Category Archives: Google

WASHINGTON, June 22 (Reuters) - A group of state attorneys general may file a lawsuit against Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google as early as next week, accusing the search and advertising giant of violating antitrust law in running its mobile app store, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The anticipated lawsuit follows complaints from app developers about Google's management of its Play Store for Android devices, according to one source. The lawsuit has been in the works since last year and has already been delayed, but seems close again, the sources said.

The investigation by the state attorneys general is being led by Utah, Tennessee, North Carolina and New York. It is unclear how many states will participate.

Two sources said the case is likely to be filed in federal court in Northern California, where related cases are being heard. These include a lawsuit that video game maker Epic Games Inc filed against Google last year, accusing it of having anticompetitive app store rules. It is expected to go to trial in 2022.

There also are two proposed class-action lawsuits over the Play store before the same judge. If the states want to participate in depositions and other pre-trial activities, they would have to file fairly soon, one source said.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Epic are awaiting the verdict in a similar California lawsuit after a trial that ended last month.

A Google spokesperson defended their app store as open.

"Android is the only major operating system that allows people to download apps from multiple app stores. In fact, most Android devices ship with two or more app stores preinstalled. They can also install additional app stores or apps directly from their browser if they choose," the spokesperson said.

Google was originally seen as more open in how it ran its app store than Apple but has tightened rules recently and increased enforcement of those rules.

The lawsuit is expected to focus on Google's requirement that some apps use the company's payment tools to sell subscriptions and content and pay Google as much as 30% of sales, according to two sources.

App makers like music streaming service Spotify Technology SA (SPOT.N) and dating services giant Match Group (MTCH.O), which owns the Tinder app, have long accused both Google, as well as Apple, of being anti-competitive in demanding mandatory revenue sharing.

This latest lawsuit is being planned at a time of unusually vigorous debate over whether federal antitrust enforcement is too lax. Many people, including Senator Amy Klobuchar who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust panel, have pressed for tougher enforcement.

Google already faces a federal lawsuit brought by the Justice Department last year and related antitrust cases brought by two separate groups of attorneys general. One is led by Texas and focused on advertising while the other targets Google's alleged efforts to extend its dominance in search to newer markets, like voice assistants.

Reporting by Diane Bartz, Paresh Dave and Karen Freifeld. Editing by Jonathan Weber and Lisa Shumaker

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Google likely to soon face antitrust claims over Play store from U.S. states - sources - Reuters

Googles travel industry rivals may eventually get competitive relief under a series of bills approved by a U.S. House of Representative committee.

Under the American Choice and Innovation Online Act, which passed a House committee 24-20 Wednesday in the face of intense oppositional lobbying, Google, as well as Facebook and Amazon, would be barred from giving preference to their own products, services, or lines of business over those of competitors.

Under the threat of penalties that could amount to 15-30 percent of their U.S. revenue, the big platforms would likewise be prohibited from using non-public data generated on their platforms to support the platforms products or services.

Six months after the bills potential adoption, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission would create a bureau of digital markets to enforce the measure, under the bills provisions.

Although not specifically mentioned in the House measure, which would still have to go before the full House and Senate for consideration, Google would presumably have to change its practice of giving preferential treatment to Google Flights, Google Hotels, and Google Things To Do over advertisers such as United Airlines, Expedia, Tripadvisor, Marriott, and GetYourGuide, for example.

If you searched on Google for New York hotels today, the first organic element youd see below the advertisements is a Google four-pack with a colorful map, hotel photos, star ratings and numbers of reviews. Google says this unit is organically generated, but selecting any of the four hotels in the box takes users into Google Hotels. Thats Googles mostly paid universe of hotel advertisements.

So instead of a search result taking travelers to Expedia or HomesToGo, the travelers stays on Google to be enticed by advertisements, which are Googles bread and butter.

Meanwhile, in the relative netherworld below the artful Google hotel box in search results are the first traditionally free listings from Booking.com, Hotels.com, and Tripadvisor.

Google would argue that Google Hotels is not a mostly paid universe of hotel advertisements since there are free links to hotel websites there, and the company recently added free links beneath the paid advertisements.

The legislation would seemingly ensure that Google doesnt give its own advertising businesses that huge advantage over non-paying competitors in its search engine.

