Today's newsletter is the story of how Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's former head of ads - led a coup so that he could run Google Search, and how an email chain from 2019 began a cascade of events that would lead to him running it into the ground.

wheresyoured.at/the-men-who-ki…

This is what happens when:

1⃣No one trusts you on privacy.
2⃣You don’t actually care about privacy.
3⃣You couldn’t find a way to force people to use it.

techradar.com/phones/google-…

Three new major DuckDuckGo privacy protections bundled together in our first subscription service! People have wanted a VPN from us for a long time and Personal Information Removal and Identity Theft Restoration take our protections even further. duckduckgo.com/pro

Privacy-focused company DuckDuckGo is launching a tool to remove data from people-search websites, a VPN, and an identity theft restoration service. wired.trib.al/NJ0NwpN

DuckDuckGo unveils a $10 Privacy Pro plan with a no-log VPN engadget.com/duckduckgo-unv…

DuckDuckGo unveils a $10 Privacy Pro plan with a no-log VPN engt.co/43YSM4T

DuckDuckGo launches Privacy Pro, a new $9.99 per month service with a VPN, personal information removal, and identity theft restoration, available in the US (Matt Burgess / Wired)

wired.com/story/duckduck…

📫 Subscribe: techmeme.com/newsletter?fro…
techmeme.com/240411/p12#a24…

📣 We're excited to introduce...

DuckDuckGo Privacy Pro: three new protections bundled into one easy subscription. Subscribers get:

✅ An Anonymous VPN
✅ Personal Information Removal
✅ Identity Theft Restoration

Learn more 👇 spreadprivacy.com/meetprivacypro/

Another excellent thoughtful take from David Pierce. Combine this with Google’s monopoly power and control over key distribution points for search, Google is holding the pen on the future of search and can write whatever they want.

theverge.com/24111326/ai-se…

People hate cookie pop-ups. In DuckDuckGo's browsers we automatically select the most private option for you and close them out. More privacy. Less annoyance.
wired.com/story/cookie-p…

Little tech will win 💪

Today's the big day. I can't believe it, really, for so many reasons. All I can say is that Great Expectations is the best thing I've written so far, and I'm so happy to get to share it with you. Get it here, or at a bookstore near you: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/690565/g…

Do you live in the EU? Do you use an iPhone, Pixel, or planning to buy a new smartphone soon?

If so, prepare to answer a question you may have never seen before: What search engine or browser would you like to be your default?

If you care about your privacy, pick DuckDuckGo.

Happening now: Amy Klobuchar speaking on the Senate Floor about the absolute necessity of funding Antitrust Division. Thank you Senator for fighting for #antitrust to take on #BigTech

Rules of thumb for Antitrust remedies:
1. No Wimpy Remedies - fines and milquetoast consent decrees don't change or open industries
2. Aim for Growth - opening markets should be the goal
3. Consider Quarantines and Tiebreakers - horizontal breakups can be…

I’m delighted to announce that today I’m launching a new nonprofit journalism studio: Proof News.

Proof is into proving things! We question, test, and investigate the most important issues. We will always tell you what we know and what we don’t know. proofnews.org

Fascinating demo by ⁦Kamyl Bazbaz⁩ at ⁦DuckDuckGo⁩ showing how **ridiculously difficult** it is to switch off ⁦Google⁩’s default search engine on a phone. “Don’t let the fox guard the henhouse.” #RemedyFest

🚀Join us TOMORROW 9:30AM-4PM ET for #RemedyFest , cohosted by YC & Bloomberg Beta. Uniting policymakers & tech experts amid major regulatory shifts: youtube.com/@RemedyFest

ft J.D. Vance, Elizabeth Warren, Lina Khan, Tim Wu, Bharat Ramamurti, Kara Frederick, Soren Iverson

Oh no. Justice Depts 509 page proposed Findings of Fact for closing arguments in antitrust trial vs Google just posted. Friday! What gets unsealed will likely be most interesting stuff. I’ll read in full regardless after dinner.
A Brief peek. Yes, Google has monopoly power. /1

Big Tech's big lobby:

“NetChoice’s total revenue jumped from just over $3 million in 2020 to $34 million in 2022, according to public tax records. The group also has built a lobbying presence in 26 states, and opened a new litigation center last year.” news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-re…