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Microsoft confirms Bing is 'inaccessible' in China (update)
While China blocked Google's and Facebook's services long ago, Microsoft's search engine remained available in the country. That is, until Bing became inaccessible on Wednesday in what appears to be a DNS corruption issue -- one of the most common methods the Chinese government uses to censor websites. Microsoft says it's aware that the search engine is having issues in China, and it's now exploring its next steps.
Google’s China search engine drama
The first time many of us heard about China's use of facial recognition on jaywalkers was just this week when a prominent Chinese businesswoman was publicly "named and shamed" for improper street crossing. Turns out, she wasn't even there: China's terrifyingly over-the-top use of tech for citizen surveillance made a mistake. The AI system identified Dong Mingzhu's face from a bus advertisement for her company's products.
Google employees plan walkout over censored Chinese search engine
Just weeks after Google employees walked out of offices to protest the way the company dealt with claims of sexual misconduct, Google is bracing itself for another worldwide protest. This time, it's over Google's ominous Project Dragonfly, and human rights organization Amnesty International is throwing its whole weight behind it.
DuckDuckGo hits high of 30 million searches in one day
DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search engine, achieved a new milestone by performing more than 30 million direct searches in a single day. The company cleared the bar twice this week before dropping slightly below the threshold. In a year filled with privacy scandals at major tech companies like Facebook and Google, DuckDuckGo has experienced rapid growth. Users made about 16 million searches per day in January, and that number will likely double before the end of the year.
The Google graveyard: Remembering three dead search engines
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was the first show on American television to use the word "Google" as a transitive verb. It was 2002, in the fourth episode of the show's seventh and final season. Buffy, Willow, Xander and the gang are trying to help Cassie, a high school student who cryptically says she's going to die next week. In Buffy's dining room, they search through hard copies of Cassie's medical records and find nothing noteworthy. Willow, tapping away on a thick white iBook, turns to Buffy and asks, "Have you Googled her yet?" Xander replies, jokingly, "Willow, she's 17." "It's a search engine," Willow explains, because that's something that had to be done in 2002.
Congress wants to know if Google plans to relaunch search in China
A cross-party group of congresspeople have asked Google if it plans to launch a censored version of its search engine in China, as has been rumored. In their letter to Google, the 16 Democrats and Republicans wrote they had "serious concerns" over the possible move, according to Reuters. A group of senators, including Marco Rubio and Ron Wyden, previously sought answers from Google over its reported return to China.
Google employees push back on censored China search engine (update)
Employees at Google are protesting the company's work on a censored search engine for China, the New York Times reports, signing a letter that calls for more transparency and questions the move's ethics. Reports of the search engine surfaced earlier this month, leaving many to wonder how the company could justify it after publicly pulling its Chinese search engine in 2010 due to the country's censorship practices. The letter, which is circulating on Google's internal communications system, has been signed by approximately 1,000 employees, according to the New York Times' sources.
Senators grill Google over rumored China search engine
Google refused to confirm if it's truly been developing a censored search engine for China after reports about the project's existence came out, but it might soon have no choice but to come clean. A group of six Democratic and Republican Senators led by Marco Rubio has penned a letter addressed to Google chief Sundar Pichai demanding concrete answers. They want to know once and for all whether the tech giant is conjuring up a version of its search engine that'll work behind the Great Firewall. The Senators called the move "deeply troubling" if true, pointing out that that it "risks making Google complicit in human rights abuses related to China's rigorous censorship regime."
Google is reportedly working on a censored search engine for China
China's relationship with Google is fractious at best, but it's no secret that the search giant wants to make inroads in what is a largely untapped market. However, its latest alleged plan could send tech's political sphere into a tailspin. According to The Intercept, Google is working on a censored version of its search engine for the country -- one which will blacklist websites and search terms about human rights, democracy, religion and protest.
Google takes steps to combat fake news 'snippets'
Google announced this week that it is revamping its "snippets" feature, which is the featured description you usually see at the top of search results when you input a question. Recently, the search engine has come under fire for displaying "fake news" as snippets. Now, the company is updating its Search Quality Rater Guidelines to help human raters more accurately flag hoaxes, conspiracy theories and false and/or offensive information. Additionally, it is adjusting its rankings to promote high-quality content and demote low-quality content.
