Googland |
- [G] This week in search 4/16/10
- [G] Opt-ins, opt-outs, and everything in between
- [G] Improve your ads to capture more customers
- [G] Google Apps highlights – 4/16/2010
- [G] Fab 5 Freddy Curates YouTube
- [G] Vote for your favorites in The Webby People’s Voice Awards on YouTube
- [G] Search with fewer keystrokes and better spelling
| [G] This week in search 4/16/10 Posted: 16 Apr 2010 07:40 PM PDT Official Google Blog: This week in search 4/16/10This is one of a regular series of posts on search experience updates. Look for the label This week in search and subscribe to the series. - Ed.Rich Snippets for recipes Rich Snippets are the brief annotations you see beneath search results that summarize what's on a webpage. In addition to Rich Snippets for reviews, people, video and events, this week we unveiled a new Rich Snippets format for recipes. This means that when your search results include sites with recipe content, you might see quick facts pertaining to the recipe in your search results, like preparation or cooking times, right on the search results page. If you have a site with recipes and want to be sure Rich Snippets show up in search results for your page, check out our documentation on how to mark up recipe information as well as our general help articles on Rich Snippets. Bon appétit! Example search: [baked ziti] Enhancements to real-time search This week, we launched a new feature in real-time search that gives you the ability to search and replay the public archive of tweets on Twitter. While real-time search usually focuses on what's happening now, our new feature is helpful for viewing the history of what happened in the past and how people reacted to a particular topic on Twitter. You can zoom into any point in time — from a year, to a month, to a half-hour — and "replay" tweets from as far back as February 11, 2010 (and soon, as far back as the very first tweet on March 21, 2006). To try this feature out, click "Show options" on the search results page, and then select "Updates." You'll notice a new chart at the top of the page, where you'll be able to adjust the time range of the tweets you'd like to see. We hope you enjoy your trip down the 140-character memory lane. Example search: [museum of modern art] Oftentimes, there's great new content published to the web that everyone is talking about at one particular time. So, to help you find those sites, we also recently launched the top links for a set of update results, showcasing some of the top URLs that Twitter users are talking about based on a particular query. To view these links, click "Show options" on the search results page, and then select "Updates." You'll see a list of links on the right-hand side based on your query. Example search: [ipad] Google Suggest and spell correction enhancements We've recently made some enhancements that make it easier and faster for you to get the most relevant answer using Google search. We've begun to tailor Suggest to U.S. metro areas, so you'll find that the suggested queries are more locally relevant than they used to be. Try searching for [parks in], and you'll most likely see suggested search queries for parks that really are in your neck of the woods. In addition, we've improved our spelling correction feature. Sometimes, when you search for something that we're highly confident you've misspelled, we'll take you directly to the search results page for the correct spelling without asking "Did you mean...?" This week, we made this feature available in 31 languages across over 180 domains across the globe. We've also made some changes to how this feature deals with misspelled names. We realized that often when you search for a person's name, you include descriptive words (say, the person's profession or company) that can provide valuable context. We use these extra descriptors to offer you better suggestions, so you should soon find this feature for names more useful. Example search: [jordin farmer lakers] Stay tuned for more updates next week. Posted by Gabriel Stricker, Director, Global Communications & Public Affairs  URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/this-week-in-search-41610.html      |
| [G] Opt-ins, opt-outs, and everything in between Posted: 16 Apr 2010 07:40 PM PDT Google Public Policy Blog: Opt-ins, opt-outs, and everything in betweenPosted by Christine Y. Chen, Policy Communications ManagerEarlier this week, Google's Senior Policy Counsel Nicklas Lundblad and Policy Manager Betsy Masiello published a paper called "Opt-in dystopias" in SCRIPTed, a Journal of Law, Technology & Society. In their paper, Nicklas and Betsy explore how forcing opt-ins for online data collection could have unintended consequences that are not beneficial for user privacy. Partially-informed opt-ins that ask for excessive data, for example, could actually be more harmful for users' privacy than better-designed, more intuitive and granular opt outs. Nicklas and Betsy argue that focusing on the opt-in versus opt-out debate as a black-and-white matter creates false choices for users. Instead, they make the case that it's better to have a structure in which online data collection is an ongoing negotiation between users and service providers. Although they don't focus on advertising, their paper is timely given recent industry discussions about data collection in the online advertising world. To read more, you can download the entire paper here.  URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/04/opt-ins-opt-outs-and-everything-in.html   |
| [G] Improve your ads to capture more customers Posted: 16 Apr 2010 04:45 PM PDT Inside AdWords: Improve your ads to capture more customersPotential customers choose your website over your competitors' based solely on what they see in your ads. If your ads don't distinguish your site or really sell your message, then you're probably missing out on valuable sales.To help you think about your ads from your customer's perspective we've put together a quick video covering some best practices for improving the performance of your AdWords advertising. Check it out, and then sign into your AdWords account and make sure that your ads are working as hard as possible to win you customers! Did you find this video useful as a starting point to optimize your ads? Let us know. If you'd like to find out more about ad text optimization, visit the AdWords Help Center. Posted by Emily Williams, Inside AdWords crew  URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/04/improve-your-ads-to-capture-more.html   |
