Google is beginning to replace news headlines in its search results with ones that are AI-generated. After doing something similar in its Google Discover news feed, it’s starting to mess with headlines in the traditional “10 blue links,” too. We’ve found multiple examples where Google replaced headlines we wrote with ones we did not, sometimes changing their meaning in the process.
https://www.theverge.com/tech/896490/google-replace-news-headlines-in-search-canary-coal-mine-experiment
Unlimited Google Photos storage was the biggest selling point of what quickly became the most popular photo storage service, but as it became hard to sustain with scale, Google pulled the plug. For a while, though, T-Mobile customers have had access to a special Google One subscription that included unlimited Google Photos storage, but it’s now dead.
https://9to5google.com/2026/03/16/google-photos-unlimited-storage-subscription-ends/
Google Maps is giving its driving experience the “biggest update in over a decade” with Immersive Navigation that redesigns visuals and offers “more intuitive guidance.” It starts with a “vivid 3D view that reflects the buildings, overpasses, and terrain around you.” Google Maps will highlight lanes, crosswalks, traffic lights, stop signs, and other critical road details “to help you make that turn or merge confidently.”
https://9to5google.com/2026/03/12/google-maps-immersive-navigation/
By June 30th, Google writes, it will lower most app store fees in the US, UK, and European Economic Area to 20 percent or less, down from 30 percent. By the end of the year, it will launch a “Registered App Stores” program outside of the US, so that you can download and install third-party app stores (like the Epic Games Store) from the web without the friction that Google erected previously.
https://www.theverge.com/policy/889252/google-app-store-fee-reduction-20-percent-epic-v-google
Google is currently working on the combined Android-ChromeOS, known as Aluminum OS, but we're probably two years out from getting our hands on it. Court documents tip a testing period later this year and a full release by 2028.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/rip-chromeos-not-so-fast-court-docs-suggest-itll-be-around-until-2034?test_uuid=04IpBmWGZleS0I0J3epvMrC&test_variant=A
Google DeepMind's new Project Genie AI tool is something a little different. Instead of answering chatbot prompts more (or even less) effectively than the last model, this one lets you craft an entire 3D world to explore with just a short text prompt.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/google-project-genie-ai-tool-build-virtual-worlds-for-training-fun?test_uuid=04IpBmWGZleS0I0J3epvMrC&test_variant=A
As of this morning, the AI overviews for questions like “what is the normal range for liver blood tests?” have been disabled entirely. Spokesperson Davis Thompson told The Verge that, “We invest significantly in the quality of AI Overviews, particularly for topics like health, and the vast majority provide accurate information. Our internal team of clinicians reviewed what’s been shared with us and found that in many instances, the information was not inaccurate and was also supported by high-quality websites. In cases where AI Overviews miss some context, we work to make broad improvements, and we also take action under our policies where appropriate.”
https://www.theverge.com/news/860356/google-pulls-alarming-dangerous-medical-ai-overviews