Blue Check Marks Reappear On Some Large X Accounts

X,

Almost a year since blue check marks disappeared from some large, influential accounts on X (formerly Twitter), they have started to return, NBC News reported. On Wednesday, some individuals with large followings started receiving notifications that they had received complementary premium features, including the return of the iconic blue check mark to their accounts.

In late March, platform owner Elon Musk posted that accounts with more than 2,500 verified subscriber followers would get X Premium features for free, and accounts with more than 5,000 verified subscriber followers will get X Premium+ features. One of those features is the blue check mark icon that previously served as an indicator of real accounts belonging to celebrities, journalists, influencers and other public figures.

In April 2023, as part of Musk’s takeover of the company, check marks were pulled from “legacy” verified accounts — which had been verified through a tightly controlled process meant to designate accounts as “notable.” Under Musk, verification became a paid feature for members of X Premium, in which virtually anyone could enroll. Politicians were given gray check marks and organizations could pay for gold check marks. At the same time, Musk said he gifted some premium features to some influential accounts, like author Stephen King, who posted that he had received the blue check against his will.

The Verge reported just as Elon Musk said, X is doling out the free Premium and Premium Plus memberships to accounts with a high number of verified followers. 

Multiple X users on Wednesday reported seeing the familiar blue “Verified” checkmark next to their handles despite not paying for either paid X subscription tier. Musk last week announced that X accounts with over 2,500 “verified subscriber followers” would receive a free Premium membership; while accounts with over 5,000 would receive a free Premium Plus membership.

Now, it appears that many influential X accounts with already large followings in the tens of thousands (which may translate to verified followings that cross the benchmark) are once again checkmarked, or will be, whether they like it or not.

TechCrunch reported X is giving free blue checks to users who have more than 2,500 “verified” followers, which are people who subscribe to X Premium. Popular posters will get a blue check, but not everyone is happy about it: People are now frantically posting to make it clear that they didn’t buy a blue check, but rather the blue check was foisted upon them.

According to TechCrunch, back in the days of yore, Twitter’s blue check indicated that a user was influential in some way. Back then, blue checks actually helped us determine public figures are who they say they are. So if someone was popular on Twitter, perhaps because they’re a celebrity, an influencer or a journalist, they would get a blue check, which could also help reduce the spread of misinformation.

In my opinion, it appears that some large X/Twitter accounts, who have received blue checkmarks, are not entirely thrilled about having it. That said, it might have at least one use – making it clear that the checkmark prevents other people from pretending to be a celebrity.

Google Podcast is Dead

Information

What a sad ending to another Google endeavor that has happened so many times. Honestly, I am not surprised, as they have a track record of experimenting at the user’s expense. Killing off products that did not meet revenue expectations from a business perspective, I get it, but from a user experience, I hate it.

The loved Google Reader of the past was canceled when Google could not earn ad dollars from it as millions of people could consume content on it versus a platform they could monetize.

When Google Podcasts rolled out, I had high hopes after many years of working to help Android users find a decent Podcast app through my companies, SubscribeOnAndroid.com product, which gained a lot of traction with shows encouraging Android listeners to follow and subscribe.

We are now making sure that the product is again viable for Android users as Google has essentially created an extinction event for a percentage of Android Podcast listeners. Google has adopted a scorched earth policy and brainwashes people into thinking that YouTube is the end-all for Podcast consumption. Sure, some big shows are being discovered on their platform, but for the majority, it could be farther from the truth than anything to come out of their mouths.

Podcasters, by and large, hate the YouTube channel integration and the bevy of rules they must follow, which they do not have to follow in the traditional podcast space. The everyday challenges of being on that platform exist due to cancel culture and strict content monitoring.

Google will monetize against all your content, while the majority of podcasters will get nothing, no new audience, and indeed no money, as it’s nearly impossible to monetize through YouTube’s extensive hour-long listening rules to qualify to monetize podcasts unless you make the break and become and do a YT first strategy and put in the work to build a YT channel.

