Google to Propose Price-Comparison Box in Search to Appease EU
Under the plan, a box at the top of Google's search results will show ranked options from price-comparison companies' websites, the people said, asking not to be identified because the proposal is not yet public. Users will be able to either proceed to the sites of its competitors — such as Expedia or Booking — or click on individual results to go to the page of a hotel or airline, they said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Europe Is Playing Catch-Up in the Race for Critical Minerals
A once-niche corner of the commodities market has become a new frontier in global power politics. To make everything from electric vehicles and wind turbines to next-generation weapons systems, modern economies now depend on a growing roster of buried ingredients: cobalt, lithium, rare earths and other so-called critical minerals. Governments are responding in kind. In April, the U.S. signed a landmark deal with Ukraine, granting U.S. firms access to the country's mineral reserves in exchange for defense and reconstruction support. It was a transactional agreement and a revealing one: A war-forged security partnership now hinges on minerals as bargaining chips, in a world where raw materials increasingly double as strategic currency. Elsewhere, Gulf states are making inroads across Africa, while China—already the commanding force in global mineral supply chains—continues to tighten its grip. Now the European Union is sprinting to catch up. Over the past two years, Brussels has signed a flurry of raw materials partnerships, including with Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Namibia. Robert Besseling, CEO and founder of Pangea-Risk, notes that the EU 'has its own definition of what makes some minerals critical, and that's different from how China, the U.S. and smaller players like Russia see what is critical for their domestic economies.' As a major steel producer, for instance, the EU's list of critical minerals includes coking coal, along with materials like silicon, helium, boron and gallium, which aren't priorities for most other powers. To get more in-depth news and expert analysis on global affairs from WPR, sign up for our free Daily Review newsletter. But where demand for minerals overlap, the competition is fierce. And whether it's aluminum and bauxite in Guinea, graphite in Mozambique, lithium in Zimbabwe, nickel in South Africa, and copper and cobalt in the DRC and Zambia, Besseling says, the central arena of that competition is in Africa. Meanwhile, in the name of 'de-risking,' the EU also wants to wean itself off foreign dependence by building what it calls more resilient supply chains, which is shorthand for reducing reliance on a single supplier, more local or allied-country processing and greater control over each stage of production. That won't be easy, however. Take lithium and rare earths, for instance: The EU imports nearly all of its supplies of both—and in the case of rare earths, half come directly from China, which controls 90 percent of global processing. 'China is way ahead in terms of investment, but also in terms of actual ownership and operations of mines,' says Besseling. That reach, he adds, spans the entire production process. When it comes to electric vehicles, or EVs, for example, Chinese companies dominate the supply chain for the minerals that go into their batteries on the mining side. But they also dominate 'the processing side and the manufacturing of EVs,' he adds. 'The whole value chain is essentially dominated by China.' It wasn't always this lopsided. During the 2003-2011 commodity supercycle, when metal prices surged, Western mining giants such as BHP, Rio Tinto and Glencore aggressively expanded into Africa and Latin America, pouring billions into what are known as frontier projects in the sector due to their greater risk. But as copper and cobalt prices fell, the calculus for risky overseas ventures shifted. Investors demanded caution, and companies began retreating. At the same time, the wealthy member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development doubled down on the so-called Gentlemen's Agreement, a long-standing pact discouraging the use of subsidies to boost national champions. The idea was to hedge against a race to the bottom in state-backed financing, meaning no cheap loans to help mining firms compete abroad. The problem is that Chinese lenders have opted for a different approach that isn't based on the West's liberal market-based model, says Brooke Escobar, who directs a team at AidData specializing in financial tracking. In a report released in January, Escobar and her co-authors detailed how, over the past two decades, China has built a financing model that's fast, scalable and tough for Western countries to match. A Chinese state-owned enterprise might enter a country to co-develop a copper or cobalt mine, for instance, backed by a loan from one of Beijing's policy banks or state-owned commercial lenders. 'But it's concessional lending,' Escobar points out, 'so it's cheaper than what those companies could get on the market otherwise.' Moreover, that financing often covers the costs of developing not just the mine itself, but also roads, power plants and export terminals. And it usually comes in stages, with several loans supporting the project through development and operation. Meanwhile, in addition to securing equity in the mine, the Chinese firm signs a long-term offtake agreement—a contract to buy a set share of the mine's output—typically with a buyer in mainland China. This combination of ownership abroad and guaranteed supply for domestic processors is central to China's strategy. And it has paid off. Between 2000 and 2021, China committed nearly $57 billion in state-backed financing for these mineral projects across 19 low- and middle-income countries, according to AidData's report. As a result, it now holds sway over every stage of the supply chain for many of the critical minerals that will fuel the green energy transition. Chinese companies control 25 percent of global lithium mining capacity and 80 percent of cobalt production in the DRC, which supplies over half the world's cobalt. China also handles around 90 percent of global rare earths processing, over two-thirds of cobalt and lithium refining, and more than half of the global material exports that go into batteries. In short, China has developed a playbook that sidesteps market hesitations, tolerates political risk and prioritizes long-term strategic gains. And the West has struggled to adapt. 