Google killed a lot of horrible ads in 2016

Google killed twice as many bad ads in 2016 as they did in 2015.

Google makes most of its money from hosting ads. They use services like Android and Gmail to help determine what we like and can use this data to get plenty of companies interested in buying time and space to show their wares through them. Targeted ads produce more clicks and more money for Google’s customers.

But ads also suck. Especially the really bad ones that act shifty. Ads that do things like promote bad web sites or are hawking illegal products are forbidden under Google’s rules, and those rules keep expanding to include more and more things that make for a bad experience on the web.

We have a strict set of policies that govern the types of ads we do and don’t allow on Google in order to protect people from misleading, inappropriate, or harmful ads. And we have a team of engineers, policy experts, product managers and others who are waging a daily fight against bad actors. Over the years, this commitment has made the web a better place for you—and a worse place for those who seek to abuse advertising systems for their own gain.

According to their latest blog posting, Google says they took down 1.7 billion ads that were in violation of their rules in 2016. That’s double the number pulled in 2015. And that’s a lot of ads. Here are the stats.

• More than 5 million ads for payday loans were removed in 2016.
• 112 million “trick to click” (ads with virus warnings or other fake services) were removed in 2016.
• 68 million ads for illegal medicine or other healthcare violations were removed in 2016.
• 17 million ads promoting illegal gambling were removed in 2016.
• Over 80 million ads that were misleading were removed in 2016.
• 23,000 self-clicking mobile ads were removed in 2016.
• 7 million ads designed to game Google’s system were removed in 2016.
• 900,000 ads that contained malware were removed in 2016.

Google didn’t stop there, though. They also suspended a lot of accounts for violations and blacklisted sites that have shady practices. Google doesn’t like seeing fake news sites or ads for miracle cures any more than we do, and so creating or relying on ads with malware or ads that try trick you into installing things on both your phone and your PC are a good way to get your Adsense account terminated.

Bad ads and bad people who profit from them hurt Google’s bottom line. That means getting rid of them in high priority.

• 1,300 accounts were suspended for tabloid cloaking — showing an ad for news and current events but sending the user to a site that is trying to sell them something.
• 6,000 accounts were suspended for selling counterfeit goods.
• 8,000 sites were banned for promoting payday loans.
• 47,000 sites were banned for promoting weight-loss scams.
• Over 15,000 sites were banned for trying to trick you into installing software.
• 6,000 sites were banned for selling counterfeit goods.

In November of 2016, Google introduced a new Adsense misrepresentative content policy. This helps Google find out if website owners are misrepresenting who they are or try to deceive people with their content, then take appropriate action. In the first two months under this policy, 550 websites that were suspected of misrepresenting themselves or their content were reviewed. Actions were taken against 340 of those accounts and nearly 200 publishers were permanently banned from the Adsense service.

Google knows that everyone hates bad ads or ads for bad products. They also know that if they just let them run rampant people will be prone to stop clicking on them or take other measures. Blocking and banning ads that suck and the people who make them is good for everyone involved. Here’s hoping they remove even more in 2017.

Pentax KP mid-level DSLR goes big on resolution, small on size

KP might make you think about your favourite salty snacks, but now it can make you think about a brand new mid-level DSLR: the Pentax KP.

The KP has big features like weather-sealing and high resolution in its sights – but its smaller-than-usual scale is its big sell. The Japanese camera maker designed a completely new body for this model to ensure a slimmer profile than existing Pentax DSLR cameras. Oddly, however, Pentax didn’t release the exact dimensions in its press release.

The Pentax KP embodies a lot of the goodies you’ll find inside the company’s K-1 model. The KP, however, has what’s called an APS-C size sensor (which is smaller than the full-frame chip in the K-1) with a 24-megapixel resolution. The maximum sensitivity of ISO 819,200 means shooting in near-dark conditions ought to be feasible too.

There’s no anti-aliasing filter either for heightened sharpness. The KP counters for any potential issues this may cause in the same way as the K-1: its sensor can move (just ever, ever so slightly) by using its SRII image stabilisation system which can avoid potential moire in images.

Add a 27-point autofocus system (SAFOX 11 module; 25 of those points are cross-type for heightened sensitivity in both portrait and landscape orientation), tilt-angle LCD screen, near-100-per-cent field-of-view optical viewfinder and the Pentax KP has a whole host of decent features for this mid-range market.

There’s no 4K movie capture, though, which continues to see Pentax sat a step behind in this department (it can shoot 1080p max).

The Pentax KP will be available in black or silver finishes from the end of February, priced £1,100 body-only. That’s a price difference more than a couple of bags of KP nuts higher than the likes of the now-around-£850 Canon 80D or Nikon D7200.

