Month: January 2024

Updates usually add new features to apps, but an upcoming Google Assistant update will remove several.

These are seventeen features that are about to be removed from the service, and one in particular will have a significant impact on Google Pixel users.

In a post regarding these changes, Google explains that 17 little-used Assistant features will be eliminated soon

Starting January 26, when you use one of these features, you will receive a notification alerting you to its imminent removal.

One month later, these functions will disappear permanently.

Most actions involve controlling apps via voice commands and performing tasks on your smartwatch, smart speaker or smart display using your voice assistant.

Google admitted that these changes may cause discomfort for some users and proposed alternatives for performing the actions. Most of them are direct equivalents, but without the voice interaction.

These are the features that will be eliminated:

1. Set an alarm that uses media, music or radio.
2. Play and control audiobooks on Google Play Books with your voice assistant.
3. Manage a stopwatch on smart displays and speakers.
4. Send an email, video or audio message with your voice.
5. Reschedule an event in Google Calendar with your voice.
6. Use App Launcher in Google Assistant driving mode on Google Maps to read and send messages, make calls and control media.
7. View sleep summaries.
8. View time estimates for “Commute to Work” on smart displays.
9. View caller ID on calls made from speakers and smart displays (unless you’re using Duo).
10. Control personal travel itineraries via voice.
11. Request information about your contacts.
12. Request you to perform certain actions via voice, such as sending a payment, making a reservation, or posting on social media.
13. Access or manage cookbooks, transfer recipes from one device to another, play an instructional recipe video, or view step-by-step recipes.
14. Call a device or broadcast a message to your Google Family Group by voice.
15. Request to schedule or listen to previously scheduled Family Bell announcements.
16. Ask to meditate with Calm.
17. Control activities on Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 devices by voice.

Changes to the Google app itself are also coming that will particularly impact Pixel users.

Currently, users can tap the microphone in the search bar to activate Google Assistant and set a timer, send a message, or manage smart home tasks.

For Pixel phones, this includes the search bar on the home screen.

But soon, this will only lead to search results.

Google said users will still be able to activate Assistant by saying “Hey Google” or by holding down the home or power button

The tech giant, along with others like Amazon and Meta, cuts workforce amid slowing business forecasts over the past year

Google has laid off hundreds of employees working on its hardware, voice support and engineering teams as part of cost-cutting measures.

The plaintiffs say leaving Google with an “uncontrolled treasure trove of information” has learned what they search for online. Google agrees to settle $5 billion lawsuit that alleges it secretly tracked users. The cuts come as Google looks toward “responsibly investing in our company’s most important priorities and significant future opportunities,” the company said in a statement.

“Some teams are continuing to make these types of organizational changes, which include eliminating some roles globally,” he said.

Previously, Google said it was eliminating a few hundred roles in its engineering, hardware and virtual assistant teams, though most of the impacts hit the company’s augmented reality hardware division. The cuts follow pledges from executives at Google and its parent company, Alphabet, to cut costs. A year ago, Google announced it would lay off 12,000 employees, about 6% of its workforce.

On the day news of the cuts emerged, Google announced it would deprecate 17 “under-used” Google Assistant features, including playing audiobooks, sending emails, or starting a meditation session with Calm via voice command.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Alphabet Workers Union described the layoffs as “another round of unnecessary layoffs.”

Tonight, Google began another round of needless layoffs. Our members and teammates work hard every day to build great products for our users, and the company cannot continue to fire our coworkers while making billions every quarter. We won’t stop fighting until our jobs are safe!

— Alphabet Workers Union (AWU-CWA) (@AlphabetWorkers) January 11, 2024

“Our members and teammates work hard every day to build great products for our users, and the company cannot continue to fire our colleagues while making billions every quarter,” the union wrote. “We will not stop fighting until our jobs are safe!”

Google experienced record growth in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, but has had to adjust forecasts for its business as that expansion has slowed over the past year.

It’s not the only tech company in this situation. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has cut more than 20,000 jobs. Spotify announced in December that it was cutting 17% of its global workforce, the third round of layoffs in 2023 as it seeks to cut costs and improve its profitability.

