Page 63 - Google

Forced to change: Tech giants bow to global onslaught of regulations

Apple, Google, Meta operated unfettered for years. But new laws have compelled them to make major shifts to their businesses

Ministers meet Google, app developers to resolve offloading from Play Store

Government ministers on Monday held multiple meetings with Google and startups that have been delisted from the tech giant's Play store, but no solution seems to be on the horizon with Indian companies accusing the US giant of abusing its dominant position. In separate meetings with Minister of State for IT and Electronics Rajeev Chandrashekhar, and Union IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the troubled startups raised their concerns and sought support from the government. The raging dispute is over Google imposing a fee of 11 per cent to 26 per cent on in-app payments after anti-competition body CCI ordered scrapping of an earlier system of charging 15-30 per cent. Google went ahead to remove apps that were not paying the fee after the Supreme Court did not provide interim relief to companies behind these apps in their battle against the search giant's app marketplace fee. While the Vaishnaw declined to share details on the meeting, he said, "I will share when it is .

Indian startups ask CCI to order Google to restore apps after 'brazen' move

Startup executives on Monday met India's deputy IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar who told them he was concerned by the removal of the apps

Google apologises for Gemini results on PM, calls AI platform 'unreliable'

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar criticised this response, stating that claiming unreliability is not a sufficient defence for AI platforms

Google blocks RCS messaging on rooted Androids to prevent spam on platform

Google said that the step has been taken as a large volume of RCS spam comes from automation, which typically relies on modifications to the sending device

Google celebrates French singer Taos Amrouche's 111th birth anniversary

Google Doodle celebrates the 111th birth anniversary of French singer, author, and folklorist, Taos Amrouche. Know more about Taos Amrouche's early life and career

Google to soon enable 'Satellite SOS' on Pixels in select regions: Report

The Satellite SOS is made available on the supported Pixel smartphones with a recent update, but the feature is out of service since it has been disabled by Google

Govt to meet Google, startup executives over app issue on Monday

8 of 10 delisted apps back on Play Store

More apps back on Play Store after complying with Google's billing norms

A few more apps came back on Play Store on Sunday after they complied with Google's billing policy, even as the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) expressed concerns as the majority of apps removed remained delisted. Murugavel J, founder and CEO of matrimony.com, said that only eight of the company's apps, including Bengali Matrimony, Marathi Matrimony, Tamil Matrimony, Jodii and Bharat Matrimony were reinstated on Sunday, but only after they accepted Google's terms. A vast majority of its 100-plus apps are still not restored on Play Store, he said. "In spite of the government's clear message on the issue, Google has not taken steps to reinstate all the apps that had been delisted by it over billing policies," Murugavel told PTI. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday made it clear that the removal of apps by Google was unacceptable and that "startups will get the protection they need". Tension between Google and some Indian apps flared on Friday after the tech gia

Google offers compromise solution to restore delisted Indian apps

Play Store to host apps for free without using Google's payment system

AIBA seeks action against Google for spreading 'false' info about PM Modi

The All India Bar Association (AIBA) on Saturday sought stringent penal action against Google for allegedly spreading false information about Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In a representation, Adish C Aggarwala, Senior Advocate and Chairman of AIBA claimed Gemini, the Artificial Intelligence platform of Google put "highly condemnable false information" in the public domain about the Prime Minister. So, the company committed offences under Indian Penal Code sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc), 500 (defamation), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief), it said. "The company being the creator of the machine cannot be allowed to escape the consequences of the damage caused. The manner in which a machine is to learn facts and interpret them is designed by its programmer," the letter said. It alleged that the country is on the verge of a general election and "malicious campaigns to

Google Play Store's dominance hinders govt's internet goals: Chandrasekhar

The minister's remark came in the backdrop of recent takedown of Indian apps by Google playstore that were not complying with its user choice billing system

Google restores Naukri, 99acres, other apps after Centre's intervention

Google has reinstated some popular Indian apps it had removed from its Play Store, including Naukri and 99acres, amid the government's clear signal that the delisting of Indian apps cannot be permitted. Sources said reinstating some of the apps was not linked to the government's position but with the concerned apps complying with the Play Store Billing policies. Info Edge founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani, in a post on X, confirmed that many Info Edge apps are now back in the app marketplace. "Many of the Info Edge apps are back on the Play Store. An effort very well led by (company MD and CEO) Hitesh and the entire Info Edge team. People were up all night for this. Great crisis management," he said. Taking a strong view of Google pulling out some apps from its Play Store, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told PTI that the delisting of Indian apps cannot be permitted and that the tech company and startups concerned have been called for a meeting next week. In an interview, IT and Teleco

Google takes down Indian apps from Play store over service fee row

Digital startups say firm imposing exploitative policies on developers

IAMAI advises Google not to delist any apps from its Play Store in India

Earlier today, Google began removing the apps of 10 companies in India over service fee payments, including some popular matrimony apps like Bharat Matrimony

Leap year 2024: Google Doodle Celebrates 'Leap Day' today, details inside

Google released a doodle on Feb 29, to observe 'Leap Day.' The additional day in Feb, called Leap Day, compensates for the fact that an astronomical year is a little lesser than 365 days and 6 hours

Google hit with $2.3 bn lawsuit by 32 media groups including Axel Springer

Google last year said it disagreed with EU antitrust charges against its ad tech business where it is involved in both the buy-side as well as the sell-side of the supply chain

Try Galaxy app from Samsung lets you experience Galaxy AI on any smartphone

The Try Galaxy is a progressive web application that simulates Samsung OneUI 6.1 interface and provides users with tutorials and interactive features

Google plans to relaunch Gemini AI image creation tool in few weeks

Bard was renamed Gemini earlier this month and Google rolled out paid subscription plans, which users could choose for better reasoning capabilities from the AI model

Google tests Gemini AI in Messages app: How it works and supported devices

Gemini AI in Google Messages app is currently available on select Android smartphones for users enrolled in public beta programme