Google took down nearly 2 billion ‘bad ads’ in 2016

Sketchy advertisers are all over the internet, and Google is doing everything it can to stop them from scamming users. According to a recent report on the matter, the search giant removed 1.7 billion ads from its advertising platform in 2016, more than double the amount compared to the year prior. The online housekeeping included 68 million ads for illegal pharmaceutical products, 80 million for content that misled and deceived consumers, as well as 112 million others that used trick-to-click methods.

Google says it also took down 6,000 sites and 6,000 accounts that advertised counterfeit goods, something that’s become a major issue on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Despite its efforts, though, the company knows scammers will continue to try taking advantage of people, so you should always beware of what you’re clicking on. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Via: 9to5Google

Source: Google

Gene-altered ants show how animal societies work

How much is societal behavior dictated by genetics? Scientists at Rockefeller University might just find out through ant colonies. They’ve modified the genes of clonal raider ants (not shown above) to see how the changes affect social behavior, both individually and on a grander scale. Knocking out genes for odorant receptors leads to “lone wolf” ants who wander by themselves for days, for example. The team keeps track of these exceptions by painting the ants in such a way that computers can track them all day, spotting even slight deviations from the norm.

The team also uses radioactively-labeled neurochemicals to see where signaling molecules take hold. They’ve noticed that differing levels of a key hormone determine the strength of an ant’s nurturing instinct, and that ants who don’t follow the colony’s overall reproductive cycle are summarily executed by “police” ants.

The genetic tweaking clearly sheds some light on how animal societies work on a basic level, but it should also be useful for studying many complex biological systems. An ant colony is really just a collective organism, when you think about it. The researchers believe they could get insights into human conditions with social elements, such as autism and depression, and understand why cancer cells ignore the usual cues to stop growth. In other words, these tiny creatures might lead to some serious breakthroughs.

Via: New York Times

Source: NCBI (1), (2), Cell

Trump’s most senior staff use a private email server

Donald Trump’s senior White House staff including Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, Sean Spicer and Steve Bannon all use a private RNC email server, according to a Newsweek report published Wednesday. This is the same RNC email server that mysteriously disappeared 22 million messages during George W Bush’s administration and the one that US intelligence services believe was compromised by the Russians at the same time as the DNC’s, earlier this year.

Using the system, rnchq.org, is not technically illegal and is often employed so that an administration’s senior staff can segregate their in-party correspondence from their actual White House duties. The Office of Government Ethics does not explicitly prohibit the use of such accounts either. However any staffer that does employ one is subject to the “Disclosure Requirement For Official Business Conducted Using Electronic Messaging Accounts” law which demands that any correspondence on that server be copied and forwarded to the government within 20 days.

The George W Bush administration was actually sued in 2007 by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) after 22 million such private emails never made it to the government and simply disappeared. “They don’t want anyone ever to be able to come back and see what was going on behind the scenes,” CREW Director Melanie Sloan told Newsweek at the time. Failing to forward emails from the private server to an official White House address is also a violation of the Presidential Records Act.

Of course, given how hard the Trump campaign hammered Clinton of her own use of a private email server during her tenure as Secretary of State, this is not a good look. Not only does this impact the White House’s ability to operate transparently, it leaves the administration vulnerable to further cyber-intrusions from foreign intelligence services. The Russians have already shown that getting in isn’t particularly difficult, it’s only a matter of time before they — and anybody else of a mind — will try again.

Source: Newsweek

This bag of Tostitos doesn’t want you to drink and drive

Super Bowl Sunday celebrations typically include two things: snacks and drinking. To discourage partygoers from drinking and driving after this year’s big game, Frito-Lay and ad agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners teamed up on a limited-edition Tostitos bag with some added features. The so-called Party Bag is equipped with sensors that can detect alcohol on your breath. This isn’t a breathalyzer that analyzes blood alcohol content and it will switch from green to red if you’ve had just one drink.

If you haven’t had anything to drink, the bag will show a green circle to indicate you’re completely safe to drive home. If the bag senses alcohol on your breath, it displays a red circle with the message “don’t drink and drive.” The Party Bag also has NFC tech so you can tap it with your phone to hail a ride from Uber. The ride-sharing company and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) will offer a $10 ride credit during the Super Bowl on February 5th. All you have to do to take advantage of the discount is enter the UPC code from one of the bags in the Uber app. Sure, the whole thing is a marketing tactic, but if it reminds people to get home safe, this is a pretty neat way to do so.

