News & Reviews:   Alphabet Inc.

Google has revealed that it will be merging its Google Maps and Waze teams under one department to cut costs and consolidate operations. Specifically, Waze, the mapping service acquired by Google way back in 2013 will be joining Google’s Geo organisation which also houses Google Earth and Google Street View.

Blogger and security engineer Sam Curry got the shock of a lifetime recently after he found out Google had transferred USD249,999.99 or ~RM1,136,374.95 into his account for no reason. Perplexed by the transfer, he contacted Google and eventually was told by the tech giant that a “human error” caused the accidental large sum transfer.

Popular dating app Tinder as well as other similar apps from its parent company Match Group may be removed from the Google Play Store following the latest development on the two parties’ legal battle. It all started earlier this year when Match Group sued Google for requiring all Android developers to process ‘digital goods services’ payments through the Play Store billing system.

Google employees have been told by its chief executive officer (CEO) Sundar Pichai to work with ‘greater urgency’ and ‘hunger’ as well as be ‘more entrepreneurial’ amidst a potential global economic recession. Asserted by Pichai in an email to staff yesterday (12 July 2022), the tech giant also announced that it plans to slow down hiring for the remainder of the year.

The popular YouTube Go app will be discontinued in August 2022 as the Google-owned company no longer sees its necessity anymore. Launched in 2016, YouTube Go is a lightweight version of the YouTube app designed for places with poor data infrastructure or expensive connectivity.

Google is reportedly testing ads on YouTube Shorts as a another way to help creators monetise their videos. For now, the ads on Shorts will include products like App Install and video action campaigns.

Alphabet Inc., the parent company of tech giant Google recently announced that it will now entertain people’s requests to remove search results that contain personal information. These include phone numbers, address,  email accounts and more.