Google Search saw its highest traffic ever during the World Cup 2022 Final

Google Search recorded the highest traffic in its 25-year history during the FIFA World Cup yesterday, CEO Sundar Pichai tweeted. Google effectively became an information hub for the final, a strong contender for the best in FIFA men’s history. With records already smashed for group stage and Round of 16 matches, it’s also likely to be the most watched final in history once figures are released. 

With updated Search features released ahead of the World Cup, Google made it easier for users to keep up with the action. Searching “World Cup” showed a dedicated section at the top with a list of upcoming matches, for instance, including dates and local times. You could also set up notifications on mobile for specific teams by tapping the bell icon and choosing the squad you wanted to follow.

It was also aided by the nail-biting action and strong storylines. Those include Lionel Messi finally getting his World Cup, Kylian Mbappe’s legendary performance, France’s late second-half comeback, an incredible extra time with two goals scored and a nerve-wracking shootout. All of that was capped by the celebrations and outpouring of emotions by players and fans alike. 

Sonos filing hints that its next speakers will support WiFi 6

Sonos has never used WiFi 6 in its products, but a speaker with that feature has just passed through the FCC, Zatz Not Funny! has reported. Dubbed S39, it also offers full Bluetooth that could be used for audio streaming on top of Bluetooth LE normally used for WiFi pairing. Another product, the S41, reportedly appeared on a regulatory filing in Canada. 

The S39 model could be a successor to the Sonos One second-generation speaker released back in 2019. Both may also be the first products in a rumored “Optimo” lineup of high-end speakers reported by The Verge earlier this year. The Optimo 2 speaker (possibly a replacement for the Sonos Five) is supposed to support both WiFi and Bluetooth streaming, so that report lines up with the FCC filing. It could also have a USB-C wired line-in port, making it one of the few Sonos speakers with that feature. 

WiFi 6 and 6E could allow for more dependable streaming, particularly when using multiple speakers. Bluetooth, meanwhile, let you play music directly from a smartphone or other device. So far, Bluetooth streaming has only been present on Sonos’ portable speakers. It’s all still speculation until the products arrive, but given the FCC approvals, they should be coming soon. 

YouTube removes Pornhub channel over ‘multiple violations’

YouTube has removed PornHub’s official channel over what it called “multiple violations” of its community guidelines, Variety has reported. Pornhub’s YouTube channel first launched in 2014 and had 900,000 subscribers, but it no longer appears in YouTube search and its URL now shows a 404 error. 

YouTube said that Pornhub violated its policy against linking to sites that host content not allowed on YouTube. “Upon review, we terminated the channel Pornhub Official following multiple violations of our community guidelines,” a spokesperson said. “We enforce our policies equally for everyone, and channels that repeatedly violate or are dedicated to violative content are terminated.”

Pornhub’s parent MindGeek said that it “vehemently denied” YouTubes claims that it linked out to porn sites. “Pornhub maintains the absolute best trust and safety measures on the internet and takes special care to ensure it does not violate any of YouTube’s Community Guidelines,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Unfortunately, this is just the latest example of discrimination against those in the adult industry.”

On Friday, the anti-pornography group National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) wrote on its blog that it had flagged content that it believed violated YouTube policies. “After review, YouTube alerted NCOSE that they had terminated the channel for violations of their Community Guidelines.” MindGeek, meanwhile, said that performers and sex workers are marginalized groups and called YouTube’s “haphazard and arbitrary enforcement… dangerous and harmful.” 

Mastercard and Visa cut off payments to Pornhub in 2020, with Mastercard saying at the time that it found illegal content on the site. A federal judge refused to remove Visa from a lawsuit alleging that it aided MindGeek in monetizing child pornography. In September, Instagram banned Pornhub permanently, also citing violations of community guidelines.