German federal court raps Google on the knuckles over autocomplete function (Deutsche Welle)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s autocomplete function has just had its first day in court. When you type a name, Google search plays word association. But the results are not always to the subject’s liking. It’s as if it was planned – like a bad joke. It was Google.de and an entrepreneur’s name was linked to Scientology, even though they claim never to have had anything to do with it. The case made it to a German federal court, with the judges ruling in favor of the plaintiff. They say the entrepreneur suffered an infringement of his personal rights. Its most prominent “victim” in Germany was Bettina Wulff, the wife of the former president Christian Wulff. When her name was googled, the search engine’s autocomplete function would spit out phrases such as “red light district” and “escort.”
Google Play Gets a New Look in Version 4.1.6 (Mashable)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has updated its Google Play store for Android to version 4.1.6, bringing a change in design and several other improvements. The new, colorful home buttons (Apps, Games, Movies, Music, Books and Magazines) on Google Play are the biggest visual change in this release. There were also updates to the Application pages, as well as the Wishlist, which now shows apps in rows of three.
Google share price breaks through $900 (Financial Times)
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s share price broke through $900 early on Wednesday, pushing its market value above $300bn for the first time, as the internet search giant prepared to flex its technological muscles at its annual developer day in San Francisco. A 2 per cent rise in morning trading in New York, lifting the shares above $906, continued the powerful rally that has lifted Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s value by some 60 per cent in the past ten months. The surge came as investors shook off their earlier worries about a potential collapse in pricing for Google’s advertising as users moved increasingly to mobile devices.
AT&T CEO: We’ll piggyback on Google’s Fiber rollout plans (CNET)
AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) seems perfectly willing to let Google blaze the trail when it comes to fiber-optic deployment. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has said it plans to deploy its fiber network in select neighborhoods in Austin, Texas. AT&T Inc. has also said it would also like to build a fiber network, but under the same kinds of terms and conditions. “We will probably piggyback on the rules and terms and condition that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) received in Austin and do our own build in Austin,” CEO Randall Stephenson said during an investor conference on Wednesday.
