Has the Softie Been Winged by EU Antitrust Regulators?
April 25, 2022
I read “ Microsoft on EU Antitrust Regulators’ Radar after Cloud Practices Complaints by Rivals.” The big outfit in Redmond has been keeping a low profile, allowing Amazon, Apple, Facebook / Zuckbook, and Google take the glow in the dark paint ball pellets. Now the Softie has been splatted in acid green polyethylene glycol. Lookin’ good in spring colors I suppose.
The write up states:
Microsoft’s rivals and customers have been served a questionnaire with various queries by EU antitrust regulators seeking information about the company’s business and licensing deals. The latest action hints at a possible formal investigation into Microsoft’s cloud business that might take place down the line.
Paint balls can sting, but direct hits are fairly safe, just messy. Take two or three in one eye, and the target might stumble around looking for a safe haven.
What competitors are not happy with Microsoft’s approach to the cloud market? The write up names NextCloud and OVHcloud, and others may have shared their thoughts.
The next volley of shots may not be from paint ball guns. More lethal weapons might be flown over the customer centric folks in Redmond. Microsoft has coughed up money in the past, and it may have to bleed some cash to make the possible legal drones stop dropping grenades from the clouds.
Stephen E Arnold, April xx, 2022
Covid Info, Misinfo, Disinfo, and Reformed Info: The US Government Now Cares
April 25, 2022
In a long overdue move, reports Engadget, “US Surgeon General Orders Tech Companies to Reveal Sources of COVID-19 Misinformation.” In keeping with his declaration last year that health misinformation is an urgent threat, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has appealed to tech companies to voluntarily reveal the sources and scale of misinformation that has crossed their platforms related to the disease itself and vaccinations. Writer S. Dent cites reporting from The Washington Post as he tells us:
“Murthy’s request pertains to social networks, search engines, crowd sourced platforms, e-commerce and instant messaging companies. To start with, he wants data and analysis on typical vaccine misinformation already identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That includes falsities like ‘the ingredients in COVID-19 vaccines are dangerous’ and ‘COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips.’ The administration seeks to learn how many users have been exposed to such misinformation, and which demographic groups may have been disproportionally affected. On top of that, it’s looking for data about the major sources of COVID-19 misinformation, including individuals or businesses that sell unapproved COVID-19 products or services. Tech companies have until May 2nd to comply, though they won’t be penalized if they don’t.”
We recognize a strongly worded advisory is the limit of the Surgeon General’s regulatory power, but will these companies cough up the requested information voluntarily? Certain platforms make big bucks from circulating false information. They have shown time and again profits are more important than their reputations, so a public shaming is likely to be ineffective. Still, we suppose Murthy had to try. The advisory is part of the administration’s “COVID National Preparedness Plan.” (Preparedness? Hasn’t that ship sailed?)
Cynthia Murrell, April 25, 2022
Gambling Addict: Is Your Time Arriving?
April 25, 2022
Addiction squared might not be such a good idea. Vox reports, “Phones Can Be Addictive. Sports Betting, Too. Now We’re Combining Them.” Writer Peter Kafka ponders:
“Remember when we decided that spending too much time on our phones was a bad thing? That immersing ourselves in our iPhones could be unhealthy, or even addictive? That was a couple of years ago. So riddle me this: Now something that we already know is potentially addictive — sports betting — is available on those phones, accompanied by a media blitz promising a path to easy money. But people raising concerns about that combination seem few and far between. So what happens to the sports betting industry if someone — namely Apple or Google, which have enormous control over what you can do with your phones — decides they do have a problem with that? Because whether you approve of gambling or not, it seems obvious that making it easily available to anyone with a phone and debit card, with few to no restrictions and a ton of advertising encouraging you to place your bets, is going to lead to problems for some people. This isn’t one of those stories about the unintended consequences we get from tech: It’s right there, on the surface.”
