Google launches a new hub to streamline security, privacy, and account management This week at Google I/O, Google announced its new center of control for privacy and security, My Account. Google noted that security and privacy are “two sides of the same coin,” and therefore, are giving users the ability to quickly access and control both from one place. My Account brings two new options, the Privacy Checkup and Security Checkup, to simplify and guide users through the array of settings available to them. You can also manage settings normally used to enhance your search history, such as Web/App activity […]
This week in web perf news the IRS website was used to steal over 100,000 tax returns, Google rolled out algorithm adjustments to remove offensive Google Maps results, Bing added how-old.net to its image search, and Google and Bing announced their searches will be indexing apps across multiple devices. Criminals used IRS website to steal massive amount of tax information A sophisticated breach of the IRS website that helped criminals gain access to tax returns of up to 100,000 people this week. The IRS disclosed that they believe the breach originated in Russia. The criminals used the personal information of […]
This week Bing announced it will add its own mobile-friendliness algorithm to its search results, WordPress released a security update, Google added a new Search Analytics report for web developers, and the FCC denied delay of net neutrality rules. Bing will roll out its own mobile-friendly algorithm in the upcoming months This week Bing announced they would be following Google’s lead, but are taking a slightly different approach to mobile-friendly search rankings. Bing announced in November that they were investing in mobile-friendly pages, and have since added “Mobile-friendly” tags to relevant sites, resulting in positive user feedback. However, Bing will […]
Live streaming apps steal traffic from the pay-per-view Mayweather/Pacquiao fight Over the weekend dozens of live streams of the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight were available through Periscope, a fairly new app owned by Twitter. Because apps like Periscope and Meerkat record and broadcast live, it is more challenging to shut down live streams of TV footage before users see them. HBO and Showtime, who co-produced the pay-per-view boxing match were required to alert Twitter of illegal streams of the so called fight of the century, while many media firms say it should be the app’s responsibility to police the live streaming of […]
This week in web performance, we take a look at the Mobile World Congress highlights and Google’s new developments in quantum computing. Barcelona hosts Mobile World Congress This week, the 2015 Mobile World Congress brought 93,000 attendees to Barcelona, Spain with over 2,000 exhibitors and 3,800 analysts. Over 40 keynotes were given, featuring Mark Zuckerberg and Tom Wheeler, GSMA hosted the GSMA Seminar Program and highlighted the Connected Living innovations, and the 20th Annual Global Mobile Awards recognized outstanding industry leaders. This event reminded us that it’s the Internet of Everything era, with smart cars, appliances, vending machines and even […]
It’s a great week on the internet! This week in web performance the preservation of net neutrality and new announcements from Google and Apple make headlines. FCC votes to preserve net neutrality, classifying broadband as a utility Yesterday the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to approve the proposed net neutrality rules for both wireless and fixed broadband. The proposed rules will disallow paid prioritization, as well as the blocking and throttling of lawful content and services. After overwhelming public outcry, this win for advocates of net neutrality is being called “the free speech victory of our times” and “an […]
Super Bowl ads crashing websites isn’t a new story. But it is one that deserves a bit of attention about this time every year. Back in 1999, Victoria’s Secret made a big splash with their Super Bowl Ad. The ad was one of the very first ever to tie in TV and web. It promoted an online lingerie fashion show and over a million viewers logged on to watch. . . crashing the site. Since then, using Super Bowl ads to drive traffic to a website has become a very popular marketing technique. Many companies use the massive marketing power […]
In light of the recent Sony hack, security should be on every web developer’s mind. This cyber attack, which is being called “the worst cyber attack in U.S. history” by Sony’s CEO, is a perfect example of why security is something we all need to take seriously. An enormous amount of personal and financial information was revealed for millions of customers. As we grow increasingly aware of these occurrence, we as developers need to go forward with the mindset that people will be trying to access our data. As the internet and technology permeates throughout physical stores, our information is […]
Click to Zoom Experiment: When it comes to web performance, study after study has proven: fast and scalable wins the race. But with thousands of WordPress hosting providers, how do you know which one is fast and scalable? That is where ReviewSignal.com comes in. Their business is all about helping people identify which hosting provider is the best choice for them. Kevin Ohashi from ReviewSignal has been working with LoadStorm to run a series of load tests on some of the top WordPress hosting providers to determine which is the best for companies who need scalable websites. Our performance engineers […]
Here at LoadStorm, we’re happy to announce one of our newest, free features! Are you interested in web development? Have you creating your own site? QuickStorms are a great tool to get initial insight into site performance, and can also be used as a tool to benchmark performance before making performance enhancements on your site. What is a QuickStorm? QuickStorms are small, short load tests that can be used to evaluate site performance. All you have to do is enter your site’s URL. LoadStorm will generate a load test against the URL, scaling from 1 – 10 virtual users over […]