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Google has signaled it will scale back certain search functionality for European users rather than fully comply with EU antitrust rules, aiming to sidestep potential fines. The company frames this as a response to regulatory demands it considers overly burdensome or conflicting with its business model.
Google is revising how its Search results appear across the European Union, following an €460 million fine from the European Commission for allegedly favoring its own services over competitors. Under the new format, one specialized comparison engine, such as Expedia or Hotels.com, will appear prominently at the top of results, with two others shown with fewer details, while a carousel for hotels, airlines and restaurants will be stripped of features like real-time pricing. Google's own algorithm will still determine the rankings of these vertical search services.
Following a €460 million DMA fine over self-preferencing in travel and shopping searches, Google has altered its European search results to comply with EU rules. Instant hotel and flight pricing and availability are being removed, replaced by links to specialized search engines and a carousel ranked purely by Google's algorithm rather than business partnerships.
Google confirmed it is rolling out major changes to how Search functions across the European Union, following a $1 billion fine tied to alleged Digital Markets Act violations. The update forces Google to display results from competing vertical search services, such as Expedia or Booking.com, ahead of its own Flights and Hotels products in categories like travel and dining. New carousels will rank listings using Google's algorithm, but with details like real-time pricing removed.
Android Authority found evidence in Google app version 17.56.14 that Song Search could soon run in the background, letting users switch apps while it keeps listening for a track. A notification would alert users when a song is identified, tapping which now leads to an AI Mode result instead of a standard search page.
A GamersNexus investigation into LG smart TVs found system logs storing sensitive spoken data, including credit card numbers and Social Security numbers, captured during voice search queries. The same testing also suggested the TVs could access webcam and microphone functions while appearing off or disconnected from the network, and that a compromised TV could scan the local network to discover other connected devices.
Weird Gloop migrated the Overwatch and Fortnite wikis off Fandom, but instead of giving them their own root domains as it did with other wikis like RuneScape and Minecraft, it launched them as subdomains of weirdgloop.org. The move is a workaround for a Google Search behavior since March 2024 where brand-new domains only get their homepage indexed, effectively hiding every other page from search results for months.
An Entrepreneur opinion piece argues that most chief executives mismanage their company's search engine presence, viewing it as a static reputation gauge rather than an active revenue source. The author notes that page one of search results functions as an informal vetting tool for prospects, investors and job candidates before any direct contact occurs. Citing data showing 93% of online experiences start with a search engine, the piece calls for continuous, deliberate management of digital search visibility.
A new analysis argues that digital infrastructure—search engines, cloud platforms, and networks people rely on daily—should be designed, built, and maintained with the same rigor applied to physical infrastructure like water systems and power grids. It draws comparisons to failures such as Flint's water crisis and Puerto Rico's electrical grid collapse to illustrate what happens when essential systems are neglected.
The Feather Atlas is an online tool that lets users identify bird feathers by filtering criteria such as pattern, color, size, and feather position. Users can select attributes like barred or spotted patterns, specific colors, length categories, and whether the feather is a primary, secondary, or tail feather to narrow down matches. The tool also allows searching across all feather types if the position is unknown.
Scientists from the University of Queensland and University of New South Wales fitted giant burrowing cockroaches with electrodes, cameras and automatic injection devices to create cyborg insects called Paraborgs. The bugs can crawl through rubble to locate disaster victims and even administer medication, according to a study published in Advanced Science.
IEEE Computer Society published an interview with database expert Vinodkrishna Gopalan on how relational databases must evolve to handle AI and machine learning demands. The discussion centers on how AI workloads—marked by large scans, unpredictable queries, vector search, and low-latency inference—differ from traditional transactional database use cases, requiring new approaches to schema design, indexing, and scaling.