Yes, the evidence is clear when one looks at New Jersey, which was the state that prompted the Supreme Court in 2018 to let states legalize online sports betting. According to the executive director of the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey, calls for help related to sports betting increased to 17% of calls, up from 3%. Such concerns seem to be far outweighed by the money to be made, both for states seeking tax dollars and companies looking to rake in the profits. From the established MGM Resorts to startups like DraftKings and FanDuel, companies are spending billions to lure users.
Kafka goes on to ponder the positions of tech companies, relates a bit of his own experience, and points to Atlanta Falcons player Calvin Ridley as a cautionary tale. Isn’t anyone worried, he asks? Nah, fostering addiction for profit is a perfectly acceptable business model these days.
Cynthia Murrell, April 25, 2022
Dinging AMP after Years of Unknowing: Timely Marketing Perhaps?
April 22, 2022
In one of my Google monographs, I included a diagram showing Google as a digital walled garden. The idea is that a Google user would access the Google version of the Internet via Google. I documented this by referencing some Google patents which few read or bothered to match to Google’s vision for the really big new thing: The mobile Internet.
The Google rolled out AMP with some magic PR dust explaining that speed was good. I laughed. Yep, speed is good, but the shaping of content and funneling those data into, through, and out of the Google was way better. If you look at the world through wonky Google PR sparkles, good for you.
I read “Why Brave and DuckDuckGo are cracking down on Google’s AMP.” The key point in the write up is that these steps have been taken seven years after the AMP roll out and more than 15 years after I wrote The Google Legacy, Google Version 2.0, and Google: The Digital Gutenberg. Speedy for sure.
The write up states with the attendant “wow, this is such a bold move” prose:
Brave published a blog post saying it’s releasing a new feature called De-AMP that’ll redirect you to the publisher’s original page, instead of an AMP-based link. The feature is available in Nightly and Beta versions of the browser, and will be enabled by default in the upcoming 1.38 Desktop and Android versions. The firm said it’s working on porting these functions to its iOS browser at the moment. A day later, privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo posted on Twitter that its apps and extensions will redirect users to publishers’ non-AMP pages when they click on links in search results.
Translation: Avoid the Google version of the Internet. I could offer some examples of how Google reshapes on the fly certain types of content, but I am confident that you, gentle reader, are familiar with this mechanism, right?
Google does many interesting things? There is the quaint notion of quality and Google’s view of quality. There is the significance of time metadata and Google’s version of time in general and time metadata in particular. And more? You bet. But everyone knows these mechanisms, right? Absolutely because most people meet tell me they are search experts.
Net net: This strikes me as marketing.
Stephen E Arnold, April 22, 2022
TSMC to Intel: You Will Fail at Onshoring
April 22, 2022
I read “TSMC Head Says Drive to Onshore Chip Supply Chain Is Unrealistic.” Okay, the TSMC wizard used the word unrealistic. In bureaucratic PR speak I interpret the unrealistic as the phrase, “You will fail and waste money and time.”
The cited article reported that the TSMC wizard suggested that the flood of chip commitments is a result of “double booking.” The cause of the supply chain chip problems is — wait for it — Covid. The other factor is that China and Washington officials are not planning cruises with one another and their significant others.
A bummer for TSMC is that it has to figure out who will really buy chips and who is placing orders just to on the safe side.
Intel fail? Wow, Debbie Downer talk from a quasi monopolist.
Stephen E Arnold, April 22, 2022
Web Search Alternatives Compete with Gusto
April 22, 2022
Search and information blog DKB shares a roundup of interesting search systems in, “The Next Google.” Are we confident any of these will be the next Google? Nope. But there are several our readers might find useful. While relatively popular Google alternatives like DuckDuckGo and Bing are based on the Google model, the apps on this list take their own paths. The write-up tells us:
“The next Google can’t just be an input box that spits out links. We need new thinking to create something much better than what came before. In the last few years, different groups of people came to the same conclusion, and started working on the next generation of search engines. For this new generation, privacy is necessary, and invasive ads are not an option. But that’s where the commonalities end. Beyond that, they’ve all taken the idea of a search engine in very different directions. … This new wave of search engines is only just getting started. Many of them have only recently launched. Even if they aren’t perfect yet, the paths they’re exploring can lead to promising new innovation in the stagnant search space.”
