Techmeme
February 16, 2022, 12:35 PM

Top News

Daisuke Wakabayashi / New York Times:
Google plans to bring Privacy Sandbox to Android, preserving its Ad ID system for two years, and says it'll be less disruptive than ATT for advertisers and devs  —  It says it will give other companies plenty of time to adapt to changes to its Android software.  Similar changes made by Apple affected big internet companies.
DKB:
Google search quality is declining because of too many ads, SEO, and “smart” AI, prompting people to append “reddit” to queries to get more authentic results  —  Reddit is currently the most popular search engine.  The only people who don't know that are the team at Reddit …
IEEE Spectrum:
Blind patients with Second Sight's electronic retinal implants are in danger of losing their artificial vision as the tech becomes obsolete and unsupported  —  Second Sight left users of its retinal implants in the dark  —  Barbara Campbell was walking through a New York City subway station during rush hour …
Will Oremus / Washington Post:
Twitter says CEO Parag Agrawal will take “a few weeks” of parental leave, less than three months after taking the job, a rare move for a Silicon Valley CEO  —  Parag Agrawal, 37, is just getting started in one of the technology industry's highest-profile jobs …
Tom Warren / The Verge:
Microsoft details changes to AltspaceVR to improve safety and moderation, including removing social spaces and making users to sign in with a Microsoft account  —  You'll also need a Microsoft Account for AltspaceVR soon  —  Microsoft is removing all social hubs hosted in AltspaceVR …
Kurt Wagner / Bloomberg:
Mark Zuckerberg promotes Nick Clegg to President for Global Affairs, a new role reporting to Zuckerberg, likely reducing Sheryl Sandberg's involvement in policy  —  Meta Platforms Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has promoted his top policy executive, Nick Clegg …
Elizabeth Dwoskin / Washington Post:
Mark Zuckerberg outlines changes to Meta's corporate values, including “Move Fast Together”, “Live in the Future”, and “Meta, Metamates, Me”  —  Meta.  Metamates.  Me.  —  At a virtual all-hands meeting on Tuesday, Facebook escalated its attempts …
Cat Zakrzewski / Washington Post:
Senators Blumenthal (D) and Blackburn (R) unveil the Kids Online Safety Act, requiring platforms offer extra safety and privacy tools for users under 16  —  A bipartisan pair of senators on Wednesday unveiled a sweeping bill that aims to give parents more control over their children's time online …
Ilena Peng / Bloomberg:
Shopify beats with Q4 revenue up 41% YoY to $1.38B, as GMV rose 32% YoY to $54.1B, but says FY 2022 revenue growth will be below FY 2021; shares drop 15%+  —  Shopify Inc. said it expects revenue growth to be lower in 2022 than it was last year as online spending resets after the Covid-19 induced boom …
Aislinn Keely / The Block:
A coalition of crypto companies, including Coinbase, Circle, and Robinhood, announce TRUST, an anti-money laundering platform for securely sharing customer data  —  Quick Take  — A coalition of US crypto firms has created a centralized solution to the information sharing requirements of the travel rule.
Andrew J. Hawkins / The Verge:
Uber will let riders see a breakdown of their average ratings starting today and publishes data on US cities with the highest and lowest ratings  —  Also available: five-star ratings  —  For the first time, Uber is allowing its customers to see how many five-star ratings they've received from drivers …
Rafaela Lindeberg / Bloomberg:
Ericsson CEO says the company might have made payments to ISIS to gain access to transport routes in Iraq in 2018, causing shares to drop by over 8.5%  —  Ericsson may have made payments to the ISIS terror organization to gain access to certain transport routes in Iraq, in a shock admission following years of regulatory investigations.
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Twitter expands a beta test of Safety Mode, which temporarily blocks accounts using harmful language in replies, to 50% of users in the US and 5 other markets  —  Twitter is broadening access to a feature called Safety Mode, designed to give users a set of tools to defend themselves …
Financial Times:
Sources: the UK Home Office is seeking changes to the Online Safety Bill to require platforms monitor “legal but harmful” content, worrying the tech industry  —  Radical powers in online bill would increase liability of global internet groups beyond current global regulation
Chris Welch / The Verge:
Sony's $180 wireless LinkBuds review: comfortable, novel open-style earbud design, superb voice call performance, but so-so battery life for an all-day design  —  They're weird, refreshing, and fantastic at voice calls  —  It makes complete sense that some people prefer “open” …

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Kyle Alspach / VentureBeat:
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