Saturday, June 5, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Next Thursday: free webinar on AdWords Conversion Products

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 04:00 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Next Thursday: free webinar on AdWords Conversion Products

With the recent launch of Search Funnels, we wanted to have a webinar showing off these new reports and offering you a refresher on AdWords Conversion Tracking and Conversion Optimizer. We'll give overviews of these features, showing how they work and how they can help you, and do a deep dive into the Search Funnels reports.

At the webinar, you'll learn:
  • How tracking conversions can take you beyond clickthrough rate and help you focus your spend on the ads and keywords that drive sales and leads
  • How the data in Search Funnels can take you a step further and tell you which ads and keywords are assisting your conversions
  • How Conversion Optimizer can use your conversion tracking data and cost-per-acquisition goals to help you focus your spend on the clicks most likely to convert
We'll hold the webinar next week, on Thursday, June 10th at 9am PST / 11am CDT / 12pm EDT. Register here if you'd like to attend, and please submit or vote on questions related to Conversion Tracking, Conversion Optimizer or Search Funnels that you'd like answered during the webinar by Wednesday, June 9.

Posted by Miles Johnson, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/06/next-thursday-free-webinar-on-adwords.html

[G] Street Soccer through Africa and on YouTube

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 02:02 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: Street Soccer through Africa and on YouTube

Five years ago, Dutch professional footballer Edgar Davids gathered a talented group of Dutch street soccer players and travelled across Europe, the United States and Latin America to take on the best local teams, on their own streets. After numerous matches in five countries, Edgar and his boys were victorious over their many challengers and claimed the title "The Street Legends." That journey became known as "The Legends Tour."

This year, Edgar Davids and his Street Legends are hitting the road again to see if they're still worthy of the title...and this time you can watch their journey on YouTube. The team started in Amsterdam before heading on to London and Paris. They've hit Senegal, Kenya, Ghana, and will finally end up in the bustling townships of Johannesburg and Cape Town in South Africa, where the World Cup festivities will start next week. Along the way, the best local street players from their respective countries will attempt to de-throne Davids and The Street Legends. As they traverse the globe, Edgar will also encounter some of his famous football friends, like Ryan Babel, Michael Essien and Marcel Desailly, all of whom will be showing off their footwork to locals.

In Africa, The Street Legends and Edgar are also embarking on a personal voyage of discovery to understand how street soccer influences people and how it thrives across Europe and Africa every day. Edgar will be visiting grassroots projects providing healthcare, education and hope to thousands of people. Check out some inspiring moments from their visits to Senegal and Kenya:





















Subscribe to www.youtube.com/streetsoccertour to see how their exciting journey wraps up!

Anat S. Amir, Head of Marketing, Google Africa, recently watched "#12 Ghana Freestyle."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/8FKSQntb1o8/street-soccer-through-africa-and-on.html

[G] Changes to the WebM Open Source License

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 12:31 PM PDT

The WebM Open Media Project Blog: Changes to the WebM Open Source License

You'll see on the WebM license page and in our source code repositories that we've made a small change to our open source license. There were a couple of issues that popped up after we released WebM at Google I/O a couple weeks ago, specifically around how the patent clause was written.

As it was originally written, if a patent action was brought against Google, the patent license terminated. This provision itself is not unusual in an OSS license, and similar provisions exist in the 2nd Apache License and in version 3 of the GPL. The twist was that ours terminated "any" rights and not just rights to the patents, which made our license GPLv3 and GPLv2 incompatible. Also, in doing this, we effectively created a potentially new open source copyright license, something we are loath to do.

Using patent language borrowed from both the Apache and GPLv3 patent clauses, in this new iteration of the the patent clause we've decoupled patents from copyright, thus preserving the pure BSD nature of the copyright license. This means we are no longer creating a new open source copyright license, and the patent grant can exist on its own. Additionally, we have updated the patent grant language to make it clearer that the grant includes the right to modify the code and give it to others. (We've updated the licensing FAQ to reflect these changes as well.)

We've also added a definition for the "this implementation" language, to make that more clear.

Thanks for your patience as we worked through this, and we hope you like, enjoy (and most importantly) use WebM and join with us in creating more freedom online. We had a lot of help on these changes, so thanks to our friends in open source and free software who traded many emails, often at odd hours, with us.

