Does Google feel pain from its PR blunders? Yes and no

Google's weighted search results and revamped privacy policy have rankled Internet users, but is Google feeling any pain? Or do we just keep using it anyway?

Google+ Users Spent Only 3 Minutes on Site in January

Google+ might be heading for 100 million registered users but many of them appear to be spending almost no time on the service, market analysis company ComScore has reported.

According to figures made public through the Wall Street Journal, in January Google+ users spent a trifling average of three minutes using the site during the month, slightly lower than for December.

France Says Google Privacy Plan Likely Violates European Law

PARIS — The French data protection authority said on Tuesday that Google’s new privacy policy appeared to violate European Union law.

Google announced the new policy last month, billing it as a way to streamline and simplify the privacy practices it employed worldwide across about 60 different online services, and to introduce greater clarity for users. 

Google Told to Pause Privacy Changes in EU Over French Check

(Updates with Google comment in seventh paragraph, EU comment in tenth paragraph.)

Feb. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., owner of the world’s most-popular search engine, was asked to “pause” changes to its privacy policy in Europe during an examination by France’s data-protection agency.