Googles critics, who as a rule are also partners, have been calling for the U.S. government to level the competitive playing field regarding Google for years. Google has taken a huge chunk of business from Tripadvisor and Expedia, for example, and they are two of Googles most vocal critics.

In a statement, MarkIsakowitz, Googles vice president of government affairs and public policy, said Google is not opposed to updated regulations.

But American consumers and small businesses would be shocked at how these bills would break many of their favorite services, Isakowitz said. As many groups and companies have observed, the bills would require us to degrade our services and prevent us from offering important features used by hundreds of millions of Americans. This would all dramatically undermine US technology leadership, damage the way small businesses connect with consumers, and raise serious privacy and security concerns.

He suggested that Congress should give more thoughtful consideration to the bills before taking further action.

Representative from Tripadvisor and Expedia didnt immediately respond to requests for comment.

The action in the U.S. Congress comes as the European Union is readying a formal investigation into Googles advertising technology practices.

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There Is A Good Chance Google Travels Ambitions Are About To Be Reined In, Legislatively - Skift

Lewis Geyer / Staff Photographer

Q: I appreciate that you talk about ways we can regain some privacy and anonymity online, Dave. Can you tell me how I can do Web searches without being tracked by Google or Microsoft?

A: Lets start out by stating something obvious: Google owns the search marketplace by fielding a staggering 92% of all online searches, according to statista.com. Where that gets really startling is when you realize that Google saves every search you ever do.

To be fair, its not publicly accessible, so I cant find out what my neighbors been typing into the search box at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night (thank goodness!). But still, the privacy implications are pretty astonishing when most people still figure everything they do on the Internet is ephemeral.

Google also uses this historical data to contextualize your search, so it knows that when I search for mustang its probably about the car, while your identical search is more likely about wild horses.

But if youd prefer not to have a history of your searches, there are a couple of options you can choose to better hold on to your privacy. You may be surprised to learn this but incognito mode will not stop your searches being saved in your Google profile. Turns out thats just a way to avoid your activities leaving stray files and similar on your computer itself.

You can actually go into your Google account settings to delete your entire search history and turn off having your future searches saved, too. Youll want to go to myactivity.google.com and youll see your most recent searches front and center. Click on the trashcan icon to delete them, and from there you can also change your settings. Handy.

Easily one of the stranger names for a useful Web service, DuckDuckGo offers a familiar search interface and rich advanced search language coupled with zippy performance. Except it doesnt track you, doesnt save your searches, and generally lets you retain your anonymity while exploring the nooks and crannies of the World Wide Web. Its at DuckDuckGo.com.

In case youre wondering, yes, the companys name is indeed a reference to the childrens game duck, duck, goose!

A new entry in the privacy-centric search space is from the makers of one of the best privacy-focused Web browsers: Brave. I already use the browser and like its ability to block quite a lot of the secret activities of Web sites I visit. It even reports when it blocks nefarious activities, tracking cookies, and similar.

As a logical extension of its brand, Brave is now in beta release with its own non-tracking search engine and from my tests, its terrific. You can check out the browser at brave.com and the search engine is at search.brave.com.

Whatever path you take, being aware of privacy risks online makes you a savvy Internet user. Well done.

Dave Taylor has been involved with the online world since the early days of the Internet. He runs the popular AskDaveTaylor.com tech help site. You can also find his gadget reviews on YouTube and chat with him on Twitter.

Originally posted here:

Dave Taylor: How can I search without being tracked? - Longmont Times-Call

A logo outside the Google Store Chelsea in New York, May 28, 2021.

Victor J. Blue | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Ad tech stocks surged Thursday after Google said it was pushing back its timeline to kill third-party tracking cookies from 2022 to 2023, giving the digital advertising industry more time to plan for more privacy-conscious targeted ads.

Several ad tech players saw stocks shoot up Thursday following the announcement. The Trade Desk shares closed up 16%, Magnite shares closed up nearly 10%, PubMatic shares closed up 13%, Criteo shares closed up 12% and LiveRamp shares closed up 6%.

Cookies are small pieces of code that websites deliver to a visitor's browser and stick around as the person visits other sites. They can be used to track users across multiple sites to target ads and see how they perform. Google said last year it would end support for those cookies in Chrome by early 2022 once it figured out how to address the needs of users, publishers and advertisers and come up with tools to mitigate workarounds.

