Recent Googlies: The We-Care-about -Your-Experience Outfit

October 18, 2023

Note: This essay is the work of a real and still-alive dinobaby. No smart software involved, just a dumb humanoid.

I flipped through some recent items from my newsfeed and noted several about everyone’s favorite online advertising platform. Herewith is my selection for today:

ITEM 1. Boing Boing, “Google Reportedly Blocking Benchmarking Apps on Pixel 8 Phones.” If the mobile devices were fast — what the GenX and younger folks call “performant” (weird word, right?) — wouldn’t the world’s largest online ad service make speed test software and its results widely available? If not, perhaps the mobile devices are digital turtles?

Hey, kids. I just want to be your friend. We can play hide and seek. We can share experiences. You know that I do care about your experiences. Don’t run away, please. I want to be sticky. Thanks, MidJourney, you have a knack for dinosaur art. Boy that creature looks familiar.

ITEM 2. The Next Web, “Google to Pay €3.2M Yearly Fee to German News Publishers.” If Google traffic and its benefits were so wonderful, why would the Google pay publishers? Hmmm.

ITEM 3. The Verge (yep, the green weird logo outfit), “YouTube Is the Latest Large Platform to Face EU Scrutiny Regarding the War in Israel.” Why is the EU so darned concerned about an online advertising company which still sells wonderful Google Glass, expresses much interest in a user’s experience, and some fondness for synthetic data? Trust? Failure to filter certain types of information? A reputation for outstanding business policies?

ITEM 4. Slashdot quoted a document spotted by the Verge (see ITEM 3) which includes this statement: “… Google rejects state and federal attempts at requjiring platforms to verify the age of users.” Google cares about “user experience” too much to fool with administrative and compliance functions.

ITEM 5. The BBC reports in “Google Boss: AI Too Important Not to Get Right.” The tie up between Cambridge University and Google is similar to the link between MIT and IBM. One omission in the fluff piece: No definition of “right.”

ITEM 6. Arstechnica reports that Google has annoyed the estimable New York Times. Google, it seems, is using is legal brigades to do some Fancy Dancing at the antitrust trial. Access to public trial exhibits has been noted. Plus, requests from the New York Times are being ignored. Is the Google above the law? What does “public” mean?

Yep, Google googlies.

Stephen E Arnold, October 18, 2023

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Business strategy, Google, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.