The fabled “podcast” menu item on YouTube only has a handful of successful so-called podcasts; everyone else is nowhere to be found. The average podcaster has little chance of breaking out, as we learned from Spotify. They don’t care about the podcast space. All they care about is monetizing on the back of creators.

Google Podcast, good riddance; we don’t need you anymore. Podcasters are taking back the podcasting space we created and expanding it through the Podcasting 2.0 initiative and great new apps at PodcastApps.com. We must rely on something other than gatekeepers to help the podcasting space grow and thrive. We have to do it on our own.

At the recent Podcast Movement Evolutions, YouTube presented to about 500 podcasters, and it was the most “I love me speech” I’ve heard in many years, and from the post-presentation reaction, they did not win many hearts and minds.

Meanwhile, Google Podcasts has abandoned millions of listeners and caused an extinction event, causing podcasters to lose 4% of their audience almost overnight.

We already are hearing podcasters scream bloody murder who have their heads down, as many do not follow the day-to-day news. On the one hand, it is a bad day for podcasting; on the other, we know whom we can trust to go forward.

FCC To Vote To Restore Net Neutrality Rules, Reversing Trump

FCC,

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission will vote to reinstate landmark net neutrality rules and assume new regulatory oversight of broadband internet that was rescinded under former President Donald Trump, the agency’s chair said.

According to Reuters, the FCC told advocates on Tuesday of the plan to vote on the final rule at its April 25 meeting. The commission voted 3-2 in October on the proposal to reinstate open internet rules and adopted in 2015 and re-establish the commission’s authority over broadband internet.

Net neutrality refers to the principle that internet providers should enable access to all content and applications regardless of the source, and without favoring or blocking particular products or websites.

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel confirmed the planned commission vote in an interview with Reuters. “The pandemic made it clear that broadband is an essential service, that every one of us – no matter who we are or where we live – needs it to have a fair shot at success in the digital age”

Engadget reported that the Federal Communications Commission (FTC) plans to vote to restore net neutrality later this month. With Democrats finally holding an FCC majority in the final year of President Biden’s first term, the agency can fulfill a 2021 executive order from the President and bring back the Obama-era rules that the Trump administration’s FCC gutted in 2027.

The FCC plans to hold the vote during a meeting on April 25. Net neutrality treats broadband services as an essential resource under Title II of the Communications Act, giving the FCC greater authority to regulate the industry. It lest the agency prevent ISPs from anti-consumer behavior like unfair pricing, blocking or throttling content and providing pay-to-pay “fast lanes” to internet access.

Democrats had to wait three years to enact Biden’s 2021 executive order to reinstate the net neutrality rules passed in 2015 by President Obama’s FTC. The confirmation process of Biden FCC nominee Gigi Sohn for telecommunications regulator played no small part. She withdrew her nomination in March 2023 following what she called “unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks.”

ArsTechnica also reported that the Federal Communications Commission has scheduled an April 25 vote to restore net neutrality rules similar to the ones it introduced during the Obama era and repealed under former President Trump.

“After the prior administration abdicated authority over broadband services, the FCC has been handcuffed from acting to fully secure broadband networks, protect consumer data, and ensure the Internet remains fast, open, and fair,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenwrocel said today. “A return to the FCC’s overwhelmingly popular and court-approved standard of net neutrality will allow the agency to serve once again as a strong consumer advocate of an open internet.”

According to ArsTechnica, while there hasn’t been a national standard since then-Chairman Ajit Pai led a repeal in 2017, Internet service providers still have to follow the net neutrality rules because California and other states impose their own similar regulations.

In my opinion, the FCC’s decision to vote for net neutrality is an excellent idea. Anything that makes it easier for people to use the internet (ideally, without having to pay to look at a website that blocks content) will make people less frustrated when searching for news.

Amazon Gives Up On No-Checkout Shopping In Its Grocery Stores

amazon

Amazon has decided to give up on its Just Walk Out program that lets customers leave its brick-and-mortar grocery stores without a formal checkout process, The Verge reported.

