Category Archives: Google

Hello, and welcome to Protocol Entertainment, your guide to the business of the gaming and media industries. This Friday, were discussing Google and Spotifys new app store deal and what it means for the broader app economy, as well as what you should read, watch and play this weekend.

Earlier this week, Google and Spotify announced a joint multiyear agreement hinting at a serious shift in how much of the mobile commerce pie the search giant takes from third-party developers. The deal, which is being billed as a pilot program, allows Spotify to implement its own in-app payment system instead of Googles Play Store one: That means the streaming service will take home more of each subscription it sells.

The exact commission split is a mystery for now, but its going to be more generous than the current 85%-15% split. The implications this could have for the broader mobile economy, much of which is powered by gaming, are massive.

Spotify has been pushing for this for years. Spotify, alongside Epic Games and Netflix, has been one of the most vocal opponents of the 30% app store cut on Android and iOS. Though it has directed much of its ire toward Apple, Spotify has still supported lobbying efforts, legislation and regulation in the U.S. and abroad thats begun to chip away at both platforms once-rigid policies.

Gaming would be the real test. Spotify makes perfect sense as a first partner for the pilot program given the streaming services combative history against Googles competitor. But Google actually doesnt stand to lose all that much money here. Thats because mobile gaming, not music streaming, makes up a much bigger part of the mobile app economy.

Google is amplifying the pressure on Apple. Much of the pushback against app store legislation in countries like Japan, the Netherlands and South Korea has come from Apple, which has been steadfast in its defense of its 30% cut and less willing than Google to budge.

Its still too early to tell just how influential Google and Spotifys partnership will prove, and whether this will be the start of a sea change for the mobile app economy or just another concession Big Tech uses to forestall meaningful regulation. But until mobile game companies are extended the benefits other media apps enjoy, companies like Epic Games dont seem likely to ever back down.

Nick Statt

"To win more revenue for your sales teams, start with the customer. Understand what your customers need, and make sure that those needs are aligned to clearly defined internal success criteria. Build trust across the teams that what you sold the customer is what is being delivered." - Pilar Schenk, COO at Cisco Collaboration

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Spider-Man: No Way Home. Didnt catch the latest Spidey movie in theaters? Or maybe you did, but you really want to watch it again in the comfort of your own home? Nows your chance: The movie became available on iTunes, Google Play and a bunch of other video-on-demand stores in recent days; you can buy it for $19.99.

Eliza Masswerk.at. Joseph Weizenbaums pioneering chatbot has fascinated, enraged and amused people for decades. Playing the role of a therapist, Eliza is both very inquisitive and obviously limited in her understanding of what we tell her. And yet, we cant help but engage. We try to trip her up, get her to say something funny, swear at her or even confide in her. This week, Eliza was honored with a Peabody Award for Digital and Interactive Storytelling, which is as good of a reason as any to once again chat a bit with her. I highly recommend the online version hosted by Masswerk.at, which allows you to experience Eliza in an old-school terminal interface.

Netflix Jr. magazine Netflixjr.com. For some time now, Netflix has been on a quest to become its own best media partner. The company launched a print magazine, podcasts, newsletters and more, all doing journalism-ish things while also advertising Netflix movies and shows. The latest addition to this is the Netflix Jr. magazine, a print magazine for the preschool to early primary school crowd. Think Highlights High Five, with every page featuring characters from Netflix shows. There are puzzles, mazes, activities and even recipes (Cocomelon toast, anyone?). Netflix clearly isnt trying to reinvent the wheel here, but the magazine should still be fun for little ones, especially if theyre into shows like Ask the StoryBots or Ada Twist, Scientist. A subscription to the print version of the Netflix Jr. magazine is free, and the magazine is also available as a free digital download.

Enemies Unity. Game engines have improved a lot over the years, and theres no better way of keeping track of visual fidelity improvements than Unitys tech demos. Its latest looks like a high-end Hollywood visual effects production, but its all been rendered in real time. To add to the wow factor, its worth reading this Twitter thread from the tech and rendering lead on Unitys demo team, which explores all the intricacies of the short film in detail.

How SiriusXM bungled the Stitcher acquisition The Verge. With the $325 million acquisition of Stitcher, SiriusXM also got its hands on the podcast network Earwolf. Insiders told The Verge that the acquisition didnt exactly go over as expected. A worthwhile read, and another proof point that monetizing content with small but engaged audiences is hard.

