Thursday, November 19, 2009

Googland

Googland

[G] Hub for parents launches

Posted: 18 Nov 2009 09:00 PM PST

YouTube Blog: Hub for parents launches

YouTube and Kodak have teamed up to launch For Mom, a robust resource for anyone raising children today. The videos housed on this channel cover everything from cooking and parenting tips, to the best toys and games for kids, to easy ways to maintain your own health and beauty routine. There are even responses to some of life's most difficult questions, like how much to pay the tooth fairy:



Browse through For Mom (and come back often!) for more videos from YouTube partners who know a thing or two about parenting, including Better, Parents TV, Lifetime and popular mommy bloggers who expertly find humor in what's often called the hardest job on earth.

Sadia Harper, Howto & Style Manager, recently watched "Things My Kids Will Never Know."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/b0RuZqFAeQY/hub-for-parents-launches.html

[G] Take advantage of advanced reports

Posted: 18 Nov 2009 05:55 PM PST

Inside AdWords: Take advantage of advanced reports

For a long time, the Report Center has been the place to go to find detailed data about your campaign performance. Reports with dimensions like geographic performance and time of day can give you new insights through metrics that aren't available on the campaigns tab.

But there can be drawbacks to using the Report Center: customized reports take time to set up and run, and you have to navigate back to the Campaigns tab to take action on any insights you discover.

We're addressing these issues by better integrating advanced performance data into campaign management. Now, instead of running a placement performance report, you can manage your automatic placements on the Networks tab. Rather than run a search query report, you can use the "See search terms" option on the Keywords tab to see which searches are bringing up your ads. And if you prefer to look at your reports in a spreadsheet program, you now have the option to download nearly every table in your account (look under the "More actions..." menu above each table).

You can also use new segmentation functions to slice and dice your data directly within campaign management. Click on the "Filter and views" menu above your statistics, then choose the "Segment by" option to see different the levels of detail available for display.


The segmentation options available to you differ depending on whether you're looking at keywords, ad groups or campaigns. If you're looking at keywords, you can segment by match type. If you're looking at campaigns or ad groups, you can segment by network to quickly compare your performance on Google and search partner sites to your performance on the Content Network.

In addition to these segmentation options, we've recently introduced time-based segmentation for your campaigns, ad groups and keywords. Now you can break out statistics by day, week, month, quarter or year to isolate changes in your performance. For example, if your performance summary graphs show a sharp decrease in clicks, segmenting by day can show you changes in other statistics that might explain why your drop in traffic occurred.

You can also segment by day of the week. This option is helpful if you're looking for help with ad scheduling. Try segmenting your performance for the past few months: if your performance is dramatically different on a given day of the week, you can modify your bids to account for the change in user behavior.

We'll be bringing even more data from the Report Center into the Campaigns tab over the coming months. So next time you're searching for insights you can use to improve your performance, you won't have to look very far.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2009/11/take-advantage-of-advanced-reports.html

[G] A deeper look at channels: URL channels (Part I of III)

Posted: 18 Nov 2009 04:20 PM PST

Inside AdSense: A deeper look at channels: URL channels (Part I of III)

As many of you know, channels are a great tool for tracking the clicks and impressions on your ad units, as well as figuring out which ad placements, sizes, and colors generate the most revenue. With that in mind, three of our very own Mountain View-based AdSense optimization specialists have created videos showcasing best practices for setting up channels within your AdSense account.

In the first episode, Matthew Carpenter-Arevalo talks about URL channels which can help you track revenue on a specific URL or domain. You'll learn how to set up a channel within your AdSense account, what metrics you can track using channels, and how to use that data to increase your earnings by generating more clicks on your ads.



You can find more information about URL channels in our Help Center. Check back next week, when we'll cover custom channels.

Posted by Dia Muthana - Inside AdSense team
URL: http://adsense.blogspot.com/2009/11/deeper-look-at-channels-url-channels.html

[G] Google Earth 5.1 is now out of beta

Posted: 18 Nov 2009 03:31 PM PST

Google LatLong: Google Earth 5.1 is now out of beta


Two months ago, we released the beta version of Google Earth 5.1.  The 5.1 release focused on one of our most important features: performance. The power of Google Earth is the seamless, immersive 3D fly-throughs that give you a sense of being "there," so we made a lot of adjustments under the hood to make flying around the globe faster and smoother. Today, after a few more tweaks and bug fixes, we're proud to say that we're ready to remove the beta tag.

This release also includes the Google Earth browser plug-in for Mac users, all in the same installation. Both Mac and PC users can explore all of the exciting Google Earth sites that our developers have made without having to mess around with another installation. You can search for universities,  or perhaps fulfill your secret fantasy of being the captain of a giant shipping vessel. Now these and many more Google Earth web applications are just a click away.

