Europe is tightening supervision of large tech companies such as Google and Meta

Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and other major tech companies will be subject to the European Digital Service Act (DSA) from August. European Commissioner Thierry Breton reports this on Tuesday. The law should ensure that residents of the European Union are better protected online.

Many internet companies use information from users to show targeted advertisements. This is done, among other things, on the basis of searches and website visits that the companies register.

Under the DSA, companies are no longer allowed to use sensitive data from users for this purpose. This concerns, for example, religion, sexual preference and ethnicity. Minors are not allowed to see personalized advertisements at all.

Governments can crack down on illegal content

Thanks to the new legislation, EU member states can force online platforms to remove illegal content. This concerns, for example, disinformation and messages that spread terrorism, child abuse or hate.

In addition, companies must establish rules for dealing with illegal messages. Large platforms such as Facebook and Google have already drawn up such rules in recent years. This is now mandatory for all tech companies.

This year is a transitional period. The DSA will be fully effective on November 17, 2024. Then each EU member state must also have appointed a coordinator for digital services. This is an independent regulator for compliance with the DSA. The coordinator can also impose fines for violations.

Microsoft sees demand for hardware fall and cloud services become more popular

Windows, Xbox and other Microsoft devices have yielded very little in the past quarter. The hardware market is struggling after the considerable sales during the corona years. But Microsoft got help from continued demand for cloud services.

Microsoft received less revenue last quarter from manufacturers who pay the company to put Windows on laptops and PCs. Those revenues fell 28 percent from last year, according to Microsoft's quarterly figures.

These are difficult times for the computer market anyway. Analysts IDC and Canalys already wrote that last quarter worldwide a third fewer computers were shipped than a year earlier.

Other hardware from Microsoft, such as computer accessories and the HoloLens, also yielded less. In that area, the company reports a decrease of 30 percent. Xbox is not one of them. However, profits from the sale of Xbox hardware, such as game computers and controllers, also fell by 30 percent.

Microsoft earned slightly more (3 percent) from Xbox games and services. This is mainly due to the growth of Xbox Game Pass. With that subscription service, customers get unlimited access to a game library.

The company did not disclose specific numbers about Game Pass. The last update comes from January 2022. Then the service had 25 million subscribers.

AI features make Bing more popular

Microsoft's total turnover increased by 7 percent to 52.9 billion dollars (48 billion euros). The sale of software and cloud services helped the company with this. For example, the cloud service Azure grew by 27 percent, more than the 26.6 percent analysts predicted.

Microsoft will be investing even more in artificial intelligence in the near future. The company has invested heavily in OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. As a result, the Microsoft Edge browser now has the Bing AI chatbot, which helps users find information on the internet.

Bing now has 100 million daily users, Microsoft director Satya Nadella previously announced. After the addition of AI features, the number of browser downloads increased.

Google's search engine and advertising branch are under pressure, but turnover is still rising

Google parent company Alphabet is feeling increasing competition from other companies in the video and search space. Advertisements again yielded less for Alphabet. Still, the company managed to turn in more sales than analysts had expected.

The sale of online advertisements via Google has long been an important source of income for Alphabet. But that income is declining, according to the quarterly figures . Companies spend less and less money at Google on online advertising. For example, advertising revenues at YouTube declined.

Google's search engine yielded 1.87 percent more than in the same quarter last year. But that increase is much smaller than in previous years. For example, Alphabet reported a growth of more than 24 percent in the first quarter of 2022. In 2021, growth will be more than 30 percent.

Alphabet faces a lot of competition. For example, YouTube competes against video apps like TikTok. Furthermore, Microsoft is trying to lure users away from the Google search engine with its Bing chatbot. It searches the internet using artificial intelligence.

Google is also working on its own AI functions in its search engine, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai emphasized when announcing its quarterly figures. He promises to put even more money into it in the near future.

The company recently presented its own chatbot, but this 'Bard' is still seen as an experiment. Also, the program is not yet available worldwide.

Cloud services contribute to growth

Despite the increasing competition, turnover at Alphabet rose by 3 percent in the past quarter compared to last year. This is an increase from 68.9 billion dollars (62.7 billion euros) to 69.8 billion dollars.

Analysts had actually expected lower sales. The windfall is mainly due to growing revenues from Alphabet's cloud services.

In January, Alphabet announced that it would cut around twelve thousand jobs worldwide due to the weakening economy and reduced advertising revenues. That amounted to 6 percent of the workforce. Because of the cost of those job cuts, Alphabet set aside $2.6 billion in the first quarter.

New unauthorized transfer scam, check your bank accounts

A scam involving unauthorized transfers is developing in France. Drawing

Attention, a new scam with unauthorized direct debits has been identified in the territory. In an alert launched on Tuesday , the Signal Arnaques site indicates that "unauthorized direct debits are arriving en masse on the accounts of many witnesses", relays RTL . Several testimonials have been listed on the community site for protection against Internet scams , stressing that European direct debits (SEPA) from unknown service providers were visible on their account.

A person indicates, for example, "one-off deductions of 375 euros for maintenance work" from a company that he does not know. The amounts recorded can reach 600 euros for other victims.

An IBAN file in the possession of the crooks?

The common point of all these samples: a company called ENS which, in the wording of the operations, indicates that it has carried out maintenance work. According to the Signal-Arnaques site, the scammers were able to get their hands on a file containing the IBANs of French customers. Thanks to this document, they were able to ask the banks to make direct debits for fictitious work, without having the authorizations.

The sums being “relatively” small, the victims do not always notice it. “Any unauthorized direct debits in the EEA less than 13 months old must be reimbursed to you by your bank. It is up to the bank to provide proof of authorization, ”explains the specialized site. It is therefore recommended to alert your banking establishment as soon as possible in the event of observed fraud.