The Verge

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Reddit restricts Wayback Machine access amid AI scraping concerns

13 days ago

Reddit is blocking the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine from indexing most of its content after AI companies scraped data from it. The Wayback Machine will now only archive Reddit's homepage, limiting access to posts, comments, and profiles to protect user privacy and enforce platform policies. Reddit has restricted scraper tools, requires payment for data access, has deals with Google and OpenAI, and sued Anthropic for unauthorized scraping.

Reddit aims to become a go-to search engine with expanded AI search features

21 days ago

SEO Reddit

Reddit is focusing on becoming a go-to search engine, leveraging its vast user data and AI tools like Reddit Answers, which grew from 1 million to 6 million weekly users recently. CEO Steve Huffman highlights efforts to integrate AI search deeper and expand globally. This move may protect Reddit from losing traffic as Google shifts to AI-driven answers instead of link lists. Reddit aims to enhance its own search to maintain user engagement.

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Google offers buyouts to US employees in Search and other divisions

2 months ago

Google Ads Google Cloud +1 more

Google is offering voluntary buyouts to US employees in its Search, marketing, research, and core engineering divisions, excluding DeepMind, Google Cloud, YouTube, and central ad sales. The buyouts provide a minimum of 14 weeks' pay with a July 1 deadline. Some Google parts require in-office work three days a week by September or face layoffs. Executives say the program supports those not aligned with company strategy or struggling in their roles.

Google Ads Monthly Slides with AI Insights

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Create professional Google Ads performance reports in Google Slides with AI insights and visualizations. Transform Google Ads data into polished presentations featuring AI-generated insights and custom visuals to impress stakeholders and streamline reporting. Use cases include reducing manual reporting time, presenting insights without design skills, maintaining reporting schedules, identifying trends, and sharing campaign insights for strategic decisions.

Google tests replacing I’m Feeling Lucky button with AI Mode feature

3 months ago

SEO AI Overviews

Google is testing an AI Mode option that may replace the ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ button in its search engine. Users have reported seeing the AI Mode tab in various locations, including where the ‘I’m Feeling Lucky’ button is. The AI Mode button may feature a rotating rainbow border. This option is currently limited to a small percentage of US users in Google's experimental Labs environment, and its potential replacement of the traditional feature may upset some users.

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Google loses ad tech monopoly case as US proves anticompetitive acts

4 months ago

Google Ads

The US Department of Justice won its antitrust case against Google, finding the company engaged in anticompetitive acts in advertising technology. The ruling states Google harmed publishers and users by maintaining monopoly power in the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets. Google was found liable under the Sherman Act, but the court dismissed claims regarding ad networks. Google plans to appeal the decision.

OpenAI developing X-like social media platform with ChatGPT integration

4 months ago

OpenAI X (Twitter)

OpenAI is developing an X-like social media platform, currently in early stages with a prototype focused on ChatGPT's image generation and a social feed. CEO Sam Altman is gathering feedback, but it’s unclear if the platform will be a separate app or integrated into ChatGPT. This initiative may heighten rivalry with Elon Musk and Meta, which is also planning a social feed for its AI assistant. The project aims to use real-time data for AI training.

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Microsoft tricks users into thinking Bing is Google with new search interface

7 months ago

Bing SEO

Microsoft is using Bing to mimic Google in search results to encourage users to switch from Google to Bing and Edge. When searching for Google on Bing without signing in, users see a page designed to resemble Google, including a search bar and a Google Doodle-like image. This tactic aims to confuse users, especially when setting up new PCs. Google’s Chrome team criticized Microsoft for this behavior, highlighting a history of similar tactics.

Grok AI chatbot now accessible to all users without Premium subscription

8 months ago

Grok

X’s Grok AI chatbot is now available to free users on X, allowing non-Premium subscribers to send up to 10 messages every two hours. Previously, Grok was only accessible to Premium users. Launched last year as a humorous assistant, Grok added a text-to-image feature in August. The free version aims to compete with other free chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Gemini. xAI is also considering a standalone app for Grok, which competitors already offer.

Google and DOJ make final arguments in ad tech monopoly case

9 months ago

Google Ads SEO

Google and the DOJ met in court to debate Google's online ad tech monopoly. The DOJ argues Google used its ad tech products to dominate markets, while Google claims it faces competition. The trial's key issue is whether Google operates in one or three markets. The DOJ also accuses Google of deleting incriminating chat messages. Judge Brinkema will rule by the end of 2024, potentially leading to a second trial for remedies.