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The Star
6 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Google ends recipe pilot that left creators fearing web-traffic hit
The company's retreat on the recipe feature comes amid a larger debate about whether the terms of engagement between the search giant and publishers should be renegotiated as generative AI remakes the web. — Pixabay Google has ended tests of a feature that would have let users open a snapshot of cooking-recipe content directly in web search results – a welcome development for creators and food bloggers who were concerned about eroding traffic to their sites. In recent months, Alphabet Inc-owned Google has tested Recipe Quick View, which showed some food bloggers' content in search. The company framed the feature as an attempt to help users determine whether they are interested in a recipe before visiting a website. But some bloggers said they feared that the product would keep users from clicking through to their sites, depriving them of traffic and ad revenue. Google on Tuesday confirmed it ended the trial. "We continually experiment with ways to make it easier for people to find helpful information on Search,' a spokesperson for Google said in a statement. "Learnings from these experiments help to inform future development and efforts.' The company's retreat on the recipe feature comes amid a larger debate about whether the terms of engagement between the search giant and publishers should be renegotiated as generative AI remakes the web. Creators who depend on Google and other technology companies for traffic have spoken out about the devastating toll AI has taken on their businesses, and are pushing for more control over how their content is used to develop the technology. Cloudflare Inc, a web infrastructure and security company, on Tuesday announced a "pay per crawl' program that allows creators to bill AI services for access to their content. "We have this ongoing standards conversation of how might a site say, 'I want you to do search but not generative AI training,'' said Derek Slater, co-founder of Proteus Strategies, a tech policy consulting firm. "Those are moving technological and market-driven pieces that have not settled yet.' Creators who participated in the pilot with Google were being directly compensated, but not nearly enough to offset declines in their advertising revenue, Marc McCollum, chief growth officer at Raptive, told Bloomberg earlier this year. Raptive, a media company that represents creators, estimated that traffic to food blogs would fall by half if the feature were implemented in full. Soon after news of the test program surfaced, creators made their concerns known, said Tomiko Harvey, a travel and food blogger at Passports and Grub, who attended a Google creator summit in May. "I'm actually feeling hopeful about this decision from Google,' Harvey wrote in an email. "Canceling the Quick View Recipe feature feels like a rare but welcome acknowledgment that creator feedback matters.' Although Google's decision has some creators feeling relief, they likely haven't seen the last of the search giant's experimentation in a vibrant corner of the web. In recent years, many food bloggers have padded their recipes with lengthy preambles to ensure their content ranks well in Google Search, irritating readers in the process. As it crawls the web, Google will glean information about recipes' core principles – say, the basic proportions of broth and meat in a recipe for chicken noodle soup – which it can then use to inform its own answers, Slater said. "Recipes are, by definition, facts, and facts are not copyrightable,' Slater said. For Google, "there's always going to be a tension between giving the user exactly what they want,' he added, "and directing the user to another site.' – Bloomberg
Straits Times
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz used personal email, White House says
Mr Mike Waltz had his schedule and other work documents sent to his account on the Google email service, the Washington Post reported. PHOTO: AFP WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump's national security adviser has never used his personal email account to send classified material, the White House said, following a report that Mr Mike Waltz and other National Security Council members used Gmail for government work. The Washington Post on April 1 said Mr Waltz and other NSC members used the Alphabet Inc-owned commercial email service to conduct government business, a week after the Trump administration's security practices came under bipartisan criticism following its use of the Signal messaging app to coordinate military action in Yemen. One Waltz aide used Gmail to share information involving sensitive military positions and powerful weapon systems tied to an unspecified ongoing conflict, the Post reported, citing documents it reviewed and interviews with three US officials. Mr Waltz had less sensitive but still exploitable information sent to his personal email, including his schedule and other work documents, the Post said. NSC Spokesman Brian Hughes, asked about the report, said, 'NSA Waltz received emails and calendar invites from legacy contacts on his personal email.' 'He has never sent classified material over his personal email account or any unsecured platform,' Hughes told Reuters in a statement on April 1. Mr Hughes did not give details about the content of the emails Mr Waltz had received. But he said Mr Waltz had copied in government email accounts for items received after US President Donald Trump took office on Jan 20 to comply with federal records laws. Mr Hughes said all NSC staff are informed that 'classified material must only be sent through secure channels' and that 'any non-government correspondence must be captured and retained for record compliance.' Mr Waltz, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others have faced sharp criticism following revelations last month that they used Signal – an encrypted commercial messaging app – to coordinate and share highly sensitive details about a planned military operation targeting the Houthis in Yemen, rather than using secure government communications channels. Critics have said the move was a breach of US national security that put operations and service members at risk, among other potential ramifications, and could violate the law. The administration officials' discussions were shared when The Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief was inadvertently added to the Signal chat. Members of Trump's administration, including Mr Waltz and Mr Hegseth, in the past have leveled harsh criticism at former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server when she was secretary of state during the Obama administration. On March 31, the White House said Mr Trump maintained confidence in Mr Waltz and considers the Signal case closed. Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt declined to give details about the administration's review of the Signal incident but told reporters steps were taken to ensure it would not happen again. A bipartisan group of senators have called for a formal probe, and US Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on April 2 called for mandated security training for White House personnel. US House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed Mr Waltz following the latest revelations involving Gmail, telling Axios on April 1 that Mr Waltz and Mr Trump's national security team are 'totally and completely unqualified to be in a sensitive national security position.' Democratic US Representative Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, said the email revelations were 'part of a larger pattern of carelessness and recklessness' in the Trump administration that risked US lives. 'Our adversaries – Russia, China, Iran and others – are actively trying to gather information to undermine those missions, to kill American troops. And that sloppiness puts them at great risk,' Mr Crow, a member of the House intelligence and armed services committees, told CNN on April 2. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Waltz did not send classified material, White House says after reported Gmail use
