eBay is adding support for Google Pay EBay is adding Google Pay as a payment option to its Android app, mobile web, and desktop site. The feature will begin rolling out in early April. In an announcement, eBay cites Millennials and Generation Z shoppers who increasingly make purchases from their phones and digital wallets as a reason for the new addition. (The Verge)
YouTube bows out of Hollywood arms race with Netflix and Amazon YouTube has canceled plans for high-end dramas and comedies, people with knowledge of the matter said, a pullback from its grand ambitions for a paid service with Hollywood-quality shows. The Google-owned business has stopped accepting pitches for expensive scripted shows, said the people. (Ad Age)
Alphabet Drones The FAA has given Alphabet the U.S.'s first authorization to use drones to deliver goods to consumers. It only covers a rural area around Blacksburg, Va., but it's a coup nonetheless. Alphabet's Wing Aviation unit now gets a headstart over rivals such as Amazon in establishing a for-real drone delivery business. Wall Street Journal
Alphabet Stumble Alphabet's shares fell more than 7% after the Google parent reported slowing growth. Its earnings were hit by increasing competition in the online ad market, and also by the $1.69 billion antitrust fine levied in the EU last month. Alphabet blamed currency exchange rates for much of the slowdown. CFO Ruth Porat also blamed poor hardware results on falling sales of Pixel devices in a competitive phone market. Fortune
Inside Google’s Civil War It started in Tokyo on Nov. 1, 2018, when 100 employees walked out of Google's office at 11:10 a.m. local time. It spread world wide. It was the first time the world had seen such a massive worker protest erupt out of one of the giants of the technology industry--and certainly the first time outsiders got a glimpse at the depth of anger and frustration felt by some Google employees. But inside the Googleplex, the fuel that fed the walkout had been collecting for months. (Fortune)
Google Antitrust Google is facing a new antitrust inquiry, this time in Italy, where it stands accused of using its Android market dominance to stymie a charging-station-finding app from the energy giant Enel. Google allegedly refused to integrate Enel's app into its Android Auto system, which would allow it to be used on the dashboard while driving. Guess what you can use to find charging stations while driving: Google Maps. CNBC
Google and Huawei In line with President Trump's executive order blacklisting Huawei, Google has suspended the Chinese company's access to Android updates. This is a disaster for Huawei, whose Android handsets have made it the second-biggest phone manufacturer in the world, and for existing users of those phones, who may find them getting fewer updates in future (though the Play Store and its malware-scanning functions will continue to work). U.S. chipmakers such as Qualcomm and Intel have also cut Huawei off, as has Germany's Infineon—knocking the share prices of various European chipmakers. Guardian
Google and Huawei Google wants to be exempted from the Trump administration's ban on exports to Huawei, and it's using national security interests (one of the justifications for the ban itself) as the basis for its argument. The logic goes thusly: stop Huawei being able to use Google's version of Android, and Huawei will end up developing its own version of Android, which will be more easily hackable by the Chinese government among others. Financial Times
Peter Thiel vs. Google In a speech Sunday, billionaire Peter Thiel targeted Google for its search engine efforts in China and its decision to let lapse a contract with the U.S. Defense Department that gave the military access to its A.I. capabilities. He went as far as to call Google's actions "seemingly treasonous," asking whether Alphabet subsidiary DeepMind or Google's ranks had been "infiltrated" by foreign intelligence agencies. Bloomberg
Oh look, a shorting opportunity for Thiel and others https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/16/tru...iels-claims-of-google-working-with-china.html Trump: We 'will take a look' into Peter Thiel's claims of Google working with China Todd Haselton | @robotodd Published 24 Mins Ago Updated 2 Mins AgoCNBC.com President Trump on Tuesday said his administration would look into Google following comments made by billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel. Thiel said on Sunday that the FBI and CIA should look into whether Google has been infiltrated by Chinese intelligence. Thiel's fellow Palantir co-founder Joe Londsdale said on Monday that "Google is not a patriotic company."