Google: Difference between revisions

In December 2024, "Google announced to organisations that use its advertising products, that from 16 February 2025, it will no longer prohibit them from employing [[wikipedia:Fingerprint_(computing)|fingerprinting]] techniques."<ref>https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/media-centre/news-and-blogs/2024/12/our-response-to-google-s-policy-change-on-fingerprinting/</ref>

[[wikipedia:Google_Play_Music|Google Play Music]] was a service that allowed users to purchase music, listen via streaming, and download to the local device; alternatively users could pay for a subscription to listen to all music available through streaming. It was publicly launched on the 16th November 2011 and later shutdown in December 2020.<ref>https://support.google.com/youtubemusic/thread/62843644/google-play-music-music-play-store-music-manager-are-going-away-%E2%80%93-everything-you-need-to-know?hl=en</ref><ref>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/10/rip-google-play-music-2011-2020/</ref> Google Play Music further allowed users to upload their own songs to listen on all their devices, with a limit of up to 50,000 files.<ref>https://www.howtogeek.com/288231/how-to-upload-your-music-library-to-google-play-music/</ref> Users were able to purchase songs individually or buy whole albums that they could then download and listen to, or stream through the internet.<ref>https://www.technobezz.com/buy-music-google-play/</ref>

After the shut down, users lost access to the music they paid for, with no way to download them. Google justified this by transferring all playlists and purchase history to YouTube Music, and only refunding songs that were not directly available,<ref>https://darwinsdata.com/what-happened-to-my-songs-on-google-music/</ref><ref>https://www.makeuseof.com/what-happened-to-google-play-music/</ref> with no guarantee that the songs will remain available through the new service. Users found that their purchased songs were no longer able to stream at 320kbps on YouTube Music compared to Google Play Music unless they paid for the monthly subscription.<ref>https://www.techradar.com/news/software/google-music-uk-everything-you-need-to-know-1120176</ref><ref>https://www.noteburner.com/youtube-music-tips/youtube-music-audio-quality.html</ref> If a user failed to initiate the transfer of their music library or locally download their songs by 24th February 2021, then they lost all access and all data associated with Google Play Music.<ref>https://www.gadgets360.com/how-to/news/google-play-music-data-deleted-february-24-youtube-how-to-transfer-files-playlists-billing-information-2365609</ref> YouTube Music does not provide the option to download songs as MP3s, with local downloads requiring an internet connection every 30 days to stay up.<ref>https://support.google.com/youtubemusic/answer/6313535?hl=en-GB&co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid</ref>

In January 2023, Google announced the shutdown of its cloud gaming service, Stadia, which was launched in November 2019.<ref>https://www.theverge.com/23380140/google-stadia-ending-shutdown-latest-news-gaming-tech/archives/2</ref> Stadia required users to purchase games individually, unlike other gaming platforms that offer subscription-based access. Upon the service's closure, Google promised to refund consumers for their purchases, including both games and hardware. The refunds for games and software were issued automatically, and if the refund failed to transfer, then you would've needed to contact your bank.<ref>https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-get-your-google-stadia-refund/</ref>

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 2023.<ref>https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/pc-gaming/bluetooth-support-for-google-stadia-controller-arrives-heres-how-to-enable-it-and-play-pc-games</ref>

==See also==