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☆ Alphabet tempers fears that it's falling behind in AI with blowout first-quarter results
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Google CEO Sundar Pichai speaks in conversation with Emily Chang during the APEC CEO Summit at Moscone West on November 16, 2023 in San Francisco, California. There were other reasons for skepticism ahead of Alphabet's earnings report. Like Meta, Alphabet is pouring money into AI. Last month, Alphabet announced a suite of products, including Vertex AI, a no-code console for enterprise companies to build their own AI agents. With first-quarter results in the rearview mirror, Alphabet now has to keep up with heightened expectations, which will only increase as competitors roll out more generative AI products.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Emily Chang, Ruth Porat, missteps, Investors, Mark Zuckerberg, Pichai, he's, Prabhakar Raghavan, Raghavan Organizations: APEC, Summit, Moscone West, YouTube, Nasdaq, Nvidia, Amazon, Meta, Revenue, Google, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, rollouts Locations: San Francisco , California, San Francisco, U.S

☆ Alphabet's earnings are coming up. Here’s what analysts are looking for
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Google parent Alphabet is set to report earnings after the bell on Thursday, adding to the slate of Big Tech earnings this week. For the first quarter, analysts polled by LSEG are calling for earnings of $1.51 per share on revenue of $78.59 billion. What the Street expects to see: AI, Cloud growth, ad trends Beyond the headline figures, analysts are paying close attention to Alphabet's revenue from the Google Cloud business, YouTube ads and its traffic acquisition costs. The company's ad revenue of $65.52 billion came in lower than analysts' estimates of $65.94 billion, however, according to StreetAccount. With AI, Alphabet is working on both sides of the technology: the innovator and the investor.

Persons: LSEG, that's, Brent Thill, Thill, Maria Ripps, Prabhakar Raghavan, Gemini, Anthropic Organizations: Big Tech, Google, Meta, Jefferies, Capital, YouTube

☆ Alphabet set to report first-quarter results after market close
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-25 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Revenue: $78.59 billion, according to LSEG. : $7.72 billion, according to StreetAccount. Traffic acquisition costs (TAC): $12.74 billion, according to StreetAccount. Wall Street is expecting Alphabet to report a second straight quarter of year-over-year revenue growth in the low teens. CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in January that more job cuts were likely coming in 2024, though he didn't specify at the time which teams would be affected.

Persons: Sundar Pichai, Prabhakar Raghavan, Raghavan, Liz Reid, Meta, Mark Zuckerberg's, Ruth Porat Organizations: Google, TAC, OpenAI, Microsoft, CNBC Locations: Brussels, Belgium, LSEG, StreetAccount

☆ Google's search boss reportedly warns staff that life won't be 'hunky-dory forever' amid rise of AI rivals
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Jyoti Mann | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Google's search chief Prabhakar Raghavan warned staff about a changing landscape, CNBC reported. He said life won't always be "hunky-dory" as rivals seek to challenge its search dominance. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementIt's time to brace for a new chapter, Google search chief Prabhakar Raghavan has reportedly warned staff. "It's not like life is going to be hunky-dory, forever," Raghavan also said, per the outlet.

Persons: Prabhakar Raghavan, dory, —, Googlers, Raghavan Organizations: CNBC, Microsoft, Service, Google, Business

☆ Google search boss warns employees of 'new operating reality,' urges them to move faster
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-23 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

"If there's a clear and present market reality, we need to twitch faster, like the athletes twitch faster," he said. The spokesperson highlighted the addition of generative AI to search and improvements in search quality, adding, "There's lots more to come." In March, Google named company veteran Elizabeth Reid to the role of vice president, leading search and reporting to Raghavan. "We're in a new cost reality," Raghavan said. Demis Hassabis, Google's AI leader, said in February after the tool was taken down that it would be re-released in weeks.

