News | Latest Breaking News Stories & Headlines

Australia's government plans to charge big tech firms millions of dollars if they did not pay Australian media companies for news hosted on their platforms

Australia announces new plans for big tech firms

Australia's government said today it planned new rules that would charge big tech firms millions of dollars if they did not pay Australian media companies for news hosted on their platforms.

Business • 12 Dec 24

Google's new Willow chip solved in five minutes a computing problem that would take a classical computer more time than the history of the universe

Google parent Alphabet jumps on quantum chip breakthrough

Shares of Google parent Alphabet rose about 5% last night after it unveiled a new generation chip that the company said helped overcome a key challenge in quantum computing.

Business • 11 Dec 24

Canada's watchdog has accused Google of giving its own tools preferential access to ad inventory, at times selling ads at a loss to block rivals

Canada watchdog sues Google over anti-competitive ad tech

Canada's competition watchdog said it was taking Google to court, accusing the company of "anti-competitive behaviour" in online advertising.

Business • 29 Nov 24

Under the new Digital Markets Act, Google is prohibited from favouring its products and services on its platform

Google proposes fresh tweaks to search results in Europe

Google has proposed more changes to its search results in Europe after some smaller rivals complained about lower traffic to their sites resulting from previous tweaks by the Alphabet unit.

Business • 26 Nov 24

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority said it had provisionally found the mobile browser markets were not working well for UK businesses and millions of phone users

UK regulator may probe Apple's, Google's mobile browsers

Apple could be holding back innovation in smartphone browsers, according to a British regulatory report, which recommended that Apple's and Google's duopoly in mobile ecosystems should be investigated with its new powers.

Business • 22 Nov 24

The measures presented by the Department of Justice are part of a landmark case which has the potential to reshape how users find information

Google must divest Chrome, US Department of Justice says

Alphabet's Google must sell its Chrome browser, share data and search results with rivals and take other measures - including possibly selling Android - to end its monopoly on online search, prosecutors have argued to a US judge.

Business • 21 Nov 24

Google controls how people view the internet and what ads they see in part through its Chrome browser

US judge to be asked to force Google to sell off Chrome

The US Department of Justice will ask a judge to force Alphabet's Google to sell off its Chrome internet browser, Bloomberg News has reported, citing people familiar with the plans.

Business • 19 Nov 24

Indonesia has banned sales of smartphones made by Alphabet's Google as well as Apple's iPhone 16 due to rules requiring the use of locally manufactured components

Indonesia bans sales of Google phones, Apple's iPhone 16

Indonesia said it has banned sales of smartphones made by Alphabet's Google due to rules requiring the use of locally manufactured components, days after blocking sales of tech giant Apple's iPhone 16 for the same reason.

Business • 01 Nov 24

Alphabet shares rose nearly 6% in after-market trading on Wall Street last night

Alphabet's AI investments boost cloud sales

Google parent Alphabet said last night its AI investments were "paying off" as it reported a 35% surge in its cloud business and US election-related spending lifted YouTube ad sales in the third quarter.

Business • 30 Oct 24

Google will require financial services advertisers to complete verification based on their authorisation from the Central Bank of Ireland or other appropriate regulator.

Google announces steps to tackle online scams and fraud

Google has announced changes to its processes in Ireland to help tackle online scams and fraud.

Business • 09 Oct 24

Vodafone has deepened its strategic partnership with Google in a ten-year deal that will bring the US tech giant's new generative AI-powered devices to customers across Europe and Africa

Vodafone, Google deepen AI ties across Europe, Africa

Vodafone said today it has deepened its strategic partnership with Google in a ten-year, billion dollar plus deal that would bring the US tech giant's new generative AI-powered devices to customers across Europe and Africa.

Business • 08 Oct 24

Epic Games has accused Google and Samsung of conspiring to protect Google's Play store from competition

Epic accuses Samsung, Google of scheme to block rivals

"Fortnite" video game maker Epic Games has today accused Alphabet's Google and Samsung, the world's largest Android phone manufacturer, of conspiring to protect Google's Play store from competition.