First is Kagi, which emphasizes customization. Users decide how they want information presented and can refine the sources the search taps into. Then there is Neeva, which takes searches beyond the web and into one’s personal resources, like email and a wide array of online file storage systems. You.com tries to match each query with the source most relevant to the type of question, while Andi takes a little time to pinpoint the best answer and deliver it with the feel of a real conversation. Finally, Brave Search boasts its own independent index that does not rely on Google or Bing for results, an unusual achievement indeed. See the write-up for more information on each of these systems. No, Google is not going to be replaced across the Web any time soon. But some readers may find an option here that could replace it in their own browsers, at least some of the time.
Cynthia Murrell, April 22, 2022
Dark Patterns and Possible Digital Roach Motels
April 22, 2022
Online subscriptions are a convenient way to receive goods and services, from streaming media to household staples. They are easy to sign up for and, as long as there are adequate funds in one’s account, easy to continue enjoying month after month without lifting a finger. Ending a subscription, on the other hand, can be a calculated nightmare. CNet examines how and why “Canceling Online Subscriptions is Confusing, Difficult, and Absurd… by Design.”
Reporter Attila Tomaschek begins with the saga of cancelling his family’s meal-kit subscription, an ordeal that, he writes, involved a confusing maze of “surveys, guilt trips, oversized green buttons prompting me to stay on board and tiny gray cancellation confirmation links that I had to scroll seemingly endlessly to find.” Such tactics rely on customer retention through exasperation, and they are part of a devious set of techniques called dark patterns. The term refers to steering or tricking users into taking certain actions, like divulging personal data or agreeing to charges one never intended to incur. Or abandoning the quest to cancel a subscription, a sub pattern known as the roach motel. Tomaschek notes:
“And it’s not just the small-time players that are resorting to these tactics. Have you ever tried canceling your Amazon Prime account? Good luck figuring out how to do it — and actually getting through the process without wanting to tear all your hair out. Want to cancel your New York Times subscription? Make sure you have 8 minutes to spare as you wait for a live chat representative to do it for you. This type of dark pattern is sometimes referred to as a roach motel — a design that makes it easy to sign up for a service but outrageously difficult to cancel that service. The cancellation funnel is typically a multi-step process that includes intentionally confusing language and ambiguous navigation buttons. Companies may also sprinkle in cancellation buttons that say things like ‘I don’t care about losing premium features,’ or ‘I don’t like saving money,’ for good measure — preying on the fear of missing out to keep their customers. Then, once the customer has finally navigated the cancellation funnel, they’ll often have to call a phone number or send an email or contact a support agent via chat to finalize the process, adding yet another step to an already lengthy process.”
Not all online subscription providers stoop to this level. Some make the cancellation process easy and transparent, relying on customer satisfaction for customer retention. Imagine that! The hugely successful streaming service Netflix and popular online collaboration platform Basecamp are two examples. For those that do treat would-be former users like roaches, a scant few have faced legal consequences. Examples include the children’s learning platform ABCmouse and weight loss app Noom. Those cases are not the norm, though, as legislation has yet to catch up to the very concept of dark patterns. Until it does, Tomaschek suggests readers examine a company’s cancellation procedure before subscribing to any online service. If it is clear as mud, one would be wise not to set foot in that potential labyrinth.
Cynthia Murrell, April 22, 2022
Google: Visits to Paris Likely to Increase
April 22, 2022
In the unlikely publication for me, Adweek published an interesting story: “French Sites Ordered to Stop Using Google Analytics Is Just the Beginning.” That title seems ominous. The election excitement is building, but the actions of Commission Nationale de l’informatique et des Libertés is likely to grind forward regardless of who wins what. The Adweek write up states:
…the French data watchdog—Commission Nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL)—ordered three French websites to stop using audience analytics site Google Analytics, deeming the site to be illegal under the General Data Protection Regulation.
The article adds:
This means that companies based in Europe using Google Analytics—which reads cookies that are dropped on peoples’ browsers when they visit a site to gauge whether they are a new or returning user—were shipping people’s personal information to the U.S.
