Maps will soon let you use a nickname and select an alternative profile picture for online reviews, so you can rate a business without linking it to full name and Google profile photo. Google says it will monitor for "suspicious and fake reviews," and every review is still associated with an account on Google's backend, which it believes will discourage bad actors.
Amazon has announced a new tool called "Help Me Decide" that assists you in finding the perfect product for your needs. Also: Your Amazon deliveries got 3 major upgrades. Here's what's new (and why you'll want to try it) As the company explains, the feature uses AI (large language models and AWS services like Amazon Bedrock, Amazon OpenSearch, and Amazon SageMaker) to analyze product details and customer reviews and then accounts for your previous purchases and personal preferences to make a recommendation specific to you.
X is testing a change to the way it handles links on iOS so that the buttons to like, reply, and repost will always be visible. Normally, when you click a link on X the page opens up and completely covers the original post. Apparently, this leads to fewer people clicking like or otherwise engaging with the content. A good chunk of people probably just don't return to Twitter at all after following an external link.
The forecast, released today and based on data drawn from Salesforce platforms Commerce Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Service Cloud and Agentforce, predicts that global ecommerce sales in November and December will reach a record $1.25 trillion, an increase worldwide of 4%. In the U.S., online sales are projected to increase 2.1%. "The way consumers are shopping is changing at a fundamental level," the report states, noting that AI and agents are projected to drive 21% of all holiday orders globally, resulting in $263 billion in sales.
On the user side, the most significant change is a test that allows readers to open article links directly in the Reddit app, with Reddit comments from other users pinned to the bottom. In other words, you can scroll through an article while reading Reddit comments. Reddit spokesperson Courtney Geesey-Dorr told The Verge that the feature respects publisher paywalls, meaning some users may hit subscriber-only content; some publications may opt to share unlocked gift links or soften their paywalls for Reddit users.