Google: Difference between revisions

{{CompanyCargo

|Founded=1998

|ParentCompany=Alphabet Inc.

|Type=Subsidiary

|Website=https://www.google.com/

}}

Google's search engine remains its most well-known service, but the company has significantly diversified its offerings. Key products include the [[Android]] operating system, the [[Google Chrome]] web browser, [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Drive Google Drive] for cloud storage, [https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Maps Google Maps], [[YouTube]], and [[wikipedia:Google_Play|Google Play]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Helpful products, built with you in mind |url=https://about.google/intl/ALL_us/products/ |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=[[Google]] |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260205114442/https://about.google/intl/ALL_us/products/ |archive-date=5 Feb 2026}}</ref>{{Citation needed}} Additionally, the company provides digital advertising services through Google Ads, generating the majority of its revenue.<ref>{{Cite web |date=4 Feb 2025 |title=Alphabet Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2024 Results |url=https://abc.xyz/assets/a3/91/6d1950c148fa84c7d699abe05284/2024q4-alphabet-earnings-release.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251002181452/https://abc.xyz/assets/a3/91/6d1950c148fa84c7d699abe05284/2024q4-alphabet-earnings-release.pdf |archive-date=2 Oct 2025}}</ref> In recent years, Google has also developed hardware products such as the Pixel smartphone and Nest smart home devices.

Google Stadia controllers were limited to Wi-Fi connectivity, however upon shut down they started offering an update to allow them to connect through Bluetooth, the update service website was scheduled to shut down on the 31st December 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Devine |first=Richard |date=17 Jan 2023 |title=Bluetooth support for Google Stadia Controller arrives — Here's how to enable it and play PC games |url=https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/pc-gaming/bluetooth-support-for-google-stadia-controller-arrives-heres-how-to-enable-it-and-play-pc-games |url-status=live |access-date=5 Apr 2025 |website=Windows Central |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251109164004/https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/pc-gaming/bluetooth-support-for-google-stadia-controller-arrives-heres-how-to-enable-it-and-play-pc-games |archive-date=9 Nov 2025}}</ref>

On July 24, 2025, Google permanently disabled all Manifest V2 extensions for Chrome 138 users as well as making Chromium (a browser that many other browsers use as their base) switch to Manifest V3, and disabled the ability to turn them back on.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-23 |title=Manifest V2 support timeline |url=https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate/mv2-deprecation-timeline |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250808191702/https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate/mv2-deprecation-timeline |archive-date=2025-08-08 |access-date=2025-08-12}}</ref>

Manifest V3 disabled the <code>webRequestBlocking</code> permission in the <code>webRequest</code> API<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-09 |title=Replace blocking web request listeners {{!}} Chrome Extensions {{!}} Chrome for Developers |url=https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate/blocking-web-requests |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250614074559/https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate/blocking-web-requests |archive-date=2025-06-14 |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=Chrome for Developers}}</ref>, preventing many ad content blockers (such as uBlock Origin) from working.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-26 |title=Understanding Manifest V3 and the Future of uBlock Origin |url=https://ublockorigin.com/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250812114916/https://ublockorigin.com/ |archive-date=2025-08-12 |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=uBlock Origin - Free, open-source ad content blocker}}</ref> Google cites performance reasons <ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-09 |title=Replace blocking web request listeners {{!}} Chrome Extensions {{!}} Chrome for Developers |url=https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate/blocking-web-requests |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250614074559/https://developer.chrome.com/docs/extensions/develop/migrate/blocking-web-requests |archive-date=2025-06-14 |access-date=2025-08-12 |website=Chrome for Developers |quote="In Manifest V2, blocking web requests could significantly degrade both the performance of extensions and the performance of pages they work with."}}</ref>, but this is dubious; restricting content blockers prevents users from impeding their tracking and surveillance, meaning they can create a larger profit from the data gained. This is likely the ulterior motive, although unproven.

{{Main|Google Jamboard}}

In September 2023, Google revealed plans to retire its Jamboard service, as the product would be transitioned to a view-only format by October 1, 2024, and completely shut down by December 31, 2024. As a result, users had little time to transfer their data before the final transition and no refunds were ever issued to hardware buyers.

Situations like this highlight the vulnerability of the consumer market since proprietary products are completely at the hands of developers who can cut services on a whim. Thus, consumer protection must be taken to another level to ensure that no matter what companies get rid of, support and compensatory avenues exist.

On June 20th, 2023, Google disabled 3rd party list support for Google Assistant<ref>{{Cite web |access-date=2025-09-16 |title=Where are my old lists? |url=https://support.google.com/assistant/answer/9415862#zippy=%2Cwhere-are-my-old-lists |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250427212604/https://support.google.com/assistant/answer/9415862#zippy=%2Cwhere-are-my-old-lists |archive-date=2025-04-27}}</ref>. This feature allowed lists through 3rd party services such as AnyList or Todoist to be managed via Google Assistant. The only list provider available through Google Assistant after this change was Google Keep<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mathur |first=Chandraveer |website=Android Police |date=2023-05-31 |title=Google Assistant is killing support for notes and lists integration with third-party apps |url=https://www.androidpolice.com/google-assistant-ending-support-third-party-notes-lists/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251218051543/https://www.androidpolice.com/google-assistant-ending-support-third-party-notes-lists/ |archive-date=18 Dec 2025}}</ref>.

{{Main|Pixel 4a Battery Performance Program}}

On January 6, 2025, Google issued a software update to the Pixel 4a that significantly decreased battery capacity on "Impacted Devices". Not all units were affected. It's speculated that the affected units have defective batteries and may pose a safety risk if the update is not applied, but Google never disclosed the reason(s) that the update was deemed necessary. Google removed all factory images for previous versions of the system software from their website, making it difficult to revert the update.

