Category Archives: Google

Recently, Google announced its Cloud Virtual Machines (VMs) based on the Arm architecture of Compute Engine called Tau T2A. These VMs are the latest addition to the Tau VM family that offers VMs optimized for cost-effective performance for scale-out workloads and are available in preview.

The company added Tau VMs to the Compute Engine based on AMDs 3rd Generation EPYC Processor (codenamed Milan) and claims up to 42% higher price-performance compared to general-purpose VMs of any of the leading public cloud vendors. The Tau T2A VM is a new addition to the Tau VM and is based on the Arm architecture. It is powered by Ampere Altra Arm-based processors and comes in multiple predefined VM shapes, with up to 48 vCPUs per VM and 4GB of memory per vCPU.

Furthermore, it offers up to 32 Gbps networking bandwidth and a wide range of network-attached storage options, making Tau T2A VMs suitable for scale-out workloads, including web servers, containerized microservices, data-logging processing, media transcoding, and Java applications.

T2A VMs support the most popular Linux operating systems such as RHEL, Suse Linux Enterprise Server, CentOS, Ubuntu, and Rocky Linux. In addition, T2A VMs also support Container-optimized OS to bring up Docker containers quickly, efficiently, and securely. Ishan Sharma, senior product manager, Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), wrote in a Google Cloud blog post on Tau T2A VMs and GKE:

We are also thrilled to announce that you can run your containerized workloads on the Arm architecture using GKE. Arm nodes come packed with the key GKE features you love on the x86 architecture, including the ability to run in GKE Autopilot mode for a hands-off experience or on GKE Standard clusters where you manage your own node pools.

In addition, developers building applications on Google Cloud can now use several Google Cloud services with T2A VMs besides GKE, using the recently launched Batch service to run batch jobs on T2A instances and Dataflow workloads, benefiting from cost savings and minimizing processing time. Google also intends to bring integrations with other Google services later this year.

Other public cloud providers such as Azure and AWS also offer a wide selection of instance types, varying combinations of storage, CPU, memory, and networking capacity, allowing customers to scale resources to the requirements of their target workload. Some instances run on Arm-based processors, for example, the AWS C7g EC2 instances running on the Arm-based Graviton3 processors or the Azure Dpsv5 VM-series (preview) running on Ampere Altra Arm-based processors.

In another Google Cloud blog post,Subra Chandramouli and Jamie Kinney, both product managers at Google, provided a reason for the Tau T2A VM:

Google Cloud customers and developers now have the option of choosing an Arm-based Google Cloud VM to test, develop and run their workloads on the optimal architecture for their workload.

However, a respondent on the Hacker News thread on the preview release of Tau T2A VMs said:

I'm glad to see this, but I'm disappointed that this tops out at 48 vCPUs. The equivalent from Amazon has 64, and Altra processors support up to 128.

Currently, the TAU T2A VMs are in preview in several Google Cloud regions: US-central (Iowa - Zone A,B,F), Europe-west4 (Netherlands - Zone A,B), and Asia-southeast1 (Singapore - Zone B,C) and will be in general availability in the coming months. Pricing-wise, the VMs are price-performance optimized, for instance, a 32vCPU VM with 128GB RAM will be priced at $1.232 per hour for on-demand usage in US-central1. More details on pricing are available on the pricing page.

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Google Expands the Tau VM Family with Arm-Based Processors - InfoQ.com

Google has relaunched Street View, the Google Maps feature that allows users to explore an area through 360-degree panoramic street-level images, in India more than a decade after it first rolled out the service in the South Asian market and roughly six years after the feature was banned in the country over security concerns.

The company, which first launched Street View in the country for in 2011, said it has partnered with local giants Genesys and Tech Mahindra to relaunch the service, which is now live in 10 Indian cities. The company expects to roll out the service to 50 Indian cities by the end of the year.

This is the first time that, Google executives said at a press briefing in New Delhi Wednesday, Google has partnered with third-party firms for Street View. Unveiled 15 years ago, Street View is live in over 100 countries and territories and has amassed over 220 billion Street View images, the company said earlier this year.

Starting today, Street View will be available on Google Maps with fresh imagery intensity in India that is covering 150,000 kilometers (93,205 miles) of roads thats actually been ingested into Google Maps, said Miriam Karthika Daniel, VP Maps Experiences at Google, at the event. So Im really thrilled about how people will start using Street View and in India and see how we have suddenly changed everyday lives.

