Elon Musk removing headlines from Twitter posts
X, formerly Twitter, strips headlines from news story links to improve their look. X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, has stopped showing headlines for links posted on the site, after site owner Elon Musk said it would make posts look better.
Apple considered DuckDuckGo for Safari private search
Apple held talks with DuckDuckGo to replace Alphabet's Google as the default search engine for the private mode on Apple's Safari browser, the Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Google accused of secret changes to search queries to maximize ad revenue
An economist testified that Google made billions of dollars in extra ad revenue starting in 2017 — by making a secret change to its auction algorithm that bumped their revenues up 15%. Bloomberg reports: Michael Whinston, a professor of economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said Friday that Google modified the way it sold text ads via "Project Momiji" — named for the wooden Japanese dolls that have a hidden space for friends to exchange secret messages. The shift sought "to raise the prices against the highest bidder," Whinston told Judge Amit Mehta in federal court in Washington.
Meta considering charging for Facebook and Instagram access
Sources report that Meta is exploring a paid-for, ad-free option for Instagram and Facebook users, with an expected charge of between 10 to 17 Euros. The move, which is expected to impact European users, would see the social media platform charge a premium for the experience of not being advertised to.
Spotify expanding into audiobooks
Spotify, which added paid audiobooks to its offering in 2022, announced this week that premium memberships will include 15 hours of access to 150,000 audiobook titles each month. This feature will be available for Premium users in the U.K. and Australia starting this week, with the U.S. following later this year.