"Trying to make every deal as big as possible often adds complexity and extends sales cycles. To accelerate growth, sellers should focus on landing faster, and then expanding, and expanding again. Getting customers into your solution sooner helps you solve their initial problems, then later, you can grow together." - Michael Megerian, Chief Revenue Officer at Yello

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Thoughts, questions, tips? Send them to entertainment@protocol.com. Enjoy your day, see you Tuesday.

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Google and Spotifys app store deal could upend the mobile app economy - Protocol

Here are five things you should know about Google Analytics, transfers and Schrems II.

1. Down to Middle Earth We GoBrush up on your J.R.R. Tolkien because Datatilsynet in its new guidance on cloud providers, says you have to know all of your cloud provider processors and sub processors and sub-sub processors until you hit the hobbits in Middle Earth. This was expected based on the European Data Protection Boards Schrems II guidelines. Like a Keto diet, this is simple to understand but incredibly hard to do.

2. Supervisory Authorities Are People TooAnd they are having a hard time enforcing the Schrems II cases, in part because they are aware of how complicated compliance is and, in part, because it is also hard for them. They lack the resources to check if what the controllers said about the sub- and sub-sub- and sub-sub-subprocessors (you get the point) is actually true.

3. Trickle Down Schremsnomics:It is clear that compliance is hard. Right now, a lot of companies are relying on large processors and unable to get either the information or the compliance concessions they want. Maybe with cases like Microsoft and Zoom for the Netherlands government, DPIA and the new European Data Protection Supervisor MS 365 initiative, the work and changes made will start trickling down (or up) and be available up the chain to the SME processors or controllers who need it.

4. Keep Idealistic and Comply OnThere is no risk base in transfers and this is a key aspect of EU law (as opposed to the more pragmatic American approach). However, this does not mean you should just give up and do nothing. While the law doesnt allow for a risk-based approach, the enforcement by the supervisory authorities might. They could consider, for the purpose of issuing fines, the scope of the transfer, the nature of the data, the measures implemented, whether or not you have alternative services that you considered, etc. And this may result in a grace period to comply, reduce fines, no fines etc.

5. Better Accurate Than SorryThe worst thing you can do is say that you may be transferring personal data or you may be processing X or may be using marketing cookies when you really arent. This is a Chapter V GDPR transfers violation because, per the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Data Protection Board, you need to know your transfers. Datatilsynet cloud guidance agrees. And its an Art 12 GDPR transparency violation (said Data Protection Commission Ireland in WhatsApp & Facebook cases). The California Attorney General and Federal Trade Commission dont like this very much in the US either.

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5 Things to Know About Google Analytics, Transfers and Schrems II - JD Supra

But it isnt just the threat of Russian missiles that has disrupted the supply chain flow in the Black Sea region. Its the choppy waters created by sanctions against vessels, businesses and people associated with Russia. The conflict in Ukraine is putting a searchlight on technologies from companies including Quantexa, Windward and Skytek, which use AI-based data analytics to monitor exposure to risks posed by sanctioned entities whether it be to guard against financial fraud such as money laundering or maritime risks such as illegal cargo or flag-hopping.

Damage to the two cargo ships each of them valued at close to $30 million, according to sanctions compliance assessment software vendor Skytek was minor, though one crew member on the Namura Queen sustained non-life-threatening injuries. When they were struck, the ships were among 120 cargo vessels moored at Ukrainian ports, just before Ukraine's military suspended commercial shipping at its ports following the initial invasion by Russian forces into that country.

The data is just a sampling of the sort of information available through software from Skytek, which uses machine learning and data analytics to evaluate current and historical voyage patterns and alert customers when suspicious activities such as evasion tactics occur in sanctioned maritime zones.

When President Joe Biden announced a new round of sanctions targeting 400 people and entities affiliated with the Russian government during a Thursday press conference, a reporter asked if he believed the actions would have an impact on making Russia change course in Ukraine. A frustrated Biden responded, Youre playing a game with me. Just before, he remarked, I did not say that, in fact, the sanctions would deter [Russian President Vladimir Putin]. Sanctions never deter.

Whether or not they are directly deterring Putin from continuing Russias attacks on Ukraine, data from Windward another company providing AI-based analytics software to assess maritime risk showed that regulatory or moral sanctions appear to be having some effect.