Google is updating that timeline.

"While there's considerable progress with this initiative, it's become clear that more time is needed across the ecosystem to get this right," Vinay Goel, Director of Privacy Engineering at Chrome, wrote in a blog post.

The company said it continues to work with the web community on more private approaches to ad measurement, delivering relevant ads and content, and fraud detection. It's Chrome's goal to have technologies deployed by late 2022 for developers to start adopting them.

U.K. antitrust authorities said earlier this year they areinvestigating whether the plan to remove third-party cookies from Chrome could hurt online ad competition. The Competition and Markets Authority said it will look into whether Google's plans could cause advertisers to shift spend to Google's own tools at the expense of its competitors.

"Subject to our engagement with the United Kingdom's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and in line with thecommitmentswe have offered, Chrome could then phase out third-party cookies over a three month period, starting in mid-2023 and ending in late 2023," the post says.

Google launched its "Privacy Sandbox" initiative to find a solution that protects user privacy and lets content remain freely available on the open web. One proposal, called "Federated Learning of Cohorts," would essentially put people into groups based on similar browsing behaviors, meaning that only "cohort IDs" and not individual user IDs would be used to target them. But it has received somepushback from privacy advocates, and some publishers have said they'redeclining to test the tool, Digiday reported in April.

Meanwhile, ad tech firms have been working together on other types of solutions. Unified ID 2.0, an initiative that some top ad-tech firms are working on together, would rely on email addresses that are hashed and encrypted from consumers who give their consent. Public company LiveRamp also has what it calls its "Authenticated Traffic Solution," which it says involves consumers opting in to gain control of their data, and on the other side, brands and publishers being able to use that data.

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Ad tech stocks surge as Google delays killing third-party cookies until 2023 - CNBC

NEW DELHI, June 24 (Reuters) - Google deepened its partnership with Reliance Jio on Thursday with an "ultra-affordable" smartphone which could connect hundreds of millions of customers to high-speed mobile data and a cloud tie-up to boost the Indian telecoms firm's 5G push.

The 'JioPhone Next' has been developed by Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google and Jio for the Indian market, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries (RELI.NS) of which Jio is a part, told his company's annual shareholder meeting.

Ambani, one of the world's richest men, wants to expand Jio's tech, telecoms and entertainment services through the new phone's launch in September.

India is the world's second-biggest mobile market with about 530 million smartphone users, but more than 300 million people still use legacy feature phones, Hong Kong-based tech consultancy Counterpoint Research says.

"This (the smartphone) is a testimony to a global technology giant and a national technology champion working together to make truly a breakthrough product that can be first introduced in India and then taken to the rest of the world," Ambani said.

He did not specify a price but promised it will be the most affordable smartphone "not just in India, but globally".

Ambani announced last year that Jio and Google would partner to make an Android-based smartphone operating system.

CLOUD PARTNERSHIP

Google, which last year invested $4.5 billion in Jio's parent Jio Platforms, also said it would help India's biggest wireless carrier with tech solutions for its enterprise and consumer offerings as it plans to launch 5G services.

The tie-up lends Jio the expertise of a global tech giant as it expands digital services to small and medium businesses as well as hundreds of millions of individuals. And it gives Google the unmatched scale of Reliance, whose businesses range from oil to telecoms and e-commerce.

"It's a broad partnership, it involves multiple pieces of Alphabet working together," Thomas Kurian, CEO at Google Cloud, told Reuters, adding: "Our own partnership spans multiple parts of Jio not just the communications business ... but also health, retail and other things."

He declined to share the terms of the cloud deal with Jio.

As part of this partnership, Reliance will shift its core retail businesses to Google Cloud's infrastructure, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said in a message played at Reliance's meeting.

Jio established a 10-year alliance with Microsoft (MSFT.O) in 2019, aiming to build data centres across India that will be hosted on its Azure cloud platform in a bid to offer services to the country's booming start-up economy.

Jio disrupted India's telecom market in 2016 when it launched with cut-price data plans and free voice services. It forced several competitors out of the market and is now India's biggest mobile carrier with more than 425 million customers.