Persons: Prabhakar Raghavan, Julia Nikhinson, Raghavan, Sundar Pichai, TikTok, dory, Elizabeth Reid, Ruth Porat, We've, Jonathan Raa, we've, they've, Demis, Bard, Pichai, That's Organizations: Google, US, Bloomberg, Getty, CNBC, Mazda, Microsoft, Google Gemini, Nurphoto, Union's, European Commission, Gemini Locations: Washington , DC, Mountain View , California, Silicon Valley, India, Brazil, Brussels, Belgium

☆ It's not just you: Reddit is taking over Google
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-17 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

In February, Google and Reddit announced a blockbuster deal that would let Google train its AI models on Reddit content. Google said the deal, reportedly worth $60 million, would "facilitate more content-forward displays of Reddit information," leading to some speculation that Google promised Reddit better visibility in exchange for the valuable training data. Per Sistrix data, Reddit is now as visible in top Google Search results as Instagram. Google CEO Sundar Pichai on stage at Google IO 2023 JOSH EDELSON/GETTYGoogle's Reddit deal and its endorsement of Reddit content in Search show how much it sees Reddit as a crucial part of the future of search. AdvertisementYouTube already has heaps of videos offering advice on hijacking Reddit to rise to the top of Google Search.

Persons: —, Semrush, Reddit, It's, Steve Paine, Paine, we've, Danny Sullivan, Prabhakar Raghavan, Sundar Pichai, JOSH EDELSON, Aleyda Solis, Orainti, Glen Allsopp, Solis, Lily Ray, Ray, Perplexity, Steve Huffman Greg Doherty, Sistrix's Paine, Natalie Slater Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Sistrix, YouTube, Amazon, LinkedIn, Getty Locations: SEOs, Reddit, TikTok

☆ Google co-founder Sergey Brin says in rare public appearance that company 'definitely messed up' Gemini image launch
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-04 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Brin, 50, spoke to entrepreneurs on Saturday at the "AGI House" in Hillsborough, California, just south of San Francisco, where developers and founders were testing Google's Gemini model. He also commented on the flawed launch last month of Google's image generator, which the company pulled after users discovered historical inaccuracies and questionable responses. Brin was also asked how online advertising will be disrupted considering ad revenue is core to Google's business. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images“I of all people am not too terribly concerned about business model shifts,” Brin said. Beyond AI, Brin was asked about Google's difficulties in hardware given recent advancements in virtual reality.

Persons: Sergey Brin, Google David Paul Morris, Brin, ” Brin, “, Larry Page, He's, ”, Gemini, “ that’s, Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's, Sundar Pichai, Raghavan, Brin didn't, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Elon Musk's, Eric Schmidt, that’s, I'm Organizations: Google, Bloomberg, Getty, CNBC, Gemini, Google Inc, Allen & Co . Media, Technology Conference, Apple Vision Locations: Hillsborough , California, San Francisco, Sun Valley , Idaho, U.S

☆ Google's mission is organizing the world's information. Its 'woke' AI debacle prompted critics to say it's failing.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewSince its inception, Google has had a mission statement that is now practically enshrined as lore: "To organize the world's information and make it accessible and useful." Its AI, critics say, risks suppressing information instead by being too "woke." AdvertisementGoogle's AI troublesGoogle has more than 90% of the search market, giving it dominant control over the world's information flow online. Advertisement"The original mission was to index all the world's information. In a blog published Friday, Google vice-president Prabhakar Raghavan acknowledged some of the images Gemini generated turned out to be "inaccurate or even offensive."

Persons: —, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Gemini, Peter Kafka, Adolf Hitler, Elon, David Sacks, Critics, Sam Altman, Andrew Caballero, Reynolds, Bilal Zuberi, Brad Gerstner, Microsoft —, Elon Musk, OB1CCZHan3, Prabhakar Raghavan, overcorrected, Raghavan Organizations: Service, Google, Business, Craft Ventures, Lux Capital, Microsoft, Elon Locations: Menlo Park, AFP

☆ Google has another 'woke' AI problem with Gemini — and it's going to be hard to fix
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-26 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Read previewGoogle spent much of last week getting hammered for supposedly creating a "woke" AI chatbot and eventually apologized for "missing the mark." AdvertisementBut it's also going to be a problem for Google because it has already said it is trying to influence the way its AI produces results. And that's going to be red meat for anyone who wants to argue that Google — or any other Big Tech company — is "too woke." Last week, after getting similar criticism about the way Gemini handled race when it came to AI-generated images, Google "paused" Gemini's ability to create images. Pulling Gemini altogether would be a considerable black eye for the company, and one I think it will be incredibly reluctant to do.

