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Google Search Trends in India for 2021: Indian Premier League, CoWIN Among The Top Results.

A Google India report summarizing the top search trends in India for 2021 was released today by the company. The list reveals what Indians looked up the most in news, sports, entertainment, and other categories throughout the year.
The top five trending search topics on Google Search Trends in India in 2021 were ‘Indian Premier League,’ ‘CoWIN,’ ‘ICC T20 World Cup,’ ‘Euro Cup,’ and ‘Tokyo Olympics.’ Following the last COVID-19 outbreak in the country, many internet users turned to Google to look for COVID vaccines and hospitals. This year searches for ‘oxygen cylinders’ and ‘CT scans’ saw a spike in ‘near me’ searches as people looked for ways to combat the deadly virus. Similarly, Google searches for food deliveries, tiffin services, and takeout restaurants increased this year, according to the company.

Google’s Most Popular ‘How To’ And ‘What Is’ Queries

In April and May, India was hit hard by the second wave of COVID-19, which resulted in an increase in cases and deaths. The ‘How to’ section topped the search chart during the massive crisis, with queries like ‘How to increase oxygen level’, ‘How to make oxygen at home’, and ‘How to register for covid vaccine’. These are the year’s top three ‘how to’ searches.
‘What is Black Fungus?’ and ‘What is Remdesivir?’ was the most popular ‘what is’ searches. ‘What is Taliban?’ and ‘What is the factorial of hundred?’ ranked highly as well.

2021 Searches For “Near Me”

This year’s ‘near me’ searches were dominated by services related to the pandemic. While many people searched for vaccines, Covid tests, Covid hospitals, oxygen cylinders, and CT scans as they fought the second wave of COVID in the first half of the year, searches for vaccines, Covid tests, Covid hospitals, and searches for oxygen cylinders and CT scans also increased.
In addition, Google revealed that people looking for food deliveries, tiffin services, and takeout restaurants increased as a result of the intermittent lockdowns.

Aryan Khan and Neeraj Chopra: Two Of The Most Sought-After Celebrities

With his historic performance at the Tokyo Olympics, where he won independent India’s first-ever medal in athletics, Neeraj Chopra topped the list of most searched personalities. Following him was Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan, who faced a major controversy in October after he was arrested by the NCB in connection with a suspected drug case on board the Cordelia cruise ship.
The list also included PV Sindhu and Bajrang Punia, two other 2020 Tokyo Olympic medalists. A few high-profile people topped the list, including Elon Musk, Shehnaaz Gill, and Raj Kundra.

Google’s Most Popular Movies Of The Year

Regional cinema piqued the interest of Google users in India this year, with Tamil drama film Jai Bhim topping the list, followed by Bollywood titles Shershaah, Radhe, and Bell Bottom. Godzilla vs Kong and Eternals, both from Hollywood, were among the year’s most popular films in the country.

Google’s Most Popular Recipes

Because people stayed at home for the first few months of the year, many of them appear to have used Google to find new recipes. ‘Enoki Mushrooms’ was the top-searched recipe on Google in India this year, though ‘Modak’ and ‘Cookies’ were also popular. The top recipes searched on Google this year included comfort foods like ‘Methi Matar Malai’ and ‘Palak,’ as well as immunity-boosting ‘Kada.’

Trending Sports Events On Google

The Indian Premier League, the ICC T20 World Cup, and the Euro Cup were the top three sports events searched on Google in India, according to Google. The Tokyo Olympics and the Copa America were the next events on the calendar.

Trending News Events on Google

This year, the Tokyo Olympics dominated the ‘news events’ category on Google in India. Black Fungus, Afghanistan news, West Bengal elections, and tropical cyclone Tauktae were the next items on the agenda.

Global Trends

Google also revealed the top search trends around the world, in addition to the top trends in India. The top search trend is ‘Australia vs India,’ followed by ‘India vs England,’ ‘IPL,’ ‘NBA,’ and ‘Euro 2021.’ These come from over 70 countries and include ‘Australia vs India,’ ‘India vs England,’ ‘IPL,’ ‘NBA,’ and ‘Euro 2021.’
It’s worth noting that Google’s Year in Search results for 2021 doesn’t directly suggest the most popular searches on its site. Instead, the company views the searches as “trending queries” that saw a significant increase in traffic over a “sustained period” in 2021 compared to 2020. The algorithm that compares the percentage increase in trending searches also takes into account a minimum threshold to keep very small search volumes off the list.
Last year, the top Google search queries were ‘coronavirus,’ ‘US election results,’ and ‘PM Kisan Yojana,’ but this year, the top trending query was ‘Indian Premier League,’ which surpassed all others.

