This is bizarre - I made a typo and accidentally ran a #Google search for a comma. Not the word, the punctuation mark.

And yet, somehow, Google thinks that is:
1. A valid enough search to be showing a bazillion results
2. A search that needs short-form vertical videos at the top from a bunch of white women (who are they? Why them? What in the world is relevant to a singular punctuation mark that makes them pull up these videos?)
3. A search with enough inferred intent to show me a whole Q&A interface?

I know we complain about the state of #search online a lot these days and I've been part of the #SEO industry for years but something like this is so blatantly ridiculous it's hard not to stop and wonder.... what the actual fuck?

Alt...

Screenshot of a Google search for “,” - a singular comma. Shows a bunch of short videos and then a people also ask in the results, begging the question - who is this even for?

@thomasfuchs that's not AI, but a featured snippet. And as you can see from the source it's a fandom wiki. Yeah, one would expect better reason around here (including the people commenting who don't check shit. How is that better than the disinfo crowd?). #FakeNews #seo #Google #SteamPunk

I tried #ChromeOS Flex. I installed it on a spare laptop, and while everything worked, I couldn't help but notice that this OS doesn't seem to have a purpose. The desktop has major UX flaws, it lacks the advantages of ChromeOS, and so there is no use case where a #Linux distro wouldn't be a better choice. Let's take a look!

#opensource #chrome #google

https://youtu.be/XYBMdKlYygg

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Thumbnail of a youtube video, titles Chrome OS Flex makes no sense, with a photo of the settings of Chrome OS.

***** An Open Letter to the CEOs of #Apple and #Google: Would you have supported the Nazis during WWII? *****

Dear Tim and Sundar,

Hi. I'd normally start a letter like this asking how you were doing, but since you're both billionaires who have been palling around with Donald Trump, I think we can dispense with that formality this time.

I've got a question for you guys. I don't really expect an answer, but I feel that it needs to be asked anyway. Here we go ...

"If Apple, Google, and apps had been around during WWII, would you have supported the Nazis, either explicitly or implicitly?"

As you probably know, IBM has been raked over the coals for decades for the technological assistance they provided the Third Reich, helping them tabulate "undesirables" for a "final solution."

Which brings us to you two! Yeah, you knew this was coming. I have to assume that your dramatic decisions to remove apps that helped the public legally determine the location of ICE operations was approved at your level. If not, you're still ultimately responsible, of course.

Word is that DOJ requested Apple to pull the apps, and that Google pulled them proactively without waiting around for a request. These of course were completely legal apps, breaking no laws that I'm aware of. Banning them from your apps stores effectively bans them virtually completely in a practical sense. Sideloading in iOS has always been difficult, and Google has announced upcoming restrictions that would make sideloading much more difficult for Android as well.

The parallels between your decisions regarding those apps and what went on during WWII in Nazi Germany are very troubling indeed. The Nazis legally (under then current laws) rounded up their target populations: Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, and a range of other "undesirables", then "disappeared" them with minimal or no due process, whisking them off to concentration camps. This included cripples, mothers, children -- an enormous range. Many were never heard from again. Millions were exterminated.

I don't need to spell out the parallels with what Trump's ICE is now doing -- they're obvious on the daily news. And before you protest that you're not killing anyone by banning those apps, I'd argue that you indeed are very likely contributing to deaths.

The large majority of people being deported via these ICE raids have no criminal record and their only "crime" is being in this country illegally -- sometimes for decades raising families of U.S. citizens. Many are being deported to countries where they face the high likelihood of horrific treatment including torture and death.

I don't really need to go on any further, do I boys? You're both intelligent and informed. You both know exactly what you're doing. So I come back to the original question. If your firms had been around during WWII, would you have supported the Nazis? If not, your apparently enthusiastic embrace of the current administration's fascist behaviors seems inexplicable.

But hey, perhaps you have logical explanations that aren't obvious to those of us in the non-billionaire class. If so, we'd love to hear them!

Sincerely,

L

How to stop Google from invading your privacy and others' when you share links

"share.google" links are evil. Here's how to get Google to stop spitting them at you.
#privacy #infosec #Google #Android

https://blog.kamens.us/2025/09/30/how-to-stop-google-from-invading-your-privacy-and-others-when-you-share-links/

RE: https://mastodon.social/@bastianallgeier/115315153621497900

Iʼm surprised anyone trusts #Google in 2025.
We all know they kowtowed to China in 2006. In 2012, it was public knowledge they were bypassing Iphone privacy settings in Safari. In 2013, Edward Snowden told us about PRISM. There was the news of alleged tax avoidance. There was Project Nimbus for the Israeli military. They were very quick at calling it the Gulf of America. What will it take for people to stop thinking Google is on the side of good?