Miriam Karthika Daniel, VP Maps Experiences at Google, discussing the relaunch of Street View in India at an event in New Delhi. Image credits: Jagmeet Singh / TechCrunch

India rejected Googles plans to collect images for its Street View service in 2016 over security concerns of sensitive defence installations. The government feared that the technology could aid terrorism, local media reports said at the time. India has long been concerned that its military installations and high-security areas are vulnerable to attack and, like many other nations, has insisted to control how the countrys international boundaries and disputed borders are represented.

Google said today Indias geospatial policy, which was unveiled last year, helped the company relaunch Street View in the country.

The geospatial policy allows local entities to do the data collection at a certain level of fidelity. So, our partners here, they configure the cameras, they go into the data collection. They own the data that they collect, but then they license it to entities like Google, so we can actually integrate it and offer services like Google Maps, Karthika Daniel said.

Karthika Daniel, who joined Google last year from Amazon, said the company is opening up access to Street View API to local developers. This will enable them to integrate with mapping experiences and all of their products and services going forward, she said.

On the sidelines of Street View launch, Google announced scores of other additions to Google Maps in India, the Android-makers largest market by users. One such feature will show speed limits data shared by the traffic authorities on the maps app. The company said the feature, to be rolled out first in Bengaluru and Chandigarh, is aimed at promoting safe driving.

We are proud to partner with Google to use technology to help reduce traffic congestion and improve road safety for the people of Bengaluru. We are the first Indian city to have started a pilot with Google to optimize the traffic light configuration in Bengaluru to reduce signal wait time for commuters. As per the data provided by Google, the revised plan by Google resulted in an average 20% wait time reduction per driver going through the pilot intersection during the day, said Ravikanthe Gowda, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) in Bengaluru, in a statement.

Google said it has also partnered with traffic authorities and aggregators to help people across eight Indian cities Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Gurgaon and Agra make improved travel decisions and avoid congestion zones with information on road closures and incidents.

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Google launches Street View in India after years of rejection - TechCrunch

Google is adding photorealistic aerial views to almost 100 landmarks in Google Maps, the company announced on Wednesday. The views, which remind me of Apple Maps Flyover feature, give you an overhead look at landmarks in cities including Barcelona, London, New York, San Francisco, and Tokyo, according to Google.

You can get an idea of what the new aerial views look like in this GIF from the company:

The aerial views are a first step toward launching the immersive view the company showed off at Google I/O, according to a blog post from Google Maps director of product Amanda Leicht Moore. Immersive view will also include indoor views and information like traffic and the weather layered on the map, Google spokesperson Genevieve Park tells The Verge. At I/O, Google said immersive view would begin rolling out in Los Angeles, London, New York City, San Francisco, and Tokyo later this year.

In addition to the aerial views, Google is bringing a few other new features to Maps. For cycling routes, youll be able to see additional information like whether a specific road youll be instructed to travel on is a major or minor road, if your route includes stairs or steep hills, and whether you can expect to hit heavy traffic. And if someone has shared their location with you, youll be able to get notifications when they get to or leave a location. Apple offers a similar feature with the Find My app.

The new aerial views and location sharing notifications are now rolling out globally on iOS and Android, Moore says. The updated cycling route information will be launching in the coming weeks.

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Google is adding Flyover-like aerial views to Maps - The Verge

CHICAGO Google will take over the Thompson Center in The Loop, officials announced Wednesday.

The tech giant has agreed to buy all of the building for $105 million after it is renovated by other organizations. The Thompson Center will be entirely redeveloped into an office suite for Googles workers as part of the deal, Gov. JB Pritzker said at a news conference. The sale will benefit the company, as well as Illinois taxpayers and Chicagoans, he said.

Google is one of Chicagos most important companies, Pritzker said. You are an integral part of our community, and you have invested in your future while investing in ours.

As part of the deal, the state will receive $30 million in cash and will get 115 S. LaSalle St. That will be renovated, and state employees will then work from there.

Consolidating Downtown real estate will save taxpayers nearly $1 billion over the next 30 years, Pritzker said. And selling the building to Google will generate tax revenue for the city and bring more life to The Loop, he said.

The Thompson Center will be renovated, though officials will respect its iconic design, said Google executive Karen Sauder. Quintin Primo III, chairman and CEO of Capri, which will work on the renovations, said changes will be made to make the building as energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable and inclusive as possible.

Its the latest twist for the famed building, which opened in 1985 and has been used for governmental offices but which has faced costly infrastructure issues that have led to several lawmakers attempting to sell it.