The Western market has been shutting off completely any work with anybody related to Russia, said Ami Daniel, co-founder and CEO of Windward. That means that when it comes to companies or ships that are connected in some way to Russia, A lot of the people won't even touch you with a stick right now.

Right now, Windwards customers are conducting queries in its software platform to help inform how they address sanctions against Russian entities. We have a German customer which is super risk averse and doesn't want to do any business with anybody who's ever been near one of these places in the last 24 months, Daniel said.

Lloyds List Intelligence also offers data and AI-based analytics tools to monitor maritime risk. But unlike startup competitors, the company launched in 1734 as a printed broadsheet posting ship arrivals and departures in a London coffee house. It still maintains its media arm, which reported early this month that Cargo underwriters are taking the decision not to cover consignments heading to Russia or Ukraine, and even nearby countries, citing reputational risks and the potential difficulties of paying out on insured claims.

Windwards software provides custom views of exposure to vessels connected to countries customers have particular concern about, such as Russia, Venezuela, Iran or Myanmar, over a selected time period. The company feeds satellite image and radio frequency data, weather data, ship ownership and cargo data, port data and vessel schedule data into deep-learning models tailored to a customers risk tolerance, then scores their level of risk associated with sanctions or other laws and regulations. As an example, the system pulls in imagery data from hundreds of satellites measuring a particular offshore area via an API every day.

Windward has published reports in recent weeks with updates related specifically to Ukraine and the Black Sea region, where intensifying attacks from Russia have led to a drastic decline in port activity around Ukraine.

But not all cargo ship activity is at a standstill. In fact, based on its analysis of its ship-tracking in the region, Windward reported on March 22 that general cargo and oil tankers calling port in Russia actually increased operations by 44% over the following week. The company pointed out an important piece of information teased out in its analysis: 60% of that increase in Russian port calls was associated with Russian-flagged vessels.

That, Daniel said, likely meant that those ships were returning home before they got stranded. This is Russian vessels coming home, and we think it's also because nobody would sell them marine fuel, he said, adding, About 50% of the marine fuel providers of bunker fuel will not provide them fuel. So they're in a tough spot.

Tracking sanctions-related risk on the high seas is just one area companies need to monitor, of course. Financial institutions are also using sophisticated analytics and machine-learning-based software to keep one step ahead of Russian nationals and oligarchs recently added to the U.S. Treasury Departments sanctions list.

Entity resolution is a key component in the processes used to identify suspicious actors by companies including Windward and Quantexa, which uses network analytics to detect possible financial fraud such as money laundering. The Quantexa system automatically generates a contextual network, a graph indicating the links connecting target entities with other shell operations or shady individuals.

To isolate possible fraudsters, the financial fraud detection software ingests information from an array of sources, from SWIFT wire transfer messages and risk data from Bureau van Dijks Orbis and RDC Grid to less-obvious sources such as financial records data revealed through journalistic investigations of the leaked Pandora and Panama Papers.

When you go in and look at the exposure, you see that person is not only a sanctioned individual, here's the company that our customers have been doing business with [and] he's 100% owner of that company, said Clark Frogley, head of financial crime solutions at Quantexa. He continued, But guess what? He's also the primary shareholder of these other three companies that they've been doing business with or these other two customers that we weren't even looking at.

On the water, Windward must navigate the maritime version of oligarch shell games to resolve ship identity. According to Windward, vessels are usually associated with multiple nationalities because they are linked to several owners, each performing different functions on a single ship. Windward combines several sources of positional and vessel identifier data to detect flag-hopping, a manipulative tactic used to circumvent sanctions and fishing regulations by changing the nation where a ship is registered.

Shipping traders or legal teams at Windwards customer companies are using its analysis to inform whether they should cancel booked shipments or other deals that might be subject to Russia-related sanctions. Contracts associated with trading plans over the next six months or more could be canceled if deemed too risky, Daniel said, adding, Listen, force majeure. Tough luck.

The headline on this story has been updated for clarity.

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Google is getting rid of its beloved bidets in California - Protocol

Google announced on Thursday three new health projects aimed at showcasing its artificial intelligence prowess. The most bullish among them: a partnership with Northwestern Memorial Hospital to use artificial intelligence to make ultrasounds more accessiblea development Google claims would halve the maternal mortality rate.

