Google: Difference between revisions
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'''[[wikipedia:Google|Google LLC]]''', founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, is one of the most influential and dominant technology companies in the world.<ref>https://companiesmarketcap.com/tech/largest-tech-companies-by-market-cap/</ref>{{Citation needed}} Originally developed as a search engine to organize and index the growing amount of information on the internet, Google has since expanded into a wide range of services and products, becoming a central player in digital advertising, software, hardware, and cloud computing.{{Citation needed}} | '''[[wikipedia:Google|Google LLC]]''', founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, is one of the most influential and dominant technology companies in the world.<ref>https://companiesmarketcap.com/tech/largest-tech-companies-by-market-cap/</ref>{{Citation needed}} Originally developed as a search engine to organize and index the growing amount of information on the internet, Google has since expanded into a wide range of services and products, becoming a central player in digital advertising, software, hardware, and cloud computing.{{Citation needed}} | ||
Google's search engine remains its most well-known service, but the company has significantly diversified its offerings.{{Citation needed}} Key products include the [[Android]] operating system, the [[Google Chrome]] web browser, Google Drive for cloud storage, Google Maps, [[YouTube]], and Google Play.<ref>https://about.google/intl/ALL_us/products/</ref>{{Citation needed}} Additionally, the company provides digital advertising services through Google Ads, generating the majority of its revenue.{{Citation needed}} In recent years, Google has also developed hardware products such as the Pixel smartphone and Nest smart home devices.{{Citation needed}} | Google's search engine remains its most well-known service, but the company has significantly diversified its offerings.{{Citation needed}} Key products include the [[Android]] operating system, the [[Google Chrome]] web browser, [[Google Drive]] for cloud storage, [[Google Maps]], [[YouTube]], and [[Google Play]].<ref>https://about.google/intl/ALL_us/products/</ref>{{Citation needed}} Additionally, the company provides digital advertising services through Google Ads, generating the majority of its revenue.{{Citation needed}} In recent years, Google has also developed hardware products such as the Pixel smartphone and Nest smart home devices.{{Citation needed}} | ||
Google has faced ongoing scrutiny related to data privacy, competition, and its dominant position in the market, such concerns have stretched as far back as 2012<ref>https://ideas.time.com/2012/03/05/will-we-ever-get-strong-internet-privacy-rules/</ref>{{Citation needed}} The company has been the subject of various legal and regulatory challenges, particularly concerning antitrust issues, the use of personal data, and its impact on consumer choice.{{Citation needed}} | Google has faced ongoing scrutiny related to data privacy, competition, and its dominant position in the market, such concerns have stretched as far back as 2012<ref>https://ideas.time.com/2012/03/05/will-we-ever-get-strong-internet-privacy-rules/</ref>{{Citation needed}} The company has been the subject of various legal and regulatory challenges, particularly concerning antitrust issues, the use of personal data, and its impact on consumer choice.{{Citation needed}} | ||
===Google Play Music shutdown=== | ===Google Play Music shutdown=== | ||
[[wikipedia:Google_Play_Music|Google Play Music]] was a service that allowed | [[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.<ref name=":0">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Play_Music</ref> It was publicly launched on the 16th November 2011<ref name=":0" /> 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> 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> | ||
In October 2020, Google announced that they would be shutting down Google Play Music, with it being fully shut down by December.<ref>https://9to5google.com/2020/12/03/google-play-music-dead/</ref> This went ahead with a warning to their users to begin migrating to YouTube Music, and that they would be losing access to their | In October 2020, Google announced that they would be shutting down Google Play Music, with it being fully shut down by December.<ref>https://9to5google.com/2020/12/03/google-play-music-dead/</ref> This went ahead with a warning to their users to begin migrating to [[wikipedia:YouTube_Music|YouTube Music]], and that they would be losing access to their purchased songs. Google recommended users should download their purchased songs before the service would shut down.<ref>https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/youtube-music-will-replace-google-play-music-end-2020/</ref> | ||
After the | 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> | ||
===Google Stadia shutdown=== | ===Google Stadia shutdown=== | ||