Team YTS

Google’s Play Store becomes the victim of Antitrust Lawsuit filed by the Multiple States.

Leave a Comment / Google, News, Tech News / By Annasha

It is not new that many nations have targeted big multinational companies like Google and Facebook earlier for their exceptional market power. Google has become the main target of many states this time for the offensive revolt against Big Tech. On 7th July, attorney generals from thirty-six states and the District of Columbia filed an antitrust lawsuit which targets Google’s Play Store. This is the fourth major antitrust lawsuit that the US government officials have charged Goggle with in the past ten months. The US states are targeting Play Store this time which is the power hub of any Android device in order to download applications.

The Antitrust Lawsuit

The complaint launched against Google constitutes 144 pages and it was filed late on Wednesday. All the nations have filed the lawsuit together in a Northern California federal court against Google. Several attacks on a large tech conglomerate like Google will begin to form a stale relationship between the US nations and the company and most of the time common people become the victim of such battles. People are immensely dependent on the services and products provided by Google’s Play Store and any disruption of these services would cause a huge loss for the Android users and more.

Also, the lawsuit filed against Google also comes as a backdrop of proposed laws in Congress curated in a way that will either break up or undermine the massive power of the company (The Indian Express). Though the antitrust lawsuit of yesterday has been filed against Google, the target here is every giant tech company like Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook that holds unfathomable power in the market. Each of these four companies have built a trillion-dollar market due to the huge popularity of their services and a huge fraction of the population using it.

Reason for Filing Lawsuit

The recent lawsuit resembles the one filed by Epic, mobile game maker voicing against both Google and Apple. Epic raised the concern about the control that Google exerts on the Play Store. It mentioned that Google collects commission for up to 30 percent for digital transactions taking place in these apps that are run on Android and installed by the users. And, these Android users accounts for almost 80 percent of the total smartphone market. Epic has filed against both Apple and Google but the trial with Google is still awaiting.

The commission charged by Google is similar to the terms of Apple but Google also allows its customers to download applications from other sites apart from Play Store. But, Apple users can strictly install apps only from its store and no other outlets. But, the lawsuit filed yesterday specifically mentions that it seems like Google’s android software is an open operating system but in real life it doesn’t allow customers with much choices.

Allegations Against Google’s Play Store

The complaint says that over the years Google has deployed many tactics to create unhealthy competition. Google made sure that it distributes more than 90 percent app on these Android devices which according to the nations is an illegal monopoly. The government officials says that it is hurting the developers of these apps who have less resources to innovate. Sean Reyes, Utah Attorney General has said that Google’s monopoly is creating a havoc in the marketplace as it is harming small businesses and consumers.

In response to all these allegations Google didn’t instantly respond to a request for a lawsuit. But, Google has been targeted by multiple nations in the past one year and it is defending itself confidently in each case. The concerns have grown against the dominant power of its search engine as well as its digital network that generates more than $100 billion revenue for Alphabet Inc. Previously in response to how small businesses were getting affected by 30 percent commission cut, Google reduced it to 15 percent for the first $1 million revenue. But, even after doing so the situation didn’t cool down and several nations are still trying to dilute the power of these four biggest companies.

Annasha

Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more

Security Changes in Google will Disrupt Old Links of Drive and YouTube.

Leave a Comment / Google, News, Tech News / By Team YTS

Public links to an untold number of Google Drive items will soon cease to work. Google is changing the ways in which link sharing is handled on both services in the name of increased security, and even if active users are allowed to choose from the switch, abandoned files and videos on unused or inactive accounts can simply go unnoticed.

Security Changes in YouTube Links

Because shared links are now part of a newer system, Google says security is increased. The newer links on YouTube would appear to be harder to guess or access for anyone without explicit access. The newer links also have the effect of connecting more activity to specific accounts and requiring viewers to connect to a user profile that allows access to be tracked and included.