Persons: —, Ben Thompson, Gemini, Hitler, Elon Musk's, Thompson, Sundar Pichai, Marc Andreessen, it's, they're, Prabhakar Raghavan, Raghavan, Google's, I'm Organizations: Service, Business, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Big Tech, Gemini

☆ Google is replacing the exec who oversees its $220 billion ad business amid big privacy and AI changes
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Dischler has spent 15 years at Google, and was most recently leading all of Google's ad business. He is credited with steering Google through privacy changes and for overseeing new uses of technology like machine learning and artificial intelligence for its advertising business. Dischler helped spearhead Google's advertising efforts around Google's Chrome web browser phasing out third-party cookies. "Our ads business helps millions of businesses thrive and we're grateful to Jerry for his many accomplishments in this area." Before joining Google, Srinivasan worked at Amazon and IBM.

Persons: Jerry Dischler, Dischler, Google's Prabhakar Raghavan, Jerry, Vidhya Srinivasan, Srinivasan, Max, Raghavan, Srinivasan's, Shashi Thakur, nix Organizations: Google, Business, Department, YouTube, Amazon, IBM, Justice Department

☆ This throwaway line in a Stephen Colbert interview should make Google nervous
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

"Grandpa Google" is being threatened by TikTok, according to late night's new host. Nearly 40% of Gen Z preferred TikTok over Google in 2022. "TikTok is Google for children," she explained to the audience and 59-year-old Colbert. Nearly 40% of Gen Z prefers using TikTok and Instagram to search over Google, according to Google's internal 2022 data. It looks like money may not be enough to buy Gen Z.

Persons: Google, Gen Z, Taylor Tomlinson, —, Stephen Colbert, Colbert, Z, Prabhakar Raghavan, It's, Raghavan Organizations: Google, Service, CBS

☆ Google paid $26 bln to be default search engine in 2021 - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A sign is pictured outside a Google office near the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California, U.S., May 8, 2019. The amount of payments Google made for the default status has more than tripled since 2014, according to senior executive Prabhakar Raghavan who is responsible for both search and advertising, the report added. Google's revenue from search advertising came in at $146.4 billion in 2021, while the payments for the default setting were its biggest cost, Raghavan was mentioned as saying in the Bloomberg report. The company has argued the revenue share agreements are legal and that it has invested to keep its search and advertising businesses competitive. Google had objected to revealing the numbers, saying they would harm the company's ability to negotiate contracts in the future.

Persons: Paresh Dave, Prabhakar Raghavan, Raghavan, Judge Amit Mehta, Jaspreet Singh, Shailesh Organizations: REUTERS, Google, Justice, Bloomberg, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Mountain View , California, U.S, Bengaluru

☆ 'Grandpa Google': Search head testifies that young users see it as out of style
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

As Google fights claims that it violated antitrust law to maintain its online search dominance, the company's search lead testified Thursday that young users mock Google as old-fashioned. Prabhakar Raghavan, a Google senior vice president responsible for for products including search, ads and commerce, said that some young users have referred to the search engine as "Grandpa Google." Raghavan testified that Yahoo's search dominance at one point seemed insurmountable. For example, Google has conducted research that's led to features that let it directly answer users' questions, understand voice queries and lens queries, where users search via a photo they take. "We don't see users carrying through these journeys entirely on Google," Raghavan testified.

Persons: Prabhakar Raghavan, Google, It's, Raghavan, Bing, that's Organizations: Google Inc, Google, Department of Justice, Yahoo, CNBC, YouTube Locations: San Francisco , California

☆ Google Search Boss Says Company Invests to Avoid Becoming ‘Roadkill’
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Nico Grant | More About Nico Grant | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The Justice Department has spent weeks arguing in a federal antitrust trial that Google has built an impenetrable barrier around its search business with strong-arm tactics and multibillion-dollar deals. But a Google executive said on Thursday that he didn’t see it that way. Google presented a starkly different picture of how it has built and maintained the internet’s most dominant business as it began its defense in the landmark trial. The key, said Prabhakar Raghavan, Google’s senior vice president overseeing search and other products, has been constant investment and innovation. Dr. Raghavan described Google’s path from its once-unimaginable rise over his former employer Yahoo to fears that its business could be disrupted by formidable competitors.