Are Google Analytics a problem for CNIL? Probably not for the agency, but the CNIL seems poised to become a bit of a sticky wicket for Googzilla. After years of casual hand slapping, an era of RBF (really big fines) may be beginning. Google executives might find that CNIL can make a call to a fancy Parisian hotel and suggest that the Googlers be given rooms with a less salubrious location, tired decorations, and questionable plumbing. Mais oui! C’est domage.
On a positive note, Google is taking action itself. Privacy, security, fraud — well, sort of. “Google Sues Scammer for Puppy Fraud” reports:
The complaint … accuses Nche Noel of Cameroon of using a network of fake websites, Google Voice phone numbers, and Gmail accounts to pretend to sell purebred basset hound puppies to people online.
And the conduit for these alleged untoward actions? Google. Now how did Google’s smart software overlook fake websites, issue Google Voice numbers, and permit Gmail accounts used for the alleged bad puppy things? Nope. AARP connected with Googzilla. Yeah, smart software? Nope.
Stephen E Arnold, April 22, 2022
Nuclia: The Solution to the Enterprise Search Problem?
April 21, 2022
I read an interesting article called “Spanish Startup Nuclia Gets $5.4M to Advance Unstructured Data Search.” The article includes an illustration, presumably provided by Nuclia, which depicts search as a super app accessed via APIs.
Source: Silicon Angle and possibly Nuclia.com. Consult the linked story to see the red lines zip around without bottlenecks. (What? Bottlenecks in content processing, index updating, and query processing. Who ever heard of such a thing?)
Here are some of the highlights — assertions is probably a better word — about the Nuclia technology:
- The system is “AI powered.”
- Nuclia can “connect to any data source and automatically index its content regardless of what format or even language it is in.”
- The system can “discover semantic results, specific paragraphs in text and relationships between data. These capabilities can be integrated in any application with ease.”
- Nuclia can “detect images within unstructured datasets.”
- The cloud-based service can “say one video is X% similar to another one, and so on.”
What makes the Nuclia approach tick? There are two main components:
- The Nuclia vector database which is available via GitHub
- The application programming interface.
The news hook for the search story is that investors have input $5.4 million in seed funding to the company.
Algolia wants to reinvent search. Maybe Nuclia has? Google is search, but it may be intrigued with the assertions about vector embeddings and finding similarities which may be otherwise overlooked. The idea is that the ad for Liberty Mutual might be displayed in YouTube videos about seized yachts by business wizards on one or more lists of interesting individuals. Elastics may want to poke around Nuclia in a quest for adding some new functionality to its search system.
Enterprise search seems to be slightly less dormant than it has been.
Stephen E Arnold, April 21, 2022
Objectivity in ALGOs: ALL GONE?
April 21, 2022
Objective algorithms? Nope. Four examples.
- Navigate to “How Anitta Megafans Gamed Spotify to Help Create Brazil’s First Global Chart-Topper.” The write up explains how the Spotify algos were manipulated.
- Check out the Washington Post story (paywall, gentle reader) “Internet Algospeak Is Changing Our Language in Real Time from Nips Nops to le Dollar Bean.” Change the words; fool the objective and too-smart algorithm.
- Now navigate to your favorite day trading discussion group Wall Street Bets. You can find this loose confederation at this link. You may spot some interesting humor. A few “tips” signal attempts to take advantage of a number of investing characteristics.
- Finally, pick your favorite search engine and enter the phrase search engine optimization. Scan the results.
Each of these examples signal the industrious folks who want to find, believe they have discovered, or have found ways to fiddle with objective algorithms.
Envision a world in which algorithms do more and more light and heavy lifting. Who are the winners? My thought is that it will be the clever people and their software agents. Am I looking forward to be an algo loser?
Sure, sounds like heaven. Oh, what about individuals who cannot manipulate algorithms or hire the people who can? A T shirt which says “Objectivity is ALGOne.” There’s a hoodie available. It says, “Manipulate me.”
Stephen E Arnold, April 18, 2022
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