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Google and the European Commission's delicate negotiations on a settlement regarding the search engine giant's alleged antitrust violations this week hit an unusual snag: The terms of Google's second offer were outed on Wednesday, opening them up to unexpected public scrutiny. The new offer -- inclu...

EU regulators are seeking feedback from Google's rivals and other third parties on the company's latest attempt to settle antitrust allegations against it in Europe. If the company can come to a settlement, it will avoid the expense of a messy trial as well as a possible $5 billion fine. To settle t...

Investors sent Google's shares soaring past the $1,000 mark Friday following its stellar third-quarter earnings report. Google reported $14.89 billion in revenue, a 12 percent increase compared with the same time a year ago, beating Wall Street expectations. It posted net income of $2.97 billion, up...

Google has announced changes to its Terms of Service that will take effect Nov. 13. In short, users' profile names and photos will be served up together with content such as reviews they share, ads they +1, comments they post, or who and what they follow. Only people users choose to share content w...

After three years of wrangling with Google over its alleged anticompetitive business practices, the EU has suggested there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. "We have reached a key moment in this case," EC Vice President Joaquin Almunia, who is responsible for competition policy, said at a ...

Google on Thursday introduced a new search algorithm called "Hummingbird." The company actually started rolling out the algorithm about a month ago, but it formally unveiled it on Thursday, the 15-year anniversary of Google Search's launch. At the heart of the new algorithm is a new, better ranking ...

Google reportedly is developing its own anonymous identifier for advertising, AdID, that will replace third-party cookies as a way for advertisers to track consumers' online browsing activity. Its aim is to give consumers more privacy and control over their Web browsing. Google's AdID apparently wil...

Facebook on Monday began rolling out new tools designed to help news organizations uncover the real-time conversations people are having across the social network. The company released two APIs to a handful of online publications. The Public Feed allows news organizations to integrate Facebook conve...

TECHNOLOGY LAW CORNER

Google's $8.5M Data Privacy Dodge

An October 2010 class action lawsuit against Google included allegations that "Google transmitted user search queries to third parties without knowledge or consent in order to enhance advertising revenue and profitability." Following three years of litigation, Google and the plaintiff users this Jun...

Yahoo topped Google as the most-visited website in the United States in July, Web analytics firm comScore reported on Wednesday. Specifically, Yahoo received 196.6 million unique visitors during the month, compared with 192.3 million for Google. This is the first time Yahoo has found itself in the t...

Google is contesting the right of UK Safari users to bring a case against it in the UK, according to a statement from the plaintiffs' law firm. To emphasize its stance, in fact, the search engine did not accept notice of the lawsuit in the UK but forced the plaintiffs to file in California instead -...

Strong revenue figures helped Yelp beat analysts' expectations for the second quarter of 2013, sending its stock soaring by more than 20 percent following the Wednesday release of its earnings report. While the company reported a loss of 1 cent per share, revenue rose to $55 million, representing a ...

Google Wants Its Web TV

Google is considering the possibility of launching an Internet-based TV service, according to numerous media reports. Specifically, the company has approached several media companies about the possibility licensing of content for an Internet-based TV service that would stream traditional TV programm...

The Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection on Monday issued a letter to search engines including Google, Yahoo and Microsoft, advising them to provide better labeling and notification of advertising that appears alongside search results. The letter is an update to guidelines issued...

Microsoft is accelerating its push into the education market with new initiatives including a school-friendly version of its Bing search engine and discount prices for its Surface RT tablets. Bing for Schools, which will be available later this year, is an optional Bing experience for K-12 students ...

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