On Thursday, Ambani said Jio, which also counts Facebook (FB.O), Qualcomm (QCOM.O) and Intel (INTC.O) among its backers, was confident of being the first to launch 5G services in India.

Reporting by Sankalp Phartiyal; Editing by Kim Coghill

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Google expands Jio partnership with Indian smartphone, cloud tie-ups - Reuters

Do you really know who's watching?

You don't want to be leaking your private information as you browse the web. The most popular browsers -- from Chrome and Safari to Firefox -- can help you keep your data away from prying eyes. But securing those web browsers may require setting up a few security-minded extensions or fiddling with privacy settings in preferences. But one browser upstart is taking the setup and tweaking out of the process and offering a browser -- now with its own privacy-focused search engine -- that goes all-in on guarding you and your information.

Read more:The best web hosting providers for 2021

Learn smart gadget and internet tips and tricks with CNET's How To newsletter.

Out of the box, Brave browser blocks trackers and third-party cookies that monitor your activity as you travel across the web. But the browser also gives you control over what you do and don't want to be blocked -- from ads and cookies to Facebook and Google login buttons.

The maker of the unusual Brave browser said it understands that its strict blocking policy has a consequence for websites: You don't see ads that help support the creation of website content. To compensate content creators, Brave takes a clever approach that allows you to make anonymous contributions to websites you visit. Publishers then receive the contributions in the form of cryptocurrencies once they opt into the system. Or, you can allow ads and tracking in Brave's settings if you can't be bothered. But the cost of being tracked is losing control of your privacy.

Now playing: Watch this: Everything to know about the Brave browser

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Available for Windows, MacOS, Android, and iOS, the Brave browser is built on the same foundation as Chrome, which means Brave can use Chrome extensions. In fact, when you click "Find extensions and themes" in Brave's settings, you are taken to the Chrome Web Store to find extensions and themes for the browser.

And just because Brave is built on a Google-developed framework doesn't mean you're restricted to using Google as your default search engine. Brave has released a public beta version ofits own privacy-focused search engine, designed to go head-to-head with Google, called Brave Search, which will become the default search engine in the Brave browser later this year. You can try out the Brave Search beta now on your desktop.

In terms of Brave Browser for mobile, you may have to wait until Brave Search is enabled by default through another Brave Browser update. Currently, there is no option to manually add Brave Search. You can still change your default search engine by opening Brave on mobile, and tapping the three-dot icon on the right of the URL bar. When you tapSettings, your first option will be to change your default search engine.

Here's how to set up Brave and make contributions to websites and content creators.

For desktop and mobile, Brave blocks trackers.

By default, Brave blocks all ads, trackers, third-party cookies (which track you across the web via social buttons on a webpage) and third-party fingerprinters (that track you by creating a unique profile of you using your browser and computer settings). You can, however, adjust how rigid Brave approaches protection.

1. From the Brave menu, click Preferences.

2. In the Settings panel on the left, taps Shields.

3. Via the privacy options to the right, select the level of protection you want.

4. In the Settings panel again, tap Social media blocking to control whether to allow Google and Facebook login buttons, embedded Twitter tweets and LinkedIn embedded posts.

5. If you want finer control, under Additional Settings over on the left, tap Privacy and security.

6. Here, you can adjust control the services the Brave browser uses, such as a predictive service to help autocomplete searches and URLs.

7. To try out the privacy-focused Brave Search, you can right click on your URL bar and selectManage Search Engines. From the list labelled Other search engines, select Brave Search by tapping the three-dot icon on the right and clicking Make default.

In the browser preferences, you can mind your privacy settings.

Brave's restrictive approach to ads comes at a cost: Websites don't earn money for their work. As a way to contribute to websites you visit without being tracked, Brave developed Brave Rewards, a program that lets you earn tokens by watching Brave-selected ads which then automatically contributes the revenue in the form of cryptocurrency to websites you visit. Here's how to join the rewards program.

1. Tap the three-parallel-line hamburger menu over on the right of the toolbar and tap Brave Rewards.

2. Tap Yes, I'm In.

3. On the Brave Rewards page, you can set up and adjust your participation in the revenue program:

4. In addition to earning tokens through your web activities, you can add your own cryptocurrency to your account to contribute to sites.

Set up rewards.

