
<p><strong>The lawsuit, which alleges that a female executive at Google had been unfairly hired at a lower level—and salary—than male counterparts, is the first to be filed after the 2018 Google walkout.</strong></p>



<p>As Google trudges through a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardnieva/2023/09/11/google-antitrust-trail-25th-birthday/?sh=397cc21710e4">landmark antitrust battle</a>&nbsp;in Washington, DC, the tech giant faces another legal first in New York: On Tuesday, a pay discrimination case is going to trial for the first time in the company’s history.</p>



<p>The trial is centered around a Google executive named Ulku Rowe, a director of engineering in the company’s cloud unit. Rowe alleges that she was hired at Google at a lower “level” than several men in her role with similar backgrounds and experience and denied promotions because of her complaints, which she claims cost her millions of dollars in “past and future lost wages and benefits.”</p>



<p>The case was the first pay discrimination suit to be filed against the company after the Google walkout in 2018, a high-profile protest in which 20,000 workers marched out of Google offices around the world to demonstrate against the company’s handling of sexual misconduct allegations and other labor issues, including pay inequity. One of the demands from walkout organizers was an end to forced arbitration, which required employees to settle disputes outside of court. After the walkout, Google ditched that rule, first for cases of sexual harassment and assault before expanding it to all employee disputes. With the new policy in place, Rowe, who participated in the walkout, filed her suit in September 2019.</p>



<p>“This case is really the embodiment of what that walkout was about in terms of pressing the issues demanding accountability,” said Cara Greene, an attorney at the firm Outten and Golden, which is representing Rowe.</p>



<p>In the complaint, Rowe claims she was unfairly hired at a level 8, while others in her org came in at level 9, leading to a significant pay gap and slower career trajectory.</p>



<p>“The pay disparity between Plaintiff and her male comparators is not based on a seniority system, a merit system, or a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production,” the lawsuit reads. The trial, which is set to last two weeks (barring a surprise settlement), is expected to include testimony from Google Cloud CTO Will Grannis, as well as the division’s former president, Tariq Shaukat.</p>



<p>Google told&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;it “thoroughly investigated” Rowe’s complaint at the time and found no wrongdoing. “We compensate Googlers based on what they do, not who they are—our leveling and compensation processes are designed to be equitable,” Google spokesperson Courtenay Mencini said in a statement, pointing to a&nbsp;<a href="https://services.google.com/fh/files/blogs/pay_equity_info_sheet.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">pay equity analysis</a>&nbsp;the company conducts annually to decide salaries, bonuses and equity—though the analysis is only available internally to employees. “If through our pay equity analysis we find any differences in proposed pay, across all demographics, we make upward adjustments before new compensation goes into effect.”</p>



<p>Greene, Rowe’s attorney, argues that misleveling eludes a traditional pay equity analysis because people are only compared at the same level. Without comparing people across levels, pay inequity “flies under the radar,” she said.</p>



<p>While this is the first time a pay equity case is going to trial for Google, the company has faced numerous complaints in the past. Last year, the company paid $118 million to settle Ellis v. Google, a 2017 class action suit involving more than 15,000 women who worked at the company since 2013 and alleged pay discrimination. Years earlier, in 2015, a former Google engineer named Erica Joy Baker circulated a spreadsheet in which employees at the tech giant disclosed their salaries, in an effort to highlight wage disparities at the company.</p>



<p>The problems still persist across the industry, said Y-Vonne Hutchinson, CEO of ReadySet, a consultancy that works with companies to improve equity and diversity issues. (Google is a former client.) “2023 has been a hard year for pay equity, particularly in tech,” she said, thanks to mass tech layoffs disproportionately affecting women and people of color. But, she pointed out, the positive thing about a pay discrimination suit going to trial—a rarity in the tech world, as cases are oftentimes settled before reaching court—is it allows for these sorts of discussions to happen in public. “There’s a real opportunity here to increase transparency,” she said.</p>



<p>Meanwhile, Google is already embroiled in one of the most important legal battles the tech industry has seen in more than two decades. The U.S. Department of Justice, along with a handful of states, has accused the tech juggernaut of using its market dominance to entrench its search business and harm competitors. While the matters at hand are different, both trials illustrate Google’s massive power and influence, Greene said. “Google, whether it&#8217;s deemed a monopoly or not, certainly sets the standard for the industry,” she said. “In terms of pay, hiring, recruiting, the general terms and conditions for people who work in tech, Google drives a lot of that.”</p>



<p>Protest has been ingrained in Google’s culture for years. In 2018, workers pushed back against the company’s decision to take part in Project Maven, a Defense Department initiative aimed at developing better artificial intelligence for the U.S. military. After that, reports surfaced about a secret project called &#8220;Dragonfly,&#8221; an effort to build a censored search engine in China. A handful of workers quit and about 1,000 employees signed an open letter asking CEO Sundar Pichai to be more transparent about the project. The walkout, though, was the resounding crescendo, and paved the way for protest at other companies.</p>



<p>“A lot of seeds were planted,” Hutchinson said of those earlier activism efforts in tech more broadly. “This movement builds upon itself and opens up new avenues.”</p>


FRANCE-ECONOMY-TECHNOLOGY-VIVATECH

Google Is Going To Court For The First Time Over Alleged Pay Discrimination


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that Microsoft can’t compete with Google and that the search engine’s market share is so large the internet has basically become the “Google web” Monday during more than three-and-a-half hours of testimony in Google’s antitrust trial, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/technology/microsoft-ceo-testifies-google-search.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">multiple</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/02/microsoft-ceo-google-antitrust-trial/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">news</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/microsoft-ceo-testifies-about-limits-of-ai-at-google-antitrust-trial-32d032a9?mod=hp_lead_pos5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">organizations</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Nadella reportedly testified that Microsoft and Bing, its search engine, was unable to compete with Google because of deals Google has made with partners like Apple and Samsung to make Google the default search engine on their devices and browsers.</p>



<p>Nadella described Google’s deal with Apple in particular as “oligopolistic,” and said the deals in sum amount to a “vicious cycle” for Microsoft, according to reports.</p>



<p>He also said that at one point Microsoft was willing to pay “north of 10 plus billion a year” to convince companies to make Bing the default over Google, but companies wouldn’t give in (equity firm Sanford Bernstein estimated Google is paying Apple $18 billion to $19 billion this year to make Google the default on iPhones and other Apple products, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/02/microsoft-ceo-google-antitrust-trial/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Washington Post</em></a>).</p>



<p>Google’s lawyers continually argued that Microsoft’s lack of ability to compete was because it had an inferior product, not because of the default agreements.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>“The entire notion that users have choice, and they go from one website to another website … is completely bogus,” Nadella testified Monday. “Defaults is the only thing that matters in changing search behavior.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h2>



<p>“Google” is the most searched for word on Bing, John Schmidtlein, Google’s lead litigator, pointed out as he cross-examined Nadella.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>When this trial began earlier this month, it became the biggest antitrust trial in more than two decades. The trial revolves around these agreements Google’s made with Apple, Samsung and other partners. The Department of Justice, which brought the case, argues that they constitute illegal means of creating and maintaining a monopoly. Google has continually argued that it is the default search engine on so many products, as well as most users’ preferred search engine, because it is simply a superior product.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/technology/microsoft-ceo-testifies-google-search.html?smtyp=cur&amp;smid=tw-nytimes" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft C.E.O. Testifies That Google’s Power in Search Is Ubiquitous</a>&nbsp;(New York Times)</p>



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<p>By signing up, you accept and agree to our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/terms-and-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Terms of Service</a>&nbsp;(including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Privacy Statement</a>.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/10/02/microsoft-ceo-google-antitrust-trial/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft CEO says Google’s deals with Apple led to its dominance</a>&nbsp;(Washington Post)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/microsoft-ceo-testifies-about-limits-of-ai-at-google-antitrust-trial-32d032a9?mod=hp_lead_pos5" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Microsoft CEO Says Google’s Agreements With Apple Unfairly Harmed Bing</a> (Wall Street Journal)</p>


Google Chrome Requests A New Emergency Security Update

The Internet Is Really Just The “Google Web,” Microsoft CEO Says During Google’s Antitrust Trial


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Google plans to require verified election advertisers to make “clear and conspicuous” disclosures when their advertisements contain AI-generated content, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://support.google.com/adspolicy/answer/13755910?hl=en&amp;ref_topic=29265" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog post</a>&nbsp;from the tech giant, which will institute the changes as artificial intelligence becomes more commonplace in the leadup to the 2024 presidential election.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>The update to Google’s political content policy will arrive in mid-November and will require disclosures to be placed in clear locations on images and videos.</p>



