Category Archives: Google

LOS ANGELES The coronavirus pandemic has changed virtually everything in the U.S., including online behavior, according to a new study.

Researchers from UCLA and Harvard University analyzed how two types of Internet activity changed in the country for the 10 weeks before and the 10 weeks after March 13, 2020 the date that then-President Donald Trump declared COVID-19 a national emergency.

According to the study, one change was Google searches.

The other was the phrasing of more than a half-billion words and phrases posted on Twitter, blogs and Internet forums, suggesting a resurgence of community-oriented values and support of one another.

The study is the lead research article in a special issue of the journal Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies, dedicated to the pandemic.

According to the study, use of the word help on Twitter increased by 37% in the period after March 13, while use of the word share increased by 24%.

In addition, sacrifice more than doubled on Twitter from before the pandemic to the period after March 13.

Sacrifice was a complete nonstarter in U.S. culture before COVID, according to Patricia Greenfield, a UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and senior author of the research.

The studys authors said that Internet evidence also suggests Americans were placing more value on the welfare of others while coping with frightening COVID-19 statistics.

Noah Evers, a Harvard undergraduate psychology major and the studys lead author, said the idea of placing value on others welfare applied even if it meant people putting their own lives at risk.

One example Evers cited was peoples willingness to participate in the large Black Lives Matter demonstrations, even in the midst of a pandemic.

The study further found the use of words referring to basic needs for food, clothing and shelter increased significantly across Google searches, Twitter and other online platforms.

The researches reported that Google searches increased by 344% for grow vegetables and by 207% for sewing machine. On Twitter, mentions of Home Depot jumped by 266%, the study found.

While drawing conclusions about shifting psychology from such evidence might seem a stretch, Greenfield said that language provides a window into peoples concerns, values and behavior.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the report also found an increase in peoples concerns about mortality.

The report said that, after March 13 when the death toll began increasing dramatically search activity for survive increased by 47%, while searches for cemeteries rose by 41%, bury by 23% and death by 21%.

During the 10 weeks after Trumps emergency declaration, there was a 115% jump in Twitter mentions of the phrase fear of death compared to the 10 weeks before.

Death went from something taboo to something real and inevitable, Evers said.

Excerpt from:

How COVID-19 changed the way we use Google and Twitter, according to UCLA-Harvard study - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

This investment is a part of Google's $75 million commitment to help small businesses outside of the US

Google on Wednesday said it would invest $15 million (around Rs 109 crore) to support small and micro enterprises in India in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This investment is a part of Google's $75 million commitment to help small businesses outside of the US.

"In India, we will invest $15 million to support small and micro enterprises across the country and are in discussions with local partners," the company said in a statement.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit last year, the American tech company had announced a $200 million investment fund as part of its more than $800 million commitment to support small businesses.

"Google has had a special relationship with small businesses around the world, helping them scale, innovate and reach new customers. With today's announcement, we're proud to help them meet a new challenge, accessing capital needed to recover and build resiliency for the future," the company said.

Google is working with non-government partners who have a record of providing resources to businesses that are generally overlooked by traditional lenders.

Last year, Google's CEO Sundar Pichai had announced a Google for India digitisation fund through which the company would invest Rs 75,000 crore over the next five to seven years to help India go digital.

"We will do this through a mix of equity investment, partnerships and an operational infrastructure ecosystem in India. This is a reflection of our confidence in the future of India and its digital economy," Pichai was quoted as saying.

Also read: CAIT calls for ban on Amazon in India after news report

Also read: Promoters inject Rs 2,021 crore in IndusInd Bank via conversion of warrants

More:

Google to invest Rs 109 crore to support small and micro enterprises in India - Business Today

Apple is bringing accident, hazard, and speed check reporting to Apple Maps. The feature is currently only available to users with the iOS 14.5 beta, and is similar to user-reporting features found in Waze and Google Maps.

When youre using the feature, you (or preferably a passenger) can press a new Report button in the bottom tray, and select what type of incident or hazard youre reporting. You can even do this using Siri: I was also able to say theres a speed trap here or theres something on the road. MacRumors shows that the interface is available on the CarPlay version of Maps, too.

This user-centric reporting feature is now something that all the major maps app either have, or have in development. While this feature was popularized with Waze, its been available in Google Maps since April of 2019, so Apple is playing catch-up here (like its also trying to do by adding user-generated photos and reviews to Maps). It is worth noting, though, that Apples version has way fewer options as of today Googles, shown below, is much more in-depth.

