8 ms·

> Bard isn’t currently supported in your country. Stay tuned! When Google was a startup and even a decade in they managed to treat everyone the same. Today th

> Bard isn’t currently supported in your country. Stay tuned! When Google was a startup and even a decade in they managed to treat everyone the same. Today this has went backwards like everything else Google it seems.

cookie_monsta 3y ago
Working in Australia, too
MegaDeKay 3y ago
"Google Bard now open to use..." in the USA only, apparently. At least it is not working north of the border yet.
- msravi 3y ago
  Works in India
- johneth 3y ago
  Seems to also work in the UK.
  - waboremo 3y ago
    UK and US were the only countries with Bard access before today iirc!
- nevi-me 3y ago
  I'm in South Africa and I'm able to use it. Not connected to a VPN, and I've just checked that my public IP is my static IP address. They announced that it's now available in 180+ countries in English.
  - gpm 3y ago
    I'm in Canada (apparently like MegaDeKay) and unable to use it. Either that 180+ country rollout isn't complete, or I guess they have something against Canada('s laws) in particular. Edit: Amusingly using a VPS provided by google as a proxy is enough to get around this.
    - cbhl 3y ago
      Typically, Canada, among other things, requires localization in French to satisfy the laws in Quebec.
- TheWoodsy 3y ago
  Works in Australia
- yreg 3y ago
  Doesn't work in Austria and Slovakia.
- another_kel 3y ago
  Works in Georgia(country, not state)
- Lutzb 3y ago
  Not working in Germany.
- yougane 3y ago
  Works in Morocco
kyrra 3y ago
The problem of being a massive company is that everyone wants to sue you. They could want to sue you for money. Or maybe sue you because they think you are bad. Whatever the reason, when you're Google's size, you need to make sure you're compliant with every local regulation before you launch anything or someone may come after you. Googler, opinions are my own.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- withinboredom 3y ago
  Such a US-centric way of thinking. Not every country is as sue-happy as the US.
  - killerdhmo 3y ago
    lol dude, Google is being sued in like a dozen countries https://qz.com/google-is-in-a-world-of-trouble-from-governments-everyw-1849708614 https://qz.com/google-is-in-a-world-of-trouble-from-governme... (and this article is from last year)
    - skinkestek 3y ago
      And for very good reasons. The way to avoid lawsuits in civilized countries is to avoid breaking the laws east and west. Start with the GDPR: There is no competent lawyer that doesn't understand the basics of GDPR, there are only companies that are testing if they can get away by playing dumb.
      - scarmig 3y ago
        Avoiding breaking the law, here, means not allowing users in those countries to use services.
        smolder 3y ago
capableweb 3y ago
No, that never been true. People in the US have always been prioritised, just like Google Chrome users always been prioritised too.
xxpor 3y ago
GDPR didn't exist when Google was a startup.
- kleiba 3y ago
  Google probably played a central part in why the GDPR came into existence.
  - xxpor 3y ago
    But that's exactly the point. They were able to make things available WW because they did stuff the EU didn't like.
endisneigh 3y ago
> When Google was a startup and even a decade in they managed to treat everyone the same. > Today this has went backwards like everything else Google it seems. Google is not a startup. What's the point of comparing it to when it was 100 employees? Not to mention the regulatory changes that have occurred...
throw8383833jj 3y ago
there are legitimate technical reasons as to why a roll out would happen for one place rather than everywhere at once. I just think it's remarkable how people can take any piece of good news and find the most negative interpretation of it.
- transcriptase 3y ago
  When you get excited, click a link, and get a “we’ve blocked your region and don’t care to explain why” message, it’s tough to have any response but a negative one.
nullityrofl 3y ago
A decade ago GDPR didn't exist. Legislation has consequences.
- steve-benjamins 3y ago
  It’s not just Europe that’s blocked
  - nullityrofl 3y ago
    GDPR was just an example. I was suggesting that the 2023 regulatory environment looks very dissimilar to the 2013 one. The company is bigger and is a bigger target of lawsuits as well and there's some precedent that European rollouts will be more difficult (like with Italy's ChatGPT ban). Though the release does say 180 countries and with rollouts like this it tends to be staged so I wouldn't be surprised if some folks in this thread (i.e.. the person from Canada) are just hitting a cache.
ohgodplsno 3y ago
That's the Google experience, even for extremely minor things. App Actions ? Not available outside the US. Nevermind, now it is, but only en_US can get custom actions recognized. If only it worked well at least in the US, but from what I can hear, it's just like in the rest of the world: a disappointing, bland, unfinished experience on all of their products.
maverickmax90 3y ago
[flagged]
- dang 3y ago
  You posted this, users flagged it, and then you posted it again. That's not ok - please don't do an end run around the flagging system like that. Also, please don't post in the flamewar style to HN. That's no doubt why users flagged your comment in the first place. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.