Officials revealed few details about Googles redevelopment plans for the Thompson Center. But real estate information company CoStar which first revealed the pending sale in June has said Google will set up offices throughout the 17-story building.

Google has more than 2,000 employees in Chicago and office space at 1KFulton, 1000 W. Fulton St., and 210 N. Carpenter St., according to CoStar. The tech giant has previously said it plans to add thousands more workers to cities across the nation, including Chicago.

The company welcomed its Chicago employeesback to in-person work in April.

The Thompson Center was designed by famed postmodern architect Helmut Jahn and opened in 1985 as the State of Illinois Center.

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Google Is Buying The Thompson Center For $105 Million - Block Club Chicago

Beverly Kim owns two restaurants in Chicago and is no stranger to the ups and downs of reviews and criticism. But a series of one-star reviews posted to her restaurant Parachutes Google business profile in early July raised an alarm.

My initial reaction was, are they being racist? This is a Korean restaurant; maybe people arent understanding it, she said.

As it turned out, it wasnt a racist attack, but it was a coordinated one. A new scam targeting independent restaurants across the country emerged a few weeks ago. First, scammers left multiple one-star ratings on restaurants Google listings. Then they emailed the restaurants to demand small cash payments in exchange for deleting the reviews.

Hello. Unfortunately, negative feedback about your establishment has been left by us. And will appear in the future, one review a day. We sincerely apologize for our actions, and would not want to harm your business, but we have no other choice, the emails read, before asking for $75 gift cards to be sent to an encrypted email address. The fact is that we live in India and see no other way to survive.

It was extortion by Google rating.

Parachute was just one of the Chicago restaurants targeted by scammers in attacks that spanned the country from San Francisco to Houston to New York.

This was going to be a story about Googles inaction in response to the organized and widely publicized scam. As of last week many of the fraudulent ratings still appeared in search results and on Google Maps. Though Google encourages business owners to report suspicious reviews, the platform was slow to respond to frantic restaurant owners, and in some cases even said that reviews didnt go against company policy. Now, weeks later, some targeted restaurants, including Parachute, have found the one-star reviews are finally gone.

Still, the scammers found an easy target in independent restaurants that faced headaches as they tried, unsuccessfully at first, to have the reviews removed. Weeks after the scam began, its revealed just how reliant restaurants are on review platforms like Google, and how little power they have to respond to bad actors. Its a fragile system that restaurant owners rely on heavily to succeed, and one that has few checks and balances to ensure they arent being taken advantage of or extorted.

Some restaurant owners, Kim included, reported all the offending reviews and received responses saying that the reviews didnt violate Googles policies and would remain on the site. (The response asked business owners to consider replying to the customer directly to resolve the issue.) Despite having proof of extortion in hand, restaurants, stuck in a loop of technological customer service, were left to ignore the fake ratings, or worse, engage their extortionist, hoping they wouldnt pile up and hurt business.

Google also recommends, obviously, that restaurants dont pay the scammers. In an emailed statement provided on July 25, a Google spokesperson said the company was aware of the extortion scam and that its team was working around the clock to thwart the attacks, take down fraudulent reviews, and protect affected restaurants profiles, without elaborating further. Our policies clearly state reviews must be based on real experiences, and we use a combination of human operators and industry-leading technology to closely monitor 24/7 for fraudulent content, the spokesperson said. We encourage users and business owners to flag suspicious activity to us, which helps us keep the information on Maps accurate and reliable.

Read the rest here:

Restaurant Owners are at the Mercy of Google Review Scammers - Bon Appetit

Every major tech company is working on computer glasses. None of them really want to go first.

They all remember how Google Glass, and the Glassholes who wore them in public, became the laughingstock of the world. So theyve been waiting, biding their time, refining their prototypes, and every so often making sure investors know that, no, theyre not going to let the first potentially iPhone-sized opportunity since the iPhone slip by.

But now, Google itself is taking the next step. And whether youve been dreading the moment when Big Techs all-seeing eyes reappear on peoples heads or merely counting the days until you can own a hands-free camera-computer, you should know were on the verge of contending with them once again.

Last Tuesday, Google revealed that it will begin testing camera-equipped augmented reality glasses in public, and the companys blog post contains numerous statements designed to assure you that this wont be the era of Glassholes all over again. Google claims its starting with a few dozen testers, and the cameras and microphones on its glasses dont support photography and videography. They do collect visual data, but Google wants you to imagine use cases like translating the menu in front of you not recording someone across from you at a bar.