<p>Audio content is included in the disclosure requirements, though AI generated content “inconsequential to the claims made in the ad,” such as color corrections, image resizing and cropping, are exempt.</p>



<p>Videos uploaded to YouTube that aren’t paid advertising are also exempt, even if the content is uploaded by political campaigns.</p>



<p>Election advertisers who want to run election ads through Google are already required to go through a&nbsp;<a href="https://support.google.com/adspolicy/troubleshooter/9973345" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">verification process</a>&nbsp;requiring basic information from applicants.</p>



<p>A mix of human and tech tools will be used to enforce the disclosure requirements.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Google is one of several tech companies that has faced scrutiny over its handling of misinformation. YouTube, which was acquired by Google in 2006, faced backlash after announcing this year it would&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/youtube-will-stop-removing-false-claims-2020-election-fraud-rcna87503" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">stop taking down content</a>&nbsp;containing false claims about the 2020 presidential election—when former President Donald Trump baselessly claimed voter fraud was rampant in an election he still considers rigged. YouTube said in a blog post it made the decision to protect its “community” and provide “a home for open discussion and debate.” The company was also criticized in 2020 for slowly removing or labeling videos with election misinformation.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>X, formerly known as Twitter, does not have specific guidelines for AI-generated ad content. Meta, the owner of Instagram and Facebook, does not have similar policies either, though it does have a ban against “<a href="https://about.fb.com/news/2020/01/enforcing-against-manipulated-media/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">manipulated media</a>” such as deepfakes—videos that typically use digital alterations to copy someone&#8217;s likeness and convey false information.</p>



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<p>By signing up, you accept and agree to our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/terms-and-conditions" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Terms of Service</a>&nbsp;(including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions), and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/privacy" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Privacy Statement</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/youtube-will-stop-removing-false-claims-2020-election-fraud-rcna87503" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">YouTube will stop removing false claims about 2020 election fraud</a>&nbsp;(NBC News)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/09/06/google-ai-election-ads-disclosure" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google to require disclosure for AI in election ads</a> (Axios)</p>


In this photo illustration, a woman holds a smartphone with

Google Will Require Advertisers To Add Disclosures For AI-Generated Election Ads


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Google and Universal Music Group are discussing whether to license artists’ melodies and vocals for AI-generated music, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6f022306-2f83-4da7-8066-51386e8fe63b?list=intlhomepage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a> to the <em>Financial Times</em>, following a recent trend of music produced by artificial intelligence that has faced backlash—and support—from music labels and artists.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Universal Music—which represents artists like Drake, Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift—and Google are working to develop a tool for users to create AI-generated music using an artist’s voice, lyrics or sounds, the&nbsp;<em>Financial Times</em>&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6f022306-2f83-4da7-8066-51386e8fe63b?list=intlhomepage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reported</a>.</p>



<p>A deal would pay copyright holders for the right to create the music, while artists would have the choice to opt in.</p>



<p>Warner Music Group is also discussing a similar product with Google, according to the&nbsp;<em>Times</em>.</p>



<p>Neither Google nor Universal Music immediately responded to requests for comment from&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h2>



<p>Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl&nbsp;<a href="https://investors.wmg.com/events/event-details/q3-2023-warner-music-group-earnings-conference-call" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;during the company’s earnings call Tuesday that “with the right framework in place” artificial intelligence would be able to “enable fans to pay their heroes the ultimate compliment through a new level of user-driven content.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chief-critic">CHIEF CRITIC</h2>



<p>Drake voiced his opposition to AI-produced music earlier this year after he was featured in several deepfakes,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/drake-reacts-ice-spice-munch-ai-1235303454/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">suggesting</a>&nbsp;after one song was released: “This is the last straw.” Sting said there was “going to be a battle” between “human capital” and AI, which he said “doesn’t impress me at all,”&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65627089" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according</a>&nbsp;to the BBC.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-contra">CONTRA</h2>



<p>Several artists have supported the development of AI-generated music, including Grimes, who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/grimes-drake-the-weeknd-ai-music-1234726521/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;anyone could create songs using her voice “without penalty” as long as she receives a 50% split on royalties. Paul McCartney&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2023/06/13/ai-you-need-is-love-artificial-intelligence-helps-create-final-beatles-song-paul-mccartney-says/?sh=4c263c571275">announced</a>&nbsp;in June a new Beatles song would be released later this year, after McCartney said AI was used to “extricate” John Lennon’s voice from an old demo tape to create “the final Beatles record.”</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Regulations and restrictions for music generated by artificial intelligence have increased in recent months. Universal Music sent a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/aec1679b-5a34-4dad-9fc9-f4d8cdd124b9" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">letter</a>&nbsp;to streaming services in April requesting they prevent AI programs from accessing its platforms to train on copyrighted lyrics and melodies. Universal Music general counsel Jeffrey Harleston&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoCJun7gkbA&amp;ab_channel=CNBCTelevision" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;during a Senate hearing last month that “an artist’s voice is often the most valuable part of their livelihood and public persona.” The U.S. Copyright Office noted it will only offer copyright to works “created by a human being” and not “register works produced by a machine.” Google&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.google/technology/ai/musiclm-google-ai-test-kitchen/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">released</a>&nbsp;an experimental AI tool for created music in May, which develops a song based on a text prompt. Meta&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/irenebenedicto/2023/08/02/meta-launches-tool-to-create-music-using-ai-heres-what-to-know/?sh=41419a9e444d">released</a>&nbsp;its own AI tool for creating music earlier this month, which is trained on 20,000 hours of licensed music owned by Meta.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6f022306-2f83-4da7-8066-51386e8fe63b?list=intlhomepage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google And Universal Music Negotiate Deal Over AI ‘Deepfakes’</a>&nbsp;(<em>Financial Times</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/irenebenedicto/2023/08/02/meta-launches-tool-to-create-music-using-ai-heres-what-to-know/?sh=41419a9e444d">Meta Launches Tool To Create Music Using AI—Here’s What To Know</a>&nbsp;(<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariannajohnson/2023/05/03/ai-generated-music-is-here-sung-by-stars-like-drake-and-ariana-grande-but-it-may-be-very-illegal/?sh=612b5343aa32">AI-Generated Music Is Here—‘Sung’ By Stars Like Drake And Ariana Grande—But It May Be Very Illegal</a> (<em>Forbes</em>)</p>


Headphones, Amplifying Equipment, Studio Audio Mixer Knobs And Faders. Sound Engineering Equipment. Selective Focus. The photo is covered with sand and noise. Wireless and electronic technologies. Equipment in a nightclub, on television, radio studio.

Google And Universal Music Group Negotiating AI-Generated Music Tool, Report Says


<p>Alphabet subsidiary Google has announced it’s buying prominent cybersecurity firm Mandiant in an all-cash transaction that values the business at $5.4 billion. The deal, which is slated to close later this year, sees Google snap up a coveted prize at a time when Russia’s war in Ukraine is fueling widespread concern about rising cyberthreats.</p>



<p>Google’s bid for Mandiant comes a few weeks after rumors that Microsoft, a major rival in security and cloud computing, had been eyeing the business to further strengthen its own security offerings. At $23 a share, Google’s offer represents a 57% premium to Mandiant’s share price when news of Microsoft’s purported interest began spreading in February.</p>



<p>Mandiant will bolster Google Cloud’s security offerings as it seeks to compete more aggressively with Microsoft, AWS and other cloud giants. In a statement announcing the transaction, Thomas Kurian, the CEO of Google Cloud, called the Mandiant brand “synonymous with unmatched insights for organizations seeking to keep themselves secure in a constantly changing environment.”</p>



<p>That environment could start changing faster than ever because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has triggered fears that cyberattacks within Ukraine could spillover into other countries. CIOs and chief information security officers (CISOs) at companies are looking to their ecosystem of security providers to alert them to—and help defend them against—escalating digital threats.</p>



<p>Mandiant, which was spun out of cybersecurity company FireEye in 2013 and sold to private-equity investors for $1.2 billion, has built up a reputation for smart analysis of hackers’ activities, including those of groups from Russia and China. It has also played a prominent role in unmasking several high-profile cyberattacks,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/martingiles/2020/12/17/solarwinds-hackers-five-cybersecurity-challenges-for-cios/?sh=478b6a6c21b6">including one on SolarWinds</a>&nbsp;in 2020.</p>