Chris DiBona is the Open Source Programs Manager at Google.
URL: http://webmproject.blogspot.com/2010/06/changes-to-webm-open-source-license.html

[G] Hello from the Hiveplex

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 11:13 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Hello from the Hiveplex

I've always thought that beehives are organized similarly to how we do things here at Google. Bees have a flat management structure and they adapt quickly and change roles throughout their career (nurse, guard, foragers, quality control, etc.) depending on demands. And the bees that collect nectar from the forager bees at the entrance to the hive also scrutinize it for quality. If it's not high enough, they send the foragers back out to get a fresh start... it reminds me a bit of a Google code review!

If Google's a beehive, then I'm what you might call a forager. I work on the culinary team and we strive to serve food that's produced locally and grown in a sustainable manner. But we wanted to take the effort to the next level. So, with help from the Marin Bee Company, we've installed four hives of bees to help us be as self-sufficient as possible.

The four hives—collectively known as the Hiveplex, of course—are each painted in one of Google's colors. We've placed them close to large areas of wild flowers on our campus, far enough away that anyone who isn't fond of bees can easily avoid them, but close enough that anyone who wants to can walk over and watch them at work. Many Googlers have signed up to contribute to beekeeping and honey extraction efforts, and, come the harvest in the fall, we'll round the season off with a series of cooking classes and candle-making sessions for all those who have signed up to help.

With this project, we're also hoping to raise awareness of impact of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)—a phenomenon in which worker bees abandon the hive for reasons that aren't fully understood. This has has become a cause of global concern and in some parts of the world more than 50 percent of the hives have been found abandoned. This has grave implications for us all as bees are responsible for pollinating approximately 70 percent of the fruit and vegetables we eat. The loss of bees has serious consequences for plants, wildlife and human survival. (You can read more here.)

To see our newest colleagues at work, check out the album below. Someday we might create a Buzz account for our bees so you can all track their progress and follow our bee keeping activities—but we promise not to drone on.



Posted by Marc Rasic, Executive Chef
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/hello-from-hiveplex.html

[G] Security First: Protecting your data with Google Apps

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 09:28 AM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Security First: Protecting your data with Google Apps

For most companies, trying to keep ahead of new security threats every day feels like gripping a handful of sand. No matter how hard you tighten and squeeze, some still manages to slip through your fingers. IT departments often face these challenges alone despite parallel responsibilities to support other core operational functions. As thousands of businesses discover every day, companies and organizations can depend on the technical expertise of Google to help them better manage their security needs when they sign up for Google Apps.

Feeling comfortable storing data in the cloud involves trusting a cloud services provider and the practices and policies they have in place. In today's ultra-connected, web-capable world, understanding how data will be protected is ultimately more meaningful than knowing it is physically located in one data center or another. We know that our customers expect us to be transparent, and we work hard to do just that. For example, earlier this year we disclosed a cyber attack against Google and at least twenty other large companies from a variety of industries.

As a next step toward increased transparency, today we're releasing a new Google Apps security white paper to help customers learn more about the security practices, policies, and technology that support Google Apps. We are always improving and evolving the security of our systems, and we work every day to help protect against new threats.

Google Apps offers a strong and extensive security infrastructure to support these and other benefits:
  • Our data centers are protected by advanced physical security controls, and access to information is monitored at multiple levels.
  • We store customer data in fragments across multiple servers and across multiple data centers to both enhance reliability and provide greater security than can be achieved by storing all data on a single server. When only fragments are kept in any one place, the chance that a possible physical or computer-based compromise could result in the loss of meaningful information is greatly reduced.
  • We perform software patching rapidly across identical server stacks to help keep users updated with the latest patches. This significantly reduces the deployment workload for IT administrators.
  • Administrators can set fine-grained access controls for documents, calendars, and other types of information commonly stored in the cloud.
  • Operations at vast scale can help detect security threats across the web early and prepare appropriate defenses.
  • System redundancy involves data replication across disparate data centers for availability and disaster recovery.
  • We have strong teams of security professionals dedicated to protecting customer data.
Visit this new page to learn more about security and privacy protections for schools.

We appreciate feedback as we continue to work hard to earn and maintain the trust that is placed in us.

Posted by: Eran Feigenbaum, Director of Security, Google Enterprise

URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/06/security-first-protecting-your-data_04.html

[G] How to Make a Hit Viral Video

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 08:43 AM PDT

Official Google CPG Blog: How to Make a Hit Viral Video

Posted by Vannie Shu, Account Planner, CPG

Everyone wants to know how to make a hit viral video. Do cute puppies, kittens, and babies automatically make a successful video? No, but they probably do help.