There is one strange thing to point out with Apples version, and it has nothing to do with the fact that the feature is in beta. You may have noticed in the Google Maps screenshot that Apples and Googles icons for accidents and speed traps look very similar. Here are Apples again for comparison:

Read the rest here:

Apple Maps is getting Google and Waze-like accident reporting - The Verge

Sometime in late 2019, I became increasingly more concerned with personal privacy. Ive never been the type of person to lean into sharing details with companies when I didnt need to, but I became aware of the ways I was leaking data to companies. One of the easiest things I did to help curtail some of the data I was sharing was changing my default web search to DuckDuckGo, and after a year of using it, I wanted to share some of my thoughts on it.

One of the opinions Ive heard from others about switching to DuckDuckGo is that they believe Google provides better search results. I agree with them, but that hasnt changed my opinion. Google is the best search engine globally, and there is no changing that fact. Just because its the best doesnt mean its good to use. Facebook is the best way to stay connected to people, but I still dont want to use it.

If you want the best search results, then use Google. If you want excellent search results that arent used to target you with better ads, use DuckDuckGo. For me, Ive decided that protecting my privacy is a worthy trade-off for slightly worse search results. I still generally find what I am looking for when searching.

DuckDuckGo isnt crawling the web in the same way that Google crawls it. Yes, they do have some crawlers, but they use a host of data they pull together in such a way where you arent tracked by it. Some of the search results are pulled in from Bing, while others are populated from Apple Maps, Wikipedia, Wolfram Alpha, etc. Its estimated that they use over 400 sources in total to populate their data. I personally like this approach of sourcing data from multiple places in order to provide better results.

I particularly like the integration with Apple Maps on iPhone as I can quickly search for a place and then launch the directions in Apple Maps. Google Search obviously integrates with Google Maps, and thats yet another service Ive chosen not to use.

Although DuckDuckGo has sponsored search results, they arent based on targeted data they know about you. On top of that, Googles search results have, in my use, started showing increasingly more ads above the organic results, so its become even harder to use. DuckDuckGo lets me quickly find what I need.

While Apple still ships Google as the default browser search engine, its straightforward to switch to DuckDuckGo as your default. On the Mac, there is a tab in your preferences for default search in Safari.

On iOS, go to Setting > Safari > Search Engine, and youll see the option to switch to DuckDuckGo.

Now, all of your Safari searches will be routed through DDG instead of Google. I have the DuckDuckGo homepage set as my default homepage on the Mac as it loads super fast with only a search window.

A common misconception with Google (and Facebook) is that they collect all of this information and then sell it to other companies. The truth is your data is so valuable that they want to be the only ones that have it. They sell access to your data by letting companies advertise to use in a targeted way based on the data Google and Facebook knows about you. For some people, thats a fair trade. They love Facebook and Googles services enough that theyre willing to trade that data for access to free services.

I was willing to do that for a long time, but today, I am not. Ive personally been off of Facebook since 2009 and Instagram from 2016. I use iCloud for my personal email. Ive started using Sign in with Apple whenever possible when signing up for new services. When I am on Wi-Fi networks that I dont manage, I use a VPN service to protect my privacy. I want to use services who arent interesting in knowing who I am in order to better target me with ads.

Ive seen this comment floated around the tech community for years, and while its an excellent idea, I dont think its needed. DuckDuckGos mission aligns nicely with Apples mission of protecting personal privacy. Apple should be making more aggressive moves to teach its users about your search history, though.

Apples problem is they make billions each year from Google from being the default search provider. I dont think Apple should change the default, not for privacy reasons, but from a user experience reason. If Apple set DDG as the default search provider in iOS 15, it would create chaos for Apple Support as people would be confused about what was happening. What Apple should do is when Safari is launched for the first time, asking users which search engine they want to use. Under the icon for DDG, there should be a mention that they dont track you, store identifiable information, etc. Doing this would undoubtedly cause many people to switch, but they would be choosing to change so theyd understand the experience.

I didnt think to write this article until recently as Ive become so used to having DuckDuckGo as my provider that it stopped seeming different. In my head, I replaced one search engine for another. In reality, I traded a search engine that wants to know more about me to one that actively works to avoid knowing anything about me.

The older I get, the more I turn into Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec in terms of privacy. The right to privacy is something I place more importance on as the years go by. The more we rely on technology to power our lives, the easier it is for companies to think they have the right to know as much about us as possible. Changing your default search engine to DuckDuckGo is an easy first step to taking back your privacy. Give it a shot for 30 days to see how easy is it to take back a small part of your privacy.

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Comment: Ive used DuckDuckGo as my search engine for a year, and heres what I learned - 9to5Mac

Google Health has announced a new wellness feature coming to its Google Fit mobile app that uses machine learning to give users heart rate and respiratory rate readings without the need for any hardware other than their smartphone's camera.

