business

A change to Google's search algorithm for local rankings has prompted fierce debate about what information is most useful to customers. The rankings now vary minute to minute based on listed opening hours. The change affects "local pack ranking". ... That's the section that appears at the top of many Google search results pages showing three businesses close to the user's location and relating to the search. The section, often marked "Places" gives basic information about the business including its address and user ratings. Many business recently noted their appearance or non-appearance in this ... (view more)

A government agency says the current US definition of broadband may be too slow. It says the threshold of 25 Mbps likely isn't enough for today's needs, particularly for small businesses. The figure in question is the Federal Communication ... Commission's "benchmark" for broadband speeds. It's important because it's the figure officials use to assess what proportion of the US population has access to broadband and whether the country is meeting targets. The most recent estimate is that 96 percent of the population has broadband access under the current definition. The benchmark also plays a key ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Paula M. writes: " Dear Dennis, I own a small business that has 15 employees. We process upwards of 100 emails a day, many of which contain important contracts and attachments. We use MS Outlook 365 as our email client and ... OneDrive to share attachments between employees and devices (such as smartphones). The emails and documents are critical and I need a way to backup both Microsoft Outlook 365 emails and OneDrive files locally in case our workstations are compromised. Do you know of an Office 365 backup program that can backup Outlook as well as OneDrive? Much thanks! " My ... (view more)

Review site Yelp is to highlight businesses that have been accused of racist behavior. Critics argue the policy is open to malicious abuse. Yelp says over this summer it has noticed a surge in reviews which warn users of racist behavior. However, it ... believes many of these may be written by people reporting to social media or news reports of such activity, rather than from their own experience of using a business. According to Yelp, it needed to change its policy to deal with two issues. The first is that its rules only allow reviews based on first-hand experience. The second is that it ... (view more)

A former Facebook executive says the site is responsible for "ripping apart the social fabric of how society works." Chamath Palihapitiya says the problem isn't restricted to the US. Speaking at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Palihapitiya ... said he felt "tremendous guilt" about his role as Facebook's vice president of user growth. Talking about the way Facebook tried to get users to stick around on the site, he echoed the comments of former colleagues in likening it to psychological manipulation. Social Media Works Like Drug He referred to "dopamine-driven feedback loops", referring ... (view more)

It's official: Microsoft says that Windows 10 will be free of charge -- but the offer comes with limitations and caveats. The free upgrade offer is part of what could be the biggest change to the Windows business model, ever. Microsoft's comments at ... a launch event this week have been interpreted by some analysts as meaning Windows 10 may also be the last major release of the operating system. Instead, Windows may receive more frequent, but less substantial updates in the future. The Windows 10 free upgrade deal will only apply to consumer versions of Windows 7 (Service Pack 1) and Windows ... (view more)

A new report suggests that hackers took aim at twice as many businesses in 2014 when compared to the previous year. The report comes from Russian security company Kaspersky Lab; its Global Research and Analysis Team says it detected seven major ... advanced persistent threats (or APTs) over the past twelve months, resulting in approximately 4,400 attacks targeting private sector organizations in an estimated 55 countries. Kaspersky researchers say that's more than double the roughly 1,800 corporations targeted by cybercriminals in 2013 . Sophisticated Attacks May Be Supported by National ... (view more)