'It's not necessarily that the Chinese companies have this exclusive edge,' says Tiffany Wognaih, an Africa-focused political risk and strategy adviser at the J.S. Held global consulting firm. 'Rather, they have been the players that have shown a willingness to enter the market.' They've also shown greater staying power compared to Western companies that did enter frontier markets. Wognaih points to the U.S. mining giant Freeport-McMoRan, which began investing heavily in the mid-2000s in two major copper and cobalt sites in Congo: the Tenke Fungurume mine and the Kisanfu exploration project. But in 2016, under financial strain, 'they put the asset up for sale,' Wognaih says. 'And China took it.' Escobar also cites Freeport-McMoRan's exit from Congo, but as a case of Western governments failing to act. Both U.S. officials and representatives of the company appealed for help from Washington to retain control of the project. 'But no one stepped in,' she says, in part due to a lack of political will. But she adds that, having built their finance systems around strict rules on market neutrality, OECD countries 'don't have the mechanism to say, 'We're going to extend you this cheap finance that will provide you the liquidity that you need to make it through.'' Without that state backing, Western financiers are left to rely on risk-reward calculations, and that limits the options. 'Tier-one projects will get financed,' Andor Lips, a financing and raw materials expert at the Dutch Geological Survey, says, referring to quality projects that are ready to come to market. But there are only a handful of them, and lower-tier projects are riskier, starting with the risk of exploring a concession and not finding exploitable reserves. 'There are also market risks, price, environment, delays,' he adds. 'It's all in the mix.' That's bad news for the EU. For now, the mineral partnerships it has signed are largely symbolic: nonbinding and dependent on private investment. But as Lips—who has contributed to work by the European Commission as an external expert—notes, 'the EU is not a country, so the legal push to encourage investments is limited: You cannot provide tax incentives, you cannot provide additional capital, where normally a country can do that.' There are EU financial tools at private firms' disposal, including the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and initiatives like the Global Gateway. But navigating them is complex. Figuring out which funds can be used where, and how overlapping mandates interact, is 'a bit of an intellectual exercise,' Lips says, adding that even functionaries within the European Commission are often operating based on fragmented information. Worse, the EU is up against the clock, as the race for critical minerals is getting more crowded. Gulf countries are deploying cash and state backing to strike minerals deals across Africa, with Turkey, India and others following suit. Many are copying China's playbook: bundled deals, state-backed financing and minimal red tape. The U.S., under President Donald Trump, has loosened enforcement of anti-corruption rules to give companies more leeway in risky environments and is partnering with Gulf allies to share investment risk. The EU, by contrast, remains bound by high environmental, social and governance, or ESG, standards, as well as a fractured bureaucracy and few tools to compete. Indeed, Europe's lag is partly structural: Market-first models simply aren't built to compete with the speed and coordination of state-led rivals like China. But it's difficult to reflect on the past few decades without also recognizing a stunning lapse in political foresight. As China doubled down on access to critical minerals, Western countries pulled back, even as it was already clear these minerals would come to hold tremendous geopolitical weight. Now, catching up may mean setting aside market orthodoxy in favor of security priorities. The urgency is real: After Beijing imposed new export controls on rare earths this spring, automakers in Europe and the U.S. warned they were just weeks away from halting production lines. But even if Europe secures more raw materials, full independence from China remains out of reach. 'If you get access to processed minerals you still need to create demand for those processed minerals in the EU,' says Poorva Karkare, senior policy analyst at the European Centre for Development Policy Management. 'In order to do that, you need to start producing more batteries, more EVs, more whatever.' And given its dominance across the supply chains for these products, that will mean working with China. Rather than framing the challenge as a zero-sum game, Karkare suggests the EU should bring China into its partnership model. European firms may currently play a small role in extraction, but they excel in surveying and engineering. Even their ESG standards could work to their advantage, as Chinese firms are already turning to European counterparts to meet rising standards demanded by investors, global regulators, African governments and consumers, she notes. If European firms embed themselves deeper into project lifecycles, they could claim more of the value chain and start to build mutual dependence with their Chinese partners. Karkare concedes that EU leaders might balk at a strategy that involves China. 'But China is going to be involved every step of the way, and there's almost no circumventing that,' she says. The conversation in Brussels and Washington these days has shifted to completely decoupling from China. But as Karkare notes, when it comes to critical minerals, that's no longer feasible. Instead, Europe should try to think of ways to reduce that dependence, including by making it mutual. Carl-Johan Karlsson is a freelance journalist covering politics in the U.S. and Europe. You can find him on LinkedIn. The post Europe Is Playing Catch-Up in the Race for Critical Minerals appeared first on World Politics Review.
