2+ mon, 3+ week ago (262+ words) Google's position on the state of the Internet is murky to say the least. Google says that forcing it to divest its AdX marketplace would hasten the demise of wide swaths of the web that are dependent on advertising revenue. This is one of several reasons Google asks the court to deny the government's request. The DOJ also tried to force a divestment of Chrome in the search antitrust trial, but the judge in that case declined to order that in the remedies. As users become increasingly frustrated with AI search products, Google often claims people actually love AI search and are sending as many clicks to the web as ever. Now that its golden goose is on the line, the open web is suddenly "in rapid decline." It's right there on page five of the company's September 5 filing, as…...

4+ week, 1+ day ago (607+ words) National Advertising Division said AT&T ad and press release broke program rule. AT&T yesterday sued the advertising industry's official watchdog over the group's demand that AT&T stop using its rulings for advertising and promotional purposes. While the NAD describes AT&T's actions as a clear-cut violation of rules that advertisers agree to in the self-regulatory process, AT&T disputed the accusation in a lawsuit filed in US District Court for the Northern District of Texas. "We stand by our campaign to shine a light on deceptive advertising from our competitors and oppose demands to silence the truth," AT&T said in a press release. AT&T's lawsuit asked the court for a declaration, stating "that it has not violated NAD's procedures" and that "NAD has no legal basis to enforce its demand for censorship." The lawsuit complained…...

3+ mon, 4+ week ago (200+ words) Google has fixed the bug, which it says affected only "a tiny fraction of websites." Upon investigating, FPF found that its article on Blackman was completely absent from Google results, even through a search with the exact title. Poulson later realized that two of his own Substack articles were similarly affected. The Foundation was led to the Refresh Outdated Content tool upon checking its search console. If you go looking for the Freedom of the Press Foundation article or Poulson's own reporting, it should appear normally in Google's search results. The FPF contacted Google about the issue, and the company confirmed the bug. It issued a fix with unusual swiftness, telling the Foundation that the bug affected "a tiny fraction of websites." It is unclear whether Google was aware of the bug previously or if its exploitation was widespread. The…...

8+ mon, 5+ day ago (456+ words) Ryan Whitwam is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering the ways Google, AI, and mobile technology continue to change the world. Over his 20-year career, he's written for Android Police, ExtremeTech, Wirecutter, NY Times, and more. Google's sizeable payments for Safari defaults could be ending. Apple has suffered a blow in its efforts to salvage its lucrative search placement deal with Google. A new ruling from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals affirms that Apple cannot participate in Google's upcoming antitrust hearing, which could leave a multibillion-dollar hole in Apple's balance sheet. The judges in the case say Apple simply waited too long to get involved. Just a few years ago, a high-stakes court case involving Apple and Google would have found the companies on opposing sides, but not today. Apple's and Google's interests are strongly aligned here,…...

2+ mon, 1+ week ago (24+ words) The remedy phase of Google's adtech antitrust case begins. See full article... Google back in court as it tries to avoid advertising business breakup...

9+ mon, 3+ week ago (24+ words) Supply chain attack targets developers using the Go programming language. See full article... Backdoored package in Go mirror site went unnoticed for >3 years...

1+ mon, 3+ week ago (217+ words) The first app store changes are due in a few weeks, with the major changes coming next summer. Changes are coming to the Play Store in spite of a concerted effort from Google to maintain the status quo. The company asked the US Supreme Court to freeze parts of the Play Store antitrust ruling while it pursued an appeal, but the high court has rejected that petition. That means the first elements of the antitrust remedies won by Epic Games will have to be implemented in mere weeks. Its petition to the Supreme Court was Google's final Hail Mary to avoid opening the Play Store even a crack. Google asked the justices to pause remedies pending its appeal, but the court has declined to do so, Reuters reports. Hopefully, Google planned for this eventuality because it must implement the first…...

2+ mon, 1+ week ago (274+ words) Ryan Whitwam is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering the ways Google, AI, and mobile technology continue to change the world. Over his 20-year career, he's written for Android Police, ExtremeTech, Wirecutter, NY Times, and more. Google is back in court, hoping to avoid a painful breakup of its advertising business. US District Judge Leonie Brinkema has already ruled that Google operated an illegal monopoly in digital advertising, and now it's time to learn the consequences of that behavior. Google's had mixed luck with antitrust rulings lately, but it's not a great sign that Google has so many legal woes that it can be hard to keep them all straight. The case that just got underway is the remedy phase of the AdTech trial, in which the DOJ secured a ruling against Google several months ago. The remedy…...

9+ mon, 3+ week ago (256+ words) Dan Goodin is Senior Security Editor at Ars Technica, where he oversees coverage of malware, computer espionage, botnets, hardware hacking, encryption, and passwords. A journalist with more than 25 years experience, he has been chronicling the... Supply chain attack targets developers using the Go programming language. A mirror proxy Google runs on behalf of developers of the Go programming language pushed a backdoored package for more than three years until Monday, after researchers who spotted the malicious code petitioned for it to be taken down twice. There were other things designed to draw developers to the package. One was that the README file accompanying boltdb-go/bolt is a copy of the one from the original benign package. Another: The original package had been archived. Developers frequently choose active forks over older versions. Others may be deceived into thinking such a malicious…...

4+ week, 2+ day ago (180+ words) Ryan Whitwam is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering the ways Google, AI, and mobile technology continue to change the world. Over his 20-year career, he's written for Android Police, ExtremeTech, Wirecutter, NY Times, and more. Google is begrudgingly letting developers lead users away from the Play Store. Google's support page stresses that these changes are only being instituted in the US version of the Play Store, which is all the US District Court can require. The company also notes that it only plans to adhere to this policy "while the US District Court's order remains in effect." Judge James Donato's order runs for three years, ending on November 1, 2027. Google is fighting tooth and nail to keep the Play Store locked down, which it claims is beneficial to Android users who expect an orderly and safe app ecosystem....