The companys support page also contains an entire list of FAQs like What is image data used for?; How long is it stored?; and How will I know if Im in close proximity to products being tested? Turns out theres an LED that lights up if Google decides to save images for analysis, and it promises to delete them 30 days later.

For now, Google says its testers wont be using them in schools, hospitals, churches, playgrounds, and the like though it says nothing about restaurants and bars, where Glass famously got wearers in trouble years ago.

If you hate this idea, theres probably nothing I can say to convince you otherwise, nor would I necessarily want to; Im not going to pretend to know whether such a gadget should exist in the world. I just think you should realize that if Googles test doesnt end in utter disgust, it wont be long before Apple, Microsoft, and others throw their long-awaited glasses into the ring as well.

And in 2022, I wouldnt actually bet on disgust, mainly because weve had a decade of pointing phones at things in public, documenting every element of our lives, to prepare us for whats to come.

Since the day in 2012 when a team of Google skydivers landed on Moscone Center with the first public Google Glass prototypes, mobile camera use has exploded. Not only have phone cameras utterly destroyed point-and-shoots but theyve also changed social norms. In 2012, it was still a little weird to whip out a camera in a bar or restaurant; now, itd be weird not to nab a selfie with friends or snap some shots of a particularly tasty-looking meal. And the fear you might accidentally capture a stranger in your shot? Its such a normal everyday occurrence that Google uses a magic background person eraser as a selling point for its Pixel phones.

Besides, mobile cameras arent just filming when someone thinks to pull their smartphone out of their pocket; theyre flying through the air. Anyone can now buy a self-flying camera from Snap for $230 to film public places robotically, and weve had most of a decade to get used to the idea that another persons camera might be looking down on you from above. The vast majority of the consumer drone revolution occurred after Google Glass the DJI Phantom wasnt released until 2013.

Google Glass also predated the wide adoption of 4G LTE, which brought livestreaming and instant video publishing to the masses. Its the reason you can record the police and maybe possibly hold them accountable. (Remember when Google Glass pundits wrote about the concept of sousveillance, a form of reverse surveillance where people use their own cameras to watch the watchers? Phones already took us partway there.)

Public spaces are full of cameras pointed in every direction now, and theres very little expectation of privacy outside of your home. Society hasnt mounted many successful challenges to the proliferation of cameras, either. And even if filming were illegal, how would you police it? Its not easy to tell if someone is actually recording, checking TikTok, or even just getting work done on the go.

As my former colleague Ellis Hamburger put it in 2014, we are all Glassholes now. And I feel thats only become more true through the pandemic, as even technology holdouts have begun to rely on pocket computers for bare necessities like socialization and food. In the last couple of years, Ive seen people who swore off technology for things they could do in person begrudgingly turn to Amazon, DoorDash, Facebook, Instacart, and more. And I suspect some of them will be more open-minded about the benefits of tech now.

Even headsets may not carry quite the stigma they did due to the pandemic. VR usage exploded during the 2020 lockdowns, even if the overall sales numbers are still relatively small. The modern rise and fall and rise of virtual reality is, again, something that happened after Google Glasss fateful 2012 launch.

The pandemic might also wind up resetting some of our social norms like masking, which has the handy side effect of obscuring your identity from cameras while also lessening the spread of germs. Its not too hard to imagine countries that would tolerate citizens wearing a Bane-like mask tolerating other head-worn gadgets as well. You might remember a time when Bluetooth headsets were considered too dorky and rude to wear in public, and those have been thoroughly normalized now.

Besides, Google isnt the first to dip a toe back in these waters. Snapchat is now on the fourth generation of its Spectacles camera glasses, Meta has its Ray-Ban Stories, and you could argue Metas Project Aria test is pretty similar to what Googles doing now. None has yet generated the kind of stink that Google Glass experienced a decade ago.

Sure, that could change if a future pair of glasses proves to be more intrusive than our existing phones and drones. There are definitely going to be serious questions about data collection and privacy, particularly given the track record of some of the companies building them.

But in 2022, I think the bigger challenge facing Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Snap is figuring out how to build AR experiences wed actually pay for experiences more compelling or convenient than what phones already offer. As we wrote in May when Google teased some real-time language translation glasses, the company does have an intriguing idea there:

Its very hard to watch that video and see a Glasshole. But its also too easy to spot the vaporware.

