Google May Charge For AI Internet Searches 

Google Paid Searches

Google is reportedly considering charging for premium AI-powered Internet searches as the company fears that AI chatbots are undercutting its search engine.  Advertising-Funded  Google, up until now, has relied mainly on an advertising-funded business model (Google Ads) as a way to collect data and monetise its market-leading search. However, it seems that fears around users…

Read More

Google Deleting Millions Of Users’ Incognito Search Data

Google Data Deleted

As part of a deal to resolve a class action lawsuit in the US dating back to 2020, Google has said it will delete the incognito mode search data of millions of users.  What Lawsuit?  In June 2020 in the US, three Californians named Chasom Brown, Christopher Castillo, and Monique Trujill (along with William Byatt…

Read More

A Dozen Handy Google Maps Tricks 

Google Maps Handy Tips

With Google Maps now one of the most popular mapping services globally, used by millions of people every day, plus having new features regularly being added, here we look at a dozen top Google Maps (Android) tricks to help you on your way.  Driving  Since Google Maps can be extremely useful in the car, the…

Read More

Google Pauses Gemini AI Over ‘Historical Inaccuracies’

Google Gemini Paused

Only a month after its launch, Google has paused its text-to-image AI tool following “inaccuracies” in some of the historical depictions of people produced by the model.  ‘Woke’ … Overcorrecting For Diversity?  An example of the inaccuracy issue (as highlighted by X user Patrick Ganley recently, after asking Google Gemini to generate images of the…

Read More

Google Waits On Hold For You Until A Human Answers

Google Waits on Hold

Google’s new “Talk to a Live Representative” feature will call a business for you, wait on hold for you, and call you when a human representative is available.  Being Tested  Similar to Google Pixel’s existing “Hold for Me” feature, “Talk to a Live Representative” is currently in testing in the US by Google’s Search Labs…

Read More

Google’s AI Saves Your Conversations For 3 Years

Google-AI-Remembers-Conversations

If you’ve ever been concerned about the privacy aspects of AI, you may be very surprised to learn that conversations you have with Google’s new Gemini AI apps are “retained for up to 3 years” by default.  Up To Three Years  With Google now launching its Gemini Advanced chatbot as part of its ‘Google One AI…

Read More

Google Maps Gets AI Boost

Google Maps Gets AI Upgrade

Google has announced that it is trying out generative AI within Google Maps as a way for users to discover new places based on their questions.  How?  What Google means is that if users, for example, are visiting a town or city, they can simply tell Google Maps what they’re looking for and AI will…

Read More

New Feature To Declutter Your Gmail Inbox

New Gmail Feature

Included in a recent major update to Google’s Gmail on Android (for now), a new feature can help users to declutter and remove annoying spam from their inbox.  Select All Option  The new feature (currently being rolled out) enables users to use a “Select all” tick box that appears above (top left) in the inbox (on the…

Read More

Work Starts On £790m UK Google Data Centre

New UK Google Data Centre

Work has started on Google’s first UK data centre which will cost $1 billion (£790m), will add to Google’s 27 data centres worldwide, and will support its move into AI.  Crucial Compute Capacity  The data centre is being built on a 33-acre site at Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire. In addition to the construction and technical jobs…

Read More

Google Waives Exit Fees for Cloud Data Transfers

Google has announced that Google Cloud customers who want to switch and migrate their network data to another cloud provider and/or on-premises will no longer be charged a transfer fee to do so.  How?  The process for the free transfer away from Google involves contacting the Google Cloud account team (if one has been assigned),…

Read More