The two tools are slated to launch for all Pixel devices in the next month, and will come to additional Android devices running version 6 within the months to follow, according to the tech company. Both are accessed within the app and include prompts guiding users on how to position the camera for accurate readings.

For the respiratory rate feature, a userholds the phone's front-facing cameraso that their head and upper torso are in view (similar to taking a portrait selfie). The software tracks the rise and fall of the user's chest as they breathe normally over about 30 seconds.According to the company, it is accurate within a single breath per minute on average.

HIMSS20 Digital

For the heart rate feature, the userinstead focuses the camera on their fingertip. The tool detects heart beats through photoplethysmography (PPG), in which minor changes in the optical color of the blood relate to changes in volume. Google said that this approach has a mean absolute percentage error of less than 2%, and that the company is looking into updating the algorithm to detect color changes in a user'sface.

The algorithms' measurements and calculations are all conducted on the user's device, Cristina Stancu, product manager at Google Fit, said during a press briefing. Only the final value is uploaded to the company's servers if the user chooses to save their reading, she said. The data is encrypted during transit. Within the Google Fit app, users will be able to view a summary of their recent saved readings.

Jiening Zhan, technical lead at Google Health, said during the briefing that these features were tested internally across a sample of participants comprising different health statuses and skin tones, as well as in various lightings. The company is planning to release these validation studies as pre-print papers "within the coming weeks," and will also be seeking publication in a peer-review journal down the road.

The Google groupdescribed the performance of both features during these studies as comparable to existing clinical-grade devices, but stressed that the tools are strictly intended for use as a wellness resource. As such, heart rate and respiratory rate readings are not displayed with additional context or guidance. They also provide a note telling users not to use the readings as a diagnosis or other medical guidance.

WHY IT MATTERS

In a world where heart rate and respiratory rate sensors are increasingly prevalent on consumer smartwatches, Google Health product manager Dr. Ming Jack Po said that thenew Google Fit features are an opportunity to deliver these health-and-wellness tools to those who haven't bought or are unable to afford a wearable device.

"Equity is an important part of Google's mission, and it actually turns out that relatively few people in the U.S., let alone the world, have wearables," he said during the press event. "So one of the things we were really focused on was trying to get it ... on as ubiquitous a device as currently available, which is of course a cell phone. We know that a lot of people, especially in disadvantaged economic classes right now, don't have things like wearables, but would still really benefit from the ability to be able to track their breathing rate, heart rate, etc."

For now, that benefit is limited to intermittent readings in a personal-wellness capacity, rather than, say, the more robust health insights one could glean from a continuous wearable monitor. For Po, Google Fit users will see the most benefit by taking readings on a consistent basis before or after specific activities for instance, right after a regular workout or once a week just before bed.

He also didn't rule out the possibility that a future version of the concepts could provide more actionable data for patients with health conditions

"[Data from] the research community [on] the technology generally does seem to suggest that it might work for sick patients as well," he said. "But frankly we haven't done enough testing and validation to say that we can definitively work in those use cases yet, but it's definitely something we're exploring."

Smartphones already house a wide range of sensors that could be repurposed for health and wellness with the proper algorithms, Shwetak Patel, director of health technologies at Google Health and a professor at the University of Washington, offered. While this initial set of features relies exclusively on the camera, Patel said that his team is also looking into how additional sensors could either improve these initial features' readings or provide new information to users.

"There is a desire to explore sensor fusion. So, using multiple sensors, you can imagine combining the accelerometer and camera to improve the measurement," he said. "It's an area of exploration, but right now the focus was how much can we extract from the camera itself."

THE LARGER TREND

News of the Google Health team's latest consumer health-and-wellness tools come shortly after the company's long stalled acquisition of Fitbit was finally set in stone. Ostensibly, the smartphone camera features would act as a complement to the smartwatch and tracker offerings Fitbit is bringing to the table although Patel noted that any collaboration between the two teams on a joint project is still in its earliest stages.

Still, Google has been pumping out a fair number of health products and resources designed for consumer use over the past year. In December, the company launched an Android app that streamlines health-study recruitment while showing consumers how their personal data is being employed by researchers.

The company also revealed a pilot project designed to help patients prepare for an upcoming doctor's appointment around that same time, and just last week said that it will be updating its Search and Maps services to help users find nearby COVID-19 vaccination sites.

Google isn't the only tech giant in town that's homing in on consumer health-and-wellness products. Apple has been hard at work on new offerings primarily focused around the Apple Watch, such as updates to its Fitness+ subscription service and upgrades to the smartwatch's blood oxygen and ECG measurements.

At the same time, its personal health record tool has continued to gain steam among provider groups in the U.S. and abroad, while its various digital health research studies continue to enroll iPhone and Apple Watch owners.