Instead, it’s switching fully to “Dash Carts,” where customers can scan products as they toss them in their cart.

That’s according to The Information, which reports that the company is pulling Just Walk Out from all larger stores where the system is in place and “sprucing up the stores across the board” as it prepares to expand Amazon Fresh locations this year. Amazon will keep using its smaller corner stores, though.

Amazon hasn’t managed to get a handle on in-person retail despite buying the upscale, popular Whole Foods chain back in 2017. Over the years, the online shopping giant has closed all of its Books, 4-Star, and Pop-up stores and halted the expansion of its Fresh stores.

According to The Verge, with the company falling back to further its Dash Carts, it’s essentially shrinking self-checkout into a contraption with scanners and a touchscreen, bolted onto special shopping carts — something that other retailers have tried in the US and in Europe — followed by checking out with a palm scanner. That has benefits like customers being able to keep a running total while they shop, but Amazon would still face hurdles.

Gizmodo reported Amazon is phasing out its checkout-less grocery stores with “Just Walk Out” technology. The company’s senior vice president of grocery stores says they’re moving away from Just Walk Out, which relied on cameras and sensors to track what people were leaving the store with.

Just over half of Amazon Fresh stores are equipped with Just Walk Out. The technology allows customers to skip checkout altogether by scanning a QR code when they enter the store. Though it seemed completely automated, Just Walk Out relied on more than 1,000 people in India watching and labeling videos to ensure accurate checkouts. The cashiers were simply moved off-site, and they watched you as you shopped.

Instead, Amazon is moving towards Dash Carts, a scanner and a screen that’s embedded in your shopping cart, allowing you to checkout as you shop. These offer a more reliable solution than Just Walk Out. Amazon Fresh stores will also feature self check out counters from now on, for people who aren’t Amazon members.

Engadget also reported Amazon is removing Just Walk Out tech from all of its Fresh grocery stores in the U.S. The self-checkout system relies on a host of cameras, sensors and good old-fashioned human eyeballs to track what people leave the store with, charging the customers accordingly.

The technology has been plagued by issues from the onset. Most notably, Just Walk Out presents the illusion of automation, with Amazon crowing about generative AI and the like. Here’s where the smoke and mirrors come in. While the stores have no actual cashiers, there are reportedly over 1,000 real people in India scanning the camera feeds to ensure accurate checkouts.

According to Engadget, its also incredibly expensive to install and maintain the necessary equipment, which is likely why Just Walk Out technology was only adopted at around half of Fresh stores in the U.S.

In my opinion, it would be easier to just get your groceries from your local grocery store, or request a door-dash driver to bring the groceries you requested to your door.

Perplexity Ads Meet AI: The New Frontier in Search #1733

Podcast

Perplexity, an AI search engine rivaling Google and backed by prominent investors including Jeff Bezos, is set to introduce advertising in its platform. The company, boasting a significant $73.6 million in Series B funding, plans to embed native ads within the related questions section of its search responses. This move comes as publishers adjust their SEO strategies to mitigate potential losses from Google’s search advancements. By leveraging AI technology from OpenAI and its proprietary models, Perplexity aims to balance its ad-driven model without compromising the user experience amidst expectations to attract substantial advertiser interest.

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Google Pledges To Destroy Browsing Data To Settle ‘Incognito’ Lawsuit

google,

Google plans to destroy a trove of data that reflects millions of users’ web-browsing histories, part of a settlement of a lawsuit that alleged the company tracked people without their knowledge, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the class action lawsuit, filed in 2020, accused Google of misleading users about how Chrome tracked the activity of anyone who used the private “incognito” browsing option. The lawsuit alleged that Google’s marketing and privacy disclosures didn’t properly inform users of the kinds of data being collected, including details about which websites they viewed.

The settlement details, filed Monday in San Francisco federal court, set out the actions the company will take to change its practices around private browsing. According to the court filing, Google has agreed to destroy billions of data points that the lawsuit alleges it improperly collected, to update disclosures about what it collects in private browsing and to give users the option to disable third-party cookies in that setting.

