TWEAKS AND UPDATES

Amazon-owned Twitch and YouTube continue their virtual circling and “come at me, bro”ing – Twitch has announced video uploads and playlists. “Twitch has more than 100 million monthly active users for its gameplay livestreaming service as well as 1.7 million live broadcasters. But now the company will make it possible for players to upload video to Twitch, starting next year. With uploads, that means that users can create videos, but won’t have to livestream them first.”

Twitter now has a poll feature. I’m not too chuffed, honestly.

AROUND THE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD

Looks like we might get Google’s real-time penguin algo before the end of the year.

YouTube’s subscription service will launch next month? “Re/code said it’s seen an email sent to YouTube content owners asking them to agree to new license terms linked to the upcoming service. The message offers them a stark choice – agree to new terms by October 22 or else ‘your videos will no longer be available for public display or monetization in the United States.'”

Ancestry is having a Find A Grave community day on October 17th. “Last year was an amazing success thanks to you, our incredible volunteers, who visited over 100 cemeteries and contributed more than 250,000 photos on the days leading up to, and on, Find A Grave Community Day 2014.”

The Verge has a preview of Google’s September 29 event.

Ad blockers are cutting “whitelist” deals with publishers. Even with as much background as I have in advertising, I have great sympathy for ad blocking. But at the same time I agree with Boing Boing: this sounds like a racket. “Eyeo GmbH, the company behind popular desktop ad-blocking tool Adblock Plus, now accepts payment from around 70 companies in exchange for letting their ads through its filter.”

SECURITY/LEGAL ISSUES

The US is considering an antitrust investigation against Google. I suspect this was only a matter of time after all the investigations in Europe. “The U.S. is said to be pursuing an antitrust investigation into Google’s Android operating system due to concerns that Google is prioritizing its own proprietary applications — like Gmail and Google search — over others…In particular, the Federal Trade Commission investigation centers on ‘whether Google is telling Android handset makers which Google apps they must show on their phones, and how and where they are displayed,’ Reuters reports.” Earlier this month, Russia decided Google had broken its antitrust laws. And again in this case, it was over Android. Good evening, Internet…

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