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Google’s initiative to cut Play Store fee might help ‘boutique’ apps but not big developers

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There are thousands of developers around the world that are new in the business world and face struggle due to the 30 percent fee for their apps in the Google Play Store. For new developers, cutting 30 percent fee is a lot as compared to their annual revenue. So, Google has decided to bring down the fees from 30 percent to 15 percent for the developers whose annual revenue is less than $1 million. However, for the big developers, the fees will stay intact to 30 percent fees for putting their apps on Google Play Store.

This new amendment by Google will come into action from 1st July 2021. The new reduction in commission fees by Google will affect the new start-ups, individual developers, and boutique firms in a very positive way, says Manjunath Bhat, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner to The Indian Express. He also added that “It will have little to no impact on large established application development companies in India.” (The Indian Express)

Boosting Developer Success

Sameer Samat, Vice President of Product Management, Google has written in a blog post on 16th March 2021 about how Google appreciates helping new developers make a big and sustainable business. Google always looks forward to helping new brands establish and support them with powerful marketing tools. This is because building a brand from scratch and putting the app on the record is not a very easy task. He also mentioned that Google is constantly striving to help these new developers bring their innovative ideas into real life and “give them an added boost.”

Google Play Store
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He has specifically mentioned that the deduction of the commission fees from 30 percent to 15 percent is only for the first $1 million revenue earned by a developer each year. With the huge reduction in commission fees, around 99 percent of the total global developers will have a huge impact on their businesses. And, this amount of figure can be used by the developers to scale up their business, effective marketing implementations, hiring new employees, expanding geographically, etc.

Why cut the commission fees?

In an early-stage business, the investment is always high to set the business, hire people, create a position, and marketing. So, with the reduction in the commission fees, the developers will have a much stable early-stage start-up and open more doors for them to succeed. Google thinks that this is the first step on behalf of the company to help each and every developer out there. More details will be shared regarding this incentive in the upcoming months. Google Play and Android together are trying to build a better ecosystem thus scaling up to more business and uplifting the developers’ community. Moreover, small businesses contribute significantly to the GDP of a nation, hence if they start growing rapidly it will benefit the economy of the country.

Similar initiatives by Apple

Apple also took a similar initiative last year as the company brought the commission rate down to 15 percent from 30 percent as well. But, there is a difference in how Apple proceeded with the Apple Store Small Business Program. For the Apple Store, the reduction rate is only applicable to those who make less than $1 million a year in terms of annual sales. Once they start selling above $1 million, they have to pay the standard 30 percent fees. But, Google is considering a 50 percent reduction in commission fees on the first $1 million regardless of the total revenue earned by the developer.

In the last few months, both Google and Apple have come under big allegations because of their fees and other rules. It is true that these two tech giants control more or less the entire smartphone market and the tech industry. So, many developers have no option but to abide by the rules laid by these two companies. (The Indian Express). With the reduction rate in Google’s commission fees for Play Store, many people have made several positive comments on it.

For instance, Rajan Navani, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of JetSynthesys, said, “I think in a way it helps support the Indian ecosystem, especially the smaller developers.” He also added that “ It’s a good move because with new developers coming in, more companies will engage with citizens through digital payments.” The main target of taking this initiative is to give developers better chances to scale their business and overall democratizing access to Play Store in India.

Google

Microsoft and Google are openly feuding amidst hacks, competition inquiries

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The rivalry between Microsoft and Google is getting exposed in front of the public as both of them are trying to throw each other off the grid. Microsoft and Google are two of the biggest tech giants across the globe and competition between them are getting intense with time. The daily lives of common people in this digital era depend greatly on both of these company’s services.

When you are leading on the market, there are high chances of getting on the wrong side of companies you are trying to outrun. The same goes for American multinational companies, Microsoft and Alphabet Inc’s Google. Tension has been simmering between these two parties has grown due to the existing rivalry and has been unusually exposed to the public eye. The main reason for this sudden increase in tension is that the executives from both companies have been put on the defensive over competing crises (Reuters).

Problems faced by Google and Microsoft

Since both Google and Microsoft are multinational tech giants, both of their infrastructures are expected to top standards, especially on security terms. But, in the last few months, we have seen how Microsoft’s security system was compromised and recently the exchange email system was also hacked by alleged Chinese hackers. There has been more than one cyber attack on Microsoft in less than six months. Microsoft, for these cyber attacks, is facing regular scrutiny, and if continues people using Microsoft’s products will start feeling exposed. Big companies like Microsoft have data of millions of customers and thus if networks of such companies are hacked, the sensitive information of many people is jeopardized.

