A year after launching its ultra-low-price digital shopping destination Haul as a tab on its website and app, e-commerce giant Amazon is launching a standalone app called Amazon Bazaar that sells the same inventory. The Amazon Bazaar standalone will initially bow in 14 additional territories, bringing the total availability of the company’s ultra-low-priced inventory to 25. Haul sells a wide range of fashion, home goods, and lifestyle products, most priced under $10, and some as low as $2. The app has helped Amazon compete with Chinese bargain sites Shein, Temu and TikTok Shop. Continue reading Low-Price Retail App Amazon Bazaar Launches in 14 Regions

Squarespace, the platform launched in 2003 for website development and operation, is getting a refresh aimed at helping entrepreneurs and creative professionals incorporate more personalization and AI features. The ability to build websites via chat is coming soon. AI Optimization (AIO) for search is another focus. The company has partnered with AI answer engine Perplexity to serve as the website building and hosting partner for Perplexity’s new browser, Comet. Squarespace has also launched Finish Layer, a design suite with capabilities for animation, transforms, and advanced editing to help websites add “immersive experiences with professional-grade customization.” Continue reading Squarespace Partners with Perplexity, Debuts Chat Site Builder

New York State Attorney General Letitia James has released proposed rules that would restrict minors from exposure to addictive features on social media pursuant to the Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act, signed into state law last year to “protect the mental health of children.” The law, which is expected to take effect sometime next year, requires social media companies that supply addictive content to use an age verification system with results “certified by a verified third-party.” Absent parental consent, platform operators must restrict users under 18 from receiving addictive or algorithmically personalized feeds and nighttime notifications. Continue reading SAFE for Kids Act: NY State Attorney Opens Comment Period

Microsoft has entered into a five-year strategic partnership with the Premier League, replacing Oracle as the British football association’s official cloud partner in addition to providing AI services. Premier League mobile and web apps will begin featuring a chatbot powered by Copilot and Microsoft AI, which will also be used for the league’s fantasy games. The Premier League says it has 1.8 billion fans in 189 countries and claims to be “the world’s most-watched football league.” Microsoft will also help modernize the League’s technical infrastructure, both internally and in broadcast operations. Continue reading Microsoft Nets British Premier League as Cloud and AI Client

Cloudflare, which spent the past year introducing tools to help content providers prevent unwanted AI scraping, is launching a marketplace that lets websites charge for the privilege of using a “pay-per-crawl” model. The Internet infrastructure and security company says it is the first to enable blocking AI crawlers by default, providing access only with permission and, if wanted, compensation. As of July 1, AI companies can use Cloudflare’s marketplace to “clearly state their purpose — if their crawlers are used for training, inference, or search — to help website owners decide which crawlers to allow.” Continue reading Cloudflare Pay-per-Crawl Lets Publishers Monetize Scrapes

Design software startup Figma is rolling out new products and AI upgrades that aim to make the company a one-stop creative ecosystem for taking projects from concept to execution without any third-party apps. At its flagship Figma Config event in San Francisco, the company introduced new products for branded marketing, digital illustration, website building and AI coding, all designed to compete with leaders in the field. “In a world where software is growing exponentially, design is a differentiator that will make great companies and products stand out,” said Figma CEO and co-founder Dylan Field. Continue reading Figma Intros AI-Powered Web Building App, Marketing Tools

Popular website hosting platform WordPress.com has launched an AI website builder that can facilitate creation of a relatively simple website in just a few minutes. Free to anyone who registers for an account, the tool uses a chat-style interface, making website building “as simple as having a conversation,” according to the company, which says the new feature “takes your input and instantly creates a fully designed, content-ready WordPress website, complete with text, layouts, and images.” At the moment, the tool is not able to create a complex site that requires e-commerce or other integrations. Continue reading WordPress AI Website Builder a Free Solution for Basic Sites