Earlier this week, Amazon laid off hundreds of employees across its Prime Video and studio units. It will also lay off around 500 employees working on the live streaming platform Twitch. Amazon has cut thousands of jobs after a hiring frenzy during the pandemic. In March, the company announced plans to lay off 9,000 employees, in addition to the 18,000 announced in January 2023.

Currently, Google is engaged in a fierce rivalry with Microsoft, as both companies seek to lead in the artificial intelligence sector. The office software company has been beefing up its artificial intelligence offerings to compete with Google. In September, Microsoft introduced a Copilot feature that embeds artificial intelligence into products like the Bing search engine, Edge browser and Windows for its enterprise customers.

URLs (acronym for Uniform Resource Locators ) are web addresses that uniquely identify resources on the Internet.

In their simplest form, URLs are the path that guides users and search engines to specific web pages.

Optimizing URLs is essential to improve a website’s positioning on search engines and facilitate the user experience.

Table of Contents

• The elements of a URL
• How to Optimize URL Slug for SEO
• Additional URL Best Practices

The elements of a URL

Before diving into its optimization, it is crucial to understand the elements that make up a URL.

The main components include the protocol (such as “https://” or “http://”), the domain (such as “www.example.it”), the directory structure and, most importantly, the “ slug ”.

The “ slug ” is the final part of the URL that uniquely identifies a specific page or resource.

How to Optimize URL Slug for SEO

1. Start with the page title

Starting with the page title is an effective way to create an optimized URL “slug”.

Simplify the title and remove unnecessary words to make the URL cleaner.

2. Remove special characters

Eliminate characters such as backslashes, square brackets and commas that can make the URL look messy.

Opt for using letters and dashes to improve readability.

3. Avoid numbers in the URL

Avoid including numbers in the URL “slug” unless they are crucial.

Useless numbers can be confusing and require frequent updates.

4. Eliminate unnecessary information

Keep the URL “slug” concise.

Remove any non-essential information, keeping the URL focused on its meaning.

5. Include relevant keywords

Optimize the slug by including keywords relevant to the topic of the page. Choose simplified, keyword-rich versions of your title.

6. Add Keyword Modifiers (Optional)

If necessary, insert keyword modifiers to provide additional context. These are related terms that enrich the meaning of the URL “slug”.

Here are some examples of how you might use keyword modifiers in a URL to optimize SEO:

1. Best: URL: www.esempio.com/migliori-consigli-seo
2. Help: URL: www.esempio.com/guida-ottimizzazione-seo
3. Review: URL: www.esempio.com/recensione-cuffie-wireless
4. New: URL: www.esempio.com/novita-tendenze-design-2023
5. Local: URL: www.esempio.com/ristoranti-etnici-locali
6. How To: URL www.esempio.com/come-fare-torta-cioccolato
7. Price: URL: www.esempio.com/prezzi-sconti-smartphone
8. Without: URL: www.esempio.com/ricette-senza-glutine
9. Options: URL: www.esempio.com/opzioni-riutilizzo-mobili
10. Common Problems: URL: www.esempio.com/problemi-comuni-fotografia-notturna

Including these modifiers in your URLs can help make your content clearer, more specific, and more relevant to users’ search queries. However, it is crucial to balance search engine optimization with readability and relevance for users.

7. Make the URL readable (Optional)

To improve user experience, make the URL “slug” more readable. You can add conjunctions or pluralize words without compromising relevance.

8. Use lowercase letters

To avoid case sensitivity issues, use lowercase letters in the URL slug. Make sure your CMS, like WordPress, automatically converts “slugs” to lowercase.

9. Replace spaces with dashes

Spaces are not allowed in URLs. Per una migliore For better readability, replace spaces with dashes. Google recommends the use of hyphens for better recognition and readability.

