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With core expertise in applying AI to search, using existing AI technologies, and training our own models, here is our analysis of the industry landscape and our 2023 predictions for what is to come.

Searching by keywords doesn’t always get the results you want. Enter: reverse image lookup. Learn how to do a reverse image search from your smartphone or your computer.

We live in an interconnected world shaped by data and the internet. Learn what the Internet of Things (IoT) is and how it works, including its benefits and its future in society.

QR, or quick response codes are two-dimensional barcodes that can be easily read by smartphones or other camera-enabled mobile devices. They’re typically a series of black-and-white pixels in a square grid. Instead of typing in a long string of characters to get to a specific web page, you can scan the square with your camera and voilà, you’re taken to a destination on the web.

A VPN, or virtual private network, is a software tool that masks your public IP address and hides your browsing data by routing your internet traffic through a specially-configured remote server.

There’s nothing delicious about internet cookies, but they can be very useful. Cookies are little bits of data that a website puts on your computer, tablet, or phone’s web browser so that it can “remember” you as you browse, or for when you visit the site again in the future.

There are a lot of misconceptions about private browsing. While it can be useful in certain circumstances, going incognito can also give you a false sense of security and confidence if you’re unaware of its limitations.

A web browser—sometimes called an internet browser, or simply a browser—is a locally-installed software application for navigating the internet. Its main function is to retrieve and display web pages, like the one you’re reading right now. Think of your browser as your access to the internet, a window into cyberspace.

A virus can’t activate itself on its own, which means that even if you have a virus on your computer, it will just hang out there until you open the program or document that it’s sitting in.

Encryption is a way of mathematically converting a piece of information into a seemingly unreadable scramble, usually consisting of letters and figures. You can only decrypt the message, convert it back into plain, readable text, by using a special key.

A digital footprint—sometimes called a digital shadow—is the trail of data a user leaves online. It’s an unofficial and ever-growing record of your activity.

VPNs are legal in most countries around the world, but not everywhere. The technology can be contentious, especially in places where the open internet is outlawed or hard to access.

The dark web is a part of the internet that search engines don’t index and that requires special security tools to access. As a result, it can offer more privacy and may be more difficult to navigate than other parts of the internet.

A data breach is an event in which confidential or sensitive information is accessed or shared without permission.

A VPN is one of the best ways to boost your security and privacy, but it can also alter how you experience the web, making it helpful in all kinds of situations.

Originally, SSL was seen as an extra security measure rather than the norm. Sites that collected users’ information or handled sensitive data might use SSL, but other sites used non-secure HTTP instead. However, there’s been a movement toward using HTTPS for every website—including sites that don’t collect any personal data.

The increasing digitization of information and the popularity of internet of things (IoT) devices are creating new opportunities for cybercriminals—making cybersecurity an increasingly important and difficult task.

Ransomware is a digital scourge that poses a threat to you, your data and your devices. It’s essential to learn what it is so you know how to respond.

A distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack is a malicious attempt to take down a target server, application, or website by directing a barrage of unwanted internet traffic to it in order to overwhelm its server resources and thwart its online operations—to force what’s called a denial of service.

DNS is an integral part of everything you do online, and while it might seem complex, there are simple ways to think about it. In a general sense, it acts as the internet’s directory, and lets you connect to websites using words instead of numbers.

Scammers are active year-round, but clever attackers prey on your emotions, and conduct attacks particularly around stressful periods such as the holidays. But staying vigilant online during the busy shopping season can help protect your bank account and your personal information.

While there are some simple steps that you can take to protect yourself from a variety of cyberattacks—such as keeping software up to date and learning how to detect and avoid social engineering—zero-day exploits are nearly impossible to stop.

A firewall’s purpose is to establish a barrier between your internal network and an external network, like the internet. It's a gatekeeper between your virtual domain and the outside world.

Phishing is a type of social engineering attack involving fraudulent communications that appear to be from a trusted source, used to steal your private data, such as your login credentials, credit card numbers, and even your identity. Phishing can also be used to install malware on your device.

One of the consequences of our automated, always-connected world is an enormous increase in captured digital data. Data mining is the computational process of exploring and uncovering patterns and useful knowledge in large data sets, sometimes referred to as “big data.”

Securing your digital identity can feel daunting. But here’s some good news: There are steps you can take to greatly reduce the chances of your account being compromised, even if they get a hold of your username and password. One increasingly popular method? Multifactor authentication, also known as two-step verification.

Spyware can collect everything from your browsing history, usernames and passwords, location, and financial information. It can even engage your camera and microphone, record your communications, and access your encrypted messages.

There are dozens of types of social engineering attacks, some with humorous names. But make no mistake—they’re not funny business. The success of these techniques hinges on the recipient taking an action the attacker wants them to take—so knowing how to recognize these techniques can help you avoid them.