Digital Trends
4 hours ago
- Digital Trends
Act Fast! Google Pixel 9 phones are going to cost hundreds more soon
The Google Pixel 9 series is just shy of a year old and we still prefer the base Pixel 9 phone over a ton of iPhones and Samsung favorites. It's a new, hot, and trendy phone in its peak era, but tech moves rapidly and we're already learning about the Google Pixel 10 series. That means that initial offers on Pixel 9 series phones are going to disappear soon. Google's Pixel deals now have a countdown, reading '5 days left' as I write this (tap the button below to check for yourself, but it should be around 3 days left when most readers get the article). With these deals you can save $100s on your new phone if you sign up with a Google phone plan. If you know you want to buy a Pixel 9 series phone, but have been procrastinating, this is the time to do so. As a quick reminder, three Pixel 9 phones appear in our best Android phones roundup, but if you need more info to jog your memory about why you wanted a Pixel 9 phone, read on — we'll help you find our reviews, give a quick summary of the phone, explain the offers, and help you find them. Last chance Pixel 9 phone deals If you buy a Pixel 9 via the Google Store and get it with Google Fi (one of the best mobile plans for travel) you can save big if you act now. Here are the offers: Google Pixel 9: $799 Free when you join Google Fi, $449 with select Google Fi plans; Our Google Pixel 9 review points out that the phone is superb in ways that go beyond AI hype. Google Pixel 9a: $499 Free if you join Google Fi, $249 when you upgrade on Google Fi; The Google Pixel 9a shows you can demand more out of a budget phone. When we compared the Pixel 9a and iPhone 16e, the Pixel won. Google Pixel 9 Pro : $999 $199 when you join Google Fi, $549 with select Google Fi plans; Our Google Pixel 9 Pro review called it 'the iPhone of Android' and highly praised its hardware and cameras, giving it a 9.5/10. : when you join Google Fi, with select Google Fi plans; Our Google Pixel 9 Pro review called it 'the iPhone of Android' and highly praised its hardware and cameras, giving it a 9.5/10. Google Pixel 9 Pro XL: $1,099 $299 when you join Google Fi, $649 with select Google Fi plans; Google's big 6.8-inch phone, our Google Pixel 9 Pro XL review called the display 'outstanding.' Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold: $1,799 $999 when you join Google Fi, $1,349 with select Google Fi plans; This is our absolute favorite folding phone, with our Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold review referring to it as an 'entertainment powerhouse.' Shop all of these deals or search more Google mobile deals via the button below.
