill long-standing gaps in their workforces. More than 70,000 employees have been sacked from tech giants in the past year as companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Meta – which saw enormous growth during the pandemic – are now winding back their staffing… Read more »
Legal action by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission against Google over changes to its data privacy policy has been dismissed by the Federal Court in a big win for the US tech company. The court found that Google did not mislead Australian consumers when it changed its privacy policy to expand the scope of… Read more »
Global search giant Google is not responsible as a publisher for serving up links to defamatory material, Australia’s High Court has ruled. The landmark decision overturns exisiting rulings by the Victorian Supreme Court and its Court of Appeal involving a $40,000 damages award against Google to Melbourne lawyer George Defteros for a hyperlink to an… Read more »
Tech giant Google has been hit with $60 million in penalties by Australia’s Federal Court for for making misleading representations to consumers about the collection and use of their personal location data on Android phones. The fine resulted from legal action by consumer watchdog the ACCC, which took Google to court in October 2019 over… Read more »
On Wednesday, reports began emerging Google was down. Google down for thousands of users – Downdetector https://t.co/jQYLzHdjNC pic.twitter.com/TIbcYrtImU — Reuters (@Reuters) August 9, 2022 While it has since returned, it once again highlights our dependence on technology service providers and shows how reliant many people are on a single operator for daily functions. There are… Read more »
When the News Media Bargaining Code was introduced by the federal government last year, forcing Facebook and Google to pay media companies for news, it was hailed as a game changer for the industry. Twelve months on, the game has changed, but tech giants Google and Facebook have created a more skewed playing field for… Read more »
The eSafety Commissioner will be able to tell search engines like Google to delete links pointing to offending content under legislation that comes into effect early next year. Under the re-configured Online Content Scheme, the eSafety Commissioner can direct internet companies like social media platforms, ISPs, app stores, and even search engines to remove or… Read more »
Google has announced a $1 billion investment in Australia over five years, bringing with it thousands of new jobs, along with ‘digital infrastructure’ to help businesses in the post-COVID recovery period. Prime Minister Scott Morrison amicably shook hands with Google Australia Managing Director, Mel Silva, at Google’s newly-expanded offices in Sydney, less than a year… Read more »
Google Australia has promised to invest $1 billion in Australian infrastructure, research and partnerships over the next five years to develop the country’s digital economy. The Digital Future Initiative also includes an Australian Google research hub and a range of partnerships, including a collaboration with the CSIRO. Google Australia managing director Mel Silva said the… Read more »
Google is being fined €2.4 billion (A$3.8 billion) for hindering competition in the EU after a 2017 decision has been upheld on appeal by the general court of the European Union. This is a saga dating back over 15 years, in which the European Commission has been accusing the tech giant of using its search… Read more »
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) wants to end Google’s reign as the default search engine for Australians, saying its dominance has likely “stifled innovation and reduced consumer choice”. The consumer watchdog released the interim report of its Digital Platform Services Inquiry on Thursday and has taken aim at Google for penning deals to ensure its Search… Read more »
An ACCC inquiry into advertising technology (ad tech) has found significant competition concerns and potential harms to publishers, advertisers, businesses and consumers from Google’s dominance of the sector. More than 90% of ad impressions traded via the ad tech supply chain are estimated to have gone via at least one Google service in 2020. The… Read more »
Over the past 25 years, the name “Google” has become synonymous with the idea of searching for anything online. In much the same way “to Hoover” means to use a vacuum cleaner, dictionaries have recognised “to Google” as meaning to undertake an online search using any available service. Former competitors such as AltaVista and AskJeeves… Read more »
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