On YouTube, any publicly available videos, but labeled “Unlisted,” will have an effect. As described in a 5-minute video and blog post by YouTube, any unlisted videos uploaded before 2017 will be changed to a private one on July 23, 2017. The way private video works now, killing any old links or embedding, as well as limiting sharing to up to 50 people — all of whom require a Google account to view it. As a reminder, you and the people you choose can only view private videos. Once these videos are made privately on July 23rd, any previously used link will no longer function as Unlisted.

To retain your unlisted videos in their unlisted state, you should fill out this form by 23 July 2021 before 2017. YouTube recommends that you choose to avoid this amendment when you treat your unlisted videos such as public videos (for example, they are embedded or shared on third-party websites). If you opt-out, your current connections will continue to work as they currently do, but they will not benefit from the security update.

Using YouTube, you can make your Unlisted video uploaded before 2017 as “Public.” The older videos can be re-uploaded under the new system to take advantage of the security update. Data, like views or comments, related to the original upload, will not be transmitted. Each video that is embedded using the old link must also be updated to the new video URL.

As a reminder, the Unlisted feature will not be removed. It is still possible to upload new videos as Unlisted. Only videos uploaded prior to January 1, 2017, will be affected by this update. YouTube creators can go back through their older Unlisted videos and select the privacy setting that is best for them.

Security Changes in Google Drive Links

The same change is happening for Google Drive, as announced on the Workspace Updates blog earlier today. Now a link will contain a resource key that determines who accesses or does not receive access to cloud-stored files. You’ll continue to have access to the file if you’ve already accessed it (presumably when you log into your Google account) and have “direct access.”

It is a little more complicated if you use a workspace Google account managed by your employer, school, or other company. The IT/administrator department can decide either to opt-out completely, to update anyone without an opt-out, or to upgrade and enable individual users to remove the update.

Administrators can use the Alert Center to see how much your organization affects users, folders, shared drives, and files. Search a warning with the topic “Drive security update.” Admins should decide how their organization will be asked to update their security before 23 July 2021. Admins can choose how their organization uses the security update at Admin Console Apps > Google Workspace > Drive and Docs > Sharing settings > Security update for links.

If the administrator does not choose to update the security, end-users with impacted files, starting July 26, 2021, with their impacted files, will receive an e-mail notification. End-users have to decide how to update their files by September 13, if their administration permits it.

Users not included in Google Workspace receive a notification on their affected files from Google Drive from July 26, 2021, and are able to remove the security update. The new files are subject to the above-mentioned conditions. These users are expected to decide how to apply the update to their files until September 13, 2021.

Issues with type=domain or type=anyone Drive API permission that are affected by Link=true(v2) or allowFileDiscovery = false(v3) In addition to the item ID, a resource key for accessing these items is now required.

Team YTS

Taxes Might Elevate for Tech Giants like Apple and Google as G7 Nations reach Landmark Deal.

Leave a Comment / apple, Google, News, Tech News / By Annasha

Taxes might increase for multinational conglomerates like Apple, Amazon, and Google as many nations are looking at it as a way to cope up with the post-economic crisis of COVID-19. Large advanced economies like the United States, Britain, and others have reached a landmark deal last weekend which will lead to higher global taxation of these huge tech giants. In total, seven large economies have agreed upon this new minimum global corporate rate of at least 15 percent and also to pay more tax in the markets where they operate in terms of selling products.

The new global tax system has been revised in accordance with the global digital situation and taking in consideration the post-pandemic crisis. Rishi Sunak, British Finance Minister, made a comment that the G7 finance ministers have landed its conclusion to reform the global tax system thus making it fit for the global digital age. Janet Yellen, US Treasury Secretary, said that “significant, unprecedented commitment, would end the race to the bottom of the global taxation system (Gadgets 360).

Global Taxation System

Many new amendments have been made in the new form of the global taxation system as it promises to end the national digital services taxes levied by many European countries including Britain. According to the United States, this service tax was biased and exclusively targeted the US-based tech giants. All the other measures and the final agreements are not yet decided. A meeting of the G20 will be held next month in Venice which will include many emerging economies to discuss more terms about this new rule. Rishi Sunak has said that the entire process is completed and this is just the first step.