All three of Googles new projects highlight how the companys strength, organizing information, can play a role in health care. In the case of maternal mortality, that means creating a software that can record scans from an ultrasound wand as it glides over a pregnant womans stomach, and then analyze those images for potential fetal abnormalities or other signals that something is wrong.

Globally, the maternal mortality rate is 152 deaths per 100,000 births, according to the Gates Foundation, and a 2016 National Vital Statistics report found that 15% of women in the U.S. who gave birth received inadequate prenatal care. The WHO recommends women have at least an ultrasound before 24 weeks gestation. Ultrasound imaging requires fairly high level of expertise and requires a technician or nurse to make an initial assessment, before handing it off to a doctor. Google is suggesting that its technology could provide the technical expertise instead.

The idea is that we think we can actually help a relatively untrained operator get some of the basics, says Greg Corrado, senior research director at Google. Through Northwestern, its artificial intelligence will review ultrasounds for 5,000 patients. (Google did not specify a timeline for the three projects.)

Its other two initiatives center on developing software that turn mobile phones into health tools. The first, an extension of Googles past work using artificial intelligence to detect diabetic retinopathy from specialty retinal scans, uses a cellphone camera to take a picture of a persons eye from which it can detect signs of diabetic retinopathy. The third project revolves around software that can turn a smartphone into a stethoscope.

All of these ideas seek to position Google at the forefront of both artificial intelligence in healthcare and the future of health at home. Whether these inventions will really deliver on that promise is up for debate. (In general, researchers have only recently started to bring artificial intelligence to healthcare.)

Googles health ambitions have been ill-defined since the departure of former head of health David Feinberg and the dissolution of its unified health division. Under Feinberg, Google made a big push to make electronic health records easily searchable (manifested in a product called Care Studio). Now, health projects are distributed throughout the organization and overseen by Karen DeSalvo, Googles Chief Health Officer and former Assistant Secretary of Health under the Obama administration (she also previously served as New Orleans health commissioner and helped rebuild the citys primary care clinics). Since shes taken the health helm at Google, projects have taken on a more global public health focus.

Healthcare is an important piece of Googles forward-looking business strategy. In 2021, it invested $1.1 billion into 15 healthcare AI startups, according to the CBInsights report Analyzing Googles healthcare AI strategy. It also has been forging ahead into healthcare systems, notably signing a deal with global electronic health record company MEDITECH. Google is also competing with AWS and Microsoft to provide cloud services to healthcare providers, through which it can sell them additional services. These health projects are a way for Google to show companies in the $4 trillion healthcare market what it can really do for them.

Google has launched several public health projects in recent years. It teamed up with Apple to launch a digital COVID-19 exposure notification. Last year, it debuted artificial intelligence dermatology tool for assessing skin, nail, and hair conditions. It also added a tool to Google Pixel that can detect heart rate and respiratory rate through the smartphones camera. Its effort to screen for diabetic retinopathy is by far its most robust project. In 2016, Google announced it was working to develop algorithms to detect early signs of diabetic retinopathy, which leads to blindness.

The bigger question is: how useful is any of this stuff? A 2020 study, following the diabetic retinopathy tools use in Thailand, found that it was accurate when it made an assessment, speeding up diagnosis and treatment. However, because the image scans were not always high quality, Googles AI didnt deliver results for 21% of imagesa significant gap for patients. The technology is predominately deployed in India and is being used to screen 350 patients per day with 100,000 patients screened to date, the company says.

Corrado says there will always been some decrement in performance in taking technology from a lab setting to a real world setting. Sometimes its so much that its not worth it, he says. Im proud we go out into the world and see what is it like in those conditions and when we see there is a performance gap, we work with partners to close that performance gap. I assume theres going to be a trade off between accessibility and error.

But its follow up tool, which uses a smartphone camera to take a picture of the outside of the eye in order to screen for diabetic retinopathy may still have too many trade offs. A validation study, which usedexisting table-top cameras rather than a smartphone to collect images, found that the technology could detect a few different indications of whether someone may already be showing signs of diabetic retinopathy, including if their hemoglobin A1c level is 9% or more. The idea is that this tech could help prioritize certain patients for in-person care.