Additional URL Best Practices

In addition to the URL slug, there are other key factors to optimize the entire URL and we will repeat some advice already expressed:

1. URL length: Shorter URLs are generally preferred. Avoid having excessively long URLs, as they can appear unprofessional and are less likely to be clicked on.
2. Hierarchical structure: Organize the URL into a logical hierarchical structure that reflects the structure of your site. For example, www.sito.com/categoria/sottocategoria/pagina.
3. Avoid special characters: Limit the use of special characters and symbols in the URL. Use only alphanumeric characters and hyphens (-) to separate words.
4. Keywords in the domain: If possible, include relevant keywords in your domain. For example, www.parolechiave.com/nome-pagina.
5. Using the hyphen (-) instead of the underscore (_): Search engines treat the hyphen as a space, but the underscore is not interpreted this way. So, prefer hyphen to separate words in the URL.
6. HTTPS: Use HTTPS instead of HTTP to ensure a secure connection. Google considers HTTPS as a positive signal for rankings.
7. Canonicalization: Set a canonical version of the URL to avoid content duplication issues. This is especially important if you have multiple versions of a page accessible through different URLs.
8. Readable structure: Make the URL easily readable for humans, as well as search engines. An understandable URL improves user experience.
9. Using words instead of numbers: Prefer descriptive words over numbers in URL paths. For example, www.sito.com/articoli/titolo-articolo instead of www.sito.com/articoli/123.
10. Avoid complex dynamic URLs: Limit the use of complex dynamic URLs with query strings. Try to create static URLs that are easier to index.
11. Using the robots.txt file: Configure the file correctly robots.txt to tell search engines which parts of your site should be indexed.
12. Updates and changes: Avoid making frequent changes to URLs, as this can cause indexing problems. If necessary, use 301 redirects to handle structural changes.

Optimizing URLs is a fundamental component of the SEO strategy, improving website visibility and user experience. With these best practices, you can create effective URLs that satisfy both users and search engines.

Google has revealed several new features coming to Android users, including easier sharing between Android devices.

At CES 2024, Google announced several new Android features that will excite smartphone enthusiasts, including a Quick Share feature across all Android devices, the expansion of Fast Pair to Chromecast and other Google TV devices, and the ability to Cast TikTok from phones to devices with Chromecast built-in.

Here are all the new Android features to be aware of:

1. Quick Share

At CES, Google announced a partnership with Samsung to bring together the best sharing solutions and create a cross-Android solution called Quick Share. Samsung users will already be familiar with the Quick Share feature (very popular), while Android users may or may not be familiar with Nearby Share (lesser known). To offer a better solution for everyone, the two companies have come together (under the Samsung Quick Share name), integrating the best of both worlds.

Quick Share will offer peer-to-peer content sharing across all types of devices (in the Android ecosystem), such as phones and even Chromebooks. Companies are also working with PC manufacturers to integrate Quick Share with Windows PCs as a pre-installed application. Quick Share will greatly simplify what Nearby Share already offers and will be available on devices starting in February.

2. Expanding Fast Pair support

Fast Pair works flawlessly with Bluetooth headphones on Android. Over the next month, Google plans to expand Fast Pair support to other devices, such as Chromecast with Google TV and other Google TV devices (launching later this year).

3. Broadcast to multiple Apps and devices

Google is working to bring casting capabilities to more apps and devices. From now on, Android users can cast TikTok content from their phone to devices with Chromecast built-in.

And this is just the beginning of this revolution for content creators. There are also more devices planned with Chromecast built-in, such as LG’s 2024 TV series and even LG Hospitality Healthcare, so users can cast their content to TVs in hotel rooms without having to sign in to each app.

Additionally, a new feature is rolling out that will allow users to move what plays on Spotify and YouTube Music from a compatible Pixel Phone to a docked Pixel Tablet.

4. Increased device interoperability with Matter

With the ever-increasing adoption of smart devices, Google wants to ensure that devices from different companies are able to interact. To that end, the company continues to embrace industry standards, and with the help of Matter (a new standard for smart home platforms), LG TVs and some Google OS and Android TV devices will soon act as hubs for Google Home.

5. Google apps and services increasingly present in cars

Android Auto is coming soon to the Ford Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning. Additionally, Android Auto-compatible electric vehicles will be able to share real-time battery information with Google Maps to improve the driving experience by providing an estimated battery level upon arrival at your destination. These new features will also make it possible to estimate how long it will take to charge the vehicle.

Many major car brands will also see better integration with apps like Google Assistant and Google Play directly into the car’s display. This new addition will be rolled out across brands like Nissan, Lincoln, and more.