WHAT’S THE RUMOUR
Discusswebnewsatforum.webuser.co.uk 4-17April 2018 11
Needto Know
WELIKE...
Vivalditeamsupwith
DuckDuckGo
Vivaldihasbecomethefirstweb
browsertooffer
DuckDuckGoas
thedefault search
engineinits
privatemode.
Thismeansusers
cannowsearch
thewebprivately
withoutanyonestoringor
sharingdetailsoftheirqueries.Chromestops noisy
autoplay videos
Chromewill soonblock
autoplayingvideosbydefault
unlessthesoundis
mutedorthe
contentissilent.
However, youwill
stillhearaudioif
yourevisit asite
onwhichyou’ve
previouslyplayed
avideowithsound.WEDON’TLIKE...
Twittera‘toxicplace
forwomen’
AmnestyInternationalUKhas
deemedTwittera“toxicplace
forwomen”aftera
surveyfoundthat
only9%ofBritish
femalesbelieved
thesocialnetwork
wasdoing
enoughto
stopabuse.Self-drivingUber car
causes fatality
Aself-drivingUbercarstruck
andkilledawomancrossing
thestreetin
Tempe,Arizona,
inwhat’s believed
tobethefirst
fatalaccident
involvingan
autonomous
vehicle.Uberhas
nowsuspendedtestsof
self-drivingcarsintheUS.XClearNano-SuctionMount
bit.ly/xclear446|From£“Stickywithoutbeingsticky”,theXClearNano-Suction
Mountprovidesaneasy,sturdyandflexiblewaytoattach
yourGoProcameratoanysmoothsurfacesoyoucan
captureperfectshotswhereveryougo.Themountuses
tinysuctioncupstocreateasuper-strongvacuumthatdefiesgravitywithout
damagingwalls,paintwork,furnitureorwhateverelseyoustickit to.It’sreusable
anddoesn’t collectdirt, andiscompatiblewithall GoProcameras.TheXClear
teamhopestoraise£6,000by 14 April,andhasalreadyattracted1 00 backers.NosoonerhasGoogleintroduceda
built-inadblockerinChrome–albeit
notaveryeffectiveone–thanreports
suggestthatit planstostartshowing
videoadvertsforgamesonitsPlay
store.Googlesaysit will roll outabeta
fortheseads“overthenextfew
months”,soitmaybeawhilebefore
youactuallyseeanyofthemappear–
andeventhentheymaynotbea
permanentaddition.
FortunatelyforAndroiduserswho
can’tstandautoplayingads(whichwe
imaginecoversmostpeople), thevideos
will be‘click-to-play’andhopefullywon’t
obstructyourviewwhenyou’re
browsingthePlaystoreonyour
computerormobiledevice.Theadverts
will alsobeclearlymarkedassuch,and
featuredinthe‘GameTrailersforYou’
sectionofyourGooglePlaystorefrontso
youdon’t clickortapthemaccidentally.
Googlebelievesthatvideoadvertsare
nowthebestwayforgamedevelopers
topromotetheirwork,becausethey
Will Google Play
start showing
video ads?
What’snew on Kickstarter
OurfavouritenewprojectonthecrowdfundingsiteWEBOMETERLIKELIHOODRATING ✓✓✓✓✓
It soundslikeGoogle has alreadymadeupits mind about showing video
advertsonthe Play store, althoughinitially onlyaspartofabetatest for
selectusers –and notfor afew months yet.Whether it will be possible to
disable or blockthem remainstobeseen.It’salsoworth noting that Apple
displays videopreviewsofgamesonits AppStore,which aremore
annoyingthanGoogle’sproposedads becausetheyautoplay.provide“anewwaytoreachplayers
onGooglePlaywithsight,soundand
motion”, nottomentionincreasing
theirpotentialearnings.
“Videoadsaremorethanjusta
canvasforshowcasingyourgames.
Theycanhelpturnyourappsintoa
revenue-drivingmachine,”said
GoogleonitsInsideAdWordsblog
(bit.ly/adwords 446 ).