<p>The business, which is led by CEO Kevin Mandia, a highly respected security leader, has 600 consultants who help businesses deal with many thousands of crises a year. It also has more than 300 analysts who track hackers’ activities and flag emerging risks. Mandiant has developed a software-as-a-service platform that will integrate with Google Cloud’s online offerings and which helped the security company grow revenue last year by 21%, to $483 million.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-intelligence-sharing">Intelligence sharing</h3>



<p>Technology leaders say intelligence from all kinds of third-party suppliers is more important than ever given the heightened uncertainty triggered by the conflict in Ukraine. “Step number one is to be really plugged into your information network, says Brad Arkin, the chief security and trust officer of tech giant Cisco, which boasts one of the largest cyber threat intelligence teams in the world in the form of its Cisco Talos Intelligence Group.</p>



<p>While hackers may have&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-07/hackers-targeted-u-s-lng-producers-in-run-up-to-war-in-ukraine" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">targeted computer systems at liquid natural gas providers</a>&nbsp;just before the invasion of Ukraine began, tech leaders say they generally haven’t seen any increase in specific threats. Still, they’re on the lookout for things such as distributed denial-of-service attacks, which flood websites with traffic to knock them offline, and wiper malware, which erases the hard drives of computers it infects. Both these and other tactics&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/02/23/another-round-of-malware-attacks-hits-ukraine-as-russia-crisis-intensifies/?sh=2e3c2afc585b">have already been used against Ukranian targets</a>.</p>



<p>Lou Steinberg, a former CTO of TD Ameritrade who is the founder and managing partner of cybersecurity firm CTM Insights, thinks the risk of cyber activity spreading beyond Ukraine and Russia will partly depend on how far economic sanctions go in terms of damaging the Russian economy. The harder these measures bite, the more Russia could be tempted to loosen the restraints on cyber hacking groups in the country. Steinberg recommends CIOs and chief information security officers keep a close eye on the Baltic states, which are likely to be the first to experience any spillover cyber events.</p>



<p>Like other security professionals&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>&nbsp;spoke with, Dawn Cappelli, who recently retired as the chief information security officer of Rockwell Automation, stressed that getting security basics right, such as bolstering defenses against phishing attacks that try to trick employees into handing over login credentials, is now more important than ever. Hackers, she says, could try to exploit feelings running high over the invasion to fool employees into clicking on phishing links.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-chain-reaction">Chain reaction</h3>



<p>Cappelli also recommends that companies step up scrutiny of their software supply chains, including code that controls key machinery and safety systems in factories and other critical infrastructure, such as power grids. Mandiant’s CTO, Charles Carmakal, who&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>interviewed before news of Google’s bid emerged, says that where possible companies should try to separate the networks that run software controlling key industrial processes from those handling general IT needs in order to stop cyber attackers from using corporate networks to access more sensitive systems.</p>



<p>Cisco’s Arkin recommends businesses step up scrutiny of their network environments more generally in order to detect any intrusions. “Now is not the time to look past things that are a little bit off,” he says. The key is to be able to tackle any intrusions before they can cause chaos. “I’m really, really focused upstream. How do I prevent those early steps of the attack chain.”</p>



<p>Events in Ukraine mean that experts at businesses such as Mandiant and Cisco Talos are going to be especially busy this year. Chief executives and boards are also likely to be questioning CIOs and CISOs about the state of their preparations for scenarios in which cyberattacks spread. But one security expert cautions that placing too much pressure on tech and security teams now could ultimately backfire.</p>



<p>Johannes Ullrich of the SANS Institute, which specializes in cybersecurity training and research, says there’s a real risk of companies overloading cyber defenders with preparations for threats that may or may not become reality when they’re only just recovering from dealing with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/12/14/amazon-cisco-microsoft-just-3-of-many-vulnerable-to-log4j-hacks/?sh=21f7603b40eb">the Log4j security crisis</a>&nbsp;in open source software at the end of last year. Warns Ullrich: “Exhausting your people with busywork [now] will hurt you later more than it helps.”</p>



<p><em><strong>By&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/martingiles/"></a>Martin Giles, Forbes Staff</strong></em></p>


Google’s $5.4 Billion Acquisition Of Cybersecurity Firm Mandiant Comes As Tech Leaders Brace For Escalating Digital Threats


<p><strong>The future of the world is linked to the future of Africa and this tech giant is investing in it to enable startup successes.</strong></p>



<p><em><strong>BY PAULA SLIER AND SASHA STAR</strong></em></p>



<p>GOOGLE ANNOUNCED IN EARLY OCTOBER THAT it would be investing $1 billion into Africa over the next five years. This is to focus on improving connectivity and enabling startups to flourish. The move is hardly the first but a reaffirmation of its commitment in Africa which it has been a part of for 14 years.</p>



<p>“If you look at sub-Saharan Africa, it’s home to 1.1 billion people, most of them very, very young. But only about 300 million people use the Internet on a regular basis,” reveals Google’s sub-Saharan Africa Managing Director, Nitin Gajria. “So there’s about 800 million people that have never experienced its power. Our goal with this billion-dollar investment is really to play some role in hopefully building a vibrant Internet ecosystem on the continent.”</p>



<p>In Gajria’s view, a key aspect of the ecosystem is emerging startups and the impact they can make. “I believe that no-one is better placed to solve some of Africa’s most profound challenges than young startup founders, young developers and the startup community in general.”</p>



<p>One of the startups that Google has taken under its digital wing is Food For Mzansi. The initiative, which recently turned three, focuses on South Africa’s agriculture sector, offering a platform for farmers to “grow” their communities by sharing their stories, news, opinions, career opportunities, and even recipes.</p>



<p>“We wanted to create a citizen journalist network — to upskill people and train them in basically everything from media ethics, to how to get stories and tell stories,” explains co-founder Kobus Louwrens.</p>



<p>The tech company facilitated the Sinelizwi remote training program that equipped 62 journalists with the skills and mentorship required to find sources and develop stories.</p>



<p>Although it began as an in-person workshop in the rural Eastern Cape province, like many projects, it was forced online by the Covid-19 pandemic and was thereafter conducted over WhatsApp.</p>



<p>“We are still fairly young in terms of our state of development and Google coming aboard with support and funding definitely fast-tracked that for us,” Louwrens shares.</p>



<p>“There was a vast information exchange and our team received a lot of experience in regards to structuring a much more sustainable project than I think would have been possible without the input from those experts.”</p>



<p>Gidi Mobile is another startup that Google has identified as improving the lives of those on the continent. The Nigerian startup enables low-income students to access online learning through its app, allowing them to attend classes on a variety of subjects and test their understanding through game-like modules.</p>



<p>“In the West, education has traditionally been the thing that has helped people grow and lift them up. The problem we have in the developing world is that the people who have the greatest need to be lifted up are precisely the people who cannot afford quality education,” states founder Tunji Adegbesan who has been teaching teenagers since he was one himself.</p>



<p>Gidi now has access to expertise and has helped to create STEM content that relies on gaming technology, rather than conventional learning. By participating in tournaments and quests, users find themselves engaging with the subject matter and actually having fun doing so.</p>



<p>While a wealth of exciting ideas are springing forth from Africa’s depths, real challenges still stand in the way of ensuring that all citizens can benefit from them.</p>



<p>“There remain challenges with connectivity — whether it’s the cost of a smartphone, network coverage, data speeds, data costs — these are all real, tangible, meaningful challenges that the lay person on the street faces,” Gajria admits.</p>



<p>Google is laying the Equiano subsea cable along the west coast of Africa.</p>



<p>As Gajria states, “Anyone who is looking at Africa has to realize the potential and opportunity that exists. I can’t help but believe that the future of the world is inextricably linked to the future of the continent.”</p>


Screenshot 2021-12-21 at 09.10.45

How A Billion For A Billion Is Going To Enable Startups in Africa To Flourish


<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-topline">TOPLINE</h2>



<p>Google amended its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2021/11/18/bidens-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-is-on-hold-but-here-are-companies-requiring-shots-anyway/?sh=2c4e7a767198">Covid-19 vaccine mandate</a>&nbsp;to include all remote employees who work with the federal government “directly or indirectly,” a policy driven by federal rules, sparking backlash from some company staff, according to internal emails reviewed by&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/23/google-employees-sign-manifesto-against-widened-vaccine-mandate.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CNBC</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<p>Google is requiring its employees to report their Covid-19 vaccination status by December 3, and will require staff who work with government contracts to get vaccinated even if they work remotely, the company told its employees in a memo last month obtained by CNBC.</p>



