Google's security bounty programs can be quite lucrative for those who discover problems, and the company has just published a report looking back at the security landscape in 2015. Entitled Google Security Rewards - 2015 Year in Review, the report reveals the financial rewards that have been paid out in the last 12 months.

In all, Google has paid out more than $2 million to more than 300 people, but Sanmay Ved is probably one of the more interesting reward recipients. He's the guy who -- very briefly -- managed to buy Google.com before having it taken off his hands. Google offered him a $6,006.13 reward, but there's a little more to the story.

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When Sergey Brin first wore Google Glass on stage in April of 2012, it seemed like the future was upon us. Excitement and hype continued to build for its consumer release when early versions of the product were distributed to the lucky few who were accepted into the Google Glass Explorer program in 2014.

Sadly though after two years of #throughGlass posts, the social media accounts of Google Glass including its Google+, Twitter, Instagram and others were all shut down this week. However, Google Glass is not dead. Instead Google has shifted the products’ focus from consumers to enterprise.

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In many ways, virtual reality has come a very long way over the past couple of decades or so. But while old VR headsets looked rather techy and somewhat futuristic -- something that is still true of Oculus Rift -- there is also a cheap, simple version made out of little more than cardboard.

Google Cardboard provides smartphone users with a quick, easy and, most importantly, cheap way to transform a handset into a virtual reality unit. Just over a year and a half since the origami VR kit launched, Google shares some statistics about how it has been received and used.

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Reviews in Google Play are a useful way to decide whether an app is worth downloading, and to determine whether the developer description is accurate. For some time it has been possible to flag up reviews as unhelpful, but starting today Google is removing this option to take a more positive approach.

Gone is the 'mark as unhelpful', replaced instead by a less prominent Spam option. Now dominant is a Facebook-inspired thumbs up button to indicate that you 'like' a review, or show that it is otherwise imbued with positive virtues. Before you get too excited, it's not yet possible to comment on reviews.

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There is no denying that Nexus 5X is the more attractive option in Google's smartphone lineup for price-conscious buyers. Unless shoppers really, really want the bigger screen and slightly beefier hardware that Nexus 6P has to offer, getting the entry-level Nexus is a no-brainer considering that it will more than meet their needs.

That $30 price cut that it received just two weeks ago has only made it even more appealing. But it looks like it was not big enough, as Google just lowered the asking price for the second time this month.

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Late last week, Google agreed to pay £130 million in back tax in the UK. Despite being heralded as a 'major success' by the Tory chancellor George Osbourne, the feeling among politicians is that Google should still pay much more tax. The deal struck between the search giant and HMRC has also been dismissed as "only a start", "breathtakingly complacent", and in need of further explanation.

MP John McDonnell was granted a Commons urgent question on the tax deal, leading to an impassioned debate. MPs said that it appeared the government was giving Google preferential treatment, and that had smaller businesses failed to pay taxes in the same way, they would have found themselves in court rather than at the center of a headline-making deal.

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For many consumers, a Chromebook is looked at as an inexpensive secondary computer. The truth is, yeah, they make excellent complementary devices. With that said, when it comes to consumers without a lot of money, laptops running Google's Chrome OS can be a perfectly fine primary computer too -- depending on needs, of course.

Chromebooks are more than low prices, however; they are also very low-maintenance too. Updates are automatic, and malware is largely non-existent. It is for that reason that the machines are perfect for scenarios where resources are scarce. Today, Google announces that it is donating $5.3 million to put Chromebooks in the hands of refugees.

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There’s been a new twist in the litigation between Oracle and Google over copyright infringement, after Oracle claimed Google breached copyright by inappropriate use of Java in Android.

A lawyer representing Oracle has now made the astonishing revelation, in court, that Google revenue from Android, since 2008, is $31 billion. This staggering figure relates to $22 in profit derived from Google’s two Android revenue streams, advertising on mobile Android platforms and the revenue it receives from sales on Google’s Android app store.

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There is no shortage of online blabbers making predictions about the future or bloggers pining pageviews with rumors about the next thing (usually from Apple). I rarely join the chorus of new year prognosticators—and won't now. Instead I make a wishful what-if aimed squarely at Google. Watching the blizzard blast the Washington, D.C. metro area, once my home and for most of my adult life, I got to thinking: Wouldn't a live feed, something like Google Drone Street View, be fantastic way to experience the storm?

Why shouldn't this be the next wave in drone deployments? If not from Google, then from newscasters? The low-flyers could go where snow would stop motorized vehicles; and, connected in real-time to Google Maps, provide contextual viewing experience. You can be there, too, even if living one-thousand kilometers distant. Newscasters could use drones to give a more immersive watching experience.

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Following an audit of its accounts, Google has agreed to pay £130m ($185m) in back taxes in the UK. The company says that it wants to make sure that it pays the right amount of tax after it faced criticism for not paying its fair share and for having a complicated tax structure.

HMRC (Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs) has been investigating Google for six years. It is one of many large companies to have been criticized for using offshore operations to funnel funds and reduce tax bills. The £130m covers ten years' of underpayment, and Google says it will continue to pay more tax in the UK.

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In the smartphone arena, Apple and Google are rivals -- but that doesn't mean they can't have a symbiotic relationship. Longstanding rivalry in mind, many people have questioned why Apple has retained Google as the default search choice on iPhones. The reason is that money talks.

Transcript of a copyright case involving Google and Oracle show that the search giant paid Apple $1 billion in 2014. An agreement is in place that sees Google paying Apple a percentage of the revenue it generates through iOS devices. This is something that has been rumored for some time, but neither Apple nor Google has commented on.

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I like advertisements. Whether on the web, radio or television, I generally appreciate them for notifying me of new products and services. Think about it -- how else would you learn about a new breakfast cereal, video game or toothpaste, to name a few? Face it, our economy depends on ads.

Of course, not all advertisements are created equally. Some are misleading, offensive, and in the case of the web, can even deliver malware. Luckily, Google -- a company that profits from ads -- has our collective backs. Today, the search giant declares war on evil advertisements, and shares how it is fighting back.

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Apple's App Store generated 75 percent more revenue than Google Play in 2015, but the latter is now responsible for 100 percent more downloads, according to a new report on the state of the app ecosystem in 2015 by App Annie. Both numbers are higher compared to the previous year.

App Store has increased its revenue lead to 75 percent from 70 percent in 2014, while Google Play saw its downloads lead rise from 60 percent in the same year. The most important markets were, in Apple's case, China, US and Japan, while for Google the drivers were Brazil, India, Indonesia and Mexico.

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Google may be simplifying the way Android users install apps on their devices. Some users have reportedly been able to install new apps directly from Google search results on their smartphones and tablets.

Typically a user is redirected from the Google Search app to the Google Play store when they are searching for new apps using the search engine. However, after a recent update to the app, an install button appears along with user ratings and information about the app that allows apps to be installed directly from search.

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While there is greater interest than ever before in online privacy there are also calls from some quarters for people who use the web to be fully accountable. This is part of the thinking behind Facebook's real names policy, and it's also what's driven Tim Berners-Lee -- no less than the inventor of the web -- to call for the identities of cyberbullies to be exposed.

In the wake of gamergate and countless other examples of women being abused online for little more than being women, bullying of school children by their contemporaries, and endless racist, sexist, and politically motivated attacks online, the suggestion might seem -- on the face of it -- to make sense. But it fails to stand up to scrutiny and is likely -- ultimately, if anyone were insane enough to follow his advice -- to be completely counterproductive.

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