To celebrate its 15th birthday, tech giant Google has unveiled an update to its search algorithm that would affect 90% of queries. But before the SEO industry could go into meltdown - Google SVP Amrit Singhal revealed that the update had been in place for almost a month.

An anonymous source purporting to work for Google has suggested that third party cookies - collected for targeted advertising - will be replaced with a new software not unlike Apple's iAd, which collates mobile data. Safari has blocked third-party cookies since 2003.

The 425 million users of Google's popular email service Gmail should have no "reasonable expectation" that their messages remain private, the Californian search giant has told a United States court.

The reform of Google's search practices in the EU were yesterday rejected by the European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia in a parliamentary hearing.

Despite last week's exoneration of any wrongdoing by a United States federal investigation, Google now faces renewed scrutiny ahead of the ruling by the European Commission.