See the article here:

Google Fit will soon use smartphone cameras to log heart rate and respiratory rate - Mobihealth News

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GAID-night, Sweet Prince

Hear that? Its the sound of Google getting ready to drop the other shoe. Bloomberg reports that Google is thinking about implementing privacy controls on Android similar to the ones that Apple is close to rolling out on iOS 14. Google is no doubt under pressure to create privacy parity between its browser and its mobile operating system. But Google, unlike Apple, makes googobs of money from advertising as in more than $100 billion a year in digital ad sales, so Google has a vested interest in continuing to help developers, publishers and advertisers target ads to Android device users and then measure the results. So, dont expect an exact analog to Apples forthcoming AppTrackingTransparency framework. Googles solution, whatever it ends up being, is likely to be far less strict and, according to Bloombergs sources, wont require an explicit opt-in for tracking, like Apples shortly will. Itd still be a massive deal, though. Its in the early stages , however, and Google is only in the exploration phase of what this could look like. But, regardless of the timeline, well, we called it. ---> [Related in AdExchanger: Mobile Device IDs Will Be The Next Ad Tracker To Bite The Dust.]

Greater Accountability

In an attempt to clamp down on abusive or harmful content, a new Democratic bill could make it easier for targets of harassment to sue social media platforms, CNBC reports. The SAFE TECH Act, led by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and backed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, would amend Section 230, the shield that protects tech platforms from liability for their users posts. If passed, the bill would bring greater legal exposure to a range of platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, as well as ecommerce sites Amazon and Etsy. Democrats, including President Joe Biden, have urged Congress to revise Section 230 as a way to force tech companies to remove hate speech, content related to election interference and straight-up falsehoods.The SAFE TECH Act would clarify that Section 230 immunity would not apply in several cases, such as platforms hosting ads or other paid content that targets vulnerable consumers with scams or fraudulent products. It would also allow targets of stalking, harassment and intimidation to seek accountability and families to pursue wrongful death suits. It would also seek to ensure that civil rights law enforcement isnt hampered by Section 230 protections for the platforms.The SAFE TECH Act comes a day after Klobuchar introduced a sweeping new antitrust bill that would allow enforcement agencies more power to impose bigger fines and shifting the burden of proof for companies over mergers.

EBay Has Work To Do

After the January 6 attack on the capitol, several online marketplaces pledged to crack down on products that promote hate speech, or were associated with far-right groups. eBay still has some work to do. Recent searches by Digiday showed that merchandise, including gun parts branded with marks, logos and phrases associated with far right nationalist groups are readily available for sale, including numerous listings that were promoted by eBays advertising platform. The deplatforming of former President Donald Trump has caused marketplaces to reckon with what is being sold on their platforms. eBay said it banned additional merchandise related to far right groups associated with Boogaloo, Oath Keepers, and Stop the Steal items after the insurrection. But while neural networks and keyword blocklists can catch and remove most prohibited material, observers said they wont be able to stop all of it. eBay said it began reviewing and removing items identified by Digiday.

Google Making Nice?

Googles beef with Australia keeps heating up, although the tech giant now seems to be trying to make nice. Yahoo! Finance reports that the company announced Friday it launched a new platform News Showcase offering news it has paid for, after striking its own content deals with publishers. The move is part of an effort to show that proposed legislation forcing the tech giant to pay news publishers for the right to link to their content a first in the world is unnecessary. Googles News Showcase platform was originally slated for launch last June but was put on ice in the wake of the proposed legislation. Google recently threatened to pull its search engine from Australia where it has a staggering 94.5% market share, and the tech firm, still lobbying the Australian government in private meetings, had previously said that the legislation was "unworkable. With the bill now before a parliamentary inquiry, Friday's launch of News Showcase will see Google pay seven domestic outlets, including the Canberra Times, to use their content. Google said its looking forward to striking agreements with more Australian publishers, whose position has been bolstered by Canberra's aggressive push back against Facebook and Google.

But Wait, Theres More!

Unilever backed customer service startup Limitless in a $10 million funding round after seeing this pitch deck. [Business Insider]

TikTok rival Kuaishou saw its stock more than double in its Hong Kong debut. [The Wall Street Journal]

How first-time advertisers helped ViacomCBS win ahead of Super Bowl 55. [Adweek]

Gaming in 2021 will transform how brands interact with consumers forever. [The Drum]

Playable and video ad creative platform Luna Labs is teaming up with newly AppLovin-owned Adjust to help game studios improve their ads using install data. [release]

Youre Hired!

