Google has reported the rising number of requests it receives from governments to remove websites and contents.
The firm released its latest transparency report to reveal which world governments had the most number of requests and how frequent they ask Google for information on users and online content.
“This is the sixth time we’ve released this data, and one trend has become clear: Government surveillance is on the rise,” said Dorothy Chou, a senior policy analyst of Google, …

Google Shopping has added several new tools to help shoppers, retailers and manufacturers gain a head start over shopping for the holiday season.
Vineet Buch, Group Product Manager of Google Shopping, posted on the Inside AdWords blog that consumers who search for toy subsets on Google Shopping will now see 360-degree interactive images of the products to bring an in-store feeling even when browsing online.
“Look for the ‘3D’ swivel icon on the product image to see a toy in 360-degree …

Globe Telecom, in association with Google, launched on Thursday, November 8, a new service called Free Zone in a move that will see millions of people get free access to Google’s services from any Internet-capable handset.
Free Zone, a joint project between the search giant and the Philippine telecoms carrier, allows basic handsets or feature phones with Internet access to use Google products and services such as Search, Gmail, and Google+ gratis. It provides free access to websites shown on …

Google changes the appearance of the Google Search result page, simplifying the way we access the search parameters list.
If until now we could chose the desired result category and parameters used for searching the left list of results, this menu has been relocated under the search box, leaving more room for the list of results, and the Knowlege Graph section, which displays information from the archives Wikipedia.

The new Google Search menu displayed horizontally is more breezy than before …

With the usual regularity, Google has released the Chrome 23 browser version, bringing improvements to the interface and optimizing hardware acceleration on graphic processors.

If the performance is virtually identical to the previous version, Chrome 23 promises an autonomy improvement in self-portable Windows systems using hardware decoding by about 25 percent compared to conventional CPU decoding.
Also the Omnibox address bar received a small update, the Site Information icon received a …

Google has failed on its promise to reduce the ranking of alleged piracy websites, accuse the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) of the UK and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
The search and online advertising giant previously swore to stop so-called piracy websites from appearing in its search results, which would have helped media consortiums shoot down infringements on their sacred copyrights.
After it gave Google time to take action, the UK’s DCMS is now accusing it of …

Yahoo! and Samsung unwrapped on Tuesday, November 5, a multi-year agreement that will see the Yahoo! Broadcast Interactivity platform integrate into 2012 models of Samsung Smart TVs.
Running on SoundPrint, Yahoo!’s automatic content recognition (ACR) technology, Yahoo! Broadcast Interactivity will deploy into Samsung SyncPlus to open opportunities for smart content discovery, ads and user involvement.
Based on the partnership, owners of Samsung Smart TVs will receive interactive content, …

Google, in coordination with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), launched on November 1 a service for abducted children on its google.org project Public Alerts.
Google Public Alerts is a platform that provides emergency alerts from across the Internet whenever and wherever they are most relevant. The new addition, AMBER Alerts, aims to help take home safely all the missing children.
Visitors of Google Search or Maps on desktop, laptop, and mobile devices will …

Google has fine-tuned Gmail for users to refer easily old messages when composing a new one.
Previous implementations of the search giant’s email service restricted users who wanted to create a new email from the rest of the inbox’s contents. Gmail users had to close the compose box – automatically saving the message as draft – to dig into other email messages for some details.
New emails now open in a floating window hovering above the Gmail page, allowing access to all other messages …

Google services went pitch black for six minutes on Thursday morning, November 1 (UTC+8), as the search giant experienced some undisclosed difficulties, throwing about 10 percent of its users into utter bewilderment and panic.
Google users who logged into Gmail exposed the problem after they were welcomed with a temporary message on desktop and laptop computers, while iPhone users encountered a message about either a wrong username or password. A multitude of confused, panicky users vented …