Google has settled a lawsuit accusing the tech giant of clandestinely tracking the internet activity of users who believed they were browsing privately. Filed in Oakland, California, federal court, the settlement terms await approval from US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. Though Google is not facing any damages, individual users retain the right to sue the company. According to lawyers representing the plaintiffs, the settlement is estimated to be valued between $5 billion and $7.8 billion.
The class action, initiated in 2020, represents millions of Google users who utilised private browsing settings from 1 June 2016. Allegations against Google include claims that its analytics, cookies, and apps allowed unauthorised tracking, turning the company into a repository of sensitive user information. Under the settlement, Google will update its disclosures regarding data collection during private browsing sessions and enable users to block third-party cookies for five years.
Google has responded by emphasising its commitment to user privacy, asserting that data collected during ‘Incognito’ mode browsing is not associated with individual users. According to Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda, the company is pleased to settle the lawsuit, which it has consistently deemed meritless. Plaintiffs’ lawyer David Boies views the settlement as a significant step towards holding dominant technology companies accountable for their practices, describing it as a ‘historic step requiring honesty and accountability’.
The agreement, which follows a preliminary settlement in December, prevents a scheduled trial in February 2024. Although specific terms of the settlement were not disclosed initially, plaintiffs’ lawyers intend to pursue unspecified legal fees from Google in the future. The lawsuit highlights ongoing debates surrounding online privacy and the responsibilities of tech giants like Google in safeguarding user data.
Google has announced the suspension of all political advertisements in South Korea leading up to the country’s general elections in April, as per The Korea Times. The ban encompasses all Google-owned platforms, including YouTube, Google Search, and the Google Play Store.
Google also intends to guide users to credible information about voting methods and voter registration by providing links on its homepage. Additionally, the company plans to offer election-related information panels in YouTube search results, connecting users with trustworthy sources for further details.
As South Korea joins the lineup of nations with significant elections in 2024, Google is part of its efforts to combat misinformation and address voter bias, echoing similar initiatives taken after major elections globally. However, it is uncertain whether Google will apply this policy to other election-bound countries like India.
Why does it matter?
As reported by Medianama, this isn’t the first time Google has implemented such a ban; it previously did so after the US Presidential election in 2020 and before elections in the Philippines, Canada, and Singapore. While it’s unclear if this trend will continue in other countries gearing up for elections, Google has already established stricter regulations in India. These include identity verification, pre-certification by the Election Commission, and transparency measures through initiatives like the Google Ads Transparency Centre.
The Malaysian government and Google have announced a strategic collaboration aimed at fostering inclusive growth opportunities in Malaysia’s rapidly expanding digital economy. The partnership aims to enhance the digital competitiveness of businesses, irrespective of their size, through various initiatives such as skilling programs, investments in digital infrastructure, responsible AI innovation, and the adoption of cloud-first policies.
Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim stated how “This latest commitment by Google, aimed at accelerating local innovation and talent development in the field of AI, will certainly boost the nation’s digital competitiveness, in line with the Madani Economy Framework and the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030)“.
Google, through the Go Cloud program will offer learning pathways for upskilling 300,000 Malaysians by 2026. The online courses in these learning paths focus on improving the application of generative AI, data analytics, and cloud-based productivity tools for individuals. This would be an extension of Google’s Gemilang program, which has already offered 31,000 Google Career Certificate scholarships to underprivileged individuals. Overall, the initiative will enable Malaysians to obtain professional certifications in high-demand fields like data analytics, IT support, e-commerce, and digital marketing without any cost while serving as an entry-level pathway for relevant jobs. Additionally, Google will also provide support in refining Malaysia’s existing Cloud First Policy by offering policy expertise and incorporating the latest advancements in cloud computing and AI through its Secure AI Framework.
Google Play Store has announced that it will permit hosting real-money games on its platform, provided that they are approved by self-regulatory bodies established under India’s new online gaming regulations. Google started the pilot program in September 2022 to offer daily fantasy sports and rummy apps to users in India, which was supposed to end on September 28, 2023. However, Google is now extending it until January 15, 2024, because of India’s new regulatory framework on online gaming industry.