Tim Jones is named chief operating officer of Publicis Groupe Marketing Services in the US. Dave Penski succeeds him as CEO of Publicis Media Americas. [Ad Age]

Gatorade has hired Nike exec and former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Kalen Thornton as its new CMO. [Chicago Business]

Media engagement company Trion.io named Paul Calento as CEO. [release]

See the article here:

Google Considers Android Privacy Controls; Dems Intro Bill To Amend Section 230 - AdExchanger

GlobeNewswire

Fourth quarter 2020 (4Q20) financial highlights slandsbanki reported a net profit of ISK 3.5bn compared to 1.7bn in 4Q19, resulting in an annualised return on equity after tax of 7.6% which is in line with the Banks financial targets (4Q19: 3.7%). ROE margin, the return on equity in excess of risk-free rate, was at 7.1% for the quarter compared to 0.9% for 4Q19.Net interest income (NII) amounted to ISK 8.3bn in the quarter, in line with 4Q19 with a net interest margin (NIM) of 2.5% in 4Q20 (4Q19: 2.7%). Net fee and commission income (NFCI) was comparable YoY at ISK 2.9bn.The Bank recorded a net financial income of ISK 0.8bn in 4Q20 partially due to favourable market conditions.Administrative expenses were down 5.8% YoY, a result of cost reduction initiatives in recent years and changes in operations caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The cost to income ratio (C/I ratio) was 51.7% which is under the Banks target ratio of 55%.Impairment charges were around ISK 0.4bn higher YoY amounting to ISK 1.8bn in 4Q20. This is mostly related to continued uncertainty due to COVID-19, in particular for the tourism industry. The net impairment charge over loans to customers was 0.18% in Q420 (0.73% annualised).The agreement that the Bank entered with other financial institutions and lenders in Iceland to provide a universal COVID-19 moratorium for customers in need ended this quarter. Further extensions of moratoria may be granted on a case-by-case basis, but such extensions are classified as forbearance. As a result, loans with forbearance have increased considerably.ISK 36.4bn growth in loans to customers QoQ is mostly driven by mortgage lending. Deposits from customers fell 2.7% during the quarter. This is mainly due to a drop in deposits from pension funds while stable deposits continued to grow steadily.Parallel to the publishing of the financial statements, the Bank publishes its Annual and Sustainability report and Pillar 3 report, along with an Impact and Allocation report for slandsbanki's Sustainable Financing Framework. 2020 financial highlights Profit after tax for the year 2020 amounted to ISK 6.8bn (2019: ISK 8.5bn) and the annualised return on equity after tax was 3.7% (2019: 4.8%). ROE margin for 2020 was at 2.6% compared to 1.2% for the year 2019 showing increase in return on equity in excess of risk-free rate between years.NII rose by 1.7% between years and net interest margin for 2020 was 2.6% compared to 2.7% for the year 2019.NFCI decreased 3.4% YoY, amounting to 10.5bn for 2020 (2019: ISK 10.9bn). This is mostly explained by reduced payment card activity in the wake of COVID-19. Administrative expenses fell 7.1% YoY totalling to ISK 22.7bn for the year (2019: ISK 24.5bn). The C/I ratio for the year was 54.3% compared to 58.8% for 2019. FTE reductions, modest wage increases and overall reduction in administrative expenses explain the decrease between years. Net impairment charges on financial assets generated a loss of ISK 8.8bn for the year (2019: ISK 3.5bn). Thereof ISK 6.1bn are due to COVID-19, reflecting the economic uncertainty.Loans to customers grew by ISK 107bn or 11.9% in 2020. The growth was mostly due to mortgage lending.The NPL ratio (loans in stage 3) was 2.9% (gross) at end of year down from 3.0% at YE19. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, customers that experienced a temporary reduction in income were offered moratoria or other forbearances measures. This led to a substantial change in share of loans in stage 2 (with significant increase in credit risk), currently at 15.6% up from 2.6% the year before.Deposits from customers amounted to ISK 679bn at the end of December and grew by 9.9% from YE19 or by ISK 61.1bn. The rise is largely due to increased stable deposits from retail customers and corporations. The Bank continued to build its long-term funding sources, especially in the fourth quarter, by issuing both covered bonds and senior unsecured bonds during the year. In November, the Bank issued the first sustainable bonds from an Icelandic issuer. A heavily oversubscribed 300 million 3-year benchmark issued at mid-swaps +100 bps was placed with investors across continental Europe, followed by an ISK 2.7 bn domestic sustainable issue with a maturity of 5 years. The Banks capital position strengthened during the year with total capital ratio at 23.0% at the end of 2020, CET 1 ratio at 20.1% and leverage ratio at 13.6%. The Banks liquidity ratios remained sound and above all requirements. Key figures and ratios 4Q20 4Q19 2020 2019 2018 PROFITABILITY After tax profit, ISKm 3,525 1,659 6,755 8,454 10,645 Return on equity (after tax) 7.6% 3.7% 3.7% 4.8% 6.1% ROE margin 7.1% 0.9% 2.6% 1.2% 2.1% Net interest margin (of total assets) 2.5% 2.7% 2.6% 2.7% 2.9% Cost to income ratio 51.7% 62.9% 54.3% 58.8% 66.3% 31.12.20 30.09.20 30.06.20 31.12.19 31.12.18 BALANCE SHEET Loans to customers, ISKm 1,006,717 970,309 933,320 899,632 846,599 Total assets, ISKm 1,344,191 1,328,724 1,303,256 1,199,490 1,130,403 Risk exposure amount, ISKm 933,521 942,339 923,133 884,550 845,949 Deposits from customers, ISKm 679,455 698,610 681,223 618,313 578,959 Customer loans to customer deposits ratio 148.2% 138.9% 137.0% 145.5% 146.2% NPL ratio 2.9% 3.3% 3.6% 3.0% 2.0% LIQUIDITY Liquidity coverage ratio (LCR), for all currencies 196% 136% 179% 155% 172% Net stable funding ratio (NSFR), for all currencies 123% 113% 117% 119% 114% CAPITAL Total equity, ISKm 186,204 182,509 179,722 180,062 176,313 Total capital ratio 23.0% 22.2% 22.2% 22.4% 22.2% Tier 1 capital ratio 20.1% 19.4% 19.4% 19.9% 20.3% Leverage