Google

People who search for a topic in Google’s main search engine or the Google News section will see a conclusion such as “mostly true” or “false” next to stories that have been fact checked.

Over the years, Google trained computer systems to keep copyrighted content and pornography off its YouTube service. But after seeing ads from Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and Wal-Mart appear next to racist, anti-Semitic or terrorist videos, its engineers realized their computer models had a blind spot: They did not understand context. Now teaching computers to understand what humans can readily grasp may be the key to calming fears among big-spending advertisers that their ads have been appearing alongside videos from extremist groups and other offensive messages.

For two weeks, digital juggernaut Google has been on the defensive over its placement of ads alongside objectionable content, including videos promoting terrorism, racism and anti-Semitism. The imbroglio, which has spurred big brands like Johnson & Johnson and Coca-Cola to withhold ad dollars from Google, is giving TV networks ammunition as they prepare to pitch their upcoming programming in the annual Madison Avenue bonanza known as the “upfront” marketplace.

In an ironic twist for a company whose corporate motto is “do the right thing,” the Association of National Advertisers issued an advisory warning members about the brand safety of YouTube and reminding its parent Google that the top priority for any platform used by brands is “to do no harm.” The advisory comes after a number of big ANA members pulled their advertising from YouTube when it was discovered that they were being placed adjacent to unsafe content, including hate speech and “terrorist-oriented” Web sites.

 The current NFL broadcast rights package isn’t due to expire until 2022, but Les Moonves has already resigned himself to the idea that the next bidding war will pit the networks against the likes of Google and Facebook. Speaking yesterday at the Deutsche Bank 2017 Media & Telecom Conference, the CBS Corp. chairman, president and CEO said that while a battle with the cash-rich digital overlords is all but inevitable, the NFL will very much remain a TV staple.

Alphabet Inc.’s Google is committing to a series of audits for its web video powerhouse YouTube by the ad industry’s measurements watchdog, the Media Rating Council. Less than two weeks ago, Facebook also announced it had agreed to have some of its ad metrics audited by the MRC.

Tribune’s Greensboro, N.C., Fox affiliate is now offering news, lifestyle and entertainment segments as video-on-demand content on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Google’s Android TV.

Author Jonathan Taplin: “Google and Facebook can achieve huge net profit margins because they dominate the content made available on the web while making very little of it themselves. Instead, they both have built their advertising businesses as ‘free riders’ on content made by others …. The rise of these digital giants is directly connected to the fall of the creative industries of our country.”

It will be a nine-part, limited series exclusively made for the Google Daydream virtual reality headset by NFL Films. The series will cover “life in and around the NFL — from players, to coaches, to executives, to cheerleaders, to the fans themselves — detailing how each prepares for game day,” according to a press release. The first episode will be Thanksgiving Day on YouTube, with the VR version dropping at an unspecified date before year’s end.

Google parent Alphabet reported quarterly earnings that topped analysts’ estimates and revenue that beat expectations, and announced a more than $7 billion stock buyback authorized this month.

Google’s planned Unplugged live streaming service appears to be homing in on carriage deals with all of the major broadcast network owners following the agreement with CBS that surfaced yesterday. That includes Comcast’s NBCUniversal which is in advanced conversations to include NBC, Telemundo and many if not all of its cable networks on the Google service, according to sources.

Google has reached an agreement with CBS to carry the broadcast network on its soon-to-be-launched web TV service, people familiar with the matter said. The new service, Unplugged, which will be housed on Google’s YouTube platform, is likely to debut in early 2017. Google is also near an accord to distribute channels owned by 21st Century Fox and is in advanced talks with Walt Disney Co. as well, the people said.

Google’s Oct. 4 event isn’t just going to be about its new Pixel phones and OS news. It will also be trotting out its new Daydream virtual reality headset, which will reportedly be priced for as little as $79. The device can be used in conjunction with either of the new phones.

Google parent Alphabet earned $4.9 billion during the April-June quarter, a 24% increase from the same time last year. After subtracting ad commissions, Alphabet’s revenue climbed 22% to $17.5 billion.

Google purchased the platform for encoding, editing, publishing and distributing video across platforms to fold the services into its cloud platform. Anvato currently enables live streams for customers including NBCUniversal, MSNBC, CBS, Univision, HGTV, Bravo and Fox Sports, and it has raised a total of $2.55 million since its launch in 2007.