With the #ICEBlock news this week today is a good day to check out @altstore!

https://altstore.io/

My instance doesn't support quooting yet so thoughts on last boost on Google stopping you from loading 'unapproved' (by them) apps.

I have critical apps via F-Droid:

DavX - calendar sync
Gadgetbridge - fitness tracking
Openreads - books

But alternatives generally won't support:

Banking apps - to authorise payments at a minimum
WhatsApp - please don't say 'use Signal' (I do, non-techies don't)
NHS app - terms say they may report you to law enforcement (yes really)

#Android #Google #Fdroid

So I saw a post saying that #google is blocking searches for “does #trump have dementia”. The claim is that you can just stick that on the end of an otherwise ordinary search and you won’t get the AI results but you will get normal results. I’m not getting what they claim. Lots of people are getting different results.

One German user pointed out that, for them, no AI summary was ever provided if any persons name was in the search. (I haven’t verified that)

In my case I searched for “most nfl coaching wins does trump have dementia”. While I did get “No AI summary is available” I didn’t get anything related to the NFL. It’s all peculiar.

I used safari (which I rarely use), not signed in to google. I never search on any kinds of sports, and I have a pi-hole doing its level best to block ads. So my setup is pretty anti-google and my search was really atypical of other things I do. I dunno whether any of that matters. It’s all a black box to most people.

Alt...

Screenshot of a phone using safari searching on “most nfl coaching wins”. 2 results are visible followed by an AI overview. List of NFL head coach wins leaders from Wikipedia And an article from ESPN titled Who are the winningest NFL coaches of all time?

Alt...

Same browser screen searching most nfl coaching wins does trump have dementia. It shows “An Al Overview is not available for this search at the top” Then there’s a single Yahoo article titled “This Is What Proves Trump's Dementia: Psychologist Sep 21, 2025” Then there is a section of “People also ask” (this wasn’t visible in the first screenshot) and the first question is “What was Trump's diagnosis in 2025?”

In light of the current reports about #Google wanting to prohibit the installation of applications on #Android outside of their app store if the application developers do not obtain approval for the application from Google using their personal data:

It is called #installing – not #sideloading …

“Sideloading” is a corporate term invented to frame the installation of applications outside of their app store as something shady/illegal/questionable.

You wouldn't call it “sideloading” if you were installing an application on your desktop or laptop computer not using the package manager.

So why call it “sideloading” if you’re installing an application on your handheld computer?

It is the exact same thing. There is no difference other than corporations want you to believe there are!

The Independent: Google AI Overview appears to block results on searches for ‘Trump cognitive decline’ but not for Biden. “Google appears to have blocked certain artificial intelligence search results for queries about President Donald Trump’s mental acuity, but will provide an AI summary of the same for former President Joe Biden.”

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/10/02/the-independent-google-ai-overview-appears-to-block-results-on-searches-for-trump-cognitive-decline-but-not-for-biden/

So last night I was watching a clip on YouTube using Firefox-esr + uBlock Origin and got a popup saying “Ad Blockers are not allowed on Youtube”.

Seems like my time on YT is coming to an end soon haha. Fuckin Google #YouTube #Google

How do people watch YouTube without an ad blocker? It's more ads than video.

#YouTube #video #google

Wishing this Invidious server maintainer a well deserved and happy holiday! 🙂 #support #invidious #boycott #google

Never heard of Invidious ? 👉 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invidious

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503 - Service Unavailable This Invidious instance is currently unavailable due to changes made by YouTube I'm currently on vacation and consequently cannot apply the numerous changes required to fix the current problems. It's just technically impossible right now. I also really need some (well deserved) time off. This Invidious instance will remain unavailable until at least 05-10-2025. I'm sorry but YouTube just had to screw up everything on the exact day I decide to take a vacation. From the bottom of my heart: Fuck you YouTube, seriously.

My Android phone is starting to act up. The last phone I got was around 2018. The wifi is messed up and keeps dropping and I am pretty sure it is the device itself, maybe from being dropped too much due to my motor skills and Parkinson's.

All the moves that #Google is making with #Android is really making me second guess if I want another. I have been using it since the first generation Nexus came out. I signed up early and think I even paid before the first one shipped

They are locking out sideloading apps, infusing AI and worse.

I don't want all this AI infused crap. I am not AI phobic, but it is unnecessary for me.

Same with all these so called AI web browsers.

UGH #Enshittification

@noracodes I hear you. I learned in 2009 that #Google was evil so I did what I could to be outside their influence, as much as possible. I have an Android phone but no Google—I'm not a hacker or even that computer-literate, I just like my privacy and my phone battery to last longer by not phoning the mothership every millisecond. Yet there are "apps" that refuse to work. Most work fine, and that tells me the ones that don't were made like that intentionally. Awful #BigTech sycophants out there.