For more on browsing, see our review of Brave and how Firefox can show you who's tracking you.

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This Google Chrome rival is the browser to use if you're worried about online privacy. What to know - CNET

As CEO of Google and Alphabet, Sundar Pichai is responsible for making sure his companies continue to move forward, continue to evolve to keep up with the demands of millions of users and customers around the world.

That's no easy job. ButPichai once shared with me a single questionthat helps him to remember his role.He learned the question from his mentor, former Columbia University football coach turned business coach Bill Campbell.

Whenever they met, says Pichai, Campbell would ask him:

"What ties did you break this week?"

Campbell wasn't speaking about breaking ties as incutting off relationships. Rather, he was teaching Pichai that he needed to break stalemates.

Oftentimes, when an issue makes it to a leader, there are (at least) two good options available with which to move forward. Both options will have pros and cons, and both will have theirshare of supporters. Making a decision couldalienate the leader from half of their team--at least temporarily.

But, as a leader, Pichai's job isn't to keep everyone happy. Nor should he allow things to stay still, hoping that one half of the team will change their minds or that the "right" path forward will miraculously become obvious. Rather, his job is to move things forward.

There's a major lesson here for new leaders, and some longtime ones:

If youattempt to please everyone, you will end up pleasing no one.

So, how do you combat the tendency to be a people pleaser,and become a better leader?

Here are three suggestions.

Prioritize those whom you want to please.

If you can't please everyone, whom should you focus on pleasing?

That's a complex question. And like all complex questions, the answer is ...

In the business context, the answer depends on circumstances such as what stage your company is in, your role at the company, and the company's short- and long-term goals.

For example, for decades, fellow CEOJeff Bezos bucked the norm and refused to please Amazon shareholders by reinvesting large amounts of money, in hopes of refining company strategy and getting really good at more than one thing.

That strategy made a lot of people unhappy, but it also transformed Amazon into one of the most valuable companies in the world--and led to major profits in the long run.At the same time, though, Amazon has been criticized for the way it treats employees, especially those working in entry-level positions.

When deciding whom to prioritize, consider the following groups of people:

In addition, you should also consider yourself and your family. Not just because it's the "right" thing to do, but because achieving balance and a stable home environment will make you a better leader, too.

Pursue progress. Not perfection.

With an organization as large as Google (and its parent company, Alphabet, which has more than130,000 employees), it's easy for issues to get stuck. Meeting after meeting. Discussion after discussion.

But leaders must remember that the goal isn't perfection. The goal is to move things forward, and learn from mistakes.

"There are very few decisions that are extremely high stakes, where mistakes are going to have major consequences," explains Pichai. "It's the incremental decisions that lead to progress."

See the big picture.

Leading others requires giving them feedback they need to hearbut don't want to hear. At times, it means pushing them outside of their comfort zone. Challenging them to do something they haven't done before, and may not even believe they're capable of (but you know they are).

And if your tendency is still to try and please everyone, ask yourself this question:

If my team fails, or if the company goes out of business, who will be happy?

So, if you want to be a better leader, take a page out Sundar Pichai's playbook and ask yourself:

"What ties did I break this week?"

Because leadership is moving things forward.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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Google CEO Sundar Pichai Says His Mentor Asked Him This Question Over and Over--and It Changed the Way He Leads - Inc.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI As the only state with two peninsulas, Michigan is different than the rest of the United States.

But evidently many Michiganders arent quite sure how to spell the word, different.

Thats according to Google Trends, which released its list of the top word in each state that people have been googling because they arent sure how to spell it.

Ohio, for example, cant spell dessert. Illinois has an issue with the word, friend and Colorado residents often need some help spelling, well, Colorado.

And while Michigan certainly is different than other states in many ways, like calling soda, pop or having copious amounts of freshwater shoreline, it isnt the only state that struggles when spelling the word, different.

It was also the toughest word for people in Louisiana, according to Google Trends.

You can see a map of each states top spelling searches here.