Ishani Ganguli, assistant professor of medicine at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Massachusetts, says that these technologies could definitely be potentially useful. It could be helpful to capture heart rate and respiratory rate for a virtual visit, for example, or for a patient with a certain condition to track (I wouldnt recommend healthy people track these routinely), she writes via email. Diagnosing diabetes retinopathy by photos would be very helpful as well (easier and potentially cheaper than an ophthalmology visit). However, she says, these approaches arent particularly novel.

Andrew Ibrahim, a surgeon and co-Director at the University of Michigans Center for Healthcare Outcomes & Policy, has a less rosy assessment. Couldnt he just ask patients a few more questions about their symptoms in order to get to the same information? What hes also getting at here is a matter of workflow. Its not clear exactly where a smartphone camera fits into how a doctor makes health decisions. For this smartphone health tool to effectively triage patients and surface the ones that need care first would require doctors to change how they do what they do. That part may not be realistic, though Google is working with partners, like Northwestern Memorial Hospital, to test that feasibility.

Regardless, these projects, which are then published in studies and will be submitted for peer review, serve to validate Google as a real contender in healthcare. And thats what this work is ultimately about.

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Google wants to use AI to cut the maternal mortality rate by half - Fast Company

For years, venture-backed media was buzzy and seductive, with sky-high valuations based on the idea that savvy online publishers could crack the code of digital or develop a formula for going viral.

Following a spate of rapid consolidation into just a few major players, BuzzFeed was the only one among them to go public, with HuffPost and Complex Networks, BuzzFeeds two pre-IPO acquisitions, along for the ride. But when BuzzFeed rang the bell, it didnt end up being a digital media debut that will inspire other media behemoths to follow suit.

Although BuzzFeed had positive EBITDA and traded higher after its first earnings, its quest for profitability comes at a cost. The money-losing-but-award-winning BuzzFeed News division is on its way to being dismantled or, at the very least, gutted. Staff is being offered buyouts, and leadership is leaving.

Then, in the second half of the episode, we get into Google Ad Managers preparations to accommodate other signals beyond third-party cookies, including encrypted signals from publishers (ESPs), which recently entered open beta. We unpack how to tell the difference between ESPs and PPIDs and all the other signals out there.

We also get into the reason behind why Google made dueling publisher-facing products. Its trying to give publishers the option to share whatever signals they want, while Google itself has taken a strong stance against any identifiers based on email (see UID2).

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Podcast: BuzzFeed's First Earnings (OMG) And The DL On Google's ESP - AdExchanger

The Mayo Clinic launched its artificial intelligence startup program this week with an initial cohort of four participating companies.

The 20-week program, known as Mayo Clinic Platform_Accelerate, is aimed at giving early-stage health tech AI startups a boost, with additional expert assistance from Google and Epic.

"Health tech startups are critical contributors to the cycle of innovation," said Dr. John Halamka, president of Mayo Clinic Platform, in a statement. "We are excited to collaborate with these innovators to solve some of the most complex problems in medicine today."

WHY IT MATTERS

The program connects participating organizations with Mayo Clinic regulatory, clinical, technology and business experts, with a focus on AI model validation and clinical readiness.

Google and Epic thought leaders will also provide workshops. The initial cohort, which will begin this summer, comprises four competitively chosen startups:

Through the program, participants will delineate AI model requirements with the help of data science experts; check for fairness and bias in their models; access de-identified Mayo Clinic patient data in a secure environment; conduct model validation with guidance from data science experts; and plan clinical validation studies.

They'll also learn about Food and Drug Administration clearance pathways and have the chance to potentially partner with the Mayo Clinic Platform.

"The program is integral to our Mayo Clinic Platform mission to enable new knowledge, new solutions and new technologies that improve patients' lives worldwide," said Eric Harnisch, vice president of Partner Programs for Mayo Clinic Platform, in a statement.

The waiting list is currently open for the second cohort.

THE LARGER TREND

The Mayo Clinic has made several pushes toward AI-driven innovation in recent years, as in its ongoing 10-year partnership with Google and the introduction of its Clinical Data Analytics Platform in 2020.

In April 2021, it launched a new platform connecting devices to AI resources helping providers with clinical decision support.

Later that year, it teamed up with Duke, UC Berkeley and others to create a Health AI Partnership aimed at enabling safer, more effective software deployments.

ON THE RECORD

"We are helping participants take a crucial step in their growth trajectory by providing startups with a disciplined focus on model validation and clinical readiness to show product value," said Harnisch in a statement.

Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.Twitter: @kjercichEmail: kjercich@himss.orgHealthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.

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Mayo launches AI startup program, with assists from Epic and Google - Healthcare IT News

Google's Android statue for the "Oreo" version of the smartphone software, which has since been removed from its campus.

The fun Android statues once seen in a small park at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California, have been removed, leaving an empty patch of dirt in what used to be a popular spot to take photos.

The statues, which stood outside the visitors center in the Landings office complex, have been moved to an undisclosed location, according to a report by Android Authority.

In a statement to CNET, a Google spokesperson confirmed that the statues had been moved as part of a planned redevelopment of the Landings site on the Mountain View campus. At the moment, the statues are being repaired and being held in storage "until they find a new home."

It's unclear when Google removed the statues, but according to reviews on Google Maps, it seems that the process started around a month ago. A Google spokesperson also confirmed that a few statues had been relocated with plans to put the remaining statues in new locations around the Mountain View campus.

Before Google switched to a numbered naming scheme, starting with Android 10, the versions of its mobile operating system were named after desserts and other sugary things, such as Pie, KitKat and Ice Cream Sandwich. The Android statues outside Building 44 were modeled after the various sweets. For example, there was a statue featuring the Android mascot, known unofficially as Bugdroid, holding a giant lollipop.

Google has removed the Android Lollipop statue from outside its Mountain View headquarters.

Visitors don't seem to be happy by Google's decision to remove the statues. According to reviews of the Google Android Statues Square on Google Maps, one user wrote that they were "very disappointed," with the whole area looking abandoned, as if out of "post apocalyptic stores" seen in movies or video games.

Another reviewer, named Zach, left a one-star review, stating "It's a barren wasteland" with a blanket recommendation to not "waste your time coming down."

It also seems that Google wasn't doing much in terms of upkeep. User Jessica Atkins posted a review from three months ago saying that the statues were broken down and faded. Another person uploaded a photo with the Ice Cream Sandwich Bugdroid missing an arm.

At the moment, it's uncertain what Google will do with the statues, assuming the company hasn't destroyed them. Until then, fans will have to fondly look back at photos posted online.

Corrected at 5:50 p.m. PT: An earlier version of this story misidentified where the statues were formally located. They were outside the Landings office complex.

Google has removed all statues at Google Android Statues Square.

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Google Removes Iconic Android Statues From Its Headquarters - CNET

If you havent had lunch yet, dont worry, because heres a healthy serving of acronym soup.

Earlier this month, ESP, not to be confused with PPIDs, entered open beta in GAM, so feel free to rev up your UID2s.

In English: Google is moving forward with its solution, called encrypted signals from publishers (ESP), that allows publishers to share encrypted first-party signals, including Unified ID 2.0 identifiers, with buy-side platforms of their choosing via Ad Manager.

Google first announced the planned creation of ESP in March of last year just a week after David Temkin, Googles director of product management for ads privacy and trust, stated in a company blog post that it would not support email-based identifiers (such as UID2) in its own ad products after third-party cookies are phased out in Chrome.

ESP, which was in closed beta testing for roughly a year, represents a long-term investment for us, Deepti Bhatnagar, director of product management for Google Ad Manager, told AdExchanger.

The Trade Desk and Mediavine were both early testers during the ESP beta.

Its a very complex undertaking, Bhatnagar said. Well just continue to build and improve this solution and make sure it works for our partners.

But what exactly is ESP, how is it different from Googles PPID (publisher-provided identifier), is it just a work-around for passing email-based IDs and can it be a viable alternative to third-party cookie-based targeting?

ESP vs. PPID

Encrypted signals from publishers and publisher-provided identifiers are flip sides of the same coin. Both exist to help publishers monetize programmatic inventory using their first-party data.

But because of Googles stance on email-based IDs, it needs two different mechanisms for publishers to share first-party data with buyers: one for Googles ad buying tools (PPID) and another for third-party bidders (ESP).

PPID refresher

PPIDs are akin to publisher-specific first-party cookies, usually tied to a log-in, that publishers can use for frequency capping, audience segmentation, targeting and other ad-serving-related activities. But Google also allows publishers to share PPIDs through Ad Manager with Googles programmatic demand, which helps scale the publishers first-party data.