ratio 13.6% 13.4% 13.4% 14.2% 14.6% 1. Calculated as (Administrative expenses + Contribution to the Depositors and Investors Guarantee Fund One off items) / (Total operating income one off items) 2. Stage 3, loans to customers, gross carrying amount Birna Einarsdttir, CEO of slandsbanki We are very satisfied with our 4Q20 performance, with an annualised return on equity of 7.6% despite severe headwinds across much of the economy. In 2020 we cut costs by 7.1% while simultaneously expanding our loan portfolio by 11.9% and increasing deposits by 9.9%.There has been much discussion of the state of the loan portfolio and the impact of COVID-19, but about 1,500 households and 650 companies took advantage of the special COVID-related measures we offered through end-2020. Most of our customers who needed an extended moratorium on loan payments were tourism companies. Loans protected by these moratoria accounted for about 6% of the Banks loan portfolio at the end of the year. slandsbankis year-2020 profit was ISK 6.8 billion, including ISK 3.5 billion in Q4. Interest income and commissions were stable year-on-year. The securities brokerage and Corporate Finance departments performed particularly well. Corporate Finance completed approximately 30 projects, and slandsbanki led the Nasdaq Iceland exchange in trading volume during the year. Among the projects undertaken by Corporate Finance were Icelandair Groups very successful share offering, the sale of Icelandair Hotels, and the sale of Borgun, as well as bond and stock issues for Icelands listed real estate companies. Iceland Funds recorded an increased profit for the fifth year in a row and strengthened its position as the largest fund company in Iceland, with a market share of 35%. The entire world had to adjust to changed circumstances during the year and respond to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The changed global environment brought with it a strong push towards further digitisation, and the Bank rolled out a range of innovations, including a new app for companies and a digital signature solution. slandsbankis digital distribution channels grew markedly, and the Bank placed strong emphasis on providing personal service to those who could not use digital products. We could feel that, under these trying conditions, moving Iceland forward by empowering our customers to succeed was more important than ever before, and we are proud of that role. The Bank continues to take large strides in the area of sustainability. We aim to shrink the carbon footprint from our operations by 50% between 2019 and 2024. During the year, the Bank issued the largest sustainable bond in Icelands history, and the issue was more than 3 times oversubscribed. The proceeds will be used for sustainable lending and investments. The Bank has already allocated ISK 25 billion to eligible sustainable projects, as is discussed more fully in the Allocation and Impact Report for the Sustainable Financing Framework, which is being published concurrent with the Annual and Sustainability Report for the first time. We look to the future with hope, and we intend to continue meeting our customers needs, with flexibility as a guidepost. Furthermore, slandsbankis strong financial position and current market conditions show that this is a good time to begin preparing to list the Bank on the securities market. Exciting times lie ahead. Investor relations Investor call in English On 11 February 2021 at 9.30 am (GMT), the Bank will hold an investor call. The call will begin with a short update on the Icelandic economy, followed by a review of the Banks financial results. The call will be in English. Please register by sending an e-mail to: ir@islandsbanki.is. Dial-in details and presentation will be sent out to registered participants prior to the call. All materials relating to the Banks operating results, together with information on the financial calendar and silent periods, can be found here: https://www.islandsbanki.is/en/landing/about/investor-relations For further information: Investor Relations - Jhann Ott Wathne, ir@islandsbanki.is. Tel: +354 844-4607Communications - Edda Hermannsdottir, pr@islandsbanki.is. Tel: +354 844-4005 slandsbanki IR releases If you wish to receive slandsbanki press releases by e-mail please register at: https://www.islandsbanki.is/en/article/email_list_ir About slandsbankislandsbanki is a universal bank and a leader in financial services in Iceland with a history of 145 years of servicing key industries. The Bank has a 25-40% market share across all domestic business segments. slandsbanki's purpose is to move Iceland forward by empowering our customers to succeed. Driven by the vision to be #1 for service, slandsbanki's relationship banking business model is propelled by three business divisions that manage and build relationships with the Bank's customers. slandsbanki has developed a wide range of online services such as the slandsbanki and Kass apps, enabling customers to do their banking anywhere and anytime. At the same time, the Bank continues to operate the most efficient branch network in Iceland through its strategically located 12 branches. slandsbanki has a BBB/A-2 rating from S&P Global Ratings. http://www.islandsbanki.is DisclaimerThis press release may contain forward-looking statements, involving uncertainty and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from results expressed or implied by the statements. slandsbanki hf. undertakes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after this press release. It is the investor's responsibility to not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which only reflect the date of this press release. Forward-looking statements should not be considered as guarantees or predictions of future events and all forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. Attachments slandsbanki_2020_Financial Factbook 2021.02.10_ISB_Press_Release_4Q20 slandsbanki hf. Consolidated Financial Statements 2020 Factsheet_IR ENS 2021.02.10_ISB_Investor Presentation_4Q20 2020 ESG Statement report slandsbanki_English_signed

