In 2025, ad trackers made up 10.22 percent of global internet traffic, an increase from 7.84 percent in 2024, according to AdGuard’s annual Ad Trackers Report. These figures represent raw requests, which are the initial background connections activated when a page loads. These are separate from the content visible to users. AdGuard estimates that blocking…
BBC Shifts YouTube From Promotion To Primary Distribution BBC has announced a new partnership with YouTube that will see the broadcaster create original programmes designed specifically for YouTube. The move marks a change in strategy, as the BBC has historically used YouTube mainly to host clips and trailers that point viewers back to its own…
Proton is ready to take on Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel, with Proton Sheets. It is a privacy-focused, web-based spreadsheet editor app. Last year, Proton launched Docs, an alternative for Microsoft Word and Google Docs. Proton’s had a busy year, it launched Lumo AI in July, and followed it up with Proton Authenticator in the…
Last week, I reported that ChatGPT and Copilot are removing their services from WhatsApp due to a change in Meta’s policy. That policy is now under scrutiny in the European Union. The European Commission has opened an antitrust investigation to find out if Meta’s rules are hurting the competition. In case you missed it, Meta…
OpenAI has revealed that one of its data analytics providers has been breached. Mixpanel fell victim to a smishing campaign. Smishing, aka SMS phishing, refers to an attack where deceptive text messages are sent to individuals tricking them into click on malicious links, or enter sensitive information. OpenAI has confirmed that none of its systems…
Paramount Plus is the latest streaming service to hike its prices. The new prices come into effect early next year. Skydance Media acquired Paramount in August 2025, in a deal worth $8 Billion. In an earnings call, Skydance had reported that Paramount Plus has 79.1 million subscribers, having gained 1.4 million subscribers in the previous…
Warner Bros. Discovery has announced a price increase for HBO Max plans. This is the third time the streaming service has hiked its prices in 3 years. The platform debuted in 2020, and got its first price hike in January 2023. HBO Max last increased its prices in June 2024, and again now in October…
Perplexity has announced the release of Comet browser for all users. The agentic AI browser is now free for everyone. The search startup had initially launched Comet on July 9 for subscribers. The announcement is, as you might expect, a glorified ad. It explains why an AI browser is necessary today. It really isn’t, but…
Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, has shared a video on his account to dismiss the myth that Instagram is actively listening to users, to show them relevant ads. Now, why would you say that? Unless, it was true! Right? Jokes aside, the timing couldn’t be worse. Yesterday, Meta announced that it will be updating its…
Anthropic has announced some updates to its Consumer Terms and Privacy Policy. It will start training its AI models if users choose to accept the new policies, but you can opt out of it. Up until now, Claude AI did not train its language models on user data. This policy is changing, your chats with…