Google
Image Source: financialexpress.com

The first attack on Microsoft’s cloud server was allegedly the same Russian hackers who comprised the SolarWinds Corp and broke into more than one client’s server. The investigation also showed that these hackers might have accessed data from government agencies as well. Moreover, this hacking incident was one of the biggest cyberattacks ever witnessed by these tech firms. And, the second attack on Microsoft’s email server took place at the beginning of March 2021 and was committed allegedly by Chinese hackers to which Beijing declined.

On the other hand, Google is thrashed by bipartisan complaints and journalism ire for its role in gutting the media industry’s advertising revenue. Between October 2020 and December 2020, Google has faced three government antitrust lawsuits which claimed that Google was illegally maintaining a monopoly in general search and search advertising through anticompetitive conduct and contracts (CNBC). Apart from this, Google was also one of the company’s that was forced to make paid deals with local Australian media for content publishing. The Australian government enforced this law on huge tech giants who have massive power in the media industry.

The Blame game

On the hearing of last Friday at a House Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, Brad Smith, President of Microsoft, shot fire at Google. Brad Smith said to the representatives that the media organizations are being forced to “use Google’s tools, operate on Google’s ad exchanges, contribute data to Google’s operations, and pay Google money,” according to excerpts of his testimony published by Axios (Reuters). Google didn’t take it lightly and fired back saying that Microsoft has found a newfound interest in attacking Google which is coming from the SolarWinds attack when the latter allowed many big customers to be hacked due to major vulnerabilities of Microsoft. Some of these customers also include government agencies, police agencies, NATO, hospitals, etc.

Android 12

Leaked Screenshots Gives a Flash of the Android 12 Updated Features.

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There has been a history with the tech companies and their upcoming products’ information leak. We do not know that these companies leak the information purposely, or these are mere accidents. But those leaks have always been helpful for the general public to get a peek of new products before they get launched. This time we have got a chance to know about the features of Google’s upcoming OS for Android, i.e., Android 12, as some of the screenshots related to its features are out in the public, ‘accidentally’.

Android 12

With every Android OS release Google releases and shares the documentation and source code of the product with its partners so that they get enough time to prepare their devices for the same. This year too, before the beta release of the OS, Google shared the draft with its partners, but somehow, this draft along with some screenshots got leaked online, which is enough to derive a lot of information regarding the product.

Android 12
Image Source: androidpolice.com

Android 12 Features

The leaked documentation has got a defined summary of the features of Android 12, including the new UI and some functional changes made to the OS. Though the screenshots have revealed only a few features, these say a lot about the new Android OS. Looking at the screenshots, we can conclude that the company has done a lot of work on the UI of the new OS. The new OS has got a new notification panel, new privacy features, and a new widget selection feature.

The New UI

Android 12
Image Source: mobilesyrup.com

Google has given a new look to the notification panel of the OS, to make it look more attractive. In the previous Android OS versions, the notification panel is transparent, but the Android 12 has got an opaque light beige background. The notifications on the panel, too, have got a change in the form of an even more pronounced rounded corner for each. In the earlier OS versions, six quick setting icons would fit above the notifications, but now you will get to put only four, but bigger, icons there. The places of the date and time on the top has also been interchanged, and in the top right-hand corner, you can see new icons probably related to user privacy.

The Privacy Icons

There are speculations that these new privacy indicators are made to warn the user when an app is using their camera or microphone. The users will also have the option to turn off the camera or the microphone, through toggles. The new privacy feature will also let the users toggle their location access for the apps. In the previous versions of OS, the user could enable or disable the sensors of their device, but that was only possible if the developer’s option was enabled. But with the new advanced privacy features, there is a possibility that the option to turn the sensors on or off may be available on the Privacy settings of the device. These features have already been under tests for over two years, having them in the new OS would be an impressive move from the company.

The Converasation Widget

Apart from these new features, we can see a new conversation widget in the screenshots. Looking at the screenshot, we can guess that these conversation widgets will show recent messages, missed calls, or activity statuses from the user’s contacts. Since we can see that these widgets show pictures or avatars of the contacts sending messages or making calls and is comparatively smaller in size, it will only show one message/call/status at a time. According to the reports, we can see Google making these widgets mandatory for all its Android OS. This will act as a People’s shortcut for the contacts and will be managed under the PeopleManager class. Along with mandating the conversation widget, Google may also make the privacy indicators for the microphone, camera, and location mandatory for all its OSs.

These are the features that we have concluded from the leaked screenshots but will get to know more about the Android 12 only after the official release of the Compatibility Definition Document (CDD) for Android 12.  The OS will go under its Developer Previews and Betas later this month, and the final launch for the OS will occur by the end of the year.

