This Week in Google 587

RCS Gets E2EE, Pulling Back on AMP, AWS Outage

• The effects of a massive AWS outage. 
• TikTok and the creation of Ratatoullie the Musical. 
• RCS is finally getting end-to-end encryption. 
• AMP preferential treatment is about to go away. 
• Google is opening up Chromium Project to the community. 
• Google Stadia is one year old but is it any good? 
• Tree Canopy Lab aims to map trees into cities. 
• Project Guideline enables the blind to run in marathons. 
• French publishers will be paid by Google for search and news results. 
• Comparing social media companies against each other. 
• Stories vs. Fleets. 
• Buzzfeed buys Huffington Post. 
• Assistant and Fi get some new family-focused features. 
• Google Meet attendance reports rolling out for some. 
• Google Hangouts say goodbye to group video calling. 
• Google Pay now carries a 1.5% fee on instant transfers. 
• Chrome updates will bring tab search and Chrome Actions. 
• Just do a search for Happy Thanksgiving. 

Picks of the Week

• Ant: I love seeing a creator's professional GROWTH
• Jeff: Robotaxi's can now charge for rides in California. 
• Stacey: Nanoleaf Essentials bulbs. 
• Jason: Pet portraits for the holidays at Crown & Paw. 

Download or subscribe to this show at https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-google.

Links

• Prolonged AWS outage has taken down a big chunk of the internet, recovery may take ‘a few hours’
• Ratatoullie the fan-generated musical on TikTok: songs, choreography, makeup, a Playbill
• Google is rolling out end-to-end encryption for RCS in Android Messages beta
• Google says it will end preferential search rankings for AMP pages in the spring
• Google is loosening control over its Chromium project
• GOOGLE STADIA SURVIVED A YEAR, BUT ITS FUTURE DEPENDS ON GAMES LIKE CYBERPUNK 2077
• Google maps every tree in cities, using AI to direct where more should be planted for cooling canopies
• Google is testing Project Guideline, an AI-powered system that enables navigation guidance for low-vision people
• Google will start paying French publishers
• BuzzFeed takes over HuffPost
• Social media companies all starting to look the same (i.e., competitive)
• Google updates Assistant and Fi with family-oriented features
• Google Meet attendance reports now available to businesses (and nosey bosses)
• Google Hangouts kills Group Video calling – pushes users to Google Meet
• Google Pay will no longer support send/receive money functionality from web app
• Google rolls out update to Chrome, with pages now loading up to 7% faster
• Finally, Google "Happy Thanksgiving"
• Ant's Number: I love seeing a creator's professional GROWTH
• Subscribe to Ant's YouTube Channel
• Jeff's Stuff: Robotaxi companies get the green light to charge for rides in California
• Stacey's Thing: Nanoleaf Essentials light bulbs
• Jason's Thing: Crown & Paw