More here:

Google is trying to fix the mistakes of Google Glass - The Verge

Google projects like the North Bayshore Master Plan aim to bring thousands of new homes to Mountain View, though it's going to take decades to come to fruition. Courtesy Google.

Three years after pledging to invest $1 billion toward increasing the Bay Area's housing supply and supporting organizations that combat homelessness, Google released an update on how this commitment is unfolding.

So far, the tech behemoth has allocated $128 million of a $250 million investment fund to 18 organizations, which resulted in the development of 23 affordable housing projects across the Bay Area, according to a July 25 statement. The other chunk of the $1 billion commitment will be in the form of land the company is pushing forward a number of housing projects on Google-owned land worth $750 million.

"We've worked closely with elected officials and residents to propose plans where residential units, offices, retail spaces and open space will coexist on our land," Google said in the statement.

All together, Google aims to build close to 13,000 units of housing across the south Bay Area, the majority of which are planned for Mountain View. The San Jose City Council approved Google's Downtown West project in May 2021, which calls for 4,000 housing units. The company has also submitted plans for two mixed-use developments in Mountain View the Middlefield Park and North Bayshore master plans which together will generate nearly 9,000 housing units in the coming decades.

"While we've made progress across the Bay Area through funding and land allocation, we know that's only part of the solution," the July 25 statement said. "Fighting the housing crisis requires innovation and collaboration across the community. So today, we're also sharing how we're using philanthropy to test new methods of intervention with trusted nonprofit leaders."

Excerpt from:

Google gives an update on its $1B commitment to combat Bay Area housing crisis - The Almanac Online

26 July 2022, 15:27

A new animation, served to millions today on Googles homepage, tells the fascinating history of a great percussion instrument the steelpan.

Today, Google has published a new Doodle (watch above) in celebration of the steelpan, a popular percussion tool and the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago.

Trinidad & Tobago-based artist Nicholas Huggins, who illustrated the Doodle, said he hopes people can take away the sense of the industriousness and creativity of the people of Trinidad & Tobago.

We are a small country on the global stage but the fact that we have given the world such a beautiful instrument is something to be held in the highest regard.

A steelpan is a big, silver metal drum, often supported on a stand and played with two straight sticks.

The instrument was created by Trinbagonians people of Trinidad & Tobago in the 1930s and is recognised today as one of the only major acoustic musical instruments to be invented in the 20th century.

On this day, 26 July, in 1951, the Trinidad All-Steel Pan Percussion Orchestra (TASPO) performed at the Festival of Britain, and in doing so introduced the steelpan and a new music genre to the world.

Read more: Who was Oskar Sala, electronic composer celebrated in Google Doodle?

While the steelpan in its modern form was created in the 1930s, the instruments origins lie in the 18th century.

In the 1700s, when enslaved Africans were brought over to Trinidad by colonialists, they brought their long-standing musical drumming traditions with them. And when slavery was abolished in the 1830s, they brought the sound of their drums to the harvest festivals that would take place in Trinidad.

Then came a succession of bans on the percussion instrument. In 1877, government officials feared that steelpan-playing would drum up rebellion in the local communities. In protest, musicians started to make music by pounding tuned bamboo tubes on the ground.

In 1930, claims of disturbance led to a second ban. This time, musicians started using metal objects such as car parts, paint pots, dustbins, biscuit tins to make music instead and so, the idea of the pan was born.

The pan was banned once again during World War II, for security reasons. Musicians used the time to find ways to improve the sound quality, forming a range of dents in the surface that would sound different notes.

Google adds on its website: In 1948, after the war ended, the musicians switched to using the 55 gallon oil drums discarded by the oil refineries. In addition to changing the shape of the drum surface, they found that changing the length of the drum allowed complete scales from bass to soprano. This formed the basis for the modern version of the pan.

Pioneers and innovators such as Winston Spree Simon, Ellie Mannette, Anthony Williams and Bertie Marshall, helped grow the steelpan into a legitimate and respected instrument, with the soothing sound its known for in the 21st century.

Usually played using a pair of straight sticks tipped with rubber at the end, steelpans can often be heard in groups known as steelbands or steel orchestras, and are enjoyed in concert halls around the world, from the Royal Albert Hall in the UK to Carnegie Hall in the United States.

Today, its a symbol of pride and resilience for the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago. Miami-based musician Etienne Charles, who composed music for the Doodle video, said: Id like people to feel the magic in the steelpan. An instrument born out of Afro-descendant resistance in Trinidad. A symbol of community, artistic excellence, and scientific innovation.