Apart from the elevation in the tax rate, a few other major concerns will also be expressed in the upcoming days. The ministers of these nations have decided that the tech giants should clearly lay out their environmental impact in a direct and standard way. This will help the potential and new investors to decide if they want to invest in a particular company or not. This is one of the key goals for Britain and it will also increase the transparency between a company and the investors.

The big tech companies are always targeted by governments as they dominate the market and yet pay a little tax as compared to their annual revenue. It’s been quite a long time that economically superior nations have tried to raise more revenue from Apple, Google, Amazon, etc.

Nations supporting this new Taxation System

With support from the US government, the Biden administration has proposed the minimum global corporation tax rate of 15 percent, above the level in countries like Ireland and below the lowest level in G7 (Gadgets 360). Both Germany and France have agreed to this agreement but the French Finance Minister has said that he would fight for a higher global corporate tax rate and that’s a “starting point.”

The path to the final agreement will not be very smooth as the tech giants won’t agree to pay a very high rate of tax easily. These multinational companies have a huge market in every continent especially Europe, America, and Asia. So, both the high-end corporations and the government have to find a way to co-exist peacefully.

The German finance minister has added that these tech giants won’t be able to get rid of paying high tax anymore by booking their profits in the lowest-tax countries. Ireland has a tax rate of 12.5 percent and its finance minister said that the global deals before coming to a final decision should consider the scenario of smaller nations as well. Sunak further added, though the deal is advantageous for the nation’s economy, it is uncertain how much money Britain would raise.

It is yet to decide exactly which companies will fall under this new rule as till now the agreement only mentions large multinational enterprises. But, the main companies on the list are Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple.

Annasha

Google Launches Pixel Buds A-Series; Much Cheaper than the Previous Ones.

Leave a Comment / Google, News, Product, Tech News / By Yashica Vashishtha

Going wireless is the current passion for every other technology company today. Starting from mobile phones to gaming consoles and earphones, everything has gone wireless. The earphone industry has taken off quite rapidly in the past few years, as from JBL to Apple, you get a variety of hands-free earphones and headphones at a different price range. Google, too, has its series of truly wireless earphones, i.e., Pixel Buds, and now, it has brought another series of the same i.e. Pixel Buds A-Series.

Google has launched a new pair of Pixel Buds under the series name Pixel Buds A-Series, having a similar design to Google’s original Pixel Buds, but at a much cheaper price. Though there have already been many speculations about these Pixel Buds through some leaks, the company has revealed much more than that today, through its official launch announcement.

Pixel Buds A-Series Features

Though the Pixel Buds A-Series has been priced at a lower price, i.e., $99, the company hasn’t compromised on the quality of the product. The earbuds come with 12mm dynamic drivers, and the user can still control it through the hands-free “Hey Google” voice commands. Though the Pixel buds do not possess the noise cancellation feature, the quality is still as good as the original pixel buds.

The earbuds come with the Bass Boost feature (providing a powerful bass), captivated touch sensors (to make calls, pause-play music), a motion-detecting accelerometer, beamforming mics, as well as a single IR proximity sensor (to detect if the buds are fitted in the ears properly or not). Also, the new Pixel Buds possess the adaptive sound feature, such that it balances the volume according to the surrounding. Like the standard Pixel buds, it is also rated IPX4 for water and sweat resistance and also supports Bluetooth 5.0 for connectivity.

Talking about the usage, Google has claimed that the Pixel Buds come with a battery life of five hours and 24 hours counting recharges in the case. The buds also provide three hours of listening time on a mere 15-minutes quick charging. The charging case of the buds comes with USB Type-C charging and also features the hall-effect sensor to detect if the charging case is opened.

Coming to the design of the A-Series Pixel Buds, these are similar looking to the original Pixel Buds, except, the size of the integrated ear hooks has been reduced a little. Also, the company has softened these hooks to make them more comfortable to wear. Apart from that, Google has also done some good work on improving the new Pixel Buds by targeting the connectivity and audio cutouts issue raised by the older customers of Pixel Buds.