<p>Google&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/28/business/google-return-to-office-masks.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">first said</a>&nbsp;in July that all employees returning to a physical office must be vaccinated, but CNBC’s Tuesday report is the first indication that any remote employees would be included in the mandate.</p>



<p>In response to the updated vaccination guidelines, CNBC&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/23/google-employees-sign-manifesto-against-widened-vaccine-mandate.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reports</a>&nbsp;at least 600 Google employees — representing 0.4% of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.sec.gov/ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0001652044/000165204421000020/goog-20210331.htm" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">roughly 140,000</a>&nbsp;people working at Google — signed a memo opposing the current vaccine mandate.</p>



<p>Google did not immediately respond to&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>’ request for comment.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h2>



<p>Google’s workforce has remained mostly remote since the beginning of the pandemic, though many employees will be&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/31/22650639/google-mandatory-return-january-2022-remote-work" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">expected</a>&nbsp;to return to the office beginning in January.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



<p>Google’s new policies are largely in response to a pair of federal vaccine mandates. President Joe Biden is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/teakvetenadze/2021/11/04/most-us-workers-face-vaccine-mandate-with-new-jan-4-deadline-for-large-businesses/">requiring</a>&nbsp;all federal contractors —&nbsp;<a href="https://www.saferfederalworkforce.gov/faq/contractors/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">including</a>&nbsp;people who work from home — to be vaccinated by January.&nbsp;The federal government also hopes to enforce a broader&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/04/fact-sheet-biden-administration-announces-details-of-two-major-vaccination-policies/#:~:text=First%2C%20the%20Department%20of%20Labor's,at%20least%20a%20weekly%20basis." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mandate</a>&nbsp;that would compel all private businesses with 100 or more employees to require&nbsp;<a href="https://www.osha.gov/coronavirus/ets2/faqs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in-person staff</a>&nbsp;to either get vaccinated or get tested weekly by January, though a federal appeals court has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberleespeakman/2021/11/12/federal-appeals-court-reaffirms-decision-to-temporarily-halt-biden-administration-covid-19-vaccine-mandate/?sh=4742a17e1972">temporarily halted that policy</a>.&nbsp;</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h2>



<p>82.2%. That’s the proportion of American adults who are at least partially vaccinated against Covid-19, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention&nbsp;<a href="https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations_vacc-total-admin-rate-total" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data</a>.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/23/google-employees-sign-manifesto-against-widened-vaccine-mandate.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Several hundred Google employees sign manifesto against widened vaccine mandate</a>&nbsp;(<em>CNBC</em>)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/11/23/biden-asks-appeals-court-to-reinstate-employer-vaccine-or-test-mandate-heres-what-could-happen-next/?sh=1ba4766c7922">Biden Asks Appeals Court To Reinstate Employer Vaccine-Or-Test Mandate—Here’s What Could Happen Next</a>&nbsp;(<em>Forbes</em>)</p>



<p><em><strong>By Derek Saul, Forbes Staff</strong></em></p>


Google Will Reportedly Require Some Remote Workers To Take Covid Vaccine


<p>For a great many of the 16 million people who work in the $2.6 trillion U.S. tourism industry, getting an accurate assessment of travel demand is akin to finding the Holy Grail. For destination organizations and visitor bureaus at the national, state and local level, pinning down where people want to travel is the key to efficiently managing budgets and spending. Airlines gauge travel demand when deciding where to open new routes. Hotels and other tourism-related businesses use demand forecasting to right-size supply and determine how many employees to hire.</p>



<p>But predicting travel demand has become harder over the past decade, and the Covid-19 pandemic has upended traditional forecasting models that rely on recent historical data.</p>



<p>“I used to be able to close my eyes and tell you, ‘Here’s what we’re going do, and this is our audience,’” says Butch Spyridon, president of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.visitmusiccity.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nashville Convention &amp; Visitors Corporation</a>. “And I can’t do that anymore.”</p>



<p>Today, Spyridon and other U.S. tourism professionals are about to get an eyeful from Google. The technology company is launching&nbsp;<a href="https://travelinsights.withgoogle.com/intl/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Travel Insights with Google</a>, a brand new suite of free tools that leverage Google Search data to deliver insights into real-time travel demand.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F60eece71c0c0a16f7b59d7a9%2F0x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale" alt="Google travel trends tool"/><figcaption>Destination Insights lets travel marketers glean quick &#8220;focusing facts&#8221; that highlight major trends.&nbsp;<small>GOOGLE</small></figcaption></figure>



<p>The first tool,&nbsp;<a href="https://destinationinsights.withgoogle.com/intl/en_ALL/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Destination Insights</a>, gives travel businesses, governments and tourism boards a clear picture of where travel demand is coming from so they can plan accordingly. A second tool,&nbsp;<a href="https://hotelinsights.withgoogle.com/intl/en/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hotel Insights</a>, has been customized to help hoteliers analyze search trends so they can attract new guests based on where interest is coming from.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“It’s really difficult to find any anchor of data to forecast the future, and so we felt it was a good time right now to share some of our search data with the industry to help travel companies understand what users are looking for. And here’s the kind of queries they’re doing, and here’s the data and information they’re interested in,” says Gianni Marostica, Managing Director of Global Business Development for Google Travel.</p>



<p>Google started piloting the Travel Insights tools last December in the Asian Pacific region, where some destinations were already bouncing back early from Covid-19 and looking for directional data to guide where they should spend marketing dollars.</p>



<p>“The launch is very timely for Vietnam as we are looking at reviving tourism and restructuring destination markets post Covid-19,” says Ha Van Sieu, deputy chairman of&nbsp;<a href="https://vietnamtourism.gov.vn/english/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vietnam’s tourism organization</a>. “The tool is extremely useful for us to understand domestic, inbound and outbound travel demand based on real-time digital data, and to develop marketing strategies.”</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://thumbor.forbes.com/thumbor/960x0/https%3A%2F%2Fspecials-images.forbesimg.com%2Fimageserve%2F60eec53a5c09d5e76d59d7a9%2F0x0.jpg%3Ffit%3Dscale" alt="travel trend data Google"/><figcaption>Which destinations are growing in popularity? Destination Insights pulls data from Google Search.&nbsp;<small>GOOGLE</small></figcaption></figure>



<p>During the initial six-month pilot in Asia, Google received valuable feedback from the governments and travel organizations that test-drove the new tool. “They provided some great insights as to some additional data or different cuts of data that we should have in the tool,” says Marostica. “And hopefully now, moving forward, as we roll this out in the U.S., we’ll get even more insights and maybe do different cuts of data based on what U.S.-based users would like to see.”</p>



<p>As chairman of the board for&nbsp;<a href="https://destinationsinternational.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Destinations International</a>, a trade group representing over 650 destination organizations, convention and visitors bureaus and tourism boards worldwide,&nbsp;Spyridon helped forge a partnership with Google.&nbsp;Now he can’t wait to use Travel Insights to glean insights into where travel demand is strongest for Nashville.</p>



<p>The Music City’s $10 billion tourism industry has traditionally relied on a heavy leisure drive market, says Spyridon, but in recent years it&#8217;s become almost impossible to get a handle on where demand is most concentrated. “The whole country has become our market in the last 10 years. Now it&#8217;s 50-50 fly-drive and just as strong West Coast and Northeast as it is Atlanta,” he says. “That&#8217;s good news for us. But it&#8217;s also hard to retarget that audience.”</p>



<p>Spyridon says his biggest obstacle has been a lack of good intel. “By the time we look at, the data is weeks, months and in some cases, a year old,” says Spyridon. “Putting our arms around current real-time data, we have never had that opportunity.”</p>



<p>The destination tool offers quick insights such as “fastest growing destination globally,” “country with the most inbound interest” and “top city in demand.” Marketers can dive deeper into each data set, and toggle the date range to see how that changes results.</p>



<p>Spyridon sees today’s launch is a game changer for travel marketers. “Google is the best in the business for gathering this data,” he says. “This is the best, most accurate and most real-time data that we will have access to. It will allow us to understand the search trends and meet the demand more effectively and be more current.”</p>



<p>“Responsibly reinvigorating the tourism sector will take ingenuity and effort across the industry,” writes Marostica on <a href="https://www.blog.google/products/ads-commerce/tools-partnerships-help-travel-recover-thrive/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google’s blog</a>. “As we make progress toward recovery, we’ll continue to seek to find new ways to support the global travel and tourism sector by sharing data and insights that can help the industry rebound.”</p>