Time Business News
4 hours ago
- Time Business News
India's Digital Payment Revolution: How UPI is Reshaping Global Financial Infrastructure
The financial world is witnessing an unprecedented transformation, and at its epicenter lies India's revolutionary digital payment ecosystem. What began as a domestic initiative to reduce cash dependency has evolved into a global blueprint for financial inclusion and technological innovation. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), combined with sophisticated 印度支付 systems, has not only transformed how 1.4 billion Indians conduct transactions but is now influencing payment infrastructure development across emerging markets worldwide. In 2023, India processed over 100 billion digital transactions worth $1.8 trillion, representing a staggering 46% increase from the previous year. To put this in perspective, India now handles more real-time payments than the United States, China, United Kingdom, and European Union combined. This astronomical growth reflects not just technological advancement but a fundamental shift in how emerging economies can leapfrog traditional banking infrastructure to achieve financial inclusion at scale. The Economic Drivers Behind India's Payment Success India's digital payment revolution wasn't born in a vacuum—it emerged from a perfect storm of economic necessity, regulatory innovation, and technological readiness. The 2016 demonetization event, while controversial, accelerated digital adoption by removing high-denomination currency notes from circulation. This forced millions of previously cash-dependent consumers and businesses to embrace digital alternatives almost overnight. However, the real foundation for success was laid earlier through strategic infrastructure investments. The India Stack—a collection of open application programming interfaces (APIs) and digital public goods—created an interoperable framework that enabled seamless integration between different financial service providers. This approach democratized payment innovation, allowing even small fintech startups to build sophisticated financial products without requiring massive capital investment in proprietary infrastructure. The Aadhaar digital identity system, now covering over 99% of India's adult population, provided the crucial authentication backbone needed for digital financial services. Combined with widespread mobile phone adoption—India has over 750 million smartphone users—these foundational elements created an environment where digital payments could achieve unprecedented scale and accessibility. Banking penetration, historically a barrier to financial inclusion in developing countries, was circumvented through innovative regulatory frameworks. The Reserve Bank of India's progressive approach to payment system licensing enabled non-bank entities to participate in the payments ecosystem, fostering competition and innovation while maintaining regulatory oversight. UPI's Technical Architecture and Global Implications The Unified Payments Interface represents a masterpiece of financial technology architecture that other nations are now scrambling to replicate. Unlike traditional payment systems that route transactions through multiple intermediaries, UPI enables direct bank-to-bank transfers using simple identifiers like mobile numbers or virtual payment addresses. This technical elegance masks sophisticated underlying infrastructure. UPI processes payments through a four-party model involving the payer's bank, payee's bank, and two intermediary systems managed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The system can handle over 10,000 transactions per second and maintains 99.95% uptime, rivaling any global payment network. The real innovation lies in UPI's interoperability mandate. Unlike proprietary payment systems where users are locked into specific apps or banks, UPI allows seamless transactions between any two bank accounts regardless of which app or bank is used. This has created genuine competition on user experience and value-added services rather than network effects, leading to continuous innovation and keeping transaction costs near zero. International observers have taken notice. Singapore's PayNow, Thailand's PromptPay, and Malaysia's DuitNow all draw inspiration from UPI's architecture. The European Union is studying UPI as a model for its own instant payment initiatives, while several African central banks are piloting UPI-inspired systems for their domestic markets. Market Dynamics and Competitive Landscape India's payment ecosystem hosts a fascinating competitive dynamic between technology giants, traditional financial institutions, and nimble fintech startups. Google Pay and PhonePe each process over 40% of UPI transactions, leveraging their parent companies' technological resources and user acquisition capabilities. However, their success hasn't created monopolistic conditions due to UPI's interoperable architecture. Traditional banks have responded by enhancing their digital offerings and partnering with fintech companies rather than competing directly. State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank have all launched sophisticated payment platforms while simultaneously serving as the underlying infrastructure for fintech-led innovations. This collaborative competition has driven remarkable innovation in user experience design, fraud prevention, and value-added services. Payment apps now offer everything from gold investments to insurance products, transforming from simple transaction facilitators into comprehensive financial service platforms. The merchant ecosystem has evolved equally dramatically. From street vendors accepting payments through simple QR codes to sophisticated e-commerce platforms processing millions of transactions daily, businesses of all sizes have integrated digital payments into their operations. