LinkedIn removes photos from ‘social ads’ after complaints

A new feature on LinkedIn called “social ads” has been modified to take out user photos after it attracted the attention of several blogs. The feature allowed the social network to place users’ names and pictures into contextualized ads that other users could see. While the feature wasn’t brand new, the setting was turned on by default.

A LinkedIn blog post today poured water on the controversy by saying it had heard the complaints and … Continue Reading

Google+ is no Buzz or Wave, says trend data

Google+, the social network Google launched three weeks ago, is off to a much stronger start than the company’s failed Wave and Buzz offerings, according to a Google Trend comparison of the services built from an analysis of search trends.

“It’s early yet, so I don’t think that Google+ has ‘peaked’ in terms of news or search by any means (if it’s successful),” writes Discovery’s Razib Khan, who first reported on the data. “But it’s … Continue Reading

Not a fan of Google+? Save everything with Google Takeout before you trash it (video)

Google has launched Google Takeout, a service that downloads all of a user’s saved information on Google’s servers.

Google users can download all the information stored on Google’s servers related to Google Buzz, Gmail contacts, the Google+ activity stream, Picasa photo albums and their Google profile. All the files are then compiled on Google’s end and wrapped up into a single file that users can unzip and peruse. Google gives users a quick glance at … Continue Reading

FTC settlement means Google must establish a "comprehensive privacy program"

Google has agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that will require the creation of a new “privacy program” within the company after claims that its ham-handed attempt at creating a micro-blogging service called Buzz violated the privacy of a large number of its users.

The agreement with the FTC means that Google will have to report to an independent review board every two years to review its privacy policies. Google also has … Continue Reading

The biggest surprises of 2010: A lost iPhone prototype, Groupon snubs Google, and more

Sometimes the most memorable stories of the year aren’t necessarily the biggest ones — instead, they’re the bits of news that completely blindside us. While many of those surprising stories may indeed go on to be among the biggest of the year, we’ve already covered those in our top stories of 2010 feature (see also our best and worst in mobile for 2010, and our top games).

In this post, we’d like to shine a … Continue Reading

Google to pay out one thousandth of its quarterly revenue for its biggest privacy snafu

Google will start a fund worth $8.5 million to help pay for lawyer expenses and provide funding for nonprofits focused on privacy education after settling a class-action lawsuit slamming Google Buzz’s privacy issues, it announced today.

The Google Buzz privacy controversy ended up all but crushing the budding status-update service, Google’s response to Facebook and Twitter. The financial cost is tiny: Google is preparing to pay out about one tenth of a percent of its … Continue Reading

My6sense looks to soften information overload for Android users

There’s a lot of information coming through the tubes of the Internet these days, like RSS feeds, Facebook updates and Twitter posts. Most of them aren’t worth reading for the everyday user. My6sense’s new Android app, launching today, hopes to cut through most of that chaff.

The phenomenon of information overload online has opened up wide a new market for applications to chop out content readers don’t find interesting. My6sense’s app uses an intuition engine … Continue Reading

Apple's Ping tops 1M users in two days, but it's no Google Buzz

Apple announced just a few hours ago that its new music-centered social network Ping has surpassed 1 million users in a mere two days.

While the announcement may seem impressive, if you consider that iTunes has over 160 million accounts tied to credit cards (and certainly a lot more if you include accounts without cards), I’m honestly surprised Apple didn’t hit the 1 million line in 24 hours.

According to Apple, one-third of people who … Continue Reading

Google will pay out $8.5M over Buzz privacy snafu

Bad buzz over a faulty service can exact a price from an Internet giant. But what’s the real cost?

Google has settled with plaintiffs over the privacy concerns stirred up by its attempt at a Twitter-like social network, Buzz, to the tune of $8.5 million — only $2,500 of which will be paid out to the individual users that filed the lawsuit.

For a company with revenues of $25 billion a year, that payout is … Continue Reading

Google Buzz API connects your social data to other apps

Bad buzz over a faulty service can exact a price from an Internet giant. But what’s the real cost?

Google has settled with plaintiffs over the privacy concerns stirred up by its attempt at a Twitter-like social network, Buzz, to the tune of $8.5 million — only $2,500 of which will be paid out to the individual users that filed the lawsuit.

For a company with revenues of $25 billion a year, that payout is … Continue Reading

Can a "Head of Social" help Google fend off Facebook?

Bad buzz over a faulty service can exact a price from an Internet giant. But what’s the real cost?

Google has settled with plaintiffs over the privacy concerns stirred up by its attempt at a Twitter-like social network, Buzz, to the tune of $8.5 million — only $2,500 of which will be paid out to the individual users that filed the lawsuit.

For a company with revenues of $25 billion a year, that payout is … Continue Reading

Meebo's XAuth could turn social sharing into a big business

Bad buzz over a faulty service can exact a price from an Internet giant. But what’s the real cost?

Google has settled with plaintiffs over the privacy concerns stirred up by its attempt at a Twitter-like social network, Buzz, to the tune of $8.5 million — only $2,500 of which will be paid out to the individual users that filed the lawsuit.

For a company with revenues of $25 billion a year, that payout is … Continue Reading

Google Buzz finally adds sharing buttons to websites

Bad buzz over a faulty service can exact a price from an Internet giant. But what’s the real cost?

Google has settled with plaintiffs over the privacy concerns stirred up by its attempt at a Twitter-like social network, Buzz, to the tune of $8.5 million — only $2,500 of which will be paid out to the individual users that filed the lawsuit.

For a company with revenues of $25 billion a year, that payout is … Continue Reading

Google asks for a privacy do-over with Buzz

Bad buzz over a faulty service can exact a price from an Internet giant. But what’s the real cost?

Google has settled with plaintiffs over the privacy concerns stirred up by its attempt at a Twitter-like social network, Buzz, to the tune of $8.5 million — only $2,500 of which will be paid out to the individual users that filed the lawsuit.

For a company with revenues of $25 billion a year, that payout is … Continue Reading

Week in review: Web pioneer bashes Apple, SXSW attendees slam Twitter keynote

Bad buzz over a faulty service can exact a price from an Internet giant. But what’s the real cost?

Google has settled with plaintiffs over the privacy concerns stirred up by its attempt at a Twitter-like social network, Buzz, to the tune of $8.5 million — only $2,500 of which will be paid out to the individual users that filed the lawsuit.

For a company with revenues of $25 billion a year, that payout is … Continue Reading

Buzzie launches as the first Google Buzz iPhone app

Bad buzz over a faulty service can exact a price from an Internet giant. But what’s the real cost?

Google has settled with plaintiffs over the privacy concerns stirred up by its attempt at a Twitter-like social network, Buzz, to the tune of $8.5 million — only $2,500 of which will be paid out to the individual users that filed the lawsuit.

For a company with revenues of $25 billion a year, that payout is … Continue Reading

Google Buzz: Do I really have to learn another social media app?

Bad buzz over a faulty service can exact a price from an Internet giant. But what’s the real cost?

Google has settled with plaintiffs over the privacy concerns stirred up by its attempt at a Twitter-like social network, Buzz, to the tune of $8.5 million — only $2,500 of which will be paid out to the individual users that filed the lawsuit.

For a company with revenues of $25 billion a year, that payout is … Continue Reading