Yelp study claims that Google ‘knowingly’ worsens search results

Yelp really, really isn’t a fan of Google’s search rankings, and it’s making sure that you know it. The location-based service has partnered with net neutrality pioneer Tim Wu on a study alleging that Google is “knowingly degrading” search results by peppering the findings with hits from its own services, such as Google+ reviews. The research project notes that test subjects were 45 percent more likely to click search results when they were purely “organic” (that is, more objective) versus the usual Google-influenced material. This is reportedly proof that Google is compromising the quality of your searches for the sake of helping its own business, and Yelp goes on to liken the Mountain View team to the monopolies of AT&T and Microsoft.

Those are some pretty serious accusations, but it doesn’t take much to poke holes in the study. To start, there’s an elephant in the room: Yelp has a vested interest in portraying Google as anti-competitive, since that lends fuel to antitrust cases which might force Google to give alternatives a higher ranking. There’s a concern that Yelp’s data team is crafting worst-case scenarios that don’t really match up with your real-life experience. Whether or not you believe Google when it tells us that Yelp is relying on “flawed methodology” and “cherry-picked queries,” it’s hard to deny that profit motivations taint the data.

Also, the researchers don’t present the findings in their full context. Yelp is quick to say that people are more likely to engage with the results when third-party links get better treatment, but it’s not giving a good sense of the scale. As Danny Sullivan explains to Motherboard, 45 percent more than a tiny amount doesn’t mean anything. Also, this doesn’t mean that the competing services are actually better, or that you’d see the same problem with a wider range of queries and a much larger population. While this doesn’t eliminate the worry that Google is stifling rivals by downplaying their pages, it’d likely take a much broader, more neutral analysis to justify those fears.

[Image credit: Shutterstock]

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Via: Motherboard

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Federal Railroad Administration to partner with Google on grade-crossing data

The Federal Railroad Administration and Google are entering into a new partnership to help make the roads just a little safer. As part of a project between the two organizations, Google will include grade crossing data in their Google Maps platform for all rail crossings in the country. More importantly, Google plans to add in audio and visual alerts for drivers using the navigation feature available on their smartphones.

According to the FRA, rail crossing deaths had been on a decline, from around 12,000 per year in the 1970s down to only about 2,000 per year more recently. However, in 2014 the trend inexplicably reversed with a 9 percent increase in accidents. These resulted in 270 deaths, compared to 232 in 2013, and 843 injuries. The FRA says grade-crossing accidents are the second highest cause of rail deaths after trespassing incidents.

The data being added to Google Maps will cover approximately 130,000 crossings on public roads and 85,000 crossings on private roads.

The FRA says they have also reached out to other mapping software companies like Apple, MapQuest, TomTom and Garmin to try to get similar data into their products along with the alert system.

Sarah Feinberg, the acting administrator for the FRA, says

“The vast majority of these accidents and deaths are preventable. In some cases, maybe a driver intends to beat the train, thinks they are familiar with the route or still have time to cross. But there are many cases where drivers lack situational awareness, because it may be dark or the route is unfamiliar.”

Feinberg says it made more sense to provide grade-crossing data to Google, and others, to be incorporated into their products rather than trying to get users to access it using the FRA’s own app.

Operation Lifesaver president Joyce Rose notes,

“It’s another tool in the toolbox to make the public safer. This is going to help raise awareness about where crossings are and, hopefully, remind drivers to act safely as they approach.”

source: The New York Times

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Google adding logo branding to app splash screens on Android

Google has added an interesting tweak to their current crop of Android apps; splash screens with the Google logo. If you’ve updated and used some of Google’s Android apps lately, you may have noticed a brief splash screen upon opening the apps. The screen is simple, displaying the app’s logo and Google’s brand logo at the bottom, but it definitely creates a slight delay when opening the app. That’s not a good thing.

Most of us want our apps to open as quickly as possible, but Google wants to give themselves and other developers a chance to push some brand recognition. They’ve even changed Android’s app developer guidelines to suggest making a brief splash screen while an app initializes, recommending a concise logo or tagline without flooding the screen with too much text.

It’s not completely clear while Google is doing this, although it could have to do with trying to maintain brand recognition and loyalty through Google services, not just Android. That is, after all, where Google’s actually making money off of this whole “smartphone” thing. So far there aren’t any other major apps that have followed suit, at least not that I can find, but if Google wants to set this precedent we might end up seeing this become common practice for Android apps.

Out of the apps I’ve tested, I’ve seen the splash screens on YouTube, Google Maps, and Google Drive. Gmail, Inbox, and Google’s Play suite of apps (Play Music, Play Games, etc.) launch straight into the application without any sort of delay. Resuming an app if you’re multitasking also doesn’t appear to have changed, so you’ll only have to see the splash screen if the app is starting up after being closed in the background.

With that being said, there’s a good chance that Google will update all of their apps to include this splash screen, and I just haven’t gotten those updates yet. You know how Google is with updates.

If you have any Google apps on your phone, test them out and see if a splash screen is showing up for you. Let us know which apps are affected in the comments.

source: Forbes

via: Pocket Now

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Supreme Court inaction is good news for Oracle in case against Google

Since 2010 a lawsuit between Oracle and Google has been wending its way through the court system as the two tech giants battle it out to determine whether Google will have to pay Oracle for the use of Java code in the Android operating system. The latest stop was the Supreme Court where Google hoped the justices would hear an appeal concerning the ability of APIs to be copyrighted. The justices declined to take action to overturn a May 2014 appeals court ruling that favored Oracle.

At the appellate court level, the justices had determined that 37 APIs were entitled to copyright protection. Until then the concept of APIs being protected by copyright had been unsettled. Given how the software world is moving increasingly to the use of APIs to enable interactions between different systems and programs, the ruling could have a far-ranging impact.

Even though the Supreme Court let stand the ruling that APIs are protected by copyright law, Google has a separate argument pending in which they argued that even if the code making up the APIs were subject to copyright protection, Google could still use it without paying a fee under fair use provisions. The original jury trial was deadlocked over the fair use argument and the issue still has to be retried.

At stake is $1 billion that Oracle claims Google owes for the use of the Java code in Android.

source: Wall Street Journal

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Google Play Music and All Access arrives in Argentina

Google Play Music and its All Access subscription service is now available in Argentina. There’s been no official announcement just yet, however, the country is listed as supported on Google’s support page.

Now that the service is available in Argentina, users can now back up their music collection to Google’s servers and take advantage of Google’s All Access music pass. Keep in mind that due to licensing privileges that you won’t necessarily be able to stream all of the same content that those in the US or Canada can.

It’s exciting that Google has made Argentina a list of supported countries. Hopefully they’ll be able to add more soon to compete with Apple Music, as Apple’s streaming service has the cultural edge that Google might not be able to keep up with.

source: Google Play Support
via: Android Police

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Google Earth gets two new features for its 10th birthday

Can you believe that Google Earth has been around for a full decade now? To celebrate this milestone, Google unveiled a pair of striking new (and expanded) features to the planet virtualization system on Monday. The first is Voyager, which available on the desktop edition. It’s designed to help you pick out and explore the coolest and newest imagery from around the world. These are organized into five categories: Street View, Earth View, 3D cities, Satellite imagery updates, and Highlight tour.

Additionally, the Earth View image collection (albeit not technically a new feature) is also getting a sizable update. Google announced that it will expand the library to include more than 1,500 stunning landscapes from every continent. What’s more, you’ll be able to access all of these images from either the Chrome extension or a web gallery.

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Source: Google