What we think of this fortnight’s top tech news stories and rumours,
and how they affect you
Discuss web news at http://www.facebook.com/webusermagazine 5 - 18 February 2020^9
Need to Know
users become more familiar
with the new format.What do we think?
Never forget that Google is
an advertising company –
that’s how it makes the bulk
of its revenue, after all.
Search ads have always been
fairly innocuous, because
they’re text-based and reflect
your search terms, rather
than taking the form of
irritating banner ads basedthe options to USB-C and
Apple’s chargers, and if it
gets its way, there could soon
be one cable for everyone.What do we think?
The EC’s aim of enforcing a
universal standard is
laudable. Manufacturing
various incompatible
charging technologies is
wasteful, while adopting a
single standard makesGoogle ads and search results look the same
Apple fights EU over Lightning connector
on invasive behavioural
tracking. Google should be
wary of making such ads
blend in too successfully
with legitimate search
results, however, or search
ads may become as hated
as other types of online
advertising on the web.
Provided they remain
clearly labelled as ads and
are easy enough to
differentiate from genuine
search results, we doubt
this change will raise too
many complaints. If you
find the revamped results
confusing, there are
alternative search engines- although search-result
advertising is how ethical
rivals such as DuckDuckGo
make their money, too, so
you still need to be careful
what you click.
everything simpler. As well
as reducing waste, it means
you can borrow a charger
more easily and makes
replacements cheaper. The
cheapest official Apple-
branded Lightning cable
costs £19, for example, but
you can buy a USB-C cable
for a few quid.
See Barry’s column on
page 74 for his views on
this issue.What happened?
Google has changed the
way search results look in
the desktop version of its
search engine, and some
critics argue that they now
look a bit too much like the
ads that appear at the top
of the results page.
Previously, ads used a
different-coloured
background or text to
separate them from the
results below. Now the only
difference is a label next to
the paid-for link that marks
it out as an ad. However,
that “Ad” label is a similar
shape and size to the icons
that now appear next to
genuine search results.How will it affect you?
Advertisements are still
clearly labelled as such, butWhat happened?
European lawmakers want
to reduce waste by forcing
technology manufacturers
to adopt a single method
for charging devices, but
Apple isn’t keen on the
idea. The European
Commission is set to vote
on whether to make
companies use a common
charging cable – which is
likely to be USB-C. In
2009, the EC did the same
with micro-USB cables, but
Apple dodged the ruling
by offering an adapter.
Apple argues that such
rules make little sense,
because they would force
its users to switch to a
different connector
when they already have
Lightning cables at home.it’s easy to see how a web
user could fail to distinguish
between them at a glance.
According to reports from
DigiDay, online marketers
are already saying that
clickthrough rates – the
industry measurement for
how effective a digital ad is- climbed by several
percentage points in the
immediate aftermath of the
change, although this trend is
unlikely to continue once
It also says that imposing a
single standard limits
innovation – we’d all be stuck
with micro-USB if Apple had
caved in 10 years ago.How will it affect you?
Apple says the USB-C
connector is too thick for its
iPhones, although other
manufacturers have made it
work. If forced to switch to
USB-C, Apple could try
offering an adapter again, or
shift to wireless charging,
which it’s likely to do anyway.
More generally, the EC
rules would mean no more
hunting for different charging
cables – a situation that used
to make life difficult in the
days when all phones had
proprietary power adapters.
The EC’s past efforts reduced