Google Assistant adds more languages in global push

Google said Friday its digital assistant software would be available in more than 30 languages by the end of the years as it steps up its artificial intelligence efforts against Amazon and others.

Google Assistant, the artificial intelligence software which is available on its connected speakers, Android smartphones and other devices, will also include multilingual capacity "so families or individuals that speak more than one language can speak naturally" to the program, according to a Google blog post.

The move aims to help Google, which has been lagging in the market for connected devices against Amazon's Alexa-powered hardware, ramp up competition in new markets.

While Alexa currently operates only in English, Google Assistant works in eight languages and the new initiative expands that.

"By the end of the year (Google Assistant) will be available in more than 30 languages, reaching 95 precent of all eligible Android phones worldwide," Google vice president Nick Fox said in the blog post.

"In the next few months, we'll bring the Assistant to Danish, Dutch, Hindi, Indonesian, Norwegian, Swedish and Thai on Android phones and iPhones, and we'll add more languages on more devices throughout the year."

The multilingual option will first be available in English, French and German, with support for more languages coming "over time," Fox wrote.

The move comes amid intense competition for artificial intelligence software on smartphones and other devices by Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Samsung and others.

Amazon took the early lead with its Alexa-powered speakers and is believed to hold the lion's share of that market, with Google Home devices a distant second.

Apple got a late start in the speaker segment with its HomePod, which went on sale this month in the US, Britain and Australia.

Google begins blocking annoying ads on its browser
Washington (AFP) Feb 16, 2018 - Google has begun a new effort to block annoying ads on its Chrome browser, as part of an initiative aimed at improving the online advertising ecosystem that provides the bulk of its revenues.

The new ad filtering system rolled out this week aims to eliminate the most irritating marketing messages such as pop-ups, auto-play video ads and "sticky" boxes which cannot be removed.

The system was implemented by Google in partnership with the Coalition for Better Ads, an association which includes the internet giant and a number of media and advertising partners.

"While most advertising on the web is respectful of user experience, over the years we've increasingly heard from our users that some advertising can be particularly intrusive," Google engineering manager Chris Bentzel said in a blog post ahead of the rollout Thursday.

"Chrome will tackle this issue by removing ads from sites that do not follow the Better Ads Standards."

While Google's effort is expected to block only a small percentage of ads, it aims to counter a growing movement to install third-party ad blockers which filter all such advertisements and could be a threat to firms relying on online revenues.

According to a study last year by the research firm PageFair, about 11 percent of the global internet population uses ad-blocking software, affecting 380 million mobile devices and 236 million desktop PCs.

Google vice president Rahul Roy-Chowdhury said the move aims to improve the online ad system even if it means blocking some ads from Google itself.

"To us, your experience on the web is a higher priority than the money that these annoying ads may generate -- even for us," Roy-Chowdhury said in a blog post.

"The web is an ecosystem composed of consumers, content producers, hosting providers, advertisers, web designers, and many others. It's important that we work to maintain a balance -- and if left unchecked, disruptive ads have the potential to derail the entire system."

Google and its partners in the ad coalition thus appear to be aiming to head off a consumer revolt which could choke off revenues to internet, media and advertising companies.

The Coalition for Better Ads said in a statement Thursday it "is pleased by the large number of companies in the online ad industry that have embraced the Better Ads Standards and taken action on their own and with their business partners to discontinue the ad formats consumers find most annoying and disruptive."

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