U.S. Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-California) has introduced a bill to thwart foreign-run pirate websites from exploiting loopholes in U.S. law. H.R. 791 — the Foreign Anti-Digital Piracy Act (FADPA) — would allow copyright holders to seek court orders requiring U.S. ISPs to block websites operated by foreign infringers who “present a massive and growing threat — costing American jobs, harming the creative community, and exposing consumers to dangerous security risks.” Lofgren said she worked with members of the tech, film and television industries to craft a proposal that remedies copyright violation without disrupting the free Internet for law abiders. Continue reading MPA Supports Lofgren’s Bill Targeting Foreign Digital Pirates

Cloudflare has released AI Audit, a free set of new tools designed to help websites analyze and control how their content is used by artificial intelligence models. Described as “one-click blocking” to prevent unauthorized AI scraping, Cloudflare says it will also make it easier to identify the content bots scan most, so they can wall it off and negotiate payment in exchange for access. Helping its clients toward a sustainable future, Cloudflare is also creating a marketplace for sites to negotiate fees based on AI audits that trace cyber footprints on server files. Continue reading Cloudflare Tool Can Prevent AI Bots from Scraping Websites

Google announced that the latest update to Password Manager now enables users to sync their passkeys across multiple devices. Previously, Google passkeys could only be easily saved to Password Manager on Android, limiting cross-device utility. Scanning a QR code on an Android device was previously required to use passkeys on non-native platforms. The update makes it possible to use Google Password Manager on desktop systems that run Windows, macOS and Linux. ChromeOS is currently being beta tested and Google says iOS support is “coming soon.” Continue reading Google Debuts Secure Passkey Sync Feature Across Devices

In an effort to create a safer environment for teens, social platform Snapchat is providing educators with resources to familiarize them with the app and help them understand how students use it. The company has launched a website called “An Educator’s Guide to Snapchat.” The announcement, timed to the start of the new school year, comes as lawmakers have been pressuring social networks to do more to protect children, with Florida and Indiana going so far as to enact school cell phone bans. Legislators in California and New York have been exploring similar prohibitions. Continue reading Snapchat Puts Focus on Teen Safety Resources for Teachers

WordPress parent Automattic has launched Write Brief with AI to help make documents more concise. Available for free to WordPress.com users, Write Brief with AI measures “readability,” suggests edits and will even make them for you. It identifies complex words and offers alternatives and focuses on simplifying convoluted sentences — all from within the editor function in the WordPress dashboard. Write Brief with AI is now built-in to Jetpack for those who host through WordPress.com, available only in English, though the company says it is working to expand language support. Continue reading WordPress Introduces AI Assistant to Help Users with Writing

Google’s multimodal Gemini large language model will offer chat capabilities that help advertisers build and scale Search campaigns within the Google Ads platform using natural language prompts. “We’ve been actively testing Gemini to further enhance our ads solutions, and, we’re pleased to share that Gemini is now powering the conversational experience,” Google said, explaining the functionality is now available in beta to English language advertisers in the U.S., UK and will be rolling out globally to all English language advertisers over the next few weeks, with additional languages offered in the months ahead. Continue reading Conversational Chatbot Optimizes Google Ads, Search Results

Google is rolling out three new tools to verify images and search results. “About this image,” Fact Check Explorer and Search Generative Experience (SGE) all add context to Google Search results. “About this image” is rolling out globally to English-language users as part of the Google Search UI. Available in beta since summer, Fact Check Explorer will let journalists and professional fact checkers delve into an image or topic more deeply via API. Search Generative Experience lets GenAI investigate and share results about websites by populating source descriptions for some targets that will appear in “more about this page.” Continue reading Google Taps AI for Tools to Help Authenticate Search Results

With Netflix ceasing DVD rent-by-mail operations as of September 29, a market opportunity has been identified by Seattle, Washington-based independent Scarecrow Video, which wants to step into the role vacated by the streaming giant. Described as the largest remaining video retailer in the U.S., Scarecrow began experimenting with a rent-by-mail program in 2019, offering DVDs and Blu-ray Discs delivered to mailboxes across the country. While rare titles are excepted from the rent-by-mail program, and applications to participate in the program must be individually approved, Scarecrow has proclaimed the program a success. Continue reading Indie Video Store Tries to Fill Netflix DVD-by-Mail Rental Role