Download the latest version today at http://earth.google.com.

Posted by Peter Birch, Product Manager
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2009/11/google-earth-51-is-now-out-of-beta.html

[G] Google Earth for iPhone version 2.0

Posted: 18 Nov 2009 11:59 AM PST

Official Google Mac Blog: Google Earth for iPhone version 2.0

By Scott Knaster, Google Mac Team

There's a nice update to Google Earth for iPhone and iPod touch available now. You can read all about it in the Google Mobile Blog and you can grab the update in the App Store.
URL: http://googlemac.blogspot.com/2009/11/google-earth-for-iphone-version-20.html

[G] New in Labs: Green robot icon

Posted: 18 Nov 2009 11:09 AM PST

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Green robot icon

Posted by Chad Yoshikawa, Software Engineer

Gmail chat status (those green, orange, and red bubbles) indicates if your friends are online or not. But sometimes my buddies appear green when they're not really "online online" — they just have chat open on their Android phones.

Turn on Green Robot, a new experiment in Gmail Labs, and you'll see a robot icon next to people who are currently using Android phones. In the case below, Shirley is online with Android, Nicolle R. is using regular Gmail chat, and Chris I. is currently away but also on Android. Slatka is not an angry robot — she's online with Android but currently busy.


These icons can help you decide whether to tailor your conversation to the type of device that your chat buddy is using. For example, when you know the guy on the other end is using his Android phone, you may decide to send shorter, more concise chat messages.

When your chat buddies log into Gmail, their presence icons will revert to the traditional red, green, and orange status bubbles. In addition, if your chat buddy happens to be logged into both Gmail and Android chat then the traditional Gmail status icons will be shown. Try it out and let us know what you think.
URL: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-in-labs-green-robot-icon.html

[G] Curator of the Month: Michael Wesch

Posted: 18 Nov 2009 11:09 AM PST

YouTube Blog: Curator of the Month: Michael Wesch

Anthropology professor Michael Wesch has the awesome job of studying YouTube and thinking about what it all means. We asked him to curate a playlist of his favorite videos, and he came back with an impressive list of clips that exemplify how the "wonderfully playful participatory culture" you've created manifests itself on YouTube. Four of those videos are on our homepage today, but he also wrote this thoughtful blog post to accompany his picks. Reading it, you'll get a sense of how a single video or person can create a ripple that swells into something so much bigger than ourselves.

What I love about online video is the way that it has allowed more people to join a global conversation. Television was a medium whose content was controlled by the few and made for the masses. It created a one-way conversation, and you had to be on TV to get your turn. We have all been excluded from that conversation for so long, it is no wonder that so many people are now jumping in (over 1 million videos uploaded online every day by my count).

One of my first favorites was Gary Brolsma's "Numa Numa dance," which he posted on Newgrounds.com in late 2004. When YouTube came along a few months later and made it so much easier for people to upload videos, thousands of people joined the dance. A search for "Numa Numa" now brings up over 125,000 videos, most of which are people doing their own rendition of the now-famous dance. And it is still going. [Recently], Brolsma led the Michigan State Band (and the whole stadium) doing the "Numa Numa."

There is a wonderfully playful participatory culture popping up all over the online video landscape.

A few days ago, I was having lunch with a guy who told me that he and his kids (ages 2 and 6) were working on their own rendition of blinktwice4y's YouTube hit "Mario Kart Love Song". When they are done, they will join hundreds of others who have also created their own rendition. And if you love participatory culture as much as I do, you might just find the more obscure ones to be the most entertaining (like matrock records jamming it out Brady Bunch style) and sometimes heartwarming (don't you just love these kids playing it live? Or how 'bout these young kids acting out the video? You just know they will be watching this with the tears rolling and hearts warming in 30 years. Or even this wedding serenade).

And speaking of weddings, almost everybody saw the JK Wedding Entrance Dance, but the remixes and remakes are a real treat. There is of course the "Divorce Dance," the live remakes at weddings everywhere (here's one from Spain) and even babies are getting in on it.

Or remember how OK Go made their career with that amazing treadmill dance? But what could be cooler than doing it live at your high school in front of all your friends? Of course, Granbury High was not the only remake. There are hundreds, yes, hundreds of groups of high school kids who somehow wrangled together several working treadmills, rolled them into high school auditoriums all over the world, and did their thing.

Undoubtedly, some people performing on YouTube are hoping to be the next Esmee Denters. It wasn't so long ago that Esmee was just a young girl singing (beautifully) in front of a crappy webcam -- until one day she was singing a Justin Timberlake song in front of a slightly better camera, which slowly panned right to reveal that none other than Justin Timberlake himself was in the room, and that he had just signed her to a record deal.