Google's dev registration plan 'will end the F-Droid project'

The F-Droid project, which distributes open source apps for Android, will end if Google goes ahead with its plans to enforce developer registration for app installation, according to the project's board member Marc Prud'hommeaux.

Last month, Google said that from next year, but with a gradual rollout, Android certified devices will only install apps that are registered by verified developers, even when sideloaded, meaning that they are installed from a source other than the official Play store.

Users should have the right to run whatever software they want on a computer they own, Prud'hommeaux said.

https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/29/googles_dev_registration_plan_will/

#Fdroid #Android #Google #WalledGarden

We have to stop the Google/Apple mobile duopoly. And we have to stop the marching enshittification of society. More concretely, we have to fight back against Google's attempt to lock-down the whole Android ecosystem.

https://f-droid.org/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html

This is something that any sane regulatory body should forbid.

#google #apple #android #aosp #fdroid #privacy #security #enshittification #surveillance #mobile #politics

Broken links aside (fix incoming), #FDroid raises the case against the #Google developer forced registration once again.

We'll skip the small talk, go read, and better yet, spread this wide and far: https://f-droid.org/2025/09/29/google-developer-registration-decree.html so people are made aware, actions can be taken and #Android is kept truly open!

The #enshittification of #Firefox continues.

#mozilla #google

https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/09/28/0012206/firefox-will-offer-visual-searching-on-images-with-ai-powered-google-lens

Microsoft announced disabling some of its services for the occupation after discovering they were being used to surveil the people of Gaza.

Do you see this as just a PR move under public pressure?
Or is it the beginning of a real stance by tech companies against violations?

I’d love to hear your thoughts 👇

@matt
@aral
@fabio

#gaza #palestine #microsoft #apple #google #python #developer #ios #israel

Alt...

microsoft and israel

the fact that Apple and Google are both lobbying hard against the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) gives me the sense that it's working as intended

#apple #google #DMA #EU

The fight on ChatControl is not even over yet and another dystopian measure already looms at the horizon: age verification.

Among the many bad things about it: the proposed EU age verification app does not plan desktop support:

https://github.com/eu-digital-identity-wallet/av-doc-technical-specification/issues/22

Yes, you got it right. It will rely on the security attestation mechanism of the US mobile duopoly Google/Apple. So long for digital sovereignty.

This shall not pass.

#chatcontrol #ageverification #surveillance #privacy #dystopia #android #apple #google #eu #politics

Alt...

The awkward old man smiling meme, with a caption "BTW IM 12 LOL"

#Google #AI shows itself to be dangerously useless again..

Typed in ‘reconnecting a property previously on mains gas’ into the search bar.

First result is it’s ‘AI Overview’ which recognises I’m located in #Norwich…and then proceeds to tell me that the gas network operator I need is Wales and West Utilities. This will be amusing to anyone in the UK…because:

A) Norwich is on opposite side of country
B) The Gas Distribution Network here is Cadent, as it is for entire of East Anglia

🧵 In the mid-2000s I created a newspaper comic strip series about a sheep and a mole.

Posting a comic a day. Here's episode 45. In 2008, Google didn't feel as evil yet as it does these days, and Google Maps on your phone was still kind of magical. ✨

#comic #comics #sheep #ComicArt #DigitalArt #writing #cartoon #funny #3D #3DArt #webcomic #CharacterDesign #toys #design #artwork #cute #art #artist #arts #arte #designer #DigitalArt #ArtLovers #MastoArt #FediArt #CreativeToots #fun #google #maps

Alt...

Episode from the stylized 3D Seamour Sheep comic strip series, featuring a fluffy cartoon sheep and a sarcastic mole.

🧵 In the mid-2000s I created a newspaper comic strip series about a sheep and a mole.

Posting a comic a day. Here's episode 46. This gag was a reference to the Seamour Sheep Radioactive Edition limited-edition USB lamp that was released at the time.

#comic #comics #sheep #ComicArt #DigitalArt #writing #cartoon #funny #3D #3DArt #webcomic #CharacterDesign #toys #design #artwork #cute #art #artist #arts #arte #designer #DigitalArt #ArtLovers #MastoArt #FediArt #CreativeToots #fun #google #maps

Alt...

Episode from the stylized 3D Seamour Sheep comic strip series, featuring a fluffy cartoon sheep and a sarcastic mole.

@jgaehring @alternativeto

I really like it, but while it started pretty much as a "here is a #FOSS alternative to this tool" it went down quite a bit

#Flathub or #FDroid links are still not possible to normally add. The only embedded videos are #YouTube which is ironic, seeing how it is pretty much unusable without a #Google account nowadays

Also, user created lists are not searchable or search engine indexed... share the link, thats it

It is the best we have, but could seriously do better

***** WARNING REGARDING GOOGLE/ALPHABET *****

#Google (#Alphabet) is reinstating the worst of #YouTube creators who were "permanently" banned for COVID-19 and election integrity misinformation. Alphabet is now saying "Biden made them do the bans."