<p><em><strong>By Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, Forbes Staff</strong></em></p>


Man walking with suitcase at airport terminal

Google Just Unlocked The Mysteries Of Travel Demand—And The Tourism Industry Can’t Wait To Have At It


<p><strong>TOPLINE</strong>: Google was hit with a $593 million (€500 Million) fine by antitrust regulators in France on Monday after the company failed to offer a fair deal to local publishers for hosting their news content on its platform, adding to the list of several large fines the U.S. tech giant has copped in Europe in the past few years.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h3>



<p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/fr/communiques-de-presse/remuneration-des-droits-voisins-lautorite-sanctionne-google-hauteur-de-500" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ruling</a>&nbsp;comes after Google failed to comply with an April 2020 decision by the French regulators to negotiate a deal “in good faith” with publishers to carry snippets of their content on its Google News platform.</p>



<p>As part of the ruling, the French Competition Authority has ordered Google to come up with a remuneration offer for its use of the news snippets within two months.</p>



<p>If the tech giant fails to meet the deadline, it will face penalty payments of up to $1 million (€900,000) per day of delay.</p>



<p>In a statement shared with&nbsp;<em>Forbes</em>, Google said it was “very disappointed” with the ruling and it believes it had “acted in good faith throughout the entire process.”</p>



<p>The company added that it is about to reach a global licensing agreement with the French news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP), but did not provide a timeline.</p>



<p>Google will be able to appeal Tuesday’s fine, but it is unclear if it will choose to do so.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h3>



<p>“The sanction of 500 million euros takes into account the exceptional seriousness of the breaches observed and how Google’s behavior has led to further delay of the proper application of the law…which aimed to better take into account the value of content from publishers and news agencies included on the platforms,” Isabelle de Silva, president of the French Competition Authority said in an official&nbsp;<a href="https://www.autoritedelaconcurrence.fr/fr/communiques-de-presse/remuneration-des-droits-voisins-lautorite-sanctionne-google-hauteur-de-500" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h3>



<p>Tuesday’s fine is the second-biggest antitrust penalty a single company has faced in France. Last year, the competition regulator hit Apple with a $1.2 billion&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/16/apple-fined-1point2-billion-by-french-competition-authorities.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fine</a>&nbsp;after the company was found to have signed anti-competitive agreements with two distributors over the sale of non-iPhone products such as Apple Mac computers. Apple has appealed the ruling.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h3>



<p>Publishers in Europe have clashed with Google multiple times in the past year, accusing the tech giant of luring away billions of euros in advertising money from the publishers while leveraging their content. Particularly contentious has been the company’s Google News platform which hosts snippets of news stories from publishers without paying them. On the flipside, publishers are unable to yank their content from Google’s platform as they rely on it heavily to drive traffic to their sites. Earlier this year, Google managed to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-google-france-copyright-exclusive/exclusive-googles-76-million-deal-with-french-publishers-leaves-many-outlets-infuriated-idUSKBN2AC27N" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reach a $76 million deal</a>&nbsp;to pay a group of 121 French Newspapers. But the AFP and other French publishers who were not part of the deal expressed anger and slammed Google for being opaque. De Silva has dismissed that deal and criticized Google for limiting the scope of the negotiations, excluding agency content like photos, and offering to pay the same amount for news content that it does for dictionary listings or weather information.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-13/google-said-to-be-fined-593-million-by-french-antitrust-agency?utm_medium=social&amp;cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-markets&amp;utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&amp;utm_content=markets&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;sref=CSMHWBLp" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google Fined $593 Million By French Antitrust Agency</a> (Bloomberg)</p>



<p><strong><em>By Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


Google Hit With $593 Million Fine In France For Failing To Ink Deal With News Publishers


<p><strong>TOPLINE </strong>Amazon and Google are facing a formal investigation in the U.K. over concerns they are not doing enough to protect users from fake reviews, the competition watchdog announced Friday, adding to increasing regulatory efforts around the world to compel tech companies to take more responsibility for problematic content on their platforms.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h4>



<p>The Competition and Markets Authority said it had opened an investigation to determine whether Google and Amazon had broken consumer law by failing to take sufficient steps to “protect shoppers from fake reviews.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>The probe follows a broader investigation into fake reviews last year that “raised specific concerns” the two companies were not doing enough to detect and remove fake or misleading reviews or to identify “suspicious patterns of behavior” among reviewers.</p>



<p>The CMA said it was also concerned that neither platform had done enough to discourage businesses or reviewers from posting bogus reviews and Amazon in particular had failed to prevent sellers from manipulating its product listings.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“Fake and misleading reviews have the potential to impact on businesses’ star ratings and how prominently companies and products are displayed to consumers, changing their whole shopping experience,” the watchdog said.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The companies face enforcement action should the investigation find they have broken the law, the CMA said, which could include formal commitments to deal with the issue or, should they fail to do so, court action.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Amazon and Google did not respond immediately to&nbsp;<em>Forbes’</em>&nbsp;request for comment.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h4>



<p>Andrea Coscelli, the CMA’s chief executive, said the watchdog’s worry is “that millions of online shoppers could be misled by reading fake reviews and then spending their money based on those recommendations.” In addition, “it’s simply not fair if some businesses can fake 5-star reviews to give their products or services the most prominence, while law-abiding businesses lose out,” Coscelli added.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h4>



<p>Online reviews are a powerful driver of consumer decisions, whether that be for what to buy, where to go or what to eat. Many people rely on them as a metric to determine quality and authenticity and reviews will shape what is shown to consumers. A 2015 study by the CMA&nbsp;<a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/436238/Online_reviews_and_endorsements.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">estimated</a>&nbsp;them to drive around £23 billion (around $32 billion) in spending a year in the U.K. alone. To seize upon this, an entire&nbsp;<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56069472" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">industry</a>&nbsp;has emerged trafficking in fake or misleading reviews. The CMA has previously&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/jun/21/facebook-and-ebay-told-to-take-action-over-fake-reviews-cma" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ordered</a>&nbsp;Facebook and eBay to tackle the problem after it found “troubling evidence” of a thriving marketplace for fake reviews.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h4>



<p>16,000. This is how many&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/apr/09/facebook-removes-over-16000-groups-trading-fake-reviews" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">groups</a>&nbsp;Facebook took down earlier this year after the CMA intervened for a second time after the platform failed to honor its promise to deal with fake reviews.&nbsp;</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-contra">CONTRA</h4>



<p>Amazon recently&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/jun/16/amazon-blames-social-media-for-struggle-with-fake-reviews" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blamed</a>&nbsp;social media companies for a large chunk of its fake review problem, saying they are not doing enough to remove the “bad actors” coordinating or soliciting reviews from their platforms. “While we appreciate that some social media companies have become much faster at responding, to address this problem at scale it is imperative for social media companies to invest adequately in proactive controls to detect and enforce fake reviews ahead of our reporting the issue to them,” the company said.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h4>



<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/apr/09/facebook-removes-over-16000-groups-trading-fake-reviews" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Facebook removes over 16,000 groups trading fake reviews</a>&nbsp;(Guardian)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/06/amazon-reviews-thousands-are-fake-heres-how-to-spot-them.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amazon is filled with fake reviews and it’s getting harder to spot them</a> (CNBC)</p>



<p><strong><em>By Robert Hart, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


In this photo illustrative Google, Amazon and Apple logos

Amazon And Google Face U.K. Investigation Into Fake Reviews


<p id="h-topline"><strong>TOPLINE</strong> Google parent Alphabet posted first quarter earnings Tuesday of $26.29 per share (versus Wall Street expectations of $15.82 per share) on revenues of $55.31 billion (versus expectations of $51.7 billion), boosted by surge in ad revenues.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



<ul><li>Alphabet’s reported fiscal first quarter net income of $17.93 billion, or $26.29 a share, almost tripled the net income of $6.84 billion, or $9.87 a share, in the year-ago period.</li></ul>



<ul><li>The first quarter revenues of $55.2 billion represented a 34% jump from the first quarter of 2020.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Google’s total advertising revenues soared by 32% year-over-year to $44.6 billion.</li></ul>



<ul><li>Revenues at Google’s Cloud unit amounted to $4.05 billion (a 46% surge over last year), but slightly below analyst estimates of $4.07 billion, according to financial date firm FactSet.</li></ul>