| [G] Google Apps highlights – 4/16/2010 Posted: 16 Apr 2010 01:06 PM PDT Official Google Blog: Google Apps highlights – 4/16/2010This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label "Google Apps highlights" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.Today's update includes a big batch of new functionality in Google Docs and several new capabilities in Gmail. So the next time you're in Google Apps, give these new features a spin. Google Docs reloaded On Monday we released a preview of the new Google Docs, which brings added features, higher fidelity for imported documents, more speed and faster collaboration to our browser-based productivity tools. Documents sport features that weren't feasible with older browser technology, like a new ruler for margins and tab stops, better bullets and numbered lists, easier image placement and character-by-character real-time collaboration in the browser. Spreadsheets now have a formula editing bar, drag-and-drop columns and cell auto-fill. They support up to 50 simultaneous collaborators, and are much faster and more responsive overall. We added Google drawings to the mix as well, so you can work with others to create flow-charts, schematics and other kinds of diagrams together in real-time. Calendar integration in Gmail To make it easier to schedule time with people without leaving your inbox, now you can see people's availability (if you have permission) and send event invitations from Gmail. As you're composing a message, click the "Insert: Invitation" link to choose a time that works for the recipients on your email and add details about your event. When you're done, the email message will display details about your event.  Drag-and-drop attachments in Gmail Yesterday we introduced a simpler way to add attachments in Gmail: just drag files onto Gmail from your desktop or from a folder as you compose a message. You can drag multiple files at once, and on a Mac, you can even drag files from folders in the Dock. This feature works in Chrome or Firefox 3.6+ right now, and other browsers may support this feature in the future.  Nested Labels and Message Sneak Peek in Gmail Labs Last week we launched two new Labs features in Gmail. Nested Labels lets you create hierarchies of labels, giving you more flexibility how you organize your saved email. Message Sneak Peak lets you preview messages without having to open them. Just right-click a message in your inbox to sneak a quick peek.  Gmail on the Apple iPad We released a new version of the Gmail web interface specially designed for the larger screen of the iPad. Gmail on the iPad has a convenient two-pane display with a list of your conversations on the left, and full messages on the right.  Who's gone Google? More and more colleges and universities are moving to the cloud with Google Apps. This week we're pleased to welcome the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, UNLV, Meredith College and Belmont Abbey College. The State Library of Kansas, the Mind Research Network and more than 50,000 other businesses and organizations have also gone Google in the last few weeks. I hope you're making the most of these new features, whether you're using Google Apps with friends, family, coworkers or classmates. For more details and updates from the Apps team, head on over to the Google Apps Blog. Posted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager  URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/google-apps-highlights-4162010.html   |
| [G] Fab 5 Freddy Curates YouTube Posted: 16 Apr 2010 01:06 PM PDT YouTube Blog: Fab 5 Freddy Curates YouTubeThe legendary hip-hop pioneer and graffiti artist curates our homepage today. He took his Flip into his studio to tell you about his picks and also jotted down some thoughts on them:Blondies' video for the song "Rapture" was like my coming out party in 1981 and introduced me to a world that really wouldn't know me well until several years later in 1988, when YO! MTV Raps would air weekly coast to coast and in many countries around the world. I was a part of a very cool underground public access TV show in 1979 called "Glenn O'Brien's TV Party" that aired weekly back then and I was a regular guest and one of one of the show's camera men. Typically, it was a groovy talk show format but this was a theme show. Bad musically, but a lotta fun. Check Jean Michel Basquiat standing there with a guitar on smiling. And he wrote "mock penis envy" on the wall visible behind Blondie's Chris Stein, also with a guitar and shades on. This is a mash-up video of scenes from my film Wild Style. Some clever guys in Amsterdam did this, and I love it. Here's a scene from the first film/documentary to showcase New York subway graffiti, "Stations of the Elevated," released or finished in 1981. Back then I'm sure this film was not seen by too many. I don't recall it ever airing on TV, but these days, thanks to digital tech and sites like this, we can see what it was like when nearly every New York City subway car was touched by graffiti. I love this film! As a kid growing up in New York City, when I cut school I'd often visit the various museums, like the Metropolitan and look at art. Here I got familiar with painters like Jackson Pollock and I would notice later how New York graffiti writers tagging on the inside of trains would let the ink drip, reminding me of his work. My dear friend, Academy Award winning director Jonathan Demme, invited me to be in his film, Rachel Getting Married. You can see me in this trailer, minus my hat, and in the film my scene is a toast I give to the about to be bride and groom at the wedding rehearsal dinner. "Talking All That Jazz" is a clip I directed for Stetsasonic which is the first video to deal with the soon to be large issue of sampling. Also, because I grew up in a jazz-loving house hold and drummer Max Roach was my godfather, I knew I'd be able to do a good job with this one. Max Roach, the legendary bee bop jazz drummer, grew up with my dad, and he played jazz often in the house. Max was also my godfather and he really embraced rap music and hip-hop culture from the minute he heard about it. If you search the site you can see a bit performance we did together in the early 80's. Sharissa's "Ain't No Half Steppin" was a video I directed in 2004. The first music video I directed was this clip, "My Philosophy," for KRS ONE in the spring of 1988. Catch Fab's whole playlist here:    URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/z4llkTI-VnE/fab-5-freddy-curates-youtube.html   |