The unfortunate truth is that not every domain on the web is safe. That’s why it’s important to view any unfamiliar website you consider visiting as a potential risk. This includes URLs that you receive in email, links on web pages, web ads, pop-up ads, and even videos that you click on.

In the same way the human flu interferes with the normal functioning of the body, malware interferes with the functioning of a computer system or network. Learning more about it can help you keep your devices ‘healthy’ and your data secure.

Adware may not seem as dangerous as other types of malware (malicious software), like ransomware or spyware, but it is far more common than any other type of malware—and it’s becoming even more prevalent.

End-to-end encryption is considered the most secure way to transfer data online. More and more users and services are turning to it. What is it exactly? And how does it work?

While useful in some cases, incognito mode is a browser feature whose name can also convey a false sense of privacy. Learn about the limitations of incognito mode, as well as the best ways to use it.

Proponents of net neutrality say that without regulations, internet service providers (ISPs) have an outsized say over what succeeds online and what doesn’t; they can charge users extra to visit certain sites, demand fees from sites for full speed delivery, or privilege their sites over those of competitors.

If you use its devices, apps and services, Google is following your movements and noting your whereabouts in order to serve you targeted ads online. Thankfully, there are ways you can disable or restrict Google’s location tracking.

VPNs are one of many tools you can use to protect your personal data online. They work in conjunction with protective measures like strong passwords, secure HTTP connections, anti-malware tools, and regular software updates. Let’s get into what you need to know about VPNs.

Internet speeds can be affected by various factors, and a single choke point can slow down your entire system. Understanding what might be impacting your internet speeds can be an important first step in solving the problem.

Third-party cookies have become notorious as the primary way for advertisers to track users’ movements across the internet and serve intrusive ads. But they also provide websites with critical functionality, and the alternatives may be even bigger threats to our privacy.

Most web-enabled devices like laptops and smartphones come with a default web browser, which comes with a default search engine. Changing your browser’s default search engine can improve your browsing experience by giving you more control over your search results, and can even help protect your data and privacy.

HTTP stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. It’s a formally defined set of rules for communication between a client (the network resource requesting data or services) and a server (the resource that receives and responds to the request).

Browser cookies—also known as HTTP cookies, internet cookies, or just “cookies”—have a huge impact on the way that we experience the internet, but when they’re being used, and how they work, can be unclear.

Your web browser is the portal through which you access the web, your window into cyberspace. Knowing more about browsers can help you choose the one that works best for you and your privacy.

The California Consumer Privacy Act is the only active data privacy law in the United States. Learn how this landmark legislation came into existence and how it affects you.

Big Tech censorship is the idea that major tech companies can have gatekeeper power over what we do on their platforms. So what happens when so few set the rules of the web for so many?

When you type a query into any search engine and hit “enter,” you receive a list of results—that’s the SERP. It sounds simple enough, but as search engines have evolved, so has the SERP.

Your internet service provider monitors all of the data you share and receive online. What your ISP can see depends on what type of websites you visit, what type of search engine you use, and if you use a VPN.

As of June 2021, these are six of the highest-profile antitrust cases aimed at Google.

There are many reasons to learn more about these ubiquitous strings of numbers—especially when your privacy is involved.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is legislation passed by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union that regulates the ways in which companies or organizations can collect and use your data.

A search engine is software designed to retrieve specific information. Using a search engine is easy: You open up a web page, type a few words into the search bar, and voilà—millions of results appear, in a fraction of a second.

Personalization is the process of tailoring a product or experience to a specific individual. Since personalization isn’t always transparent, here are some of the ways in which your day-to-day experience of the internet is personalized just for you.

Online safety requires a multi-pronged approach that takes into account all of your online activities. Here’s how to get started.

If it feels like your internet experience is anything but private, rest assured: There are some simple fixes for regaining some of your privacy online.

For any given ad you see on a website, there’s a decent chance that Google has something to do with it. Fortunately, there are some strategies for depersonalizing and reducing the volume of Google ads you see.

Retargeting is a form of targeted advertising in which you are served display ads for specific products or brands that you have previously viewed. It is now extremely widespread. But how did we get here?

Given the growing ubiquity of Google products, it seems plausible that the tech giant could know everything there is to know about you. Here’s how to find out exactly what Google knows, what they might do with that information, and how to increase your privacy on the web.

According to a 2019 survey by Consumer Reports, 43 percent of Americans believe their phone is recording their conversations without permission—and they’re not wrong.

Online ads are everywhere: They follow you around as you read the news, check social media, and search for information; and they can be eerily relevant, reminding you of things you’ve forgotten to buy, or services that seem tailor-made for you.

Search engines have gotten so good at providing information, that we forget to question how that information was selected for us, and if that selection could be biased. Understanding the nature of this bias and considering alternative search engines can help you get the most out of search.

Mainstream search engines come at a price: Your privacy. If the idea of search engines tracking and profiting off your personal information makes you feel uncomfortable, you’re not alone.