READ MORE:

Merriam-Websters Word of the Year is as 2020 as it gets

OK, Boomer, quid pro quo on Michigan universitys Banished Words list for 2020

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This is Michigans most-searched spelling word according to Google Trends - MLive.com

Ryan Sammy is director of strategy at Fractl, a growth marketing agency that helps Fortune 500s and boutique businesses improve backlink portfolios, brand awareness and organic traffic through high-quality content.More posts by this contributor

Search is changing. Most search engines now dont just bring up a page of 10 search results and two ads at the top when you type in a query. Instead, Google search queries can bring up a whole range of results, and sometimes answer your questions without you ever having to click through to a page.

Take, for example, a search like this: how many days until halloween.

A featured snippet counting down the days to Halloween. Image Credits: Ryan Sammy

You can see that instead of displaying the top result right away, Google answers the question for you in a rich snippet. It also gives you related search queries featuring countdowns for other holidays. On the right is a knowledge panel from Wikipedia about Halloween, and below that, youll see the featured snippets section. These snippets will expand when clicked with answers for related questions.

Have you worked with a talented individual or agency who helped you find and keep more users?Respond to our survey and help us find the best startup growth marketers!

Finally, after these answers to your queries and any related questions, you get to the first result. At this point, do you even need to visit the website?

Google search is not what it used to be. We all want to be No. 1 on the search results page, but these days, getting to that position isnt enough. It might be worth your while to instead go after the top featured snippet position.

Featured snippets are collections of sentences or words that Google pulls directly from a webpage relevant to the search query. These snippets are displayed right below the search box and are meant to answer search queries quickly. The snippets can appear in the form of lists, how-to steps, tables, short paragraph boxes and other formats.

Earning a featured snippet is one of the best things you can do for your SEO. When you have the featured snippet for a popular search term, youll enjoy improved organic traffic from Google search results. According to Ahrefs, about 12% of search queries have featured snippets thats about 14 million opportunities for you to earn the top featured snippet position.

The average click-through rate for featured snippets. Image Credits: Ahrefs

On a page without a featured snippet, the top result will generally receive 26% of clicks. But when your content is included in a featured snippet, you will essentially usurp 8% of those clicks from the top result for your featured snippet.

Its true that one blog post can rank for thousands of search keywords, and that holds true for featured snippets as well. If you work hard on a blog post and make it 10 times better than anything else out there, you will reap the benefits over and over. You can even become an authority on the topic because your sites content or data table is featured. This brand authority allows you to generate passive links as other sites that discuss the topic reference your definition.

For example, for CollegeFinance.com, we created a pell grant guide that ranks for a variety of terms in featured snippet results, like pell grant income limits. CollegeFinance benefited from the traffic and also from the authority of the position. Other sites researching the topic have linked back to their explainers and guides, creating passive link generation for this page. For example, Good.IS (DA 80) linked to our guide as additional research on the topic.

Featured snippet created for CollegeFinance.com. Image Credits: Ryan Sammy

Featured snippets, obviously, decrease the number of user clicks. If a question is already answered, like in my Halloween example above, there is no need to click through. Organic traffic, therefore, is less than it would be on a result from a search engine results page (SERP) without a featured snippet.

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How to land the top spot in Google search with featured snippets in 2021 - TechCrunch

Google may be working on turning Android phones into a hivemind capable of finding lost devices, similar to Apples Find My network, according to analysis done by 9to5Google. A toggle for the feature showed up in a beta of Google Play Services, with code referencing the ability for phones to help locate other devices, potentially signaling that Android phones could soon become easier to find.

According to Googles support page, the current Find My Device system can only find phones that are powered on, have a data or Wi-Fi signal, and have location services enabled. At this early stage, its unclear which, if any, of those limitations the relay network feature apparently called Spot would solve, but when youre looking for a lost phone any advantage is good to have.

Google has other projects that involve using a network of Android phones notably, its earthquake detection feature. While the implementation is different, the underlying concept is likely very similar: there are more than 3 billion active Android devices, which is a large crowd to source information from, be it accelerometer data, or the location of a misplaced phone.

9to5Google did find a setting that would allow users to turn off the feature, making it so their phone wouldnt help locate other devices. Given the limited information, its unclear whether the Find My Device network will be able to find things other than phones, like Apples Find My network or Samsungs Galaxy Find network are capable of doing. And of course, this being unpacked code from a Beta release, these changes may never see an actual public release.

Google did not immediately respond to request for comment about the prospective feature.

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Googles Find My Device might soon work - The Verge