YouTube

Ads are now part and parcel of using the internet and many apps, and much of what you see is because of Google. It is going to be a long time before Google changes its business model and is no longer reliant on showing you ads, but the company is aware of the annoyance people experience when they see advertising that is is completely inappropriate or touches on sensitive topics.

As such, Google has announced My Ad Center, a portal through which it is possible to gain more control over your ad experience. What this means in practice is that you will be able to do things such as choose whether or not you'd like to see tailored ads, control what sort of information Google is able to use to personalise your ads, and even opt out of seeing ads for certain topics.

Google has started the process of informing YouTube Premium subscribers about an impending price rise for its Family plan. The hike is a significant one, with subscribers in the US looking at a $5 jump from $17.99 per month to $22.99.

The new pricing takes immediate effect for new subscribers, but existing users have at least 30 days from the date of receiving the email from Google. For those who signed up for YouTube Red when it existed, there is a brief stay of execution.

YouTube has announced that creators can now make use of @ handles for their channels. The move is a long time coming and the aim is to help increase engagement on the platform.

With the introduction of handles, YouTube is making it easier for users to mention others in their comments and more. Handles are rolling out over the next month, and YouTube says that it will notify creators when they are able to choose one for their channel.

I decided to cut the cord and switch to YouTube TV over four years ago, and it was one of the best decisions of my life. No longer do I have to rent clunky boxes from the cable company to watch live television. Instead, thanks to YouTube TV, all of my devices serve as makeshift televisions! I can watch live TV anywhere on all my devices -- my smartphone, tablet, laptop, Apple TV, and more.

While the price of YouTube TV has gone up over the years, I never really minded the cost increases too much. Why? Because YouTube TV has remained consistently excellent thanks to the unlimited DVR, top-notch customer service, and ever-expanding channel lineup. It is rare to be completely satisfied with a service, but with YouTube TV, I literally have no complaints.

The British Army confirmed yesterday that its Twitter and YouTube accounts had been breached by hackers.

The Army's YouTube channel was changed to feature videos on cyptocurrency and images of billionaire businessman Elon Musk under the account name ArkInvest, while its official Twitter account was used to re-tweet several posts relating to NFTs and had its name changed a number of times.

Although the likes of Tesla’s Autopilot have brought self-driving cars to the roads, they still require active driver supervision and it will likely be a while before full autonomy arrives, although we are getting ever close.

The idea of self-driving vehicles isn’t new, however. Indeed, early prototypes were being tested way back in the last century.

For years now, Google has been down-ranking -- or even removing entirely -- pirate sites from its search results. Privacy-focused search alternative DuckDuckGo has resisted taking similar action, making it a good choice for anyone seeking out such services.

Back in 2018, in a bid to avoid potential copyright liability, it did remove access to around 2,000 'bangs' -- shortcuts that let you run a search directly on a particular website -- for copyright infringing sites like The Pirate Bay and 1337x, but this didn’t affect the results in the search engine itself. It seems that has now changed.

For the past month, I have been updating a story on the Russia-Ukraine war from a tech perspective, covering the many online entities being blocked by Russia and the ways groups like Anonymous have been feverishly working to cause Putin, his government, and the Russian military as many headaches as it can. I've even looked at the ways that have sprung up to track things like weapons and Oligarch private jets. Those updates are officially over now, as the number passed twenty, and the page became too much to reasonably expect a person to scroll. 

The end of the daily updates does not, unfortunately, mean an end to war and the deaths and displacements it is causing. So, we'll continue to bring you the important news as it happens. 

TikTok’s massive success caught the major social networks napping. While they might not have anticipated the meteoric rise of the platform, they weren’t slow in rushing to produce their own takes on the popular short-form, video-sharing app.

While rivals Byte, Triller, and Clash all have their fans, it’s Instagram’s Reels, and YouTube’s Shorts that have the best chance of dethroning TikTok. You might scoff at the idea of that happening, but YouTube has just announced the all-time views for Shorts so far, and they are massive.

As we recently told you, Google and Disney had a dispute that lead to many channels being removed from YouTube TV. Essential television offerings like ABC, FX, Disney, ESPN, Freeform, and more were abruptly pulled from the service.

This hit me hard as a YouTube TV subscriber, as it meant I could no-longer watch Jeopardy (which airs on ABC) in the evenings -- something I truly look forward to. Not to mention, my family loves watching Christmas movies and shows on Freeform.

Subscribers to YouTube TV have lost access to a number of Disney-owned channels including ABC News, FX, ESPN, the Disney Channel and National Geographic. The channels have been dropped after contract negotiations between YouTube and Disney broke down.

But while subscribers will no doubt be mourning the loss of nearly 20 channels, there is a silver lining to the bad news. YouTube has cut the price of a YouTube TV subscription until such a time as the Disney channels are available once again.

For some people, Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. For others, the holiday is more about Santa Claus, family, and exchanging gifts. Over on the Hallmark Channel, however, Christmas is largely about romance!

If you aren't familiar, Hallmark Channel is known for its cheesy, family-friendly, romantic Christmas movies. If you are a single man, you may not be familiar with this TV channel, but trust me fellow guys -- women love it. And now, just in time for the holidays, Hallmark Channel finally comes to YouTube TV.

As is the case with just about any big news story, particularly one relating to health, the coronavirus pandemic has led to a serious problem with misinformation. And as governments around the world try to encourage citizens to get vaccinations, so the antivaxxer movement has been trying to control the narrative surrounding the global crisis.

Conspiracy theories abound, and antivaxxers have had a field day casting doubt on the efficacy, purpose and safety of COVID-19 vaccines. Social media platforms have been fighting to ensure that incorrect or misleading information about vaccinations are either kept offline, or flagged up with warnings, and now YouTube has finally followed suit, implementing new rules that equate to a complete ban on antivax videos.

YouTube TV is one of the best internet-based television providers, as it offers many channels at a reasonable (albeit ever-increasing) price. Not to mention, it comes with unlimited DVR storage, so you can record as many things as you'd like. Best of all, it can be used on many platforms, such as Android, iOS, and the web -- you can watch YouTube TV pretty much everywhere.

Unfortunately, YouTube TV suffers from some of the same issues that plague traditional cable television providers. For instance, from time time, TV providers and channel-owners run into tough negotiations that sometimes spill out publicly.

The United States doesn't have an official language, and that's totally cool. It highlights our diversity, which is one of our biggest strengths. While English is currently the predominant language, it may not always be that way. Who knows, one day Spanish may be the most popular language in the USA. After all, we already have many wonderful Americans that speak it.

For those that speak Spanish, there are several TV channels that offer programming in that language. One of the most popular such channels is Univision, and today, it is finally coming to YouTube TV! In addition, the TV service is gaining access to UniMás and Galavisión -- two Spanish-language channels owned by Univision. Best of all, this isn't just quality live programming, but access to video on demand too. YouTube TV subscribers even get access to content in the Univision app.