As per the regulation, the industry will be self-regulated through bodies that the IT Ministry approves. These bodies will verify real-money games hosted on online gaming platforms. However, the new regulations are not yet fully operational since the Ministry has not yet approved any self-regulatory organizations.
With Google lifting its ban on real money gaming apps on the Play Store, Indian real money gaming companies can now rejoice as previously these apps were only available through side-loading, which required users to manually install the app using an APK (Android Package Kit) file. Consequently, the previous policy had limited the reach of real money gaming apps and developers, and they had long requested Google to change its provision.
Google has reason to celebrate as Italy’s Autorita’ Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) has accepted commitments proposed by the tech giant to end a case over its alleged abuse of its dominant position in the user data portability market. This comes amidst a plethora of antitrust actions facing the company worldwide.
Last year, Italy’s competition watchdog initiated an investigation into Google over concerns that it had hindered data portability rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), following a complaint by a local company called Hoda, which owned the operator of a direct marketing platform called Weople. The app encourages users to link third-party accounts to port personal data into a “digital vault” where it can be used to target them with personalized offers. Hoda had complained that Google’s data portability offer, also known as Takeout, was overly complicated and discouraged users from transferring their data to other services. Thus, Italy’s watchdog started investigating whether Google’s conduct could limit the ability of alternative operators to develop innovative data-based services and compress the right to portability of personal data.
Google proposed changes to its data backup service to allow users to extract their personal data more easily. The company also plans to release a tool next year that will enable other digital service operators to access personal data generated through Alphabet services. The authority being satisfied with these proposed commitments, has now dropped its investigation.
The European Commission has informed Google of its preliminary view that the company breached EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in the advertising technology industry (‘adtech’). Google, has been accused of abusing its dominant position in the adtech industry by favouring its own services over competitors, advertisers and publishers. According to the European Commission’s Statement of Objections, Google is dominant in the European Economic Area-wide markets for publisher ad servers with its service ‘DFP’ and for programmatic ad buying tools for the open web with its services ‘Google Ads’ and ‘DV360’. The Commission believes that Google has breached EU antitrust rules by distorting competition in the advertising technology industry.
As a conclusion in its investigation, the Commission has found that Google has abused its dominant positions by favouring its own ad exchange, AdX, in the ad selection auction run by its dominant publisher ad server, DFP. For example, Google is accused of informing AdX in advance of the value of the best bid from competitors which it had to beat to win the auction. Furthermore, Google Ads and DV360 were found to be placing bids on AdX, making it the most attractive ad exchange.
A behavioural remedy is likely to be ineffective to prevent the risk that Google continues such self-preferencing conducts or engages in new ones. The Commission’s preliminary view is therefore that only the mandatory divestment by Google of part of its services would address its competition concerns.
Samsung is considering replacing Google with Microsoft’s Bing as the default search engine on its devices, reported New York Times. The report with the statement from Samsung, caused Google’s shares to drop by 4%, raising concerns at the company as an estimated $3 billion in annual revenue is at risk. Additionally, the potential loss of a $20 billion Apple contract, up for renewal this year, has further increased the company’s worries. These developments could have a significant impact on the global search engine market and its users. Consequently, Google is reportedly in ‘panic’ mode, with executives and engineers scrambling to make radical changes to the search engine to keep pace with rivals who have already integrated AI technology into their products.
To combat this threat, Google is working on an ‘all-new’ version of Google Search that incorporates predictive, conversational, and revenue-generating features, along with other AI initiatives under the project name ‘Magi.’ However, Google has a track record of keeping its AI technology under wraps in its research vault, so it remains to be seen whether these projects will see the light of day.
What implications does this have for Google and (its) users worldwide?
Given the advancements made by its competitors in AI, Google’s dominance in the market could be threatened. However, for users, this could translate into a more level playing field among search engines, resulting in increased competition and a broader range of options.