What are the elements of hit viral videos? At the very least, successful viral videos are unique and interesting. Is the video like nothing people have ever seen? Does it stand out? Authenticity, humor, and the element of surprise are common characteristics of viral videos. People want watch videos that seem real and not staged. They don't want to watch brands that try too hard. Often, overbranding a video may decrease its authenticity to viewers. One analysis shows that users are two times less likely to engage (e.g. rate or comment) and four times less likely to share video content that is excessively branded.[i] Branded videos can make up for loss of authenticity through other characteristics. For instance, humor is the key to many viral successes. Does the video make people laugh or smile? Videos with an element of surprise are also popular. These videos shock viewers with an unforeseen twist or with something they have never seen before. These are just a few of the many elements that can make up a viral hit.

The Evian babies video is a perfect example of these characteristics. The video is not excessively branded. It is clearly a commercial, but we do not see Evian bottles and logos throughout the whole video. Babies on roller skates dancing in synchrony to hip hop music. The concept is hugely funny and surprising!

More and more CPG marketers are leveraging the power of video. 5 out of the 10 Top Viral Videos for the week ending May 27, 2010, according to Visible Measures, are CPG brands. Without a kick-start could these videos have hit it big? Given that 24 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, it could be tough to find your aspiring viral video hit. A video discovery strategy is key. Marketers should employ SEO tactics and spread their video onto blogs, forums, and social networks. YouTube Promoted Videos ads, similar to Google Search text ads, can promote your video next to keywords of your choosing. Without viewers, even the best video content can't go viral.

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Sources:
[i] AdAge "How to Earn Capital Engagement on YouTube." Retrieved May 28, 2010.
URL: http://google-cpg.blogspot.com/2010/06/how-to-make-hit-viral-video.html

[G] Google Apps highlights – 6/4/2010

Posted: 04 Jun 2010 08:39 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Google Apps highlights – 6/4/2010

This 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.

Over the last couple of weeks we continued to improve the new versions of Google documents and spreadsheets, introduced some features to Gmail and made it easier for businesses and schools to switch to Google Apps.

Advanced sorting in Google spreadsheets
We added some powerful data sorting controls to the new version of Google spreadsheets. Rather than sorting an entire worksheet by values in a single column, you can now sort any range of cells and sort by the contents of multiple columns.


Formula highlighting in Google spreadsheets
We also made it easier to write formulas in the new version of Google spreadsheets by adding visual indicators to show which cells a particular formula references. These color-coded highlights will help you keep track of your formulas at a glance. This feature works with Google Chrome, Safari and Internet Explorer; Firefox support is coming soon.


Improvements to Google documents
The new version of Google documents also got a few upgrades last week, including improvements to make finding content in your documents, applying text styles and linking to sections within your documents with bookmarks faster and easier.


"Move Icon Column" now in Gmail Labs
Our set of experimental Gmail features has a new addition: the "Move Icon Column" Lab. This Labs feature moves the icons for messages with attachments, chats and calendar invitations from the right side of your inbox to the left, keeping those icons next to your stars. You can enable this feature and many others from the Labs tab under Gmail Settings.


"Reshare" in Google Buzz
As of last week, Google Buzz lets you reshare posts that you find interesting without having to copy and paste the original content. Just click the new "Reshare" link beneath public buzz posts, type up anything you want to add and click "Post." You can choose to reshare publicly on the web or privately to a select group.


Google Apps Migration for Microsoft Outlook®
We offer an array of migration tools to help businesses and schools move email, calendar and contacts data from their old systems to Google's cloud. Customers have used these utilities to migrate more than 2 billion email messages to Google's cloud, and last week we introduced the new Google Apps Migration tool for Microsoft Outlook®. This is a new end-user tool that moves email, calendar and contact data from Outlook® profiles, PST files and Exchange accounts to Google Apps.


Who's gone Google?
In the spirit of National Small Business Week, we recently profiled a few small businesses doing big things with Google Apps. Revenue Spark is using Google Apps to build up a global presence to help bring green technology products to market. Yola counts on Google Apps to help their business grow fluidly as they bring on more software developers and business employees around the world. Smart Furniture turned to Google Apps to free up precious resources, improve productivity and remove barriers to growth. These are just a few of the millions of businesses that have gone Google. If your company has a story to share, add yourself to the map!

We continue to see more and more schools beginning to use Google Apps as well. A warm welcome to Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, SUNY Oswego, Elon University, Anderson University and Oxford Brookes University.

Posted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/google-apps-highlights-642010.html
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