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend, with contactless payments becoming a hygiene imperative rather than just a convenience. Regulatory Framework and Policy Innovation India's payment revolution succeeded partly because regulators embraced innovation while maintaining appropriate oversight. The Reserve Bank of India's regulatory sandbox allows fintech companies to test new products in controlled environments, reducing barriers to innovation while protecting consumers. The RBI's approach to data localization—requiring payment data to be stored within India—initially faced resistance from global technology companies but ultimately strengthened domestic technological capabilities. This policy forced international players to invest in local infrastructure and partnerships, creating jobs and knowledge transfer while maintaining data sovereignty. Progressive regulations around Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements have balanced financial inclusion with security concerns. Video-based KYC, risk-based authentication, and simplified onboarding for small-value accounts have made it possible for previously excluded populations to access formal financial services. The central bank's stance on cryptocurrencies provides an interesting contrast to its embrace of digital payments. While maintaining restrictions on crypto trading, the RBI is actively developing a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) that could further enhance India's payment infrastructure while maintaining monetary policy control. Financial Inclusion and Social Impact Beyond transaction volumes and technological achievements, India's digital payment transformation has delivered measurable social impact. Rural areas, previously dependent on cash and informal credit systems, now have access to formal financial services through mobile-based payment platforms. Women's economic empowerment has received a significant boost from digital payments. Studies show that women in rural areas are more likely to save money when using digital payment systems compared to cash, leading to improved household financial planning and increased business investment among women entrepreneurs. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have gained access to credit based on their digital payment transaction history. Fintech lenders use UPI transaction data to assess creditworthiness, providing loans to businesses that traditional banks might consider too risky due to lack of formal credit history. Government benefit distribution has become more efficient and transparent through digital payments. Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) programs now reach over 400 million beneficiaries, reducing leakage and corruption while ensuring timely delivery of subsidies and welfare payments. Challenges and Limitations Despite its remarkable success, India's digital payment system faces ongoing challenges that could impact future growth. Cybersecurity threats have evolved alongside payment adoption, with fraudsters developing increasingly sophisticated methods to exploit system vulnerabilities and user behavior patterns. Digital literacy remains a barrier for older populations and those in remote areas. While younger Indians have embraced digital payments enthusiastically, ensuring universal adoption requires continued investment in education and user interface design that accommodates varying technology comfort levels. Infrastructure dependencies create systemic risks. While India's payment systems have achieved impressive reliability, they remain vulnerable to telecommunications outages, power failures, and cyber attacks. Building redundancy and resilience into critical payment infrastructure continues to be a priority for regulators and system operators. Merchant acceptance, while growing rapidly, still lags in certain sectors and regions. Small retailers in rural areas sometimes prefer cash due to concerns about transaction fees, digital literacy, or internet connectivity reliability. Addressing these gaps requires continued policy support and infrastructure investment. Global Expansion and Export Potential India's payment technology is increasingly becoming an export product. The National Payments Corporation of India has signed agreements with several countries to implement UPI-like systems, including Singapore, UAE, and France. These partnerships create opportunities for Indian fintech companies to expand internationally while generating technology export revenue. Remittance corridors represent a particularly promising area for international expansion. Indians working abroad send over $80 billion annually to family members in India, making it the world's largest remittance recipient. UPI-based international transfer systems could significantly reduce costs and transfer times for these transactions. Cross-border e-commerce integration is another frontier where Indian payment expertise could provide competitive advantages. As Indian businesses increasingly sell to global markets, payment systems that can seamlessly handle international transactions while maintaining local user experience could become significant competitive differentiators. Future Outlook and Investment Implications The trajectory of India's digital payment ecosystem suggests continued exponential growth, driven by expanding smartphone adoption, improving internet infrastructure, and evolving consumer preferences. Credit on UPI, currently in pilot phase, could unlock new lending models and further increase transaction volumes. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) trials indicate that India may become one of the first major economies to launch a fully digital version of its national currency. This development could further cement India's position as a global leader in payment innovation while providing a new model for other central banks to study. Investment opportunities abound across the payment value chain, from infrastructure providers and security specialists to user experience innovators and financial service platforms. The Indian government's continued support for digital transformation, combined with a young, technology-savvy population, creates a favorable environment for sustained growth in the digital payments sector. International investors and technology companies ignore India's payment revolution at their own peril. What started as a domestic financial inclusion initiative has evolved into a global technology platform that could reshape how the world thinks about money, banking, and financial access. Understanding and engaging with this transformation isn't just an opportunity—it's becoming a necessity for anyone serious about the future of global finance. The implications extend far beyond India's borders. As other emerging markets study and adapt Indian payment innovations, we're witnessing the emergence of a new global financial architecture—one that prioritizes inclusion, interoperability, and innovation over traditional banking hierarchies. For businesses, investors, and policymakers worldwide, India's digital payment success story offers both inspiration and a roadmap for financial system transformation in the digital age. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