Persons: Prabhakar Raghavan, Google’s, Raghavan Organizations: Google, Yahoo

REUTERS/Eric Gaillard/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Google executive Prabhakar Raghavan on Thursday detailed challenges the search and advertising giant faces from smaller rivals, describing efforts to avoid becoming "the next road kill." "I feel a keen sense not to become the next road kill," said Raghavan, a senior vice president at Google who reports to chief executive Sundar Pichai. Raghavan said Google had some 8,000 engineers and product managers working on search, with about 1,000 involved in search quality. Asked about the expression "Grandpa Google," Raghavan said "unfortunately, yes" he had heard it. "Grandpa Google will help with things like homework but when it comes to interesting things, they go elsewhere," he said.

Persons: Eric Gaillard, Prabhakar Raghavan, Raghavan, Alphabet's, TikTok, Sundar Pichai, Microsoft's Bing, Google, Grandpa, Diane Bartz, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, U.S . Justice Department, Yahoo, Google, Grandpa Google, Thomson Locations: Expedia.com, Instagram

Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's senior vice president for knowledge and information products, testified for the tech giant as it defends itself in the biggest antitrust trial in the last 25 years. The government has accused the company of illegally thwarting competitors from making inroads against its ubiquitous search engine. Google says its search engine is dominant because it has a better product than its competitors. And it cited evidence that consumers switch their search engine to Google the majority of the time in cases where another search engine is offered as the default choice. One option would be to prohibit Google from paying companies to make Google a default search engine.

Persons: Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's, Raghavan, Google, Grandpa Google, ” Raghavan, ”, Bing, Trump, Judge Amit Mehta Organizations: WASHINGTON, Google, Fortune, Yahoo, The, Apple, Microsoft, Justice Department Locations: U.S, Alexandria , Virginia

☆ 'Grandpa Google' is in danger of becoming irrelevant to younger generations, company exec testifies at antitrust trial
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Google leaders fear the search engine could become irrelevant to youth, a company exec testified. Senior VP Prabhakar Raghavan said Google is beset by rivals and youth call it "Grandpa Google." The company is defending itself in a landmark antitrust case brought by the US government. And it cited evidence that consumers switch their search engine to Google the majority of the time in cases where another search engine is offered as the default choice. One option would be to prohibit Google from paying companies to make Google a default search engine.

Persons: Prabhakar Raghavan, Google, —, Google's, Raghavan, Grandpa Google, Bing, Trump, Judge Amit Mehta Organizations: Google, Service, Fortune, Yahoo, The, Apple, Microsoft, Justice Department Locations: U.S, Alexandria , Virginia

☆ Google's old guard shifts roles as the company searches for itself
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-21 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Jeff Kowalsky | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesA string of Google executives have changed their roles in the span of several months, in a shift that has sidelined many of company's remaining old guard. The changes encompass high-profile executives such as CFO Ruth Porat, YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, and employee No. Some say they have left their roles for a new challenge and others have left to seek opportunities in AI. While she'll still be in an advisory role at Google, she said, she wanted to "start a new chapter." Google's AI head, Jeff Dean, who's been at Google since 1999, became a chief scientist as part of the change.

Persons: Ruth Porat, Jeff Kowalsky, Susan Wojcicki, Urs Hölzle, Susan Wojcicki —, Sergey Brin, Larry Page, she'll, Robert Kyncl, David Lawee, Hölzle, Morgan Stanley, Porat, Courtenay Mencini, who've, it's, OpenAI, Sundar Pichai, Google execs, Prabhakar Raghavan, HJ Kim, Geoffrey Hinton, Demis, James Manyika, Jeff Dean, who's, It's Organizations: Inc, Michigan Central Station, Bloomberg, Getty, Google, YouTube, Warner Music Group, CapitalG, CNBC, New York Times, McKinsey, Google Research Locations: Detroit , Michigan, Silicon Valley

☆ Google execs admit users are 'not quite happy' with search experience after Reddit blackouts
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Google users have long been able to append their search queries with the term "Reddit" to find helpful resources on specific topics. When thousands of Reddit forums went dark earlier this month, that tactic lost its effectiveness. "Many of you may wonder how we have a search team that's iterating and building all this new stuff and yet somehow, users are still not quite happy," Raghavan said. "What can we do to improve the user experience on the core product that made Google a household name?" At its annual developer conference in May, the company said it was experimenting with an effort called Search Generative Experience, which still isn't available to the public, showing more in-depth results powered by generative AI.