The PPIDs are anonymized so audiences cant be identified across other sites and apps. But the data can be aggregated in Google Ads and DV360, which gives publishers the ability to scale the usefulness of their first-party data.

But publishers dont just work with Google, and they have other signals they may want to trade on, like Unified ID 2.0, which Google wont pass through its buying systems. And thats where ESP comes in.

ESP explained

The best way to think about ESP is as a pipe that publishers can use to share encrypted first-party signals through Google Ad Manager with direct, authorized buyers and Open Bidders. Its a way to facilitate an exchange between publishers and their non-Google demand partners.

A publisher can encrypt and share practically any first-party data signal as an ESP, including demographic data, contextual information, device ID, IP address, behavior data, interest data or any one of the industrys many alternative identifiers, such as UID2 or LiveRamps Ramp ID. A seller-defined audience, as per the IAB Tech Labs new spec, could also theoretically be passed as an ESP after being encrypted.

Publishers could even pass a PPID as an encrypted signal, they just cant turn identifiers that Google doesnt support into a PPID to use in Googles ad systems. (The TL;DR on that: A UID cant be a PPID for Google demand, but a PPID can be an ESP for non-Google buyers.)

The fact is, although Google says it wont trade on email-based identifiers, once the data is encrypted as an ESP, Google doesnt know what it is and therefore will allow the ID to be traded on its exchange through private marketplace deals, open auctions, private auctions and preferred deals.

Meaning, Google is OK with advertisers transacting on email-based IDs, such as UID2, just not through its own systems. The Trade Desk double checked.

Weve conferred with Google and made sure this is something weve told them that its UID thats being transferred, said Kanishk Prasad, a senior product manager at The Trade Desk. And they said, Yep.

Before any data enters GAM for use as an ESP, it must be encrypted, and its the publishers responsibility to comply with any and all privacy requirements to ensure the data is collected with consent and follow Googles own Ad Manager policies.

We are just providing a technical means for the publisher to share this data with third-party, non-Google buyers, Bhatnagar said. We dont see the data or know whats in it.

Work-around?

But one might wonder why Google is providing a technical means to share email-based identifiers, like UID2, considering the colossal industry-wide freak-out Google provoked last year after declaring that PII graphs based on peoples email addresses wont fly from a privacy perspective.

In short, are PPID and ESP just work-arounds for Googles own planned deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome?

Not exactly, said Eric Hochberger, CEO and co-founder of Mediavine.

It comes down to this: When Google is the buyer or DV360, theyre not interested in ESP and theyre not interested in these email identifiers thats why PPID exists, he said. They want a more privacy-centric way of bidding that will pass their sniff test all the way through, which is why PPID is more limited.

The competition question

But that begs another question: Is the PPID actually more limited than ESP, or does using the PPID in Google Ad Manager give Google any sort of leg up over third-party bidders?

In its recent agreement with the UKs Competition and Markets Authority earlier this year, Google pledged not to self-preference its own advertising services and restrict the sharing of data within its ecosystem to ensure it doesnt gain an advantage over competitors when third-party cookies are removed.

In Hochbergers view, though, encrypted signals are more powerful than PPID because its whatever the publisher and buyer want to make it.

We can pass whatever data we want in a secure way in the auction, he said. It just has a lot more flexibility.

And more flexibility for publishers is the point, Googles Bhatnagar said.

[ESP] is a way for us to give them control over what they can share and with whom they can share, she said.

Publishers crave control because they often dont feel like they have any, Prasad said.

They dont want to put anything out there because they have no idea whats going to happen to it or who is going to use it, he said. But what Google does and this is something UID2 does, as well is give publishers more granular control over where their data is going.

And (potentially) the ability to make more money.

Although its still too early to prove whether the presence of a PPID or an encrypted signal raises bid rates for publishers, Google seems optimistic. We believe encrypted signals will be another tool to help publishers monetize their inventory in a way that best fits their business goals, Bhatnagar said.

There are early signs, though, that encrypted signals do help raise prices for publishers in cases where there are no cookie-based IDs available.

In cases when its able to pass signals like UID2 as an ESP, Mediavine said its seen increases of more than 117% in eCPMs for otherwise non-addressable inventory.

