google

Google has ditched plans to block third-party cookies in the Chrome browser. It says it will instead let users "make an informed choice" - a change that's upset privacy campaigners. A cookie is a text file placed by a website on a user's computer. ... The site can then retrieve information from the file the next time the user visits, for example to log them into an account or to provide a personalized website experience such as a localized weather forecast. Many cookies are "first party," meaning they only collect and store data about a user's activity on the site which issued the cookies. ... (view more)

Google has significantly scaled back its use of AI-generated "answers" on its search results page. It's also sourcing less of the "facts" from discussion forums such as Reddit. The changes are to the "AI Overview" feature, which replaced a similar ... feature called "Search Generative Experience". In both cases, it meant Google creating text that appeared at the top of the search results page, ahead of the normal list of links to relevant websites. The feature is primarily designed to answer questions without the need for the user to visit a website. The "answers" are a summary of information on ... (view more)

Google appears to be rethinking its use of AI generated "answers" in search results page. It comes as tech experts figured out a workaround to disable the AI generated answers in the first place. The company recently launched what it calls Search ... Generative Experience behind the scenes, and "AI Overview" in search results. It kicks in when it thinks the user is trying to get a specific answer to a specific question rather than simply searching for a website or exploring a wider topic. The AI Overview appears at the top of the results before any links to websites and is rolling out to all ... (view more)

Google says it blocked 2.28 million potentially malicious apps from getting into the official Play store last year. It stopped or paused a further 200,000 which didn't correctly use the permissions system. The figure for malicious app blocks is up ... almost half compared with 2022. Google didn't say conclusively whether that means more scammers are trying their luck or if it simply did a better job of detecting them. However, it did note the 2023 figure was "in part thanks to our investment in new and improved security features, policy updates, and advanced machine learning and app review ... (view more)

Google has launched a "find my phone" feature that can work even after the battery has run out. It's part of a major upgrade delayed by a dispute with Apple, though privacy remains a hot topic. The big upgrade is to the "Find My Device" network of ... what Google says is more than a billion Android devices including phones, watches and earbuds. It aims to overcome the problems that it's not necessarily viable (or desirable) for all portable devices to constantly be connected to cellular networks or WiFi, broadcasting their location ready to be tracked by their owner. Instead the idea is that each ... (view more)

Recently, Google has started baking artificial intelligence (AI) into its standard search results. However, the new AI-powered responses have been criticized for giving credibility to scams, including leading users to malicious sites where their ... systems could be compromised by ransomware and similar. Although the baked-in artificial intelligence results have already been available for people who have intentionally asked to try it, what's important to note is that Google is now rolling it out for some ordinary users when they carry out a search. The idea of the new tool is to better handle ... (view more)

Google says Chrome will now warn users about risky sites using real-time information. The improvements won't compromise user privacy. Chrome already offers a feature called Safe Browsing. The default option, "standard protection," kicks in when ... users are about to visit a site, download a file or install an extension. The feature compares the target URL (website address) against a database of known and suspected security risks and warns the user of a match. The optional "enhanced protection" option will also actively check the target site for any signs that it may be compromised, threaten ... (view more)

Google has revealed it paid $10 million in bounties to people who spotted security bugs in its products last year. More people earned rewards than in an equivalent Microsoft program, though Google paid out less per person. Such programs are designed ... not only to boost security but to encourage security researchers to work for good, rather than exploit bugs. However, critics say tech companies should put more of their resources into making software as bug-free as possible to start with. Google paid out a total of $10 million in 2023, split between 632 researchers in 68 countries. The highest ... (view more)

Google says its next search algorithm update will dramatically reduce the number of low quality results people see. It's particularly targeting sites that prioritize getting high search rankings over providing useful content for readers. The company ... says tests of the new algorithm showed that, when combined with a similar update in 2022, it reduced "low-quality, unoriginal content in search results by 40%." Of course, that measurement involves a subjective measure of what content qualifies as low-quality. (Source: gizmodo.com )) Quality Over Quantity According to Google, the algorithm update ... (view more)

The latest malware targeting banking users may have infected up to 200,000 Android devices. The criminals behind Anatsa have deliberately exploited what's meant to be a useful feature that makes users' lives easier. The attacks have some familiar ... features such as distributing the malware through free tools that perform some basic functions and finding ways around the Android permission system. What makes it a particularly nasty campaign is that it takes advantage of the Android Accessibility system. Security researchers at ThreatFabric spotted the malware in five apps with similar names: ... (view more)