Timnit Gebru

Two Google engineers resigned after the company fired AI researcher, Timnit Gebru

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A lot of disputes have been taking place in Alphabet Inc’s Google regarding ethics and work culture among the company’s employees. The intensity of the situation has been rattled as two engineers of Google resigned after the company dismissed the AI researcher Timnit Gebru. From the engineering department, one engineering director and a software developer quit Google and it’s a sign of not approving of the departure of Timnit Gebru.

Diversity and ethics have become a point of conflict on Google for some time now as David Baker, an employee of Google resigned last month. He worked at Google for sixteen years and during his departure, he said that Gebru’s dismissal “extinguished my desire to continue as a Googler”(witnessed by Reuters). David Baker worked as a director in the user safety division in Google. He also mentioned that the environment of Google was acting against the belief of diversity though it claimed otherwise. His exact words were “We cannot say we believe in diversity, and then ignore the conspicuous absence of many voices from within our walls.”

Resignation of Kannan

Vinesh Kannan, a software engineer who worked at Google resigned on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he tweeted about his resignation and that Google mistreated Timnit Gebru. He also mentioned April Christina Curley, an ex-employee of Google who claimed that she was wrongly fired by the company. The dismissal of April took place last year which means that the tension regarding diversity in work culture is going on in Google for a long time. Kannan also mentioned that both of them were wrong but Google declined to comment on this. The company has assured that it is trying its best to restore trust between the company and its employees, also it disputes April’s accusations.

Why the sudden disputes?

The tension regarding the departure of Timnit has been growing for the last few months. The workers in Google have demanded academic freedom and management commitments in the company’s research organization. In December, around 2,600 employees of Google signed a letter supporting Timnit, and last month more than 800 people joined a union to bring advancement in workplace protection.

The story of Timnit Gebru

Timnit Gebru is one of the most leading Black women who have a very impactful contribution in the field of ethical AI. Last year, Timnit was promoted by Google as the co-leader of a group focussed on ethical AI due to her remarkable performance in annual employee appraisal. After she was promoted, Jeff Dean, head of Google AI, only made a single comment regarding what she and her team are supposed to focus on. He mentioned that Timnit and her team should look forward to building software for processing human language that should abide by the AI principles of the company.

Timnit Gebru
Image Source: miro.medium.com

There was an exchange of email conversations between Timnit and Jeff during October 2020. Timnit informed Jeff that her team was working on a paper which was regarding the same area of understanding the complexity of language while Jeff told her that he would be interested in reading it. And, after six weeks of that conversation, Timnit was surprisingly fired by Google. She was on her vacation when she received the news.

Explaining Timnit’s departure

After Timnit was fired by Google, Jeff tried to explain the situation to his other employees. Jeff mentioned that the paper she and her team was working on didn’t meet the publication bar of the company. He also mentioned that the paper was missing relevant information regarding the recent improvements done in this field. While Timnit’s superiors tried to convince her to retract the paper Google’s Research team mentioned that the previous works of authors who claimed benefits of large language models were not scrutinized properly before approval. This created a lot of fuss questioning Google’s scrutiny process.

Google Stadia

Google announced the shut down of Stadia in-house game development studios

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On 1st Feb 2021, Google announced to shut down its internal game development for Stadia for not being able to meet high rising costs of the same. “Creating best-in-class games from the ground up takes many years and significant investment, and the cost is going up exponentially,” said Phil Harrison, VP, and general manager of Google Stadia, in a blog post. From now on, Google’s game streaming service will be entirely dependent on the titles of other external game developers and game publishers. It is really unfortunate to witness the internal cloud-based game streaming service of Google shut down within a couple of years.

When Stadia was launched in 2019, the internal game development unit was expected to make titles for the service. But, with a heavy chest, the company has declared yesterday about shutting the internal game development unit. The in-house game development is costly and monetarily the company is not planning to invest in it. Phil Harrison also mentioned that Jade Raymond, Head of Google Stadia’s Games and Entertainment, will quit the company.

About Google Stadia

Google Stadia is a platform where one can play any online modern games using your smart devices. One doesn’t need to download or install the Stadia platform. Anyone who wants to play online games on Stadia can do it from television using a Chromecast Ultra, desktop, laptop, smartphone ( currently Pixel 3 and 3a models). If one has an internet speed of at least 35Mbps, Google Stadia can stream 4K resolution gameplay with HDR at 60fps.

Google Stadia
Image Source: pcgamer.com

In 2019, the company revealed the full online gaming platform where it provides two different options for playing games. One needs to buy a $10 per month Stadia Pro subscription. The user can either access Stadia’s game library on a remote server or can download and install the games on the computer. Some of the available games on Google Stadia are Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Attack on Titan 2: Final Battle, Baldur’s Gate 3, Borderlands 3, Cake Bash, Celeste, Crayta, The Crew 2, etc.