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Google's Encrypted Signals Program Just Entered Open Beta, And Here's What You Need To Know About It - AdExchanger

Google appears to be finally bringing the ability to delete the last 15 minutes of your search history to its Android app. Former XDA Developers editor-in-chief Mishaal Rahman said he was tipped about the feature seemingly rolling out, and a Verge editor has spotted the feature on their phone. Weve asked Google if it can share any details about the rollout, but to check and see if you have it, open Googles Android app, tap your profile picture, and look for the Delete last 15 min option.

This feature has taken some time to make its way to the Android app. Google first announced the feature at Google I/O in May, and it came to Googles iOS app in July. At that time, Google said it would arrive on the Android version of the app later in 2021, but for some reason, the company seemingly missed that deadline. Its unclear if Google plans to bring the feature to desktop in its May announcement post, the company didnt specify which platforms it would be available on, and in July, Google only said that the feature was coming to the iOS and Android apps. Google didnt immediately reply to a request for comment.

Google also offers a tool to automatically delete things in your search history that are three, 18, or 36 months old.

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Google's Android app will finally let you delete the last 15 minutes of your search history - The Verge

John Mueller answered a question about why a site that ranked for one keyword phrase didnt rank for what they said was a synonym for the same phrase. John answered the question in general terms, explaining how whats important is the full context of the search query.

Before Google Hummingbird Google generally ranked sites by matching keywords in the search query to keywords in a web page.

After the Google Hummingbird update Google swapped out some important words in the query with synonyms without actually changing the meaning of the search query. The advantage of doing that was that now Google could find even more web pages to rank, some of which were even better than pages with the exact keyword match.

This technique is called Query Expansion.

Today Google does more than query expansion in order to rank web pages and as Muellers answer shows, some of that is generally focused on what users mean when they use a search query in order to understand the full context of the search query.

The person asking the question was confused because they expected a page that ranked for one keyword phrase to rank for a synonym version of that phrase. But it didnt rank for that alternate phrase and they wanted to know why.

Here is the question that was asked:

Why might there be tiny differences in synonyms or such terms that make such a big difference in ranking position?

The person asking the question gave the example of a page that ranked for the keyword phrase, edit video but didnt rank the query video editor.

The phrase edit video could be about one thing and video editor can be about something else and thats how John answered the question.

However, Googles actual search results treats both keywords relatively the same and shows results for video editors, only some sites that rank in one search results dont rank in the other, while some sites rank in both.

The difference in the above specific phrases are explained by the fact that edit video is not a straight one to one synonym for video editor even though Google shows somewhat similar results.

The reason they are different is because edit video is vague and theres a how to component inherent in the search phrase (edit video) that may be skewing the search results in favor of certain sites that rank for that phrase.

For example, the top result for the vague phrase has a seven step how-to in the web page and the People Also Ask (PAA) feature shows how can I search queries as being similar, whereas the search results for the other phrase does not have that same quality in the PAA feature.

Even though John didnt address the above specific nuance, his answer is still 100% correct and applicable to the specific even though he was answering the question in general terms.

John Mueller answered:

So from our point of view, that can be completely normal and thats something where on the one hand, we do try to understand things like synonyms in a query.

But we also try to look at the full context of the query.

And especially when it comes to synonyms, we might assume that something is mostly a synonym, but that doesnt mean that its completely a synonym.

John brings up an important point about synonyms and search phrases.

Because of the full context of a search query, it may mean that substituting a word for its synonym wont work because the substitution will change the meaning of the search query.

John Mueller next expands the idea of search query context to consider what a user may mean when they use a search query and how that may affect whether its appropriate to expand the search query with a synonym.

John explains:

And especially when youre looking at something like edit video versus video editor, the expectations from the user side are a little bit different.

On the one hand you want to edit a video. On the other hand you might want to download a video editor.

And it seems very similar but the things that the users want there are slightly different.

So from my point of view, that kind of of makes sense that we would show different rankings there.

And we have the same with things like slightly different spellings of words, like if you have the British or the American version of an English word; if you have a word or letter with an accent and it doesnt have an accent, we understand that these are mostly the same.

But we also understand that theyre slightly different.

And we try to show search results that kind of take that into account.

Johns advice is great for keyword research too.

The common approach is to choose the keywords with the most traffic and write articles about those keywords even though the site isnt exactly about those keywords. So theres a mismatch between the keywords in the title tag and in the heading elements.

Watch the video at the 39.:35 Minute Mark

Originally posted here:

Google Search Results and Synonyms - Search Engine Journal