“We’re always testing formats that can drive value for advertisers," it said in a statement, adding that it would provide further updates if the test resulted in permanent format changes. One person on Threads called the move "bonkers" – adding that it "seems like an aggressively pushy move to earn more ad dollars for Meta".
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c877y6mxdp7o
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One thing right off the bat: the Google Search algorithm has not leaked, and SEO experts don’t suddenly have all the answers. But the information that did leak this week — a collection of thousands of internal Google documents — is still huge. It’s an unprecedented look into Google’s inner workings that are typically closely guarded.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/31/24167119/google-search-algorithm-documents-leak-seo-chrome-clicks
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Your ICQ number is finally shuffling off to the great beyond. Russian company VK, which has been the service’s steward since 2010, published a message Friday that simply reads, “ICQ will stop working from June 26th,” and implores users to switch to its other chat solutions.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/25/24164579/icq-shut-down-june
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Social media is abuzz with examples of Google’s new AI Overview product saying weird stuff, from telling users to put glue on their pizza to suggesting they eat rocks. The messy rollout means Google is racing to manually disable AI Overviews for specific searches as various memes get posted, which is why users are seeing so many of them disappear shortly after being posted to social networks.
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/24/24164119/google-ai-overview-mistakes-search-race-openai
YouTube’s “app store” for games is rolling out more broadly. The company announced on Tuesday that its collection of lightweight, free games dubbed “Playables” will soon start to appear in the YouTube app for all users, in addition to the YouTube Home page.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/28/youtubes-free-games-catalog-playables-rolls-out-to-all-users/
Threads, Meta's Twitter-like Instagram spinoff app, is exploring a new, more engaging look on web browsers that shows multiple columns of pages or feeds next to each other. Meta started testing the new layout for select web browser users on Thursday. "If you’re in the test, you can choose to keep things simple with a single feed, or add separate columns for your favorites searches, tags, accounts, saved posts, and notifications. You can choose to have specific columns update in real time," a Meta representative tells PCMag.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/threads-gets-a-tweetdeck-like-makeover-on-the-web
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“We tried something new, it wasn’t great (you called it),” Reddit said in its announcement post on Wednesday. “So we’re (re)launching awards, not-so-new but definitely improved. Rollout starts today on reddit.com and Reddit’s iOS and Android apps.”
https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/17/24158848/reddit-brings-back-award-system-gold-coins-messed-up