The agreement doesn’t include damages for individual users. But the settlement will allow individuals to file claims. Already the plaintiff attorneys have filed 50 in California state court.

CBS News reported Google will destroy a vast trove of data as part of a settlement over a lawsuit that accused the search giant of tracking consumers even when they were browsing the web using “incognito” mode, which ostensibly keeps people’s online activity private.

The details of the settlement were disclosed Monday in San Francisco federal court, with a legal filing noting that Google will “delete and/or remediate billions of data records that reflect class members’ private browsing activities.”

The settlement stems from a 2020 lawsuit that claimed Google misled users into believing that it wouldn’t track their internet activities while they used incognito. The settlement also requires Google to change incognito mode so that users for the next five years can block third-party cookies by default.

“This settlement is an historic step in requiring dominant technology companies to be honest in their representations to users about how the companies collect and employ user data, and to delete and remediate data collected,” the settlement filing states.

“This settlement ensures real accountability and transparency from the world’s largest data collector and marks an important step toward improving and upholding our right to privacy on the internet,” the court document stated.

The Hill reported Google agreed to rewrite the disclosure that appears at the beginning of every “incognito mode” session to inform users that it collected data from private browsing sessions, according to court documents filed Monday.

“This settlement is an historic step in requiring dominant technology companies to be honest in their representations to users about how companies collect and employ user data, and to delete and remediate data collected,” the filing, submitted by the plaintiffs’ attorneys, reads.

In my opinion, Google shouldn’t have collected users data at all. Incognito mode was probably designed to imply that Google wouldn’t grab users data. Instead, Google grabbed it anyway.

Every US Federal Agency Must Hire A Chief AI Officer

AI,

All US federal agencies will now be required to have a senior leader overseeing all AI systems they use, as the government wants to ensure that AI use in the public service remains safe, The Verge reported.

According to The Verge, Vice President Kamala Harris announced the new Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance in a briefing with reporters and said that agencies must also establish AI governance boards to coordinate how AI is used within the agency. Agencies will also have to submit an annual report to the OMB listing all AI systems they use, any risks associated with these, and how they plan on mitigating these risks.

“We have directed all federal agencies to designate a chief AI officer with the experience, expertise, and authority to oversee all AI technologies used by that agency, and this is to make sure that AI is used responsibly, understanding that we must have senior leaders across out government, who are specifically tasked with overseeing AI adoption and use,” Harris told reporters.

The chief AI officer does not necessarily have to be a political appointee, though it depends on the federal agency’s structure. Governance boards must be created by the summer.

ArsTechnica reported the White House has announced the “first government-wide policy to mitigate risks of artificial intelligence (AI) and harness its benefits.” To coordinate these efforts, every federal agency must appoint a chief AI officer with “significant expertise in AI.”

Some agencies have already appointed chief AI officers, but any agency that has not must appoint a senior official over the next 60 days. If an official already appointed as a chief AI officer does not have the necessary authority to coordinate AI use in the agency, they must be granted additional authority or else a new chief AI officer must be named.

Ideal candidates, the White House recommended, might include chief information officers, chief data officers, or chief technology officers, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) policy said. 

As chief AI officers, appointees will serve as senior advisors on AI initiatives, monitoring and inventorying all agency uses of AI. They must conduct risk assessments to consider whether any AI uses are impacting “safety, security, civil rights, civil liberties, privacy, democratic values, human rights, equal opportunities, worker well-being, access to critical resources and services, agency trust and credibility, and market competition,” the OMB said.

Engadget reported that Vice President Kamala Harris said, “I believe that all leaders of the government, civil society, and the private sector have a moral, ethical and societal duty to make sure that artificial intelligence is adopted and advanced in a way that protects the public from harm while ensuring everyone is able to enjoy its benefits.”

In my opinion, it sounds like the use of AI within the federal government is going to be something that is very closely looked at. Ideally, the AI officers should be people who really know what they are doing.