EU member states have finalised new legislation that will better combat abuses of the internet such as hate speech and disinformation campaigns.
The move came after French data watchdog CNIL slapped the tech giant with a $162 million fine in January for making it harder to reject cookies than to accept them.
The first revenue-based fine of its kind in Russia, the court decision is the latest in Moscow's pile of fines on internet platforms accused of defying the country's regulations.
The surge in Alphabet's earnings comes as the tech giant faces increased scrutiny from regulators regarding its power and shifting of the lockdown lifestyles that have so benefited Big Tech.
The lawsuit backed by 37 attorneys general accuses Google of using anti-competitive tactics to discourage Android apps from being distributed at shops other than its Play store, where its payment system collects commissions on transactions.
Google generated more revenue from online ads last year than any other company in the world. Ads on its properties, including search, YouTube and Gmail, accounted for the bulk of sales and profits.
Google says it will test changes to its widely used online advertising services over coming months following the decision. The media giant plans to roll these changes out “more broadly, including some globally”.
To check the tech giants' power, Canberra is pursuing world-first laws that would require Google and Facebook to compensate Australian news organisations, or pay millions of dollars in fines.
The Alphabet Workers Union will be part of the Communications Workers of America labor group, which also represents employees from Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc Alphabet members will pay dues of 1% of their total compensation.
According to outage monitoring website DownDetector, more than 12,000 YouTube users were affected in various parts of the world after Alphabet’s services were hit by an outage.
Giants of Big Tech are slated to disclose how their businesses faired in the third quarter of this year with firm financial footing despite turbulent politics and the coronavirus pandemic.
The RideFlux start-up brings together engineers who have given up well-paid jobs with some of South Korea's most prestigious firms to try to build a ride-sharing company for the tech-savvy nation.
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