Clearly, billionaire CEO Sundar -- who we've seen palling around with Trump of course -- has gone full MAGA. Google is purposely conflating -- that is, purposely confusing -- necessary moderation to protect people and elections from masses of misinformation designed to mislead them, often in devastating ways -- from censorship created to suppress specific valid points of view.

There is an enormous difference -- Sundar and his Alphabet minions know this full well. They also know that their Gemini AI is a source of often dangerous misinformation on a planetary scale, and it's likely this has also entered into their recently (in a letter to Congress) announced changes.

Given Google's enthusiastic embrace of MAGA, I do not consider my past statements applauding the security and privacy of user information at Google to be reliable guidance moving forward from now. I have no confidence that Sundar would not quickly (or ultimately) agree to virtually any demands made by the Trump administration, however invasive or illegal they might actually be.

I do not have specific recommendations for alternatives to Google or their services, so please don't ask me for them! But I do recommend keeping the obvious shift in Google's behavior in mind, and you would be wise to assume that they are fully and completely in bed with fascist Trump in many ways -- or soon will be -- absent clear and convincing evidence to the contrary.

If Google/Alphabet wishes to discuss any of this with me and point out any errors in my analysis, they know my email address.

Take care, all.

L

"I think this is the most exciting time in America ever"

Fascism is Capitalism in crisis.

#USPol #Microsoft #Google #Meta #oracle #bigtech

The guy funding #SocialWebFoundation and other #OpenSocialWeb groups is becoming real chummy with Donal Trump. I'm sure it's nothing.

#USPol #Microsoft #Google #Meta #oracle #SocialWeb

I asked https://twitch.tv/MakerDeck to smile as I took these test photos of 3D printed models with my Google Pixel 10 Pro.

#pixel #google #photography #toys #3dprinting #starwars

Hey Chrome users! Tired of AI being pushed into everything? Tired of using a browser that actively spies on you? Come on over! 😊👋

#Browser #Vivaldi #AI #Google #Chrome #Gemini

Please make it stop - Google Chrome to be reimagined with AI https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/09/please-make-it-stop-google-chrome-to-be-reimagined-with-ai/

#Google #GoogleChrome #AI

Given the current development when it comes to trustworthiness of governments as well as (especially) big companies - how do you all handle the topic technology & privacy?
Given you are using a banking app and/or other apps that won't work on a modified phone - which potential "evil” did you choose and why? (iOS, Android, something completely different)
#apple #google #privacy #phone

Reposts are welcome - thanks!

Google has announced Chrome is becoming an AI browser powered by Gemini and agentic capabilities, and the aim of "fundamentally changing the nature of browsing".

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2025/09/google-chrome-ai-browser-announcement

#google #tech

This is not help our economy, the AI bubble will burst before anything here is built. It's just Labour pretending they're investing in the Economy, ask them how this investment will actually improve our lives, ask for more than just the sales pitch that bowled over these clowns.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/sep/16/google-ai-investment-uk-trump-visit-rachel-reeves

#GenAI #Google #UKPOL #UKPOLITICS #technology

Good day all you lovely Fedizens ! Big week coming up on Fireside Fedi! We have THREE! YES! COUNT THEM! THREE! How many? Leave the answer in a reply and you could win one of our amazing TOTALLY real prizes! (Please note these prizes are not real at all.) All times are Eastern US, UTC-4.

Mon 2025-09-15 1030 - @sturmsucht - Photographer (@sturmsucht), Fedizen, Techie, Awesome dude.

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Set your calendars or follow ours!

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All #Links - https://firesidefedi.live

#stream #interview #firesideFedi #FsF #people #peopleOverPlatforms #protocolsOverPlatforms #fedi #fediverse #open #internet #openInternet #podcast #show #episode #peertube #vod #castopod #writefreely #lemmy #boostplease #fedizen #btfree #bigTechFree #nonprofit #signup #tubeFree #awesome #fedizen #astronomer #google #dairInstitute #AI #research #canadian #photographer #photography #GOATS

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Oh, they also added a new feature:

You can now give Youtube your money to "hype" someone, which will make their videos be preferred by the algorithm and show up in a monthly ranking of "most hypes".

Which of course is a self-reinforcing mechanism given videos the algorithm pushes automatically get more "hypes".

#Google now wants basically anyone to give them more money to "support their creator".

There's also no limit how often you do that. So it's literally pay-to-win.

Dystopian as fuck.