Future prospect of Google Stadia

Google launched the Stadia platform with the hope to stream online games across the globe. The best advantage of playing in Google Stadia is you don’t have to download or install any software and have access to the game anywhere and anytime. Recently with the success of Cyberpunk 2077, Google Stadia has proved the flexibility of this online game streaming service at a global level. Though the internal game development studio has been shut down, Google will still invest in the Stadia platform to give its users and potential customers the best cloud gaming experience ever. In the blog post by Harrison, he also mentioned that Google Stadia will still work to stream games on every possible screen in the future.

Google Stadia in 2021 has plans to invest and help the independent game developers take advantage of the Stadia platform and deliver their games directly to the players. Stadia’s gaming infrastructures are impressive and thus Google here has an opportunity to partner with interested gaming companies who want a streaming service for their games. In this way, Stadia can become a long-term sustainable solution for many game developers out there and big enterprises in the gaming industry as well. The internal development team, SDG&E will move to different roles in the Stadia. Currently, Google Stadia will focus more on establishing strong partnerships.

Other gaming opportunities

With Google Stadia’s in-house game development shutting down, new opportunities are also rising simultaneously in other companies. Asus in partnership with AFK Gaming has launched the ROG Academy Programme in India. This new program is bringing immense opportunities for all the budding game developers to participate in this contest and win existing opportunities. The gaming culture is constantly evolving in India and abroad thus opening new windows of opportunities and taking gaming seriously as a profession. The independent game developers can also use Google Stadia to stream their games and deliver them to the users if they are good enough. With time, more chances will come in the way of game developers in the upcoming years.

Google

Google to block search engine for Australian users if the government enforces new code

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Due to the new law from the Australian government, Google has said that it will shut down the search engine for Australian users if it has to pay for news. According to this new code the Australian government is trying to enforce, big tech companies like Google and Facebook have to pay local media companies for the right to use their content (Reuters). Google has mentioned clearly that if the Australian government enforces this new code, 19 million Australian users will have to face degraded search quality and YouTube experience.

Enforcement of the new code

The Australian government is preparing to pass a law that will make the big tech companies like Facebook and Google negotiate with the local publishers. This means that Google will now have to bargain a payment for these local channels and broadcasters whose contents are displayed in the Google search results. The government has further decided that if the companies among themselves cannot strike a deal then an arbitrator from the Australian government itself will fix a price.

Google is not even considering playing by the rules this time and hence completely declined to negotiate any price with the local publishers. The company has made a public announcement clearly sending the message that if the law is enforced Google search in Australia will degrade. Today, Mel Silva, Managing Director of Google Australia and New Zealand said at a public hearing that if this new code is enforced as law, Google will have no choice but to make Google search engine unavailable in Australia.

Further, Silva spoke about the impact of the new proposed law, that is, the News Media Bargaining code on Australian small businesses, publishers, and users as well. She said that the most concerning part of this new code is to pay for links and snippets in the search which will have a negative impact on the business as well as the digital economy. Silva also mentioned that the company has already reached News Showcase agreements with 7 publishers in Australia. So, with a few slights amendments in this new code, none has to sacrifice or adjust here a great deal to use Google.

How did Australia respond to Google’s reaction?

Since Google mentioned clearly that if the new law is enforced, Google will have no choice but to block the search engine for Australian users, Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia has made few sharp comments. In response to Google’s comment, Morrison said that in Australia they have rules for “things you can do in Australia.” He further mentioned that those who will abide by these laws are most welcome to work in Australia but the country will not respond to any form of threats.

Google

Apart from Morrison’s comment in response to what Google has said, many critical views have surfaced against these tech giants. Rod Sims, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair has said that these companies tend to strike a deal when they are in full power or have full control. And according to him “that’s not a commercial deal.”

Effect on Google

Google says that the search ads contribute to Google’s annual revenue and profit largely at a global level. So, if the company even offers a limited search tool for Australian users without any revision of this new code, it will be risky for the company. Google has called this new law very overly broad and hence it wants revision before the company is in a position to negotiate. The United States government has also asked the Australian government to scrap this new law and bring a more voluntary code instead. Australia proposed this new legislation last month after an investigation on the media market.

The government realized that companies like Google and Facebook have too much power in the media industry which might turn into a big threat in a democratic country. It is also noted that the statement from Google to limit its search engine for the Australian users came only hours after it struck a deal with some French news publisher. This content-payment deal is a three-year, $1.3 billion agreement to support publishers. (Reuters)