It’s been a big week for Google — but not the good kind. Way back in 2017, the European Union fined Google a record $2.7 billion for favoritism, asserting that the company abused its dominance of online search to push people to use its shopping tools. After a series of unsuccessful appeals, it looks like Google’s actually going to have to pay its tab. Court proceedings also began this week for a separate antitrust suit in the US, one initially brought in 2017 over Google’s dominance of the online ad business. This all comes just weeks after the revelation that the US Department of Justice may seek to break Google up following another antitrust suit in which the company was ruled as monopolizing online search.
But hey, that’s not all that happened. In the Android world, YouTube Music got an interesting new AI feature; a second beta for Android 15 QPR1 dropped; and one of Gemini Advanced’s best features made its way to the free version of Google’s AI assistant. Oh, and we reviewed the Pixel 9 Pro Fold (Will likes it). Here’s the week’s big Google news.
Google still has to pay its massive 2017 EU fines
In 2017, the European Union fined Google the equivalent of a staggering $2.7 billion for favoring its own online shopping tool, by way of “abusing its market dominance as a search engine.” The company lost its initial appeal in 2021 and appealed a second time. It’s now lost that appeal, too — so it’ll actually have to pay up.
The 2017 fine issued to Google was the largest fine ever imposed by the EU on a single company in an antitrust case. Reuters reports that Google has been hit with a total of 8.25 billion euros in EU antitrust fines over the past 10 years.
Google is facing antitrust action in the US, as well. In August, federal Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google maintains a monopoly in the online search market, a decision that could mean major changes for the search giant (Google has appealed). Separately, court proceedings for a 2023 antitrust suit against Google, this one involving the company’s online ads business, began this week.
While Google’s $2.7 billion EU fine is historically large, it’s important to note that Google pulled in a total of $305.63 billion in revenue in 2023, a record for the company. Google’s online ads business generated $206.54 billion last year.
Google One Lite rolls out in India
Back in July, we heard that Google was working on a new tier of its Google One subscription service called Google One Lite. At the time, we weren’t sure what it could be. Google offers 15 gigabytes of cloud storage space for free, and the previous low-end Google One plan, Basic, upgraded that to 100 gigs for $2 per month, with added perks like the ability to share your storage quota with family members and access to certain software features like Google’s Magic Editor.
Turns out, Google One Lite is 30 gigs of storage space and no additional perks. It’s currently available for some users in India for all of ₹59 (about 70 cents American) per month. It’s unclear whether this offering will make its way stateside, but if it does, it seems likely it would cost about one dollar a month.
YouTube Music can now use AI to make your prompts into playlists
YouTube Music’s take on the AI DJ is finally here. Initially spotted earlier this summer, the AI-powered Ask Music feature is now rolling out widely to Premium subscribers.
Whether you know exactly the subgenre you’re in the mood for or you can only vaguely describe a vibe you’re going for, Ask Music lets you tell it what you want to hear in any way you want. It’ll then compile a playlist to match your prompt. Conceptually, Ask Music sounds a lot like Ask Photos, a recent Gemini-powered feature that lets you ramble at Google Photos to pull up photos relevant to prompts.
Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 drops
Android 15 itself entered AOSP earlier this month, meaning it’s officially finished. Google’s now focusing its feature development efforts on Android 15 QPR1, the first major quarterly update Android 15 will receive, which is scheduled to start making its way to users’ phones in December.
QPR1 is currently in beta, and the second in-development build arrived this week. As Mishaal Rahman notes, new beta brings a handful of UI updates: device settings got a visual refresh; there’s a new keyboard switcher; screen recording has a convenient new control option; and there’s a new compact notification style. Check out the full story below for more detail.
Gemini Live is now free
Gemini Live, the feature within the Gemini app that lets you have a more free-flowing, conversational exchange with Google’s AI chatbot, is now free. Gemini Live was previously a feature reserved for Gemini Advanced, which is accessible as part of Google’s $20-per-month Google One AI Premium Plan.
Gemini Live is currently available for free in the Gemini app on Android for English-language users; Google says it’s coming to more languages and to the iOS Gemini app in the near future. With Gemini Live, you can talk more naturally to Gemini, asking follow-up questions and even interrupting its answers without having to say any hotwords or press any additional buttons. The feature going free makes one less reason to pay for Gemini Advanced, but hey, it’s a win for free users.
Google’s DataGemma wants to make AI more accurate
Google is using its resources to help AI stop making things up. Large language models have a tendency to occasionally “hallucinate,” or fabricate information that doesn’t exist, then present that information with as much apparent confidence as any other response. To help alleviate this, Google is integrating Data Commons, the company’s freely accessible, interconnected database of verified info, into its Gemma family of open large language models.
It gets technical, but these new DataGemma models will help create language-based AI experiences whose outputs are grounded in the verified facts of Google’s Data Commons project. Hit the link below for our full story; Chris does a great job breaking it down.
AP renders a verdict on the Pixel 9 Pro Fold
The sequel to 2023’s Pixel Fold, the less elegantly named Pixel 9 Pro Fold, went on sale on September 4. Will’s been using it for a while, and this week, he published AP’s review of the latest foldable. The verdict? It’s pretty good!
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold makes serious gains with respect to hardware design and build quality, with hardware that feels several generations ahead of what Google released just a year ago. Its cameras are markedly less impressive than the non-folding Pixel 9 Pro‘s, though, and other foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 have the edge on raw performance and battery life. Still, the 9 Pro Fold is a solid foldable, and we’re excited to see where Google takes the form factor next.
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