We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
Alphabet (GOOGL) Settles Incognito Lawsuit by Deleting Data
Read MoreHide Full Article
Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) division Google agrees to expunge billions of browsing data in order to settle a consumer privacy lawsuit.
The class-action lawsuit, which was filed in 2020, claims that the company collected data secretly from the use of Chrome web browser in a private “incognito” mode by several people across the world.
Google was alleged for tracking data on users’ friends, favorite foods, hobbies, shopping habits, and even personal and intimate things.
Notably, the terms of the settlement were filed in the Oakland, CA, federal court. Although plaintiffs asked for $5 billion in damages, Google is paying no damages.
Instead, Google will update disclosures about what it collects in "private" browsing. Further, it will allow Incognito users to block third-party cookies for five years.
Moreover, the deletion of user data remains a big concession on GOOGL’s end as the data helped the company in enticing various advertisers by helping them to focus on their target customers.
The steps taken by Google to settle the underlined lawsuit are crucial for Alphabet.
Updating disclosure, along with deletion of data, will make the search giant more transparent, which, in turn, will likely boost the traffic on its search engine platform.
Reportedly, a GOOGL spokesperson mentioned that destroying old technical data remains positive for the company, which claims that it never associated data with users in the Incognito mode or used it for personalization.
Bottom Line
Although data privacy lawsuits do not bode well for data-driven Alphabet, its strong initiatives toward bolstering its search engine, enhancing search results, and ensuring high security of data to its app and product users should not be ignored. Moreover, its growing endeavors to combat privacy breaches are laudable.
To this end, the company restricts third-party cookies in its Chrome web browser to ensure users’ privacy. This stops advertisers from connecting their browser cookies to non-operating websites, which reflects Google’s user-oriented focus.
The company’s growing efforts to remove bad ads from its search platform are noteworthy. In this regard, the introduction of a tool called Ads Transparency Center, which is designed to enable users to know about the ads they see on Search, YouTube and Display, is noteworthy.
The tool acts like a searchable hub of all ads served by verified advertisers. Moreover, it shows the ads served in the past 30 days from the company’s list of verified advertisers. The information it provides about any ad includes the advertiser of the ad, the regions where the ad was shown, the last date the ad ran and the format of the ad.
All the above-mentioned measures are likely to aid Alphabet’s search business, which, in turn, will benefit the performance of its Google Services segment, which is one of its key growth drivers and major contributors to the total revenues. GOOGL has gained 11.3% year to date, outperforming the industry’s rally of 10.5%.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Image: Bigstock
Alphabet (GOOGL) Settles Incognito Lawsuit by Deleting Data
Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) division Google agrees to expunge billions of browsing data in order to settle a consumer privacy lawsuit.
The class-action lawsuit, which was filed in 2020, claims that the company collected data secretly from the use of Chrome web browser in a private “incognito” mode by several people across the world.
Google was alleged for tracking data on users’ friends, favorite foods, hobbies, shopping habits, and even personal and intimate things.
Notably, the terms of the settlement were filed in the Oakland, CA, federal court. Although plaintiffs asked for $5 billion in damages, Google is paying no damages.
Instead, Google will update disclosures about what it collects in "private" browsing. Further, it will allow Incognito users to block third-party cookies for five years.
Moreover, the deletion of user data remains a big concession on GOOGL’s end as the data helped the company in enticing various advertisers by helping them to focus on their target customers.
Alphabet Inc. Price and Consensus
Alphabet Inc. price-consensus-chart | Alphabet Inc. Quote
Alphabet’s Take
The steps taken by Google to settle the underlined lawsuit are crucial for Alphabet.
Updating disclosure, along with deletion of data, will make the search giant more transparent, which, in turn, will likely boost the traffic on its search engine platform.
Reportedly, a GOOGL spokesperson mentioned that destroying old technical data remains positive for the company, which claims that it never associated data with users in the Incognito mode or used it for personalization.
Bottom Line
Although data privacy lawsuits do not bode well for data-driven Alphabet, its strong initiatives toward bolstering its search engine, enhancing search results, and ensuring high security of data to its app and product users should not be ignored. Moreover, its growing endeavors to combat privacy breaches are laudable.
To this end, the company restricts third-party cookies in its Chrome web browser to ensure users’ privacy. This stops advertisers from connecting their browser cookies to non-operating websites, which reflects Google’s user-oriented focus.
The company’s growing efforts to remove bad ads from its search platform are noteworthy. In this regard, the introduction of a tool called Ads Transparency Center, which is designed to enable users to know about the ads they see on Search, YouTube and Display, is noteworthy.
The tool acts like a searchable hub of all ads served by verified advertisers. Moreover, it shows the ads served in the past 30 days from the company’s list of verified advertisers. The information it provides about any ad includes the advertiser of the ad, the regions where the ad was shown, the last date the ad ran and the format of the ad.
All the above-mentioned measures are likely to aid Alphabet’s search business, which, in turn, will benefit the performance of its Google Services segment, which is one of its key growth drivers and major contributors to the total revenues. GOOGL has gained 11.3% year to date, outperforming the industry’s rally of 10.5%.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector are Applied Materials (AMAT - Free Report) , BlackLine (BL - Free Report) and AMETEK (AME - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Shares of Applied Materials have gained 52.6% in the past six months. The long-term earnings growth rate for ABNB pegged at 16.85%.
Shares of BlackLine have risen 21.3% in the past six months. The long-term earnings growth rate for BL is pegged at 5.50%.
Shares of AMETEK have gained 22% in the past six months. The long-term earnings growth rate for AME is pegged at 9.19%.