<ul><li>But ads generated by the YouTube unit totaled $6.01 billion, above expectations of $5.70 billion (according to FactSet unit StreetAccount) and a 49% surge over the prior year, </li></ul>



<ul><li>Traffic acquisition costs (which are payments made to affiliates and online companies for directing traffic to their websites) came in at $9.71 billion versus expectations of $9.25 billion, according to FactSet estimates.</li></ul>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h4>



<p>Total revenues in the first quarter “reflect elevated consumer activity online and broad-based growth in advertiser revenue. We’re very pleased with the ongoing momentum in Google Cloud, with revenues of $4 billion in the quarter reflecting strength and opportunity in both [Google Cloud Platform] and [Google Workspace computing software],” said Ruth Porat CFO of Google and Alphabet.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h4>



<p>Alphabet shares climbed about 4% in post-close trading. Google’s Cloud platform, which competes with rivals Microsoft’s Azure and Amazon’s AWS (Amazon Web Services), posted a $974 million operating loss for the quarter, but that compared to a $1.7 billion loss in the prior year. &#8220;In the FAANG [Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Alphabet] group Amazon is the only competitor against Alphabet on more than one front and whilst Amazon has a large cloud service in AWS, Google’s ad business dwarfs its rival,&#8221;<a href="https://news.yahoo.com/alphabet-google-youtube-reports-q1-earnings-results-150238095.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;Tom Johnson</a>, chief transformation officer at marketing agency WPP Mindshare, told Yahoo Finance. &#8220;As brands accelerate out of the pandemic, Alphabet’s combined offering… is likely to become even more attractive as more businesses move to direct-to-consumer or hybrid business models leveraging Alphabet’s advertising and cloud services.&#8221;</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h4>



<p>32%. That’s how much Alphabet shares have surged year-to-date, well above the S&amp;P 500&#8217;s return of 11.5%.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-surprising-fact">SURPRISING FACT</h3>



<p>While Alphabet jumped by 30.9% in pandemic-afflicted 2020, it underperformed some of its FAANG peers: Apple soared 85%, and Amazon surged about 76%.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h3>



<p>In March,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/18/google-to-spend-7-billion-in-data-centers-and-office-space-in-2021.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Google said</a>&nbsp;it would spend $7 billion to expand offices and data centers across 19 states, creating at least 10,000 full-time jobs.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h4>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/01/13/google-parent-alphabet-set-to-hit-1-trillion-in-market-value/">Google Parent Alphabet Is No Longer A $1 Trillion Company After Latest Earnings Miss</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/02/04/google-parent-alphabet-is-no-longer-a-1-trillion-company-after-latest-earnings-miss/">Google Parent Alphabet Passes $1 Trillion In Market Value</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/01/13/google-parent-alphabet-set-to-hit-1-trillion-in-market-value/">Google Cofounders Are $14 Billion Richer After Stellar Earnings Report </a>(Forbes)</p>



<p><strong><em>By Palash Ghosh, Forbes Staff</em></strong></p>


In this photo illustration the American multinational

Google’s Quarterly Results Smash Expectations


<p><strong>TOPLINE</strong> Tech CEOs Mark Zuckerberg, Sundar Pichai and Jack Dorsey will soon have to answer to lawmakers about the rise of misinformation on their platforms and how they plan to address it, as the House Energy and Commerce Committee announced Thursday a hearing with the Facebook, Google and Twitter leaders will take place on March 25.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h3>



<p>Zuckerberg, Pichai and Dorsey—who lead Facebook, Google and Twitter, respectively—will testify at a remote hearing on “misinformation and disinformation plaguing online platforms,” the House committee announced.</p>



<p>The hearing will further the committee’s work of “holding online platforms accountable” for the issues on their platforms, committee chair Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) and subcommittee chairs Reps. Mike Doyle (D-Penn.) and Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said in a statement.</p>



<p>The lawmakers singled out misinformation on election fraud and the Covid-19 pandemic and vaccine as particular matters of concern.</p>



<p>The tech leaders have previously&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/17/facebook-twitter-ceos-senate-judiciary-committee-prepared-testimony.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">testified</a>&nbsp;before lawmakers in recent months, including an October&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/28/facebook-google-and-twitter-ceos-testify-in-congress-over-section-230-live-updates.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hearing</a>&nbsp;with all three CEOs before the Senate Commerce Committee on Section 230, which shields tech companies from legal liability for the content their users post.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-crucial-quote">CRUCIAL QUOTE</h3>



<p>“For far too long, big tech has failed to acknowledge the role they’ve played in fomenting and elevating blatantly false information to its online audiences. Industry self-regulation has failed,” Pallone, Doyle and Schakowsky said in a statement. “We must begin the work of changing incentives driving social media companies to allow and even promote misinformation and disinformation.”</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-big-number">BIG NUMBER</h3>



<p>93%. That’s the percentage of Americans who say they are either very or somewhat about the spread of misinformation on the internet, according to a Gallup/Knight Foundation&nbsp;<a href="https://knightfoundation.org/articles/most-americans-would-believe-social-media-misinformation-warnings/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>&nbsp;conducted in September.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tangent">TANGENT</h3>



<p>The House Judiciary Committee also separately announced plans to investigate big tech Thursday, unveiling a series of antitrust hearings aimed at curbing tech giants’ market dominance as it develops antitrust legislation. The renewed investigation will continue the antitrust subcommittee’s ongoing work probing the tech giants and their monopolistic power, which included a July&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelsandler/2020/07/29/republicans-use-tech-antitrust-hearing-to-rail-against-anti-conservative-bias/?sh=6f7e186855aa">hearing</a>&nbsp;with Dorsey, Pichai, Apple CEO Tim Cook and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h3>



<p>Online misinformation and its spread on major social networks has come under significant scrutiny in recent months, particularly amid the Covid-19 pandemic and around the November election. Social media companies have taken significant&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/01/31/heres-how-facebook-twitter-and-tiktok-are-battling-coronavirus-misinformation/?sh=2dfca99c6651">steps</a>&nbsp;to curb the spread of false information, such as Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/10/09/twitter-new-rules-try-to-prevent-election-and-trump-related-chaos-misinformation/?sh=262d250f6840">adding safeguards</a>&nbsp;to limit sharing posts that have been flagged for misinformation and Facebook&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2021/02/18/facebook-continues-fight-against-misinformation-plans-to-debunk-climate-change-myths/?sh=7cac8aee4804">announcing</a>&nbsp;Thursday new efforts to combat misinformation around climate change. Despite their efforts, however, misinformation still continues to persist: an October study by the German Marshall Fund of the United States&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/10/12/facebook-users-interacting-with-misinformation-way-more-now-than-in-2016-study-finds/?sh=403d34415973">found</a>&nbsp;that engagement with false content producers on Facebook had gone up by 102% since 2016, for instance, while a September&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/news/releases/covid-related-misinformation-videos-spread-primarily-through-facebook-as-its-fact-checkers-fail-to-spot-false-information-finds-new-oxford-study/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>&nbsp;from the University of Oxford found Facebook’s third-party fact checkers had only caught less than one percent of Covid-19 misinformation videos on the platform.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h3>



<p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/02/18/house-antitrust-amazon-apple-facebook-google/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">House to grill Facebook, Google, Twitter CEOs as Washington seeks to crack down on disinformation, antitrust</a>&nbsp;(Washington Post)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2021/02/18/facebook-continues-fight-against-misinformation-plans-to-debunk-climate-change-myths/?sh=7cac8aee4804">Facebook Continues Fight Against Misinformation, Plans To Debunk Climate Change Myths</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/2020/01/31/heres-how-facebook-twitter-and-tiktok-are-battling-coronavirus-misinformation/?sh=2dfca99c6651">Here’s How Facebook, Twitter And TikTok Are Battling Coronavirus Misinformation</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)</p>



<p><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2020/10/12/facebook-users-interacting-with-misinformation-way-more-now-than-in-2016-study-finds/?sh=403d34415973">Facebook Users Interacting With Misinformation Way More Now Than In 2016, Study Finds</a> (Forbes)</p>



<p><em>By Alison Durkee, Forbes Staff</em></p>


US-politics-computers-internet

Facebook, Google, Twitter CEOs Set To Testify About Misinformation


<p>Google says it will begin paying news publishers in the United Kingdom to feature articles on one of its platforms, a move that comes as the Silicon Valley giant is trying to prove to global antitrust regulators that it is willing to support the media industry.</p>