cookie_monsta 3y ago

Working in Australia, too

MegaDeKay 3y ago

"Google Bard now open to use..." in the USA only, apparently. At least it is not working north of the border yet.

msravi 3y ago
Works in India
johneth 3y ago
Seems to also work in the UK.
- waboremo 3y ago
  UK and US were the only countries with Bard access before today iirc!
nevi-me 3y ago
I'm in South Africa and I'm able to use it. Not connected to a VPN, and I've just checked that my public IP is my static IP address. They announced that it's now available in 180+ countries in English.
- gpm 3y ago
  I'm in Canada (apparently like MegaDeKay) and unable to use it. Either that 180+ country rollout isn't complete, or I guess they have something against Canada('s laws) in particular. Edit: Amusingly using a VPS provided by google as a proxy is enough to get around this.
  - cbhl 3y ago
    Typically, Canada, among other things, requires localization in French to satisfy the laws in Quebec.
TheWoodsy 3y ago
Works in Australia
yreg 3y ago
Doesn't work in Austria and Slovakia.
another_kel 3y ago
Works in Georgia(country, not state)
Lutzb 3y ago
Not working in Germany.
yougane 3y ago
Works in Morocco

kyrra 3y ago

The problem of being a massive company is that everyone wants to sue you. They could want to sue you for money. Or maybe sue you because they think you are bad. Whatever the reason, when you're Google's size, you need to make sure you're compliant with every local regulation before you launch anything or someone may come after you. Googler, opinions are my own.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
withinboredom 3y ago
Such a US-centric way of thinking. Not every country is as sue-happy as the US.
- killerdhmo 3y ago
  lol dude, Google is being sued in like a dozen countries https://qz.com/google-is-in-a-world-of-trouble-from-governments-everyw-1849708614 https://qz.com/google-is-in-a-world-of-trouble-from-governme... (and this article is from last year)
  - skinkestek 3y ago
    And for very good reasons. The way to avoid lawsuits in civilized countries is to avoid breaking the laws east and west. Start with the GDPR: There is no competent lawyer that doesn't understand the basics of GDPR, there are only companies that are testing if they can get away by playing dumb.
    - scarmig 3y ago
      Avoiding breaking the law, here, means not allowing users in those countries to use services.
      - smolder 3y ago

capableweb 3y ago

No, that never been true. People in the US have always been prioritised, just like Google Chrome users always been prioritised too.

xxpor 3y ago

GDPR didn't exist when Google was a startup.

kleiba 3y ago
Google probably played a central part in why the GDPR came into existence.
- xxpor 3y ago
  But that's exactly the point. They were able to make things available WW because they did stuff the EU didn't like.

endisneigh 3y ago

> When Google was a startup and even a decade in they managed to treat everyone the same. > Today this has went backwards like everything else Google it seems. Google is not a startup. What's the point of comparing it to when it was 100 employees? Not to mention the regulatory changes that have occurred...

throw8383833jj 3y ago

there are legitimate technical reasons as to why a roll out would happen for one place rather than everywhere at once. I just think it's remarkable how people can take any piece of good news and find the most negative interpretation of it.

transcriptase 3y ago
When you get excited, click a link, and get a “we’ve blocked your region and don’t care to explain why” message, it’s tough to have any response but a negative one.

nullityrofl 3y ago

A decade ago GDPR didn't exist. Legislation has consequences.

steve-benjamins 3y ago
It’s not just Europe that’s blocked
- nullityrofl 3y ago
  GDPR was just an example. I was suggesting that the 2023 regulatory environment looks very dissimilar to the 2013 one. The company is bigger and is a bigger target of lawsuits as well and there's some precedent that European rollouts will be more difficult (like with Italy's ChatGPT ban). Though the release does say 180 countries and with rollouts like this it tends to be staged so I wouldn't be surprised if some folks in this thread (i.e.. the person from Canada) are just hitting a cache.

ohgodplsno 3y ago

That's the Google experience, even for extremely minor things. App Actions ? Not available outside the US. Nevermind, now it is, but only en_US can get custom actions recognized. If only it worked well at least in the US, but from what I can hear, it's just like in the rest of the world: a disappointing, bland, unfinished experience on all of their products.

maverickmax90 3y ago

[flagged]

dang 3y ago
You posted this, users flagged it, and then you posted it again. That's not ok - please don't do an end run around the flagging system like that. Also, please don't post in the flamewar style to HN. That's no doubt why users flagged your comment in the first place. It's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.