Hopefully this makes people more inclined to come hear pan in its birthplace and feel the energy that comes from it. Its really like nothing else.

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Why is the steelpan being celebrated in todays Google Doodle and whats the instruments history? - Classic FM

By Tom Westbrook

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Better-than-expected results at Microsoft and Google helped soothe a nervous mood in stock markets on Wednesday, while a cut in Russian gas flow dragged on the euro and a Federal Reserve meeting due later in the day kept bonds and the dollar on edge.

Nasdaq 100 futures bounced 1.4% and S&P 500 futures were up 0.8% in Asia after Microsoft forecast steep revenue growth and Google parent Alphabet posted strong search engine ad sales.

Alphabet shares rose 5% after hours and Microsoft shares rose 4% to cut through some of the gloom cast over Tuesday by a profit warning at retailer Walmart and some soft U.S economic data.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.6% and Japan's Nikkei fell 0.3%.

The Federal Reserve is expected to announce a 75 basis point rate hike at 1800 GMT but investors are wary of a surprise in either direction and have preferred safe assets such as dollars.

"The market is trying to convince itself that peak inflation has happened," which would be a basis for more clarity and confidence about future rates and growth, said ING economist Rob Carnell, but that means a Fed that is staying the course.

"(The Fed) does need to give the sense that fighting inflation is their number one priority, otherwise the sense is that inflation will stay higher for longer," he said.

Australian data sounded something of a warning on Wednesday, with headline consumer prices rising at their fastest pace in two decades.

In the United States a 75 bp hike is fully priced on Wednesday, but futures imply about a 15% chance of a 100 bp hike. The Treasury market is already anticipating that near-term hikes will hurt longer-run growth.

Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields were steady at 2.8068% on Wednesday, below two-year yields at 3.0528%. [US/]

EUROPE, CHINA WOBBLY

On top of worries about interest rates damaging economies, Europe faces an energy crisis and China is beset by restrictive COVID-19 policies and fresh fears of a property market collapse.

The euro had its worst session in a fortnight on Tuesday, sliding 1%, as Russia's Gazprom said it would further cut westbound gas flow and energy prices zoomed higher.

It steadied at $1.0145 in Asia. The Australian dollar was marginally lower at $0.6923. The Japanese yen steadied at 136.96 per dollar.

China's yuan was under pressure and property stocks fell as investors have been spooked that a widening boycott of mortgage repayments on unfinished apartments can ricochet around the development and banking industries.

The onshore CSI real estate index fell 2% and a Hong Kong index of mainland developers fell more than 5%, dragged down by large developer Country Garden announcing a discounted share sale.

"China's housing sector is in the midst of a depression and the recent mortgage boycott is a sign of the severity of the downturn," said analysts at Societe Generale.

"The extent of this boycott, as it is now, is not unmanageable, but there is a risk of escalation."

Europe's soaring gas prices kept oil firm. Brent crude futures were steady at $104.30 a barrel. U.S. crude futures rose 0.1% to $95.14 a barrel.

Gold was steady at $1,717 an ounce.

(Reporting by Tom Westbrook; Editing by Christopher Cushing)

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Google gives jittery stocks a lift ahead of Federal Reserve meeting - Business Standard

Prepping for a summer cookout? If you head over to Amazon right now, you can pre-order the retailers hottest new charcoal grill: the Google Pixel Buds Pro.

Yes, that sentence you just read didnt make a lot of sense, but Amazons search engine thinks it does! The algorithm has apparently decided that not only do the new charcoal colored earbuds count as a charcoal grill, theyve apparently been the best-selling product in that category for over 24 hours now (via Reddit and Mishaal Rahman) without Amazon doing anything about it.

See for yourself:

In general, I wouldnt read too much into any badges youd see on an Amazon product. As another example, did you know the Amazons Choice badge isnt a stamp that indicates any sort of quality whatsoever? Its algorithmically doled out to all sorts of products that you wouldnt think deserve it.

And dont get me started on Amazons user reviews though there, the company does clearly know it has a problem, and pursues large enforcement actions (like this recent crackdown on Facebook fake review groups) every year.

Last month, The Wall Street Journal wrote about the deluge of random-letter-generator Chinese brands that appear when you look for products. Its interesting to see how many of them rank in the charcoal grill list, too including such storied brands as RESVIN, Cecarol, Oilzz, YSSOA, and DOIT.

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Amazon's best-selling new charcoal grill is... the Pixel Buds Pro? - The Verge