Business • 30 Sep 24

In July, the tech giant scrapped longstanding plans to remove cookies

'Concerns remain' over Google's ad-privacy plan

Google's online advertising practices face renewed scrutiny in Britain, after the competition watchdog said today that "concerns remain" over the company's plans to retain third-party cookies as part of its Chrome browser.

Business • 24 Sep 24

Google is accused of placing ads alongside climate change denial articles which makes money for both it and website publisher The Epoch Times

Google accused of profiting from climate change denial

Google's advertising business has been accused of financing and earning money from articles promoting climate change denial published on a far-right website.

Business • 23 Sep 24

Europe's second-top court has backed Google's challenge against a €1.49 billion antitrust fine imposed five years ago

EU court annuls €1.5 billion Google antitrust fine

Alphabet unit Google won a legal challenge today against a €1.49 billion European Union antitrust fine, while Qualcomm failed to repeal a penalty.

Business • 18 Sep 24

The Data Protection Commission said a Data Protection Impact Assessment is of 'crucial importance'

Irish data watchdog launches inquiry into Google AI model

The Irish Data Protection Commission has opened an inquiry into whether Google complied with EU privacy laws in the development of one of its artificial intelligence models.

Science and Technology • 12 Sep 24

The European Union's Digital Markets Act came into effect in 2022, aiming to rein in the power of Big Tech and ensure a level playing field for smaller rivals

FACTBOX - European regulators crack down on Big Tech

European regulators have launched a series of investigations into Big Tech in recent years

Business • 10 Sep 24

The fine is one of three penalties levied by the European Commission against Google in the last decade

EU court upholds Google's €2.4 billion EU antitrust fine

Alphabet's Google has today lost its fight against a €2.42 billion fine levied by EU antitrust regulators seven years ago, one of a trio of hefty fines meted out to the company for various anti-competitive practices.

Business • 10 Sep 24

The UK Competition and Markets Authority said it believed Google was using anti-competitive practices in open display ad tech through the preference of its own ad exchange

Google abusing power over website ads, UK regulator says

Britain's antitrust regulator said today it had provisionally found Alphabet's Google had abused its dominant position in digital advertising to restrict competition.

Business • 06 Sep 24

The tech giants have faced scrutiny around the world over the dominance of their respective App Store and Google Play store platforms

UK watchdog closes probe into Apple, Google app stores

Britain's competition watchdog has closed its existing investigations into Apple and Google's respective app stores, awaiting new laws governing digital markets.

Business • 21 Aug 24

Epic Games has been in a long-running battle with Apple and Google over the terms and conditions applied to their app stores

Epic Games launches app store to bypass Apple & Google

Fortnite-creator Epic Games has launched its own app store that allows users to bypass the stores run by Apple and Google.

Business • 16 Aug 24

Google Dublin pub plan gets permission despite opposition

Google has secured approval for the development of a new pub within its campus near the Grand Canal Dock in Dublin, despite strong objections from a group of local residents.

Business • 13 Aug 24

Susan Wojcicki was one of the most prominent women in tech

Former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki dies aged 56

YouTube's former chief executive and long-time Google executive Susan Wojcicki has died aged 56 after a two-year battle with lung cancer.

World • 10 Aug 24

Google parent Alphabet has beaten second-quarter revenue and profit estimates

Alphabet beats Q2 revenue, profit estimates on strong ads

Alphabet has beaten second-quarter revenue and profit estimates, driven by a rise in digital advertising sales and healthy demand for its cloud computing services, but flagged that capital expenses would remain high for the year.

Business • 24 Jul 24

The Information Commissioner's Office expressed disappointment towards Google's change of plans (file photo)

Google drops plans to remove third-party ad cookies

Google is dropping its plans to remove third-party advertising cookies from its Chrome web browser, around five years after launching a scheme looking for ways to carry out the process.

Business • 23 Jul 24