Alphabet (GOOG)

Alphabet (GOOG)

Google is planning a censored version of its search engine for China that will block websites and certain search terms,

The Intercept reported citing internal Google documents and people familiar with the plans. The project is a code named "Dragonfly" and has been underway since the spring of 2017, the news website said.

Sources suggest that progress on the project picked up after a December meeting between Google's Chief Executive Sundar Pichai and a top Chinese government official. Search terms about human rights, democracy, religion and peaceful protests will be among the words blacklisted in the search engine app, which The Intercept said had already been demonstrated to the Chinese government.

The finalised version could be launched in the next six to nine months, pending approval from Chinese officials.

Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai told staff at a company-wide meeting on Thursday that it is still in early stage development and still some time away from launching a search engine app in China. Whether the company could or would launch search in China "is all very unclear," Pichai said.

The company-wide meeting occurred after employees of the Alphabet unit called for more transparency and oversight of the project.

At an annual Google event in New Delhi, Caesar Sengupta, the Vice-President of Google's Next Billion Users initiative said Google is partnering with a handful of Indian banks to deliver fast loans as it aims to woo tens of millions of new internet users in the developing world to its digital payments services.

:lol:

Morgan Stanley has raised the target price for GOOG to $1,515 from $1,325, citing the strong core business and growing Waymo visibility.

Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi have collectively decided to deploy the Google Android OS in future vehicles.

Renault and Mitsubishi said they plan to integrate Google applications and services including maps, voice command assistance and access to the vast and growing library of apps into their vehicles.

No word on how the firms plan to isolate these awesome - mostly user generated and algorithmically evaluated - applications from the systems that control things like driver assistance and autopilot so that hackers don't exploit them to kill people in transit, but analysts suggest it will lead to more ad sales and lower production costs.

The inter net search giant has acknowledged it made "mistakes" in the quest for growth and that it is wiser now.

OK

Alphabet is reporting earnings of $13.06 per share on revenues of $33.74 Billion for the quarter ending September 2018.

Analysts expected $10.45 per share on $34 Billion in sales.

Operating Margins

Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat warned that Traffic Acquisition Costs (TAC) are expected to continue rising.

Alphabet's GV venture capital operation lead a series A round that injected $58.5 million into biotech startup Verve Theraputics in a quest to develop human genome editing techniques to treat heart disease. Sources suggest the company intends to use the funding to advance the pre-clinical programs through proof of concept studies. ARCH Venture Partners, F-Prime Capital, and Biomatics Capital also participated in the round.

Reuters is reporting that Alphabet's Google unit has suspended business with Huawei Technologie Co. Ltd following steps by the US Government to blacklist the Chinese telecommunications and consumer electronics equipment manufacturer. Analysts suggest the suspension could cripple Huawei's smart phone business outside China because the firm will immediately lose access to Android operating system updates. Representatives from Google suggest that holders of current Huawei smart phones running Google applications will continue to be able to use and download updates provided by Google,

Sources suggest the South Korea parliament has approved a bill dubbed the "Anti-Google Law" which bans major app store operators such as Google and Apple from forcing software developers to use their payment systems. It is the first such curb by a major economy as global regulators act to reign in tech giants anti-competitive behavior. The final vote was 180 in favour out of 188 attending to pass the amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act.

The tide is turning against tech giants. Too many years of anticompetative behavior have caught up.

yeah great. It will be a hollow victory. Google controls too much. Companies that switch providers will see more hacks, more downtime, less reach, It won't matter who does payments when the business has no revenue.

Sources suggest the U.S. Justice Department is preparing a new monopoly lawsuit against Google over the internet search giant's digital advertising business. Agents for Google said "advertising technologies help websites and apps fund their content, enable small businesses to grow, and protect users from exploitative privacy practices and bad ad experiences."