Google gets grilled at start of Big Tech hearing

By Allison Matyus July 29, 2020

Congress began its Big Tech hearing by grilling Google CEO Sundar Pichai over stealing content from other businesses and diverting traffic to their own sites.

U.S. Representative David Cicilline (D-RI), started off by asking Pichai, “Why does Google steal content from honest businesses?” Cicilline cited investigations they conducted and interviews from other businesses.

Recommended Videos

Pichai argued that Google supports 1.4 million small businesses, but Cicilline cited an instance in which Google stole restaurant reviews from Yelp in 2010 and “threatened to delist Yelp entirely.”

Google CEO Sundar Pichai — House of Representatives

Cicilline called Google’s business model a problem and a “proliferating threat,” adding that Google searches favor whatever is most profitable for Google.

“We have always focused on providing users the most relevant information,” Pichai responded, adding, “A vast majority of queries on Google don’t show ads at all.”

Pichai said that Google gets more than $100 million in ad revenue a year.

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Allison Matyus is a general news reporter at Digital Trends. She covers any and all tech news, including issues around social…

Computing

Microsoft prompts to switch to the Edge browser are starting to get ridiculous

microsoft edge gets startup boost feature take on chrome new

Microsoft is continuing its attempts to entice you to make Edge your default browser by incorporating various prompts that try to discourage those who want to download Google Chrome.

As spotted by Neowin, the new pop-ups in Microsoft’s Edge browser appear when users search for terms related to downloading Chrome via the company’s own Bing search engine or when they visit the Chrome download page.

Mobile

Google’s At a Glance widget for Pixel 6 series is on the cusp of a big update

The rear panel of the Google Pixel 6 Pro.

It has almost become a custom for Google to debut several exclusive features every time it announces new Pixel smartphones. This year, for example, we saw the company revamp the popular At a Glance option with a host of new feature additions, some of which are already live on the Pixel 6 series. Now, it seems there are more features on the way.

The usually trustworthy folks at 9to5Google recently performed an APK teardown of the beta version of the Android System Intelligence app for the Pixel 6 series. After closely examining the various lines of code within the APK, they were able to deduce that Google intends to soon enhance the At a Glance feature with several new capabilities.

Mobile

Pixel 3a confirmed to get Android 12L even as Google winds down Pixel 3 support

Google Pixel 3a XL hands on.

With the announcement of Android 12L, Google shared a list of Pixel phones expected to receive the beta when it began the testing period in December. While the Pixel 3 was understandably absent, Google also didn't include the newer Pixel 3a -- which was taken as an indication that it was likely not going to get the newer Android version when it rolls out. Fortunately, that's not the case, as Google confirmed to Digital Trends over email that it was an oversight and documentation would be updated shortly.

According to Google, the Android 12L beta will be going out to the following Pixel phones: Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6, Pixel 5a with 5G, Pixel 5, Pixel 4a (5G), Pixel 4a, and Pixel 4. It will not be coming to the Pixel 3, which received its last guaranteed update with Android 12. The Pixel 3's exclusion is a little weird, though. Launched in May of 2019, Google promises updates for up to three years post-launch. As indicated by the company's Pixel software support list, this means the Pixel 3a should expect major updates through May of 2022.