<p>Under its Google News Showcase initiative, the company&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.google/products/news/google-news-showcase-launches-uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;Wednesday that it had struck agreements with 120 publishers, including The Telegraph, the Evening Standard and the Financial Times. The agreements determine that Google will pay licensing fees — which for some publishers will reportedly amount to several millions of dollars per year — to feature news clips on its Showcase, an aggregated news platform in the Google News mobile app.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“Today, we’re announcing that Google News Showcase, our new product experience and licensing program for news, will begin rolling out with local, national and independent publishers in the U.K.,” Ronan Harris, Google’s UK and Ireland managing director, wrote in a&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.google/products/news/google-news-showcase-launches-uk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog post</a>. “Alongside governments, other companies and civic society, we&#8217;re dedicated to continuing to support the sustainability of the news industry both in the U.K. and around the world.”</p>



<p>It is Google’s latest effort to prove to governments across the world that it is willing to cooperate with news publishers, many which have been forced to shutter newspapers as advertising dollars have shifted to online platforms. In October, Google&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/google-news-showcase/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;it planned to spend $1 billion globally on partnerships with publishers, and it says it has since signed such agreements with 450 publishers in a dozen countries, including France, Brazil and Argentina.&nbsp;</p>



<p>But the agreements signed under its News Showcase platform haven’t satisfied all governments. In Australia, a proposed law is likely to pass that would force Google to pay news publishers to feature articles on its search platform and news feeds, and must reach agreements with publishers, or be forced into mandatory arbitration — a protection not offered to publishers under the agreement Google has struck in the U.K.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In response, Google has threatened to withdraw its Google Search from Australia. Google has called the Australian law “unworkable” and instead pointed to its News Showcase licensing as a solution. Facebook, which will also be affected by the law, has also threatened to stop showing news content on its platform to Australian users.&nbsp;</p>



<p>“We’ve seen this around the world with Google and Facebook: the only time they’ve been moved is when they’ve been forced to,” Rod Sims, chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, told&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2021/02/01/google-facebook-big-tech-antitrust-australian-accc-rod-sims/?sh=24e5bfb33ea0"><em>Forbes</em></a>&nbsp;last week.</p>



<p>Though Australian effort has been met with fierce opposition by Google, Facebook, and even the U.S. government, it appears to have worked in France, where last month Google&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/21/google-agrees-to-pay-french-publishers-for-news.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">agreed</a>&nbsp;to some licensing agreements with publishers after a court intervened.&nbsp;</p>



<p>With the Australian law all but certain to pass, European Union lawmakers said this week they are now&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/4c40c890-afd3-40a3-9582-78a66c37a8af" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">considering adopting</a>&nbsp;parts of the Australian law into two new draft regulations that affect tech companies, the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA).&nbsp;</p>



<p>As governments consider more stringent measures against Google, the company appears to be betting that its News Showcase will secure the support of publishers — something echoed in its Wednesday blog post, which included statements from various publishers, including  Zach Leonard, CEO of The Independent: “We’re thrilled to join the platform as it rolls out.&#8221;</p>



<p><em>By David Jeans, Forbes Staff</em></p>


Senate Commerce Committee Hearing On Big Tech

Google Signs News Licensing Deals In U.K. In Latest Effort To Satisfy Publishers


<p>Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have have <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(20)30934-4/fulltext" target="_blank">found</a> a link between Google searches and Covid-19 cases that could help experts predict and respond to Covid-19 outbreaks sooner — this link was evident up to 16 days before the first cases were reported, which could give officials an edge when allocating resources to areas in need. </p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">KEY FACTS</h4>



<p>Researchers found a strong relationship between certain Google search terms, examined using Google Trends, and Covid-19 outbreaks in parts of the U.S.,</p>



<p>There was a strong relationship between some keywords — including “Lysol,” “Face mask,” “loss of smell,” and “coronavirus testing center” — and outbreaks in an area, sometimes up to 16 days before cases were first reported.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The data, which is publicly available, could be used by officials to respond more quickly to outbreaks — “any delay in information could lead to missed opportunities to improve preparedness,”&nbsp;<a href="https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/analyzing-web-searches-can-help-experts-predict-respond-to-covid-19-hot-spots/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">says</a>&nbsp;Dr. Bydon, the study’s senior author.</p>



<p>Typically, traditional methods of surveillance, which include testing and public health reporting, lag behind the actual incidence of disease, which Dr. Bydon says makes this finding a “great way of helping to understand where future hot spots will emerge.”&nbsp;</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">KEY BACKGROUND</h4>



<p>In recent years, numerous studies have identified internet surveillance, particularly through keyword search trends, as a useful tool in predicting outbreaks of infectious disease. The information is cheap, if not free, to gather and available in real time, a significant change to traditional methods that can sometimes take weeks to gather and process accurately. This makes it a useful supplement to existing public health surveillance.</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">TANGENT&nbsp;</h4>



<p>Google tried — and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wired.com/2015/10/can-learn-epic-failure-google-flu-trends/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">failed</a>&nbsp;spectacularly — to predict flu outbreaks based on search trends a little over a decade ago. It serves as an important reminder that such predictive mechanisms can, and do, fail, and should be used to supplement, and not replace, existing surveillance.&nbsp;</p>



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">FURTHER READING</h4>



<p><a href="https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(20)30934-4/fulltext" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Correlations Between COVID-19 Cases and Google Trends Data in the United States: A State-by-State Analysis</a>&nbsp;(Mayo Clinic Proceedings)</p>



<p><a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.wired.com/2015/10/can-learn-epic-failure-google-flu-trends/" target="_blank">What We Can Learn From the Epic Failure of Google Flu Trends</a> (Wired)</p>



<p><em>-by Robert Hart, Forbes Staff</em></p>


Coronavirus – Stuttgart

Google Searches Can Help Predict Covid-19 Hot Spots


<p><strong>Ruth Porat, the stalwart chief financial officer of Alphabet and Google, is no stranger to a crisis. She began her career at Morgan Stanley in 1987, a mere seven weeks before Black Monday—the largest single-day decline in trading history at the time. “At that moment, I was concerned that maybe my career was over before it even started,” she recalls.</strong></p>



<p>Far from it. Porat is one of the rare corporate executives to have transcended the upper echelons of Wall Street to the highest ranks of Silicon Valley. While the scenery may be different, many of the challenges remain the same: navigating economic downturns, government investigations and regulatory hurdles. Of course, a global pandemic is a new obstacle. “This environment is more challenging than anything I&#8217;ve seen because you&#8217;re combining a health crisis with an economic crisis,” says Porat in her first-ever interview with&nbsp;<em>Forbes&nbsp;</em>from her home in Palo Alto, California. “The path forward is less certain.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>But Porat has deftly charted a path through uncertain territory before. During her 28-year tenure at Morgan Stanley, she held roles such as vice chairman of investment banking and global head of financial institutions before ultimately rising to the rank of chief financial officer in January 2010. “I certainly started in banking when it was not easy to be a woman in banking,” she says. “I haven’t thought about those shoulder pads for a long time, the bow ties, the scarves, the scotch, the horrible efforts to fit in.” What kept her there, she says, was the opportunity to “keep learning and growing”—remarkably, in the face of great turmoil. Case in point: being called upon by the U.S. government to help with the bailouts of insurance giant AIG and mortgage-financing agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the Great Recession. “Much like the current crisis environment, one of the highlights of my career was advising the U.S. Treasury Department during the 2008 financial crisis,” she says. “I was able to use the skills I developed over a [lifelong] career for something that was so important at that moment in time for the country.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>Over a decade later, Porat has the same steely resolve when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, which has already taken a tremendous toll on the U.S. economy. Over 100,000 businesses permanently shuttered as of April, according to a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w26989.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">study</a>&nbsp;published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. At the same time, 88% of small business owners say they’ve used all of their Paycheck Protection Program loan funding, according to a recent&nbsp;<a href="https://www.axios.com/small-business-confidence-goldman-sachs-74ba6e69-ad0e-4cb5-bee3-d03445b2a30e.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey</a>&nbsp;of over 1,500 businesses conducted by Goldman Sachs. And without additional government funds, 30% say they’ll exhaust their cash reserves by the end of the year. That’s why Porat is leading Google’s latest efforts to help get America’s ravaged small businesses and economy back on track. This while managing one of the world’s largest corporate balance sheets amid the looming threat of anti-trust lawsuits that may hold the fate of the entire tech industry in the balance. It may just prove to be her greatest challenge yet.</p>