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Google News Showcase launches in more countries, including the UK and Argentina - Yahoo Finance Australia

When you open a new Google Sheets spreadsheet, the columns, rows, and individual cells you see will all be a certain size. If you want to see more data in each cell, youll need to resize them. Heres how.

One of the quickest ways to resize a column or row in Google Sheets is to use your mouse or trackpad to resize it manually. This involves dragging the column or row border to a new position, resizing it in the process.

To do this, open a Google Sheets spreadsheet containing your data. Below the formula bar, youll see your column headers, initially ranging from A to Z. Likewise, row headers are seen on the left-hand side, initially ranging from 1 to 100.

RELATED: The Beginner's Guide to Google Sheets

To resize either a row or column, hover over the column (A, B, etc.) or row (1, 2, etc.) header and move your mouse to the border. Your cursor should turn to an arrowhead, pointing in either direction.

Using your mouse or trackpad, drag the border to a new position, releasing it once the border is in place. A blue line will appear as the border is being moved, giving you a visual indication of the size of the new column or row.

You can also complete this step for multiple columns or rows at once by first selecting them, then using your mouse or trackpad to resize the border on one of the columns or rows.

Google Sheets will treat the selected cells together, resizing them all to the same size.

If the cells in your chosen row or column contain too much data, some of the information may be hidden from review (unless you wrap the text first).

To quickly resize these columns or rows to display this data without wrapping the cell text, you can use your mouse to resize it to fit. This will display all hidden text, resizing the column or row to match the size of the largest cell containing the most data.

To do this, open your spreadsheet and hover over the column (starting with A, B, etc.) or row (starting with 1, 2, etc.) header labels. Move your cursor to hover over the border until the cursor changes to an arrowhead.

Once the arrowhead cursor is visible, double-click the border. This will force Google Sheets to resize it automatically to fit the content of the largest cell.

As with the manual method above, you can select multiple rows or columns to resize them at once. This will automatically resize each row or column to fit the largest cells data.

The steps above allow you to resize columns and rows using your mouse or trackpad, but these methods dont offer a way to resize them to a set size. To do this, youll need to use Google Sheets column and row resizing tool.

To start, open your spreadsheet and select the header for your row (starting with 1, 2, etc.) or column (starting with A, B, etc.) to select it. You can also do this for multiple rows and columns at once by selecting them first.

With the row or column you wish to resize selected, right-click the header label itself (eg. 1 or A). From the pop-up menu, click the Resize The Column or Resize The Row option.

In the Resize box for your row or column, enter a new size (in pixels) in the box provided to resize it. Alternatively, select the Fix To Data option to automatically resize the column or row to fit the largest cells data.

Press OK to make the change once youre happy with the new sizing.

Once confirmed, the column or row will resize to match the size you selected. You can repeat this step for additional rows or columns.

