Alooma has a data pipeline tool that enables businesses to move their data from multiple sources to a single data warehouse. Google wants them to move that data to its Cloud. (FierceTelecom)
Nestle and other large companies have pulled ads from YouTube because they were apparently appearing alongside videos of young girls that commenters were sexualizing. "We will revise our decision upon completion of current measures being taken... to ensure Nestle advertising standards are met," said a Nestle spokeswoman. YouTube says it has deleted the offending accounts. BBC
After reports of sexual misconduct by Google executives, 20,000 workers walked off the job, demanding an end to forced arbitration. In response, Google announced that it would end the practice for sexual harassment and assault cases. Thursday, the company said it would expand that policy to employees in any type of dispute. (The Verge)
YouTube will shut off comments on videos featuring “younger minors and videos with older minors at risk of attracting predatory behavior,” according to a statement. It’s an effort to stamp out predatory behavior from viewers that included salacious notes in the comments section of videos featuring underage kids. (TechCrunch)
Google has claimed it does not have significant market power in Australian search, advertising and news media referrals. In December the country's competition watchdog said Google Search had a 94% market share and should therefore face fresh regulation alongside Facebook. Google now argues that there is no such thing as a news referral market, and that the "fierce competition" it faces in search should mitigate the agency's findings. Financial Times
The Alphabet subsidiary DeepMind is reportedly no longer in talks with the U.K.'s power grid manager, National Grid, about using the outfit's "A.I." tech to optimize the network. DeepMind had been touting its technology as a tool for better predicting electricity demand and improving grid resilience, but initial talks apparently ended with no deal. Forbes
The video platform has started rolling out text prompts, known as “information panels,” that provide fact checks when users search certain terms or phrases. The feature is currently being rolled out to a limited number of users in India, one country in particular where the spread of fake news has fatal consequences. (Mashable)
Facebook isn't the only tech giant that's unwittingly stumping for Warren by demonstrating the purpose of her antitrust drive. Google has in the last week quietly rolled out a new hotel-booking service that will compete with the likes of Airbnb. Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (an unlikely Warren ally, to put it mildly) is also calling for Google's breakup, specifically a separation of its search and third-party ad operations. Fortune
A shareholder lawsuit has revealed the existence of an at-least-$35 million payout made to former Google search VP Amit Singhal, who was forced out in 2016 following a sexual assault investigation. Singhal denies the claims made against him, which involve the groping of an employee. Guardian
The Financial Times reports Google is about to be whacked with a third mega-fine by the European Commission, this time over the way it allegedly restricted how websites using its search box could display search ads from rival providers. Google is currently appealing the previous two fines, which totaled $7.7 billion and related to its stifling of rival comparison-shopping services in search, and of rival phone-software firms in the Android ecosystem. Financial Times