Persons: Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's, Raghavan, that's, Bard Organizations: Google, YouTube, CNBC Locations: U.S

☆ Google CEO Sundar Pichai made $226 million last year
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Google’s parent company Alphabet, made nearly $226 million in 2022, according to a new filing from Alphabet. It is a big boost for Pichai, who made just over $6 million in 2021 and $7.4 million in 2020. Pichai’s stock boosts come every three years, in 2019 he received a similar package of $281 million. Ballooning CEO compensation has been a controversial topic in recent years. The vast majority of Cook’s 2022 compensation — about 75% — was tied up in company shares, with half dependent on share price performance.

☆ Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai earned $226 million last year, making him one of the world's best-paid bosses
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google owner Alphabet, was paid a total of $226 million in 2022. Alphabet also spent almost $6 million on personal security for Pichai, according to a filing. Alphabet's Sundar Pichai was paid a total of $226 million last year after he was awarded a big tranche of shares, making him one of America's best-paid CEOs. The chief executive of Google's owner was given worth more than $218 million, according to filings published Friday. Alphabet also spent almost $6 million on personal security for Pichai, according to the filing.

☆ Google contractors say they don't have enough time to verify correct answers from the company's AI chatbot and end up guessing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Thomas Maxwell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The bot has been tested internally by Googlers, and now contractors are also testing a chatbot. Some contractors say they're not given enough time to rate the most accurate chatbot responses. Because each assigned task represents billable time, some workers say they will complete the tasks even if they realize they cannot accurately assess the chatbot responses. Google raters who work for Appen make between $14 and $14.50 an hour, despite supporting a business that generates most of its revenue from search and advertising. The group estimates that Google employs more than 200,000 people as contractors, who aren't recorded in the company's official headcount.

☆ Google announces a series of cost-saving measures across the company as it cuts some staff perks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Hugh Langley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Google has announced a series of cost-cutting measures across the company. Google has announced a series of cost-cutting measures as the company continues to tighten its belt and prioritize its work in artificial intelligence. While they wrote that some of these changes would not be noticeable to many staff, they added that other things "will impact some services Googlers use at work and beyond." The note added that Google is continuing to hire at a reduced pace, while redeploying teams to higher priority work. Here's the memo in full:Googlers,This year, one of our important company OKRs is to deliver durable savings through improved velocity and efficiency.

☆ Google execs tell employees in testy all-hands meeting that Bard A.I. isn't just about search
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Jennifer Elias | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

In the lead up to the Bard announcement, Google executives repeatedly said the technology it was developing internally would integrate with search. “We’re working to bring these latest AI advancements into our products, starting with Search,” the company said in a blog post. That same week, at an event in Paris, Google search boss Prabhakar Raghavan unveiled some fresh examples of using Bard within search. "You see the stories of ChatGPT coincides with an event that we’re having that was actually focused on search," Krawczyk said. Specifically, the question asked why Google lost so many key people who were listed on a paper about much of the AI technology behind Bard.

☆ TikTok is automatically setting a one-hour limit for users under 18 — but it's a setting that's easy to bypass
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

TikTok announced a new one-hour screen time limit for teens, among other controls. A bill that would ban TikTok in the US was advanced by the US House Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday. TikTok also announced updates to its Family Pairing feature that will allow a parent or guardian to link their account to their teen's TikTok and set parental controls. The US House Foreign Affairs Committee voted on Wednesday to advance a bill that would give President Joe Biden the power to ban TikTok, according to a report from CNBC. Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, sponsor of the act to ban TikTok, dubbed the app "digital fentanyl," Insider's Brian Metzger reported last week.

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