View original post here:

How to Resize Columns and Rows in Google Sheets - How-To Geek

Google Assistant has a voice that has become somewhat iconic over the years. People hear it and associate it with Google. However, you dont have to use this voice. There are several others to choose from.

Since its launch in 2016, Google Assistant has had two default voices. The one most people recognize is from a voice actor namedAntonia Flynn. At the time of writing, there are 11 voices in total available to you. Well show you how to change it.

To begin, open the Google Assistant app. On Android phones and tablets, this can be done by saying Okay, Google, or by swiping in from the bottom-left or -right corner.

With an iPhone or iPad, you can tap theGoogle Assistant appfrom your home screen or App Library.

Next, sign in to your Google account (if you havent done so already), then tap your profile icon to open the Assistants Settings menu.

Youll now see a long list of things you can do with Google Assistant. The one were looking for is Assistant Voice.

The default voice is named Red. There are several other voices to choose from, each named by color. Simply tap one of the colored bubbles to hear an audio sample.

At the time of writing, you can also have actor Issa Rae as the Assistant voice. This is called a Cameo Voice and isnt available everywhere.

Underneath the voice bubbles, youll see which devices will use your selected voice.

If youre using the Android app, there is also a section at the very bottom called Speech Output. Select Phone to choose how conversational the responses will be on this device.

Select from Full, Brief, or None. The None option will only respond audibly if youre using hands-free methods.

Thats all there is to it. Once you select a voice, it will be used from that point forward. If multiple people interact with a Google Assistant-enabled device in your home, such as a Nest or Home smart speaker or smart display, it will use each persons preferred voice selection using Voice Match.

RELATED: How to Retrain Your Google Assistant Voice Model

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How to Change the Google Assistants Voice - How-To Geek

Digital payments firms PhonePe and Paytm Payments Bank have increased their share of transactions on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) between November and January, while tech major Google Pay lost share due to the technical glitches faced by its banking partners.

While PhonePe and Paytm saw 100 million and 72 million additional transactions, respectively, during the period, the number of transactions for Google Pay fell by over 100 million from 960 million in November to 855 million at the end of January, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) data shows.

According to experts and bank executives, the rise in number of UPI transactions for PhonePe and Paytm was at the expense of Google Pay, as customers moved away due to decline rates on its platform, caused by infrastructure issues with banking partners. Google Pays banking partners include State Bank of India, HDFC Bank Ltd, Axis Bank Ltd and ICICI Bank Ltd.

In November-December, HDFC Bank and SBI saw outages on their tech stack, data centres and digital payment offerings. In December, SBI had one of the highest transaction failure rates of 8.96% on UPI, NPCI data showed.

We have the highest end-to-end success rates in UPI payments, according to NPCI data, and believe that overtime products always win. We are starting to see early signals of user preference," said PhonePe co-founder Sameer Nigam.

Three banking and payments executives, requesting anonymity, said that earlier banks used to add the number of cashback transactions on Google Pay to its total number, but since they stopped doing so, the number of transactions might have fallen. Mint, however, could not ascertain whether this exercise was undertaken only for Google Pay or all payments apps on UPI.

At times, there are problems in terms of where the money has to be credited to or from the bank where the funds will get debited. That could be any lender and not necessarily the four banks backing Google Pay," said a senior executive in charge of digital payments at a private bank. Google Pay and NPCI did not respond to queries. PPB declined to comment.

The technology infrastructure from the architecture and capacity standpoint is not able to cope with the flood of transactions. When volumes go above planned threshold, architectural changes are needed and capacity upgrades take time. Empirical data shows that due to exponential rise in transaction volumes, banks may have some challenges and would undertake fixes," said Kunal Pande, partner, KPMG.

The spillage is happening and it is natural as UPI users leverage at least two payment apps. Google Pay will not be able to correct the infrastructure challenges with banking partners easily in the next few weeks or months, since payment infrastructure needs sustained attention," said a payments company executive, requesting anonymity.

Merchant transactions on UPI have boosted UPIs growth which provides a further edge to PhonePe and Paytm, which have been investing on their offline merchant base in a bid to distribute credit and financial services to their partners.

P2P (peer-to-peer) transactions will see some stagnation. It is P2M (peer-to-merchant) transactions where there is headroom to grow, and PhonePe and Paytm are adding more use-cases, growing the overall UPI ecosystem. Another challenge is the do-it-yourself model, which Big tech like Google might be adopting, whereas Paytm and PhonePe are handholding merchants, since this base counts for monetization streams," said Deepak Abbot, a former Paytm executive, and the co-founder of Indiagold, a startup which works in the gold monetization space.

Shayan Ghosh contributed to this story.

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Google Pays loss is Paytm and PhonePes gain on UPI - Mint