Google just gained exclusive access to Reddit

By Luke Larsen Published July 24, 2024

Reddit has begun blocking all search engines except those that pay to crawl its site — namely, Google. A report from 404 Media says that search engines like Bing or DuckDuckGo don’t show any results from the last week, even when using the “site:reddit.com” search query. Because Google has paid the bill upfront, niche search engines like Kagi that rely on Google still have access to Reddit.

In the case of DuckDuckGo, the report claims that Reddit has blocked the search engine from pulling any data, stating, “We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us.”

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It’s fascinating to see how much sway Reddit now has, even over a company as big as Google. Just last October, Reddit reportedly threatened to block Google too if it didn’t agree to its new API pricing, an increase that resulted in the death of some popular third-party apps and a blackout across many prominent subreddits last summer.

This culminated with Reddit going public in March 2024. It has since been on a mission to monetize its forums to great effect, primarily through data licensing. Just a couple of months later, Reddit and OpenAI would announce that ChatGPT would be trained on Reddit’s data API.

We’ve also seen Google begin to favor Reddit in its search results over the past six months, which was announced in February, facilitating “more content-forward displays of Reddit information.”

This went on to be integrated into AI Overviews to produce some embarrassing results, including surfacing a joke from Reddit about cooking pizza with glue.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Luke Larsen is the Senior Editor of Computing, managing all content covering laptops, monitors, PC hardware, Macs, and more.

Computing

I saw Google’s Gemini AI erase copyright evidence. I am deeply worried

Gemini Advanced on the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Update: Google has responded to Digital Trends’ queries. The story has been updated with company’s statement below.
The rise of generative AI has been a fairly messy process, especially from fair usage ethics and copyright perspective. AI giants are inking deals with publishers to avoid legal hassles, while at the same time, they are embroiled in copyright tussles in courts in multiple countries.
As the ravenous appetite for training AI on user data grows, we might be in for another ethical conundrum. Multiple users on X and Reddit have shared demonstrations of how Google’s latest Gemini 2.0 series AI model can remove watermarks from copyright-protected images.
Going by the before/after samples of images, it seems Gemini is doing a fairly good job of removing the watermarks. Notably, it’s not only erasing those banner-style watermarks, but also fairly complex overlays with design and stylized text elements.
https://x.com/ajiteshleo/status/1901484196972945872?s=61
The model in question is the Gemini 2.0 Flash, which was released earlier this year and got a reasoning upgrade, as well. It is worth noting here that you can not remove the watermark if you are using the mobile or desktop version of the Gemini 2.0 Flash model. Trying to do so returns a message like this:
“Removing watermarks from images without the explicit permission of the copyright holder is illegal in most countries. It is important to respect the copyright laws and intellectual property rights. If you want to use an image with a watermark, you should contact the copyright holder and ask for permission.”
You can, however, try and remove the watermark from images in the Google AI Studio. Digital Trends successfully removed watermarks from a variety of images using the Gemini 2.0 Flash (Image Generation) Experimental model.

It is a violation of local copyright laws and any usage of AI-modified material without due consent could land you in legal trouble. Moreover, it is a deeply unethical act, which is also why artists and authors are fighting in court over companies using their work to train AI models without duly compensating them or seeking their explicit nod.

How are the results?
A notable aspect is that the images produced by the AI are fairly high quality. Not only is it removing the watermark artifacts, but also fills the gap with intelligent pixel-level reconstruction. In its current iteration, it works somewhat like the Magic Eraser feature available in the Google Photos app for smartphones.
Furthermore, if the input image is low quality, Gemini is not only wiping off the watermark details but also upscaling the overall picture. .
https://x.com/kaiju_ya/status/1901099096930496720?s=61
The output image, however, has its own Gemini watermark, although this itself can be removed with a simple crop. There are a few minor differences in the final image produced by Gemini after its watermark removal process, such as slightly different color temperatures and fuzzy surface details in photorealistic shots.

Computing

Google is giving free access to two of Gemini’s best AI features

Gemini Advanced on the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

Google’s Gemini AI has steadily made its way to the best of its software suite, from native Android integrations to interoperability with Workspace apps such as Gmail and Docs. However, some of the most advanced Gemini features have remained locked behind a subscription paywall.
That changes today. Google has announced that Gemini Deep Research will now be available for all users to try, alongside the ability to create custom Gem bots. You no longer need a Gemini Advanced (or Google One AI Premium) subscription to use the aforementioned tools.

The best of Gemini as an AI agent
Deep Research is an agentic tool that takes over the task of web research, saving users the hassle of visiting one web page after another, looking for relevant information. With Deep Research, you can simply put a natural language query as input, and also specify the source, if needed.

Computing

Google reacts to questionable shopping Chrome extensions

Google has updated its policies for Chrome extensions following a controversy over the Honey extension. The extension, from PayPal, has been accused by creators of misappropriating affiliate links without its users' knowledge, and Google now specifies that similar extensions are not permitted on its Chrome Web Store.

The issue regarding Honey came to light in December 2024, when YouTubers accused the extension of being a scam. The extension claimed to search through discount codes and automatically apply them to user's shopping baskets across many different websites. However, it has been accused of injecting its own affiliate links into users' purchases without their knowledge, taking revenue from content creators who also use affiliate links. In an ironic twist, this likely negatively affected the same tech influencers that Honey paid to promote its extension.