Google employees protest the company's handling of sexual harassment, Apple beats on Q4 earnings (but the stock still falls) and tech giants oppose Trump's transgender rights rollback. Here's your Daily Crunch for November 2, 2018.

1. Google walkout organizer: 'I hope I still have a career in Silicon Valley after this'

More than 1,000 Google employees gathered at San Francisco's Harry Bridges Plaza Thursday to protest the company's handling of sexual harassment and misconduct cases. An organizer who declined to be named told TechCrunch there were 1,500 Google employees across the globe who participated in the 48-hour effort to arrange a worldwide walkout.

"I experienced sexual harassment at Google and I didn't feel safe talking about it," said Google employee Cathay Bi. "That feeling of not being safe is why I'm out here today. I'd love it if everyone felt safe talking about it."

2. Apple beats on Q4 earnings thanks to price hikes, stock still falls 7 percent after hours

The reason for the after-hours drop? Apple forecasted weaker-than-expected earnings for the holiday quarter.

3. Asana launches $19.99 Business tier to help managers handle multiple projects

The focus on executives and managers is one part of the company's bigger vision for its place in the range of productivity tools available.

4. Apple, Amazon, Google and others sign letter opposing Trump's attempt to redefine gender

Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Intel, Cisco and others drafted the letter in response to a recent New York Times story about a planned federal rollback of Obama-era civil rights protections for transgender and gender non-conforming citizens.

5. Alibaba cuts its revenue forecast as growth slackens

Possible reasons for the adjusted forecast (which Alibaba did not explain) include China's slowing economy and negative sentiment around the U.S. trade war.

6. Instagram's next cash cow: instant Promote ads for Stories

A new ad type called "Promote" for Stories allows Instagram business pages to show their ephemeral slideshows to more users without doing much work.

7. Elon Musk says soon Teslas will come when you call them

Tesla CEO Elon Musk promised in a series of tweets that an advanced version of its auto-parking technology Summon, which will let owners remotely control their car through their phones, will be ready in six weeks.

The U.S. takes a hit in the latest internet freedom rankings, a Chinese scooter maker isn't happy with Lyft and Spotify stock stumbles. Here's your Daily Crunch for November 1, 2018.

1. U.S. declines in internet freedom rankings, thanks to net neutrality repeal and fake news

The latest "internet freedoms" rankings are out, courtesy of Freedom House's annual report.

Last year, the U.S. was No. 21 in the ranking (the lower the number, the better a country ranks). That was behind Estonia, Iceland, Canada, Germany and Australia. This year the U.S. is at No. 22, thanks to the repeal of net neutrality and the renewal of U.S. spy powers.

[caption id="attachment_1687665" align="aligncenter" width="680"] Image: Bryce Durbin/TechCrunch[/caption]

2. Xiaomi doesn't want Lyft using its electric scooters

Electric scooter manufacturer Xiaomi has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Lyft, saying it did not consent to associate its brand with Lyft.

3. Spotify stock slumps on $1.35B in Q3 sales; MAUs up 28 percent to 191M with 87M paying users

While Spotify continues to grow at a modest pace, it appears to be just about meeting analyst expectations when it comes to its financials, and therefore continues to struggle in the public markets.

4. GM looks to cut costs by offering buyouts to 18,000 employees

The company has described this as a proactive measure aimed at preparing for coming headwinds such as slow sales in North America and China, commodity prices and tariffs.

5. Fitbit earnings beat expectations on strength of smartwatch sales

Fitbit is slowly righting its financial ship, courtesy of a successful push into the smartwatch category.

6. Netflix changes its release model, with exclusive theatrical runs for 'Roma' and others

In the past, the streaming service has been willing to release its films in theaters, but it refused to grant those theaters an exclusive release window, which meant that few of them were interested. That, in turn, may have hurt filmmakers' chances when it came to getting nominated for major awards.

7. Snapchat's PR firm sues influencer for not promoting Spectacles on Instagram

Snap says it was not involved in the decision to sue "Grown-ish" actor Luka Sabbat.