On 25 August 2025, '''[[Google]]''' announced that starting in 2026 it will block the installation of Android apps from outside the Play Store unless the developer has verified their identity with Google. The policy will first roll out in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand in September 2026, with global enforcement targeted for 2027.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Frey |first=Suzanne |date=25 Aug 2025 |title=A new layer of security for certified Android devices |url=https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/08/elevating-android-security.html |url-status=live |access-date=25 Aug 2025 |website=Android Developers Blog |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260128013331/https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2025/08/elevating-android-security.html |archive-date=28 Jan 2026}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=25 Aug 2025 |title=Google will require developer verification for Android apps outside the Play Store |url=https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/25/google-will-require-developer-verification-for-android-apps-outside-the-play-store/ |url-status=live |access-date=25 Aug 2025 |website=TechCrunch |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260119211509/https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/25/google-will-require-developer-verification-for-android-apps-outside-the-play-store/ |archive-date=19 Jan 2026}}</ref> This marks a significant change to Android's long-standing support for sideloading apps.

This recovery bootloader is just a regular bootloader as it appears in Google factory images, but with a special "USB boot" bit flag set to 1. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-11 |title=Pixel devices getting bricked / stuck in Pixel ROM Recovery after flashing AOSP-based builds with Android 15 QPR2 (BP1A.250305.019) |url=https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/402455330#comment19 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260205112358/https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/402455330 |archive-date=5 Feb 2026}}</ref>

Numerous developers have worked on trying to find a solution to this issue, and have succeeded to varying extents. However, devices bricked due to the ARB trigger remain impossible to fix. Google has not provided any recovery images to resolve this issue, despite there being a sizable post on their bug tracker.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=2025-08-10 |title=Pixel recovery bootloaders lack security reasoning for guarding |url=https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/437705274 |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=Google IssueTracker |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251004223929/https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/437705274 |archive-date=4 Oct 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-12 |title=Pixel devices getting bricked / stuck in Pixel ROM Recovery after flashing AOSP-based builds with Android 15 QPR2 (BP1A.250305.019) |url=https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/402455330 |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-11 |website=Google IssueTracker |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260205112358/https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/402455330 |archive-date=5 Feb 2026}}</ref> despite the fact that Google providing the recovery images for the repair will not compromise security, as explained by one of the developers in their report.<ref name=":4" />

==Controversies==

===Account lockouts===

Google has been reported to have randomly locked people out of their accounts due to ostensible security reasons, which are not lifted even if the user had provided the correct credentials and/or even if the user have correctly followed all the verification prompts such as SMS verification. These have caused anguishes for many affected users who are unable to access their contents, emails and services as a result. Furthermore, some had reported that they are forced to undergo SMS verification even when recovery email addresses are already configured to their accounts, thereby likely constituting instances of [[Forced identification|forced verification]] in broad senses.<ref>https://old.reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/n5card/mike_rose_no_more_robots_publisher_locked_out_of/ ([http://web.archive.org/web/20210505101632/https://old.reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/n5card/mike_rose_no_more_robots_publisher_locked_out_of/ Archived])</ref><ref>https://old.reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/oy8qb8/fyi_google_can_lock_you_out_of_your_account_for/ ([http://web.archive.org/web/20210805030048/https://old.reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/oy8qb8/fyi_google_can_lock_you_out_of_your_account_for/ Archived])</ref><ref>https://old.reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/154yht0/dae_noticed_that_google_had_taken_security/ ([http://web.archive.org/web/20230720181226/https://old.reddit.com/r/degoogle/comments/154yht0/dae_noticed_that_google_had_taken_security/ Archived])</ref>

==Anti-consumer legal cases==

Google takes a 30% share of all revenue made through all sales made on the Play Store, which is a comparable figure to other digital storefronts such as the [[Apple App Store]] and [[Steam]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marks |first=Tom |date=7 Oct 2019 |title=Report: Steam's 30% Cut Is Actually the Industry Standard |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/10/07/report-steams-30-cut-is-actually-the-industry-standard |url-status=live |website=ign.com |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251211034837/https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/10/07/report-steams-30-cut-is-actually-the-industry-standard |archive-date=11 Dec 2025}}</ref> On 13th August 2020, [[Epic Games]] CEO Tim Sweeney updated both iOS and Android versions of ''Fortnite'' to redirect users to Epic Games' storefront to purchase in-game currency ("V-Bucks") alongside the respective first-party storefront, with incentives including cheaper prices if buying from Epic Games directly. This violated the Terms of Service of both Apple and Google's storefronts, and ''Fortnite'' was removed from both app stores the same day.

Epic Games would use this motion to file federal lawsuits against both Google and Apple, citing that these practices meant that the companies were engaging in anti-competitive behavior. Google lost in the lawsuit, but attempted to appeal the decision, in which they lost again.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hollister |first=Sean |date=31 July 2025 |title=Epic just won its Google lawsuit again, and Android may never be the same |url=https://www.theverge.com/news/716856/epic-v-google-win-in-appeals-court |access-date=21 August 2025 |work=The Verge |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260111151936/https://www.theverge.com/news/716856/epic-v-google-win-in-appeals-court |archive-date=11 Jan 2026}}</ref>

==See also==

===Controversies===

*[[Advertising overload]]

*[[Google Nest Protect forced to use Google app]]

*[[Google Nest thermostat smart features disabled]]

*[[Google Pixel Watches do not come with repair options]]

==References==

<references />

[[Category:Google]]