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser has never used his personal email account to send classified material, the White House said, following a report that Mike Waltz and other National Security Council members used Gmail for government work. The Washington Post on Tuesday said Waltz and other NSC members used the Alphabet Inc-owned commercial email service to conduct government business, a week after the Trump administration's security practices came under bipartisan criticism following its use of the Signal messaging app to coordinate military action in Yemen. One Waltz aide used Gmail to share information involving sensitive military positions and powerful weapon systems tied to an unspecified ongoing conflict, the Post reported, citing documents it reviewed and interviews with three U.S. officials. Waltz had less sensitive but still exploitable information sent to his personal email, including his schedule and other work documents, the Post said. NSC Spokesman Brian Hughes, asked about the report, said, "NSA Waltz received emails and calendar invites from legacy contacts on his personal email." "He has never sent classified material over his personal email account or any unsecured platform," Hughes told Reuters in a statement on Tuesday. Hughes did not give details about the content of the emails Waltz had received. But he said Waltz had copied in government email accounts for items received after U.S. President Donald Trump took office on January 20 to comply with federal records laws. Hughes said all NSC staff are informed that "classified material must only be sent through secure channels" and that "any non-government correspondence must be captured and retained for record compliance." Waltz, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others have faced sharp criticism following revelations last month that they used Signal — an encrypted commercial messaging app — to coordinate and share highly sensitive details about a planned military operation targeting the Houthis in Yemen, rather than using secure government communications channels. Critics have said the move was a breach of U.S. national security that put operations and service members at risk, among other potential ramifications, and could violate the law. The administration officials' discussions were shared when The Atlantic magazine's editor-in-chief was inadvertently added to the Signal chat. Members of Trump's administration, including Waltz and Hegseth, in the past have leveled harsh criticism at former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server when she was secretary of state during the Obama administration. On Monday, the White House said Trump maintained confidence in Waltz and considers the Signal case closed. Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt declined to give details about the administration's review of the Signal incident but told reporters steps were taken to ensure it would not happen again. A bipartisan group of senators have called for a formal probe, and U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday called for mandated security training for White House personnel. U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed Waltz following the latest revelations involving Gmail, telling Axios on Tuesday that Waltz and Trump's national security team are "totally and completely unqualified to be in a sensitive national security position." Democratic U.S. Representative Jason Crow, a former Army Ranger who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, said the email revelations were "part of a larger pattern of carelessness and recklessness" in the Trump administration that risked U.S. lives. "Our adversaries — Russia, China, Iran and others — are actively trying to gather information to undermine those missions, to kill American troops. And that sloppiness puts them at great risk," Crow, a member of the House intelligence and armed services committees, told CNN on Wednesday.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump national security adviser used personal email, White House says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz received emails via his personal email account but has never used that account to send classified material, the White House said after The Washington Post reported Waltz and other National Security Council members used Gmail for government work. The Post on Tuesday said Waltz and other NSC members used the Alphabet Inc-owned commercial email service to conduct government business, a week after the Trump administration's security practices came under bipartisan criticism following its use of the Signal messaging app to coordinate military action in Yemen. One Waltz aide used Gmail to share information involving sensitive military positions and powerful weapon systems tied to an unspecified ongoing conflict, it reported, citing documents it reviewed and interviews with three U.S. officials. Waltz had less sensitive but still exploitable information sent to his personal email, including his schedule and other work documents, the Post said. NSC Spokesman Brian Hughes, asked about the report, said: "NSA Waltz received emails and calendar invites from legacy contacts on his personal email." "He has never sent classified material over his personal email account or any unsecured platform," Hughes told Reuters in a statement on Tuesday. Waltz copied in government email accounts for items received after U.S. President Donald Trump took office on January 20 to comply with federal records laws, he added. Hughes said all NSC staff are informed that "classified material must only be sent through secure channels" and that "any non-government correspondence must be captured and retained for record compliance." Waltz, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others have faced sharp criticism following revelations last month that they used Signal — an encrypted commercial messaging app where messages expire — to coordinate and share highly sensitive details about a planned military operation targeting the Houthis in Yemen, rather than using secure government communications channels. Critics have said the move was a breach of U.S. national security and could be a violation of law. The administration officials' discussions were shared when a reporter for The Atlantic magazine was inadvertently added to the Signal chat. Members of Trump's administration, including Waltz and Hegseth, in the past have leveled harsh criticism at former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for her use of a private email server when she was secretary of state during the Obama administration. On Monday, the White House said Trump maintained confidence in Waltz and considers the Signal case closed. Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt declined to give details about the administration's review of the Signal incident but told reporters steps were taken to ensure it would not happen again. Republican and Democratic senators have called for a formal probe. U.S. House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries slammed Waltz following the latest revelations involving Gmail. "Mike Waltz is totally and completely unqualified to be in a sensitive national security position, as is the case with the Trump national security team," Jeffries told Axios in an interview on Tuesday.