<p>While Google is a corporate behemoth, its roots are in small business. “It’s so clear that small businesses are the lifeblood of the American economy,” says Porat, rattling off the stats: They provide about two thirds of net new jobs, and 67 cents of every dollar spent at a small business stays in the local economy.</p>



<p>At the start of the pandemic, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced an <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/commitment-support-small-businesses-and-crisis-response-covid-19/" target="_blank">$800 million commitment</a> to aid small businesses and provide overall crisis relief. Of that, a $200 million Grow with Google Small Business fund was launched in March in partnership with the Opportunity Finance Network—a national association of community development financial institutions—with a mission to serve small businesses underserved by mainstream finance and a proven model for moving capital into the hardest to serve communities. The main objective? Supporting the short-term recovery and long-term financing needs of small businesses hardest hit by Covid-19. To be clear, this is not a handout. The majority of funds are earmarked as up to 10-year term loans at no greater than 3% interest. Some $340 million in Google Ads credits were also made available to all small businesses with active accounts over the past year.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"><p>“Small businesses are part of our DNA as a company&#8230;Over 21 years ago, Google itself was a small business that started in a two-car garage and our first ads customer was a mail-order lobster business in Maine.” </p><cite><em>Ruth Porat, CFO of Alphabet &amp; Google</em></cite></blockquote>



<p>“Small businesses are part of our DNA as a company,” says Porat, sharing the company’s approach to small business for the first time since the pandemic began. “We often talk internally about the fact that over 21 years ago, Google itself was a small business that started in a two-car garage and our first ads customer was a mail-order lobster business in Maine.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>In many ways, Porat sees her transition to Silicon Valley as getting back to her roots. She was raised in Palo Alto, California, where her father, a former research fellow at Harvard, moved the family to take&nbsp; a position at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. After earning her bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations at Stanford in 1979, she went on to get her master’s degree in industrial relations from the London School of Economics and an MBA from Wharton before joining Morgan Stanley. Porat was co-head of technology investment banking during the ‘90s tech boom, working alongside famed internet analyst Mary Meeker, who is godmother to her three children. “Tech was something I had done quite a bit, actually,” says Porat. That’s an understatement: She was the chief architect behind the debt financing that saved Amazon from near collapse during the dot-com crash in 2000 and then worked on Google’s IPO in 2004. “It was great to see the vision, the mission, the drive of Google at such an early stage,” she says. “Given I’ve known Google since inception, and how passionate I was about the company, when the opportunity presented itself, I said yes on the spot.”</p>



<p>While Porat has broken the glass ceiling time and again, Google has struggled with diversity within its own ranks. As racial tensions reached a boiling point this summer, Google <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://ofn.org/articles/ofn-announces-first-round-google-loans-and-googleorg-funded-grants" target="_blank">announced</a> in June an additional $45 million in loans and $5 million in Google.org grants to assist small businesses, with a focus on Black-owned businesses. The company committed to increase the diversity of its leadership 30% by 2025. “Hopefully this is the moment that changes race relations and really addresses racial inequality. There is no more time—and so we’re taking a hard look at ways we can help address systemic racism against the Black community with a real sense of urgency,” she says.</p>



<p>The company also announced the first round of the Grow with Google Small Business Fund. Five community development financial institutions (CDFIs)&nbsp; were awarded a total of $15.5 million in loans, and six received $750,000 in grants. Among those awarded were Grameen America, a non-profit founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammed Yunnus (and currently run by Andrea Jung, former chairman and CEO of Avon) that provides microloans, training and support to diverse low-income women entrepreneurs and Citizens Potawatomi Community Development Corporation, one of the largest Native-owned CDFIs in the nation. “Systemic inequities, like the racial wealth gap create significant disadvantages for minority communities, which is why we’re so focused on providing Black, Latinx and other underserved communities with more equitable access to capital through our partnership,” says Porat.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The partnership is also unique in structure compared to relief efforts of other tech firms like Facebook and Amazon. “What makes Google such a strategic first mover and different is their focus on recovery versus just short-term relief,” says Lisa Mensah, president and CEO of OFN. “It is extremely rare for a corporate Treasury to release $170 million and judge on their own that this is the kind of debt they will hold. They didn’t wait for a risk rating from S&amp;P or to have it all guaranteed by the government or another source—Google is a trailblazer.”</p>



<p>For Porat, it was a chance to help reposition businesses that were already at a significant disadvantage prior to the pandemic. “Most small businesses are started with personal assets and loans that are typically guaranteed with one’s network,” says Porat. “But if you start with the types of wealth disparities that we have in society where only 20% of small businesses are minority-owned and only 21% are women-owned, our current situation is an outgrowth of that initial disparity.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>The small business lending space is a massive market, one with around <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://qedinvestors.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/The-Brave-100-The-Battle-for-Supremacy-in-Small-Business-Lending_vf.pdf" target="_blank">$800 billion in annual originations</a> and an antiquated process involving tedious paperwork, manual inputs and very little transparency—or software, for that matter. Will Google, a company whose founders famously spoke in 2014 of the need for “<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.inc.com/laura-montini/larry-page-says-its-time-to-think-big.html" target="_blank">revolutionary change</a>,” set its sights on disrupting the small business lending space next? Porat quickly puts that idea to rest. “We’re not a financial institution and we don’t intend to become [one],” she asserts.</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"><p>“The biggest compliment I can give someone is to say they are a real difference-maker—that’s Ruth.”</p><cite>Hank Paulson, former U.S. Treasury Secretary &amp; former Goldman Sachs CEO</cite></blockquote>



<p>Throughout her decades-long career, Porat has seen great success bridging divides to find solutions. “The biggest compliment I can give someone is to say they are a real difference maker—that’s Ruth,” says Hank Paulson, former U.S. Treasury Secretary during the financial crisis and a former CEO of Goldman Sachs. In 2013, Porat landed on President Barack Obama’s shortlist for deputy treasury secretary until she withdrew her name,&nbsp;<a href="https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/ruth-porat-withdraws-name-from-deputy-treasury-race/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reportedly</a>&nbsp;over concerns of how bankers were being treated by politicians. “She&#8217;s a real U.S. patriot with a passion for public service.”&nbsp;</p>



<p>To be fair, Google’s efforts are not just altruism. They are growth engines for big business—and of course, some good publicity doesn’t hurt. The over 30 million small businesses across the U.S. drive nearly half of all of gross domestic product. Globally, small and medium-sized enterprises represent over 90% of the business population and 55% of gross domestic in developed economies, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ifac.org/knowledge-gateway/contributing-global-economy/discussion/foundation-economies-worldwide-small-business-0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">World Trade Organization</a>. And like many of their industry peers like Facebook, Google relies on small businesses for a sizable portion of their business, although they, along with their competitors, do not disclose the actual amount.</p>



<p>“I look back on some of the toughest times in my career, and I know that I’ve learned from them,” says Porat, a two-time breast cancer survivor.  “That ghastly, terrifying experience was also a gift because that proverbial question became all too real: What happens if you are given no more than five years to live?” she shared in her <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGdugTS_RR8" target="_blank">2016 Wharton commencement speech</a>. “So I set about figuring it out: What did I want to do with what could be a limited amount of time? And I realized I simply had no regrets. I hadn’t punted on my life—I hadn’t put things on hold. My lesson from that awful experience was that if you want to do something, then do it . . . life doesn’t know it’s supposed to follow a schedule.”</p>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"><p>“In the midst of tremendous disruption and market turmoil, Ruth’s judgment and experience are invaluable.”</p><cite>Stephen Schwarzman, cofounder &amp; CEO of Blackstone</cite></blockquote>



<p>That can-do anything attitude and fortitude may just be a key part of her recipe for not just surviving crises—but emerging stronger as a result of them. “In the midst of tremendous disruption and market turmoil, Ruth’s judgement and experience are invaluable,” says Stephen Schwarzman, cofounder and CEO of Blackstone. “It is rare to find people who have operated at the highest levels on Wall Street and Silicon Valley and that combination is exceptionally powerful.” In June, she joined the board of the $564 billion private-equity powerhouse, whose IPO she also worked on in 2007.</p>



<p>Porat is quick to acknowledge that the tough times she’s endured pale in comparison to much of the pain being felt in the world today. Yet, history has taught her to still believe in the promise of better days ahead.&nbsp;</p>



<p> “For those who are looking at this moment and wondering the path forward, I would say that having lived through many turbulent times before, there are recoveries,” she says. “New opportunities arise out of crises.”</p>



<p><em>by Maneet Ahuja, Forbes Staff</em></p>


Tag: Google

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