Google’s year in search finds people ready to take action
It's been a heck of a year. And as 2017 draws to a close, a bunch of web giants are on hand to remind us of what we got up to on their services. Twitter had us raging, Facebook saw us praying for victims of tragedies, and now Google (the biggest of the three) is sharing its year in search. The top spot in the US and worldwide was reserved for Hurricane Irma. The same went for Google news trends in the US, which were dominated by natural disasters, including Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Jose, and Hurricane Maria, with the looming threat of North Korea and the tragic mass shooting in Las Vegas making the top ten as well.
Mozilla and Yahoo sue each other over default search engine deal
Deals between web browser suppliers and search engine providers are big business. For Mozilla, agreements with search engines have brought in as much as US$300 million a year, which accounts for 90 percent of its income. So the stakes are high amid the latest tech company quarrel, which sees Mozilla end its partnership with Yahoo due to claims it hadn't been paid. Neither party is happy with the situation, so they're suing each other.
'Untrained Eyes' explores how computers perceive you
If you search for "man" on Google, most of the image results you'll get are of white males looking confidently at the camera. "Woman," meanwhile, brings up pictures of women that appear to have been taken from a male gaze -- and yes, you guessed it, they're also predominately white. That lack of inclusion in machine learning is what "Untrained Eyes," an interactive art installation, aims to shed light on. The project, created by conceptual artist Glenn Kaino and actor/activist Jesse Williams, comes in the form of a sculpture that uses five mirrors and a Kinect to get its point across. Stand in front of it, wave and, within seconds, you'll be presented with an image that will "match" your appearance.
YouTube reportedly alters search algorithm after Las Vegas shooting
YouTube has updated its search engine in an effort to promote more authoritative videos, hoping to diminish the reach of conspiracy theories, harmful messages and misinformation on the platform, The Wall Street Journal reports. The changes follow the mass shooting in Las Vegas this week, wherein a gunman killed 58 people and wounded more than 500 others at a music festival on the Strip. After the shooting, videos propagating conspiracy theories and misinformation started climbing the ranks in YouTube's search results -- Google and Facebook faced similar problems this week. For example, The WSJ says on Tuesday night, the fifth result for "Las Vegas shooting" on YouTube was a video titled, "Proof Las Vegas Shooting Was a FALSE FLAG attack -- Shooter on 4th Floor," a rumor that has been repeatedly refuted by authorities.
Find 'Rick and Morty' rants with a quote search engine
Rick and Morty is chock-full of quotable moments, so it would only make sense that someone would eventually find a way search every single word, wouldn't it? Sure enough, it's here. The creators of the Simpsons and Futurama search tools (Paul Kehrer, Sean Schulte and Allie Young) have trotted out Master of All Science, a web engine that lets you find any Rick and Morty line and create a meme or animated GIF to match. If you want to share the existential despair of a butter robot or understand why the entire series revolves around Mulan, you just have to punch in the right keywords.
Google drops Instant Search to unify mobile and desktop queries
Google introduced the by-now familiar Instant Search back in 2010. The idea was to make searching faster by updating the results of your search in real time while you typed. Now the company is dropping the feature, according to SearchEngineLand, to bring it more in line with mobile search. The change is effective today.
Google search is a powerful job hunting tool thanks to AI
After announcing a slew of new updates to its smart home, VR and mobile products, Google unveiled the latest feature coming to its core product: its search engine. Over the next few weeks, users in the US will be able to look for job listings on Google.com via a new tool called Google for Jobs. This function will make it easier to discover openings close to you, as well as positions that have been traditionally more difficult for existing portals to find and classify (e.g., retail and service jobs).
Google search for 'final election numbers' offers up fake news
Search engine technology has evolved rapidly over the past few years, but it's far from perfect. One week after the US presidential election, the top Google result for "final election numbers" is a WordPress blog called 70News that's packed with inaccurate information.
Google tells you how to vote by state with a simple search
You're running out of excuses to not vote in this year's US presidential election. Google has rolled out a new, state-specific voting guide for anyone who searches "how to vote" or other related queries. Google breaks down the voting process in your state, complete with information on early voting, mail-in ballots, requirements and deadlines. There's also a drop-down menu that allows you to toggle among states.
Thinga is a kid-friendly search engine with parental controls
Keeping kids away from questionable content while they surf the web is an ongoing battle, and there's a new site that's looking to help. Thinga, a kid-friendly search engine, offers answers to children's queries from the company's own content library, white-listed sites or privacy-minded search site DuckDuckGo. Thinga comes from a Yahoo Kids alum who worked on that kid-focused project before it shut down a while back. Those search results are vetted by the team at Thinga to make sure they're appropriate.