“Our goal is to remove 25,000 cars from the roads that Sunday evening,” Frito-Lay’s chief marketing officer Jennifer Saenz told AdWeek. “Whether watching the big game at a friend’s house or at a local bar, a safe ride home is just a few easy taps away.”

.@Tostitos’ new party bag knows when you’ve been drinking and will even call you an Uber: https://t.co/6YGXE5x3EO pic.twitter.com/Q0mO2bo22h

— Adweek (@Adweek) January 24, 2017

Via: The Verge

Source: AdWeek

Postmates’ latest service brings you alcohol in 25 minutes or less

Let’s be honest: It sucks to run out of alcohol at times you really need a drink. And heading to the closest liquor store or beer shop can be a headache when you have friends over. Thanks to a new option from Postmates, that frustration could be a thing of the past. The restaurant and store delivery service will now bring you alcohol in 25 minutes or less.

For now, the new service is only available in Los Angeles and San Francisco, but the company says it plans to expand to “our other markets” in the near future. The process is similar to the one you would use to order food. All you have to do is fire up the app, find the beverages you want and place the order. Yes, beer, wine and spirits are all among the available options. Postmates will then pick up the order form a nearby store and bring it to you — and check your ID.

If you’re a Postmates Unlimited subscriber, you will receive free delivery on any beverage order. Non-subscribers will have to pay a fee unless they order $30 or more worth of booze. Heck, in the near future, your order could be delivered by robots.

Source: Postmates (Medium)

Lyft will reach 100 more US cities by the end of 2017

Lyft trails Uber when it comes to sheer coverage, but it’s making up for that in style this year. The ridesharing outfit now plans to offer service in 100 more cities by the end of 2017, 40 of which will go live on January 26th. That’s a sharp spike compared to the 40 added in all of 2016. All told, Lyft will cover 300 cities, or a full third more cities than it supported at the end of 2016.

Many of the new cities coming onboard this week are mid-sized urban centers like Baton Rouge and Wichita. You’re particularly well-served if you live in California, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania or Virginia, as Lyft will be available in multiple new cities in each state.

The company will still have smaller coverage than Uber, which hit the 300-city mark in mid-2015. There’s also no word on international expansion, which is Lyft’s historical weak point. The firm has partnerships in other countries, but it’s not nearly as ubiquitous as Uber outside of the US. With that said, the surge in expansion is important. This will increase the chances that you have real ridesharing competition in your corner of the US, and might increase pressure on Uber to match features and offer better compensation to its drivers.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Business Insider

Scientists prepare their own march against Trump

The Women’s March on Washington might not be the only big protest against Donald Trump’s policies in the near future. Coordination is underway for a Scientists’ March on Washington that, as the name implies, would rally support from anyone who believes that scientific facts should play a role in government policy, regardless of their political leanings. Don’t like that Trump wants to censor climate change data or otherwise attempt to prevent scientific knowledge from reaching the public? This might be your chance to make your voice heard.

The finer points of when and where the protest will take place have yet to be hashed out (organizers are meeting this week), but this is definitely more than a well-meaning petition given the tens of thousands of people registering their support. The question is, just how big will it actually get? It’s doubtful that it’ll compare to the Women’s March (estimated to have been three times the size of Trump’s inauguration in Washington alone), but a large-enough contingent could draw attention to the issue and prevent it from flying under the radar.

Via: Daily Dot

Source: Scientists’ March, Reddit, Twitter

Apple hits Qualcomm with two more antitrust lawsuits

Just days after hitting Qualcomm with a $1 billion lawsuit, Apple is doubling down with two more antitrust lawsuits against the chipmaker. As Reuters reports Wednesday, the latest pair of suits were filed by Apple’s subsidiary in China, alleging Qualcomm “abused its clout” in the industry and that the company never made good on its promise to cheaply license its patents.

The first lawsuit seeks around $145 million in damages from Beijing’s Intellectual Property Court, while the second is asking the court to weigh in on Apple and Qualcomm’s licensing deals. A spokesperson for the chipmaker told Reuters that his company had not yet reviewed the latest complaints, but during a regulatory hearing in China in 2015, Qualcomm accused Apple of using such lawsuits in an attempt to get a discount on Qualcomm’s technology.

Earlier this month, the US Federal Trade Commission also filed a complaint accusing Qualcomm of stifling competition, which led to Apple’s $1 billion lawsuit in California. In that case, Qualcomm has denied Apple’s claims that it “unfairly insisted on charging royalties for technologies [Qualcomm] have nothing to do with.” Qualcomm, for its part, insists Apple gets the same licensing terms as all its other customers and is reportedly planning to countersue.

Via: The Verge, Recode

Source: Reuters