| [G] Vote for your favorites in The Webby People’s Voice Awards on YouTube Posted: 16 Apr 2010 01:06 PM PDT YouTube Blog: Vote for your favorites in The Webby People's Voice Awards on YouTubeThe Webby Awards and YouTube are joining forces for the second year in a row, giving fans a more interactive Webby experience than ever. For the first time in the history of the Webbys, fans can vote for their favorites in the People's Voice Awards right on YouTube. Fans have until April 29th to vote for their favorite Webby-nominated videos through the Webbys YouTube channel at http://youtube.com/webby.Last year's Webby Awards YouTube brand channel was featured as the #1 YouTube channel in the days following the award festivities. Prior to 2009, the Webby Awards show content was available only to event attendees, but the Webby Awards YouTube brand channel has tremendously expanded that reach. Last year there were 1.5 million video views from the channel in its first week after the Webbys and that number is expected to grow in 2010. As David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards puts it, " "We are looking forward to even better performance this year since it's the first time fans can vote on the YouTube brand channel for their favorite Webby nominees in The Webby People's Voice Awards." YouTube looks forward to participation from our community as well when the online public casts their votes and chooses their own winners between now and April 29, and later join the "Watch The Webbys on YouTube" experience in June. Fans can vote for their favorites now at http://youtube.com/webby Posted by Deeksha Hebbar, Product Marketing Manager   URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/9m7c3RXB3iY/vote-for-your-favorites-in-webby.html   |
| [G] Search with fewer keystrokes and better spelling Posted: 16 Apr 2010 10:52 AM PDT Official Google Blog: Search with fewer keystrokes and better spellingWe spend a lot of time thinking about search results, but we also spend a lot of time thinking about search queries. Today we're announcing three enhancements to help you input your searches more quickly and easily: more localized Google Suggest, improved spell correction for names and auto-correction for 31 languages.Feel at home with Google Suggest Last year we launched localized Google Suggest by country, offering relevant popular search queries tailored for different regions. However, just as people in the U.K. often look for different things than people in U.S., we've found that people in Seattle tend to look for different things than people in Dallas. So last week, we rolled out a version of Google Suggest that is tailored to specific metro areas in the U.S. You may notice that the list of queries beneath the search box will seem more locally relevant than it used to:
 Spelling enhancements for names While Suggest can help you find good queries, sometimes you can get stuck because of misspellings. That's why for years we've offered corrected spellings for mistyped searches (with the "Did you mean" link). We've steadily improved this spelling technology over time, but recently we made some big strides in correcting misspelled names. People often search for people's names — and not just celebrities and old friends. They look for doctors, horse trainers, hang-gliding instructors... the searches are just as diverse as the personalities in your hometown. We've noticed that people sometimes struggle to correctly spell names, and it's not surprising. Names can be complicated and often there are multiple common spellings. Our new technology is based on the concept that people often know something else about the person besides the approximate spelling of his name. People often include other terms such as "composer" or "lawyer sparta wisconsin" in their search query, which provides valuable context to help us narrow the range of possibilities for the spelling correction. We use these additional descriptive words to offer you better suggestions. Some examples: [matthew devin oracle], [yuri lehner stanford], [simon tung machine learning]. With these improvements you'll start seeing more useful spell corrections for names. For now this enhancement is available in our English spelling system in the U.S. We'll be rolling out the change to other parts of the world and other languages in the coming months. Spelling auto-correction in 31 languages Another improvement we made recently to the spelling system is auto-correction. If you search for [aiprt], rather than showing you a link on your results page that says "Did you mean: airport" we'll take you straight to the results for the corrected search. We auto-correct when we're highly confident in our correction in order to get you the information you're looking for that much faster. In the past week we've expanded auto-correction to 31 languages across over 180 domains, with more to come. Did you make a typo while looking for [chocolate strawberries and cream] in Italian? The right word is so close you can taste it:  While saving you that unnecessary click, we make search that much faster. Posted by Pandu Nayak, Member of Technical Staff  URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/search-with-fewer-keystrokes-and-better.html   |
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