Google:
In 2018, we announced the deprecation and transition of Google URL Shortener because of the changes we’ve seen in how people find content on the internet, and the number of new popular URL shortening services that emerged in that time. This meant that we no longer accepted new URLs to shorten but that we would continue serving existing URLs.
Today, the time has come to turn off the serving portion of Google URL Shortener.
[…]
Note that the interstitial page may cause disruptions in the current flow of your goo.gl links. For example, if you are using other 302 redirects, the interstitial page may prevent the redirect flow from completing correctly.
Stephen Hackett:
A lot things on the Internet are going to break next fall. I know people like using short URLs for social media, or to hide tracking parameters, but this yet another example of why they are a bad idea.
Jess Weatherbed:
When Google announced in 2018 that it was shutting down goo.gl, the company encouraged developers to migrate to Firebase Dynamic Links (FDL) — which has also since been deprecated.
John Gruber:
How much money could it possible cost to just keep this service running in perpetuity? Tim Berners-Lee wrote his seminal essay, “Cool URIs Don’t Change” back in 1998. It’s bad enough when companies go out of business, taking their web servers down with them. But Google isn’t struggling financially.
Dare Obasanjo:
Google continues its epic run of reminding people why you should never depend on their services.
Previously:
Update (2024-08-08): Nick Heer:
In principle, I support this deprecation because it is confusing and dangerous for Google’s own shortened URLs to have the same domain as ones created by third-party users. But this is a Google-created problem because it designed its URLs poorly. It should have never been possible for anyone else to create links with the same URL shortener used by Google itself. Yet, while it feels appropriate for a Google service to be unreliable over a long term, it also should not be ending access to links which may have been created just about five years ago.
Datacide Google Sunset URL Web
Hartley Charlton:
Apple is in active talks to license more films from major Hollywood studios as it seeks to bolster Apple TV+, according to Bloomberg.
Apple has traditionally focused on original productions for its streaming platform, but it is increasingly looking to expand its offerings by acquiring programming from the extensive libraries of established studios, sources familiar with the matter claim.
Hartley Charlton (Hacker News):
Apple is scaling back its Hollywood spending after investing over $20 billion in original programming with limited success, Bloomberg reports.
This shift comes after the streaming service, which launched in 2019, struggled to capture a significant share of the market, accounting for only 0.2% of TV viewership in the U.S., compared to Netflix’s 8%. Despite heavy investment, critical acclaim, and numerous award nominations, Apple TV+ purportedly generates less viewing in one month than Netflix does in a single day.
[…]
The company’s new strategy is said to involve tighter budget controls and a more cautious approach to spending. This includes paying less upfront for shows, being quicker to cancel underperforming series, and delaying productions to manage costs better.
The report doesn’t say what the revenue is.
I still find it frustrating that so many billions were spent on this and the car project when so many parts of Apple’s operating systems, apps, and developer services seem under-resourced.
M.G. Siegler:
This one, I’d argue, has just as much to do with Apple being awful at marketing their content. Which is wild given that it’s Apple! The company perhaps best known for its marketing prowess – of any company in the world! They can’t seem to crack the Hollywood nut here for whatever reason. This is anecdotal, but no one seemed to know about Fly Me to the Moon. You obviously won’t go to see what you don’t even know is out. Again, in those old days people would go to see whatever was playing. That’s not the case any longer.
Damien Petrilli:
Over the past 5y, I have been spammed non stop with “free trials” in the system and the TV app constantly default to the Apple TV+ service tab instead of my library.
Also saw ads for Apple TV+ on multiple websites.
It seems like owning the platform hasn’t helped as much as people expected.
M.G. Siegler:
I talk around these parts ad nauseam about how the quality of the Apple TV+ content is actually quite strong. Pound-for-pound, they may even be the best right now given that Warner Bros Discovery has merged HBO into the Max machine. But it sounds like even Apple, the most valuable and profitable company in the world, has to answer to the ROI gods[…]
[…]
It would be very interesting to know if and how Apple actually tracks such things. Fittingly, a WSJ report from yesterday about Amazon’s Alexa/Echo spend is predicated around “DSI” or “downstream impact” – that is the notion that you shouldn’t just measure the revenue brought in from device sales, but also how those devices impact tangential sales for Amazon. The article is about how after years of such metrics covering Alexa’s ass, Andy Jassy has thrown it out in order to try to turn Alexa into an actual business. Will Apple eventually feel the same? Do they already, hence the belt tightening?
Dare Obasanjo:
Amazon lost $5B a year on Alexa devices between 2017 and 2021 with 10,000 people working on it.
After a decade, voice has not become the next major software platform nor has Alexa helped Amazon’s retail business. It’s instead been a massive money losing business for Amazon.
With Bezos gone, Andy Jassy has cranked up the pressure on Amazon’s devices businesses to focus on profitability. It’s since been hit by multiple layoffs and product cancellations.
Previously:
Update (2024-07-30): Benjamin Mayo:
The really interesting thing about Apple TV+ is that it is not so unsuccessful that it can be called a failure, and yet is also not so successful that it can be heralded as a home run win. It sits in a murky grey area, where no one is quite sure whether Apple is happy with its progress. Some days, I wonder if even Apple themselves can define what the success metrics for TV+ are meant to be.
Apple Services Apple TV+ Business iOS Mac
Aditya Kalra (via Ryan Christoffel):
An investigation by India’s antitrust body has found that Apple exploited its dominant position in the market for app stores on its iOS operating system, engaging “in abusive conduct and practices”, a confidential report seen by Reuters showed.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been investigating Apple Inc, opens new tab since 2021 for possibly abusing its dominant position in the apps market by forcing developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase system.
Michael Love:
That’s OK, if India is too mean to them Apple can just start withholding features and/or pull out of the country. Like they’re going to do in the EU.
Previously:
Update (2024-08-14): Hartley Charlton:
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has withdrawn two key reports that alleged Apple breached local competition laws. The recall, which is highly unusual, comes after the company filed a complaint claiming that the reports contained sensitive commercial data that was improperly disclosed to its competitors, including Tinder-owner Match Group.
See also: Ben Lovejoy.
Antitrust App Store In-App Purchase India iOS iOS 17