Price and Availability

Google, this time, has worked on bringing a much cheaper pair of earbuds for its customers, as the standard Google Pixel Buds cost $179 for a pair, whereas the newly launched A-series buds are available for $99. The cheaper price of the earbuds has also lead to the reduction of some of the features, such as noise cancellation, but still, the sound quality is similar to the original earbuds by Google.

Google has just launched the A-series Pixel Buds and has made them available for pre-orders in the United States and Canada. The Two countries will also be able to get them in the market starting from June 17. The company has not made any announcements on when the new A-series Pixel Buds will hit the global market.

Yashica Vashishtha

Yashica is a Software Engineer turned Content Writer, who loves to write on social causes and expertise in writing technical stuff. She loves to watch movies and explore new places. She believes that you need to live once before you die. So experimenting with her life and career choices, she is trying to live her life to the fullest.

www.xornor.co

The Android 12 Leak Reveals Changes in Notification and Widget before Google I/O Event

Leave a Comment / Tech News / By Yashica Vashishtha

Google is all set to host its annual Google I/O event starting from 18th May, and before that, we have got some information on what it has in store for its huge customer base. The so-called leak is said to be a mere preview of what Google has brought for its users in terms of the updated new Android 12 and other devices that the company is about to launch at the event.

Google I/O 2021

Google I/O is an annual developer conference hosted by Google every year. It is a two to three days event, mostly held in the month of May, where the company showcases and launches its new products and services. Starting from 2008, the company has hosted 13 such events and has introduced new technologies to its customers, Android being one of them. Last year’s Google I/O event got cancelled due to the spread of the Coronavirus, and this year, the company is hosting the conference online through a live stream. The keynote will start on Tuesday, May 18th, at 1 PM ET/10 AM PT and will end on 20th May.

The Last Minute Android 12 Features Leak

Google published its Google I/O event schedule on 15th May, and along with that, there has been some information leak about the products and services that are to be launched during the event. The ‘leak’ aka the preview of these services has also given a glimpse of the changes made to the all-new Android 12. Recently, a video from the Jon Prosser show included a few slides of a presentation on Android 12, and those slides have a lot to say about Android 12.

The slides suggest that the new Android 12 will come with a new and revamped UI. The first slide describes sentences like, “A beautiful new experience,” “Stronger privacy and security protections,” and “All of your devices work better together.” So clearly, the company has worked on the looks as well as the security settings for Android 12. Further, the slide shows that there have been changes to the widgets and the notification bar, as one of the slides include different looking brightness toggle, weather widget, analog clock widget, a snooze/dismiss toggle, new media widget and notifications. Other than that, one of the slides from the Prosser show also displayed a new keyboard design and a new lock screen with a larger clock.

There have already been a lot of talks about Android 12 through leaks and rumours, among which there are a few that quite matches the new information from the Jon Prosser show. Only a day’s wait, and we will be able to know if there is even a little information that is correct about Android 12. If the rumours come out to be true, the new Android 12 will be the one to get the most advanced updates.

What Else to Expect?

Though Android 12 is said to be the prime attraction of the event, the much anticipated Pixel Watch may also steal the limelight and interest many. Jon Prosser show has already given a glimpse of a circular watch from Google last month. So we can expect the launch of Google’s first smartwatch at the event after it acquired Fitbit.

Also, there has been news that Samsung is also planning to launch the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 using Google’s operating system. So there may be an announcement of the same at the event. Other than that, since Google has already tweeted about the new Pixel Buds, it may also announce the launch of the same at Google I/O.

Though Google was likely to announce the new Pixel 5a at the event, since there has been an ongoing shortage of chips globally, maybe the company will skip launching the smartphone. There may be a similar case with the new mobile processor named Whitechapel (which the company have been working on for a while), as Google might not be able to launch the processor at the event. But we can at least expect the announcement of the same.

How to Watch the Live Stream?

Google’s I/O event will be a three days event, and the company will host its keynote through a live stream. Google has given all the details about the live stream on the Google I/O’ official website. The live stream of the opening keynote will be on YouTube, but to access the workshops, AMAs, live Q&A, and the other Google I/O event-related services, one needs to register to Google I/O through its website.