There's still a lot of unsigned talent out there, like Megan Tonjes or mandyvbats, who was brought to my attention by the absolutely amazing work of Kutiman, a musician who brought together snippets of YouTube artists from all over the world, working in so many genres, to create such beautiful music (which to me is the real YouTube orchestra).

But my favorite online video moments are those where the participatory culture spills out into the real world. There is probably no better example than the Free Hugs movement. Now three years old, it is still going, and it's global. But of course it wouldn't be participatory culture without the clever parody, which Greg Benson of mediocrefilms performed brilliantly by offering his "Deluxe Hugs" for $2.

The tools for such clever commentary and remixing are always growing, and several of my new favorites are coming from the creative uses of Auto-Tune. The Gregory Brothers have really mastered this with their Autotune the News series. Melodysheep is now bringing his amazing talents to set the beautiful insights of the best scientists of recent years (like Carl Sagan) to some moving music.

So much of this creativity relies on the freedom to remix and build on the material created by others, a freedom that's constantly being challenged. Which brings me to one of my more serious recommendations: Brett Gaylor's RIP: A Remix Manifesto. Or for a wonderfully artistic statement within the same theme, one of the most amazing videos on all of YouTube is Us by Blimvisible.

My favorite video of all time still remains MadV's "The Message." It comes from the early days of YouTube, when so many of us were still just amazed that we could reach out to millions of people through our webcams. MadV invited us to write a message for the world on our hands. The resulting compilation may just become one of those iconic videos that our descendants hundreds of years might look back on and say, "So this is what they had to say when they first wired up all those computers and cameras throughout the world..." He's now doing an HD version if you want to join in.

If you are interested in how we try to make sense of all of this in anthropological terms, check out "An Anthropological Introduction to YouTube," where my students and I discuss many of these videos and a whole bunch more:



Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kansas State University


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/OU6FqF5fc4o/curator-of-month-michael-wesch.html

[G] Helping you broadcast your Google Voice number

Posted: 18 Nov 2009 11:09 AM PST

Google Voice Blog: Helping you broadcast your Google Voice number

When someone sends you an SMS to your Google Voice number, that message not only goes into your inbox online, but we also forward it out to all of your mobile phones (assuming you told us you wanted to receive SMS messages on those phones). When you receive it on your mobile phone, you may have noticed that the message does not appear to come from the sender's actual number, but from a (406) number (which spells "GOO" btw), with the sender's number (or name if they are in your address book) at the start of the message. We do this so you can reply from any of your phones and keep a record of the entire conversation online in your Google Voice inbox.

But when you - a Google Voice user - send a text message to another Google Voice number from one of the forwarding phones on your account, you probably want Google Voice to display the SMS as from your Google Voice number rather than from a (406) number. This way, the Google Voice user to whom you sent the SMS will see your Google Voice number as the originating number, the single number that reaches you everywhere.

We had been doing this automatically on all accounts up until now, as we felt it was more logical to display your Google Voice number rather than a (406) number when sending an SMS to another Google Voice user. After further reflection on this, we realize that you should decide if you want this feature or not (rather than us) so we've made this a user selected option rather than the default setting. If you like this behavior, its easy to set up. Just go to "Settings > Calls > Caller ID (out)" and select "Display my Google Voice number".

Posted by Vincent Paquet
URL: http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/helping-you-broadcast-your-google-voice.html

[G] Virtual Vint in Egypt

Posted: 18 Nov 2009 10:12 AM PST

Google Public Policy Blog: Virtual Vint in Egypt

Posted by Susan Pointer, Director of Public Policy and Government Relations, and Maximilian Senges, Policy Analyst

(Cross-posted from the European Public Policy Blog)

It's been an exciting week here in sunny Sharm El Sheikh at the Internet Governance Forum. A highlight for us on the final day here in Egypt was when our chief Internet Evangelist Vint Cert participated via video. In his presentation, Vint emphasized how the forum brings together "a remarkable assembly of people concerned about the Internet and its use on a global scale." He spoke about the huge advantages in human knowledge fostered by the Net - and warned of the many dangers, from spam to outright fraud, that threaten to undermine its true potential.



We laid out our positive conclusion of this international gathering in a blog posted yesterday. At today's 'Taking Stock' session, the overwhelming sentiment in the room was one of strong support for continuation of this multilateral Internet stakeholder forum beyond its current 5-year term. Vint regretted for his "inability" to attend this year's meeting and forcing the delegates to "put up with Virtual Vint." But he vowed to be present in person at next year's Forum. We too are looking forward to participating in next year's Forum in Lithuania, and we commend Kenya for having offered to host a 2011 Forum.
URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2009/11/virtual-vint-in-egypt.html
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