Google’s ever-increasing lobbying and influence in D.C., especially in telecommunications matters, is putting the search giant in growing conflict with broadcasting and cable. Two issues of growing concern to TV involve the FCC: its plan to set aside spectrum in the UHF TV band for Wi-Fi — broadcasters see it as another assault on their over-the-air capability — and the commission’s push to let Google, Apple and others sell alternatives to cable set-top boxes. Google’s D.C. HQ (above) is near Capitol Hill.

Although Google keeps its plans under wraps until the big event, the agenda of a conference today makes it clear that virtual reality and artificial intelligence, or “machine learning,” will be among the focal points. That has spurred speculation that Google is getting ready to release a virtual-reality device to compete with Facebook’s new Oculus Rift headset, as well as the Samsung’s Gear VR and the Vive from HTC and Valve.

The commission (read Chairman Tom Wheeler) wants to let third parties (read Google) offer cable and satellite subscribers alternatives to the system-supplied set-top boxes, claiming that would protect consumers from egregious monthly rental fees. Both broadcasters and cable have raised legitimate objections to the idea, arguing that it could disrupt the current broadcasting-cable ecosystem in many harmful ways. Let’s hope the clock runs out on Wheeler.

“The biggest change is really the elimination of barriers to viewing,” Google President Daniel Alegre told NAB Show attendees while announcing Google Search will carry live TV listings. “It’s never been easier to watch what we want, when we want, wherever we want. A new and better version of TV is rising from the ashes.” If you’re a local broadcaster, he said “traditionally you’ve been constrained by the number of [people who can access your programming] over the air. That constraint no longer exists.”

Telecom, cable and broadcast companies have had a rough go of it at the FCC under Chairman Tom Wheeler’s tenure, and they’re increasingly pointing fingers at what they say is the problem: Google. The companies and their trade groups have been openly criticizing what they see as the FCC’s cozy relationship with Google, excoriating the agency’s proposals on issues like broadband privacy and TV set-top boxes as a giveaway to the tech giant.

Verizon plans to make a first-round bid for Yahoo’s web business next week, and is willing to acquire the company’s Yahoo Japan Corp. stake to help sweeten the offer, according to people familiar with the matter. Google, the main division of Alphabet Inc., is also considering bidding for Yahoo’s core business, a separate person said.

In a win for Google, smart TV maker Vizio introduced a home entertainment control system Tuesday that is built on the internet search giant’s Chromecast streaming technology, rather than on competing systems from such companies as Apple.

Facebook has been spinning up its Oculus VR business for some time, but Google has just belatedly started putting together its own division for virtual reality computing. SVP Diane Greene will now oversee Google’s Web apps, with Clay Bavor, VP for product management, focusing exclusively on VR products. A Google VR product may yet be years away, however, while Facebook has 400 people working on Oculus.

The three most important words in broadcasting are “news,” “video” and “live.” The industry can emphasize its relationship to these words and values by making them a central component of our Web identity. 

Tech giants including Amazon, Netflix and Google have joined up as the Alliance for Open Media to create a new open source video format. The new format would make it easier to move away from Adobe Flash, would support copy protection and would be suitable for low-power devices.

It will still use the Google name for its popular Internet search engine, mapping service and related products. But CEO and co-founder Larry Page said Monday the creation of the new holding company called Alphabet will provide more independence for divisions like Nest, which makes Internet-connected home appliances, and Calico, which is researching ways to prolong human life.

Nearly half — 46% — of the video ads running across the desktop and mobile Web never had a chance to be seen, according to Google. That figure is based on the video ads the search giant has served across the Web, but doesn’t include YouTube.

The Wall Street Journal reports Google today rolled out a suite of new mobile ads that offer information toward potential purchases. The ads, which work via touches and swipes, are geared at people searching for cars, auto dealerships and mortgages. WSJ subscribers can read the full story here.

This week, Google announced that local TV ads shown to its Google Fiber subscribers in Kansas City (both Kansas and Missouri) will be delivered in real time and can be served geographically. For local advertisers, it’s essentially a Google display ad served on TV, and it means smaller marketers can now produce a TV ad using little more than their phones.

TV measurement continues to rapidly change, but traditional gross ratings points that rely on Nielsen viewers are small enough to create problems for networks without multimillion-viewer bases. Google will try to change that industry standard by providing real-time ad-tracking capabilities similar to the systems it designed for online advertisements.