All members of the Federal Trade Commission cast their vote to support a consent verdict that will let Google settle the agency’s inquiry but confess no responsibility. However, an official announcement is expected within days. It was alleged that Google used ‘cookies’ computer code to trick Apple’s Safari browser so it could monitor users who had blocked such tracking. However, Google said the tracking was unintentional and that it collected no personal information such as names, addresses or credit card data. This settlement by the top search engine provider, Google, was expected for more than a month now. This settlement has put an end to one of the growing list of legal conflicts Google faces from regulators in the U.S. and in Europe. Mellissa Mayer who recently joined Yahoo as CEO last month is believed to make Yahoo a lot like Google. She has changed the focus at Yahoo to emphasize products and not stock performance. The removal of the stock ticker from Yahoo’s home page is also noted. Facebook has also launched e-mail to report phishing with the launch of a new e-mail address, phish@fb.com, where users can report scams. Some people believe that the e-mail address was set up to fight the growing problem these social networks face from spammers. Various hackers try to attach on companies’ brands to trick people into giving up their log-in details. As some people use the same passwords for various services, the scams become easier for hackers, who can try to log in to banking and other websites.
