Friday, June 25, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] AdSense Facts & Fiction Part III: The stats pipeline

Posted: 25 Jun 2010 01:55 AM PDT

Inside AdSense: AdSense Facts & Fiction Part III: The stats pipeline

Fiction: Site maintenance periods and delays in my AdSense reports mean that data isn't being recorded properly.

Fact: Although there can sometimes be delays in the stats pipeline, all data is still tracked accurately.

We call the process of tracking your clicks, impressions, and earnings the "stats pipeline." The stats pipeline runs continuously, reviewing the logs of activity written by our ad serving system, aggregating them, and updating the storage system. So that we can generate these statistics quickly and reliably, without losing any information, the process of aggregating your statistics spans several data centers.

Sometimes in rare cases, the process for aggregating stats can be delayed for several hours. This can happen for a few possible reasons:
  • We sometimes make updates to our datacenter to make use of the latest technologies. However, these don't affect how your clicks are tracked or how much you earn. Depending on the time it takes for the updates to complete, you may notice that stats are delayed by several hours.

  • We have scheduled database down-times, generally on Saturday mornings (Pacific Time). Since the process of aggregating your statistics depends on database data, any such downtime also leads to delay in statistics. I'd recommend reading this Inside AdSense post for more information about these downtimes.

  • On rare occasions, data centers can have unforeseen problems, causing unplanned delay in updating statistics.
These downtimes only delay your statistics -- they don't impact the actual tracking of your statistics. We make sure that all events are processed exactly once, and we have implemented a number of internally and externally audited verification procedures to ensure that this is the case. Also, events in the aggregation pipeline are processed in a way that's not specific to a particular publisher, so all of you should get your stats updates at the same time.

When downtimes occur, we work to notify publishers in advance and as quickly as possible using this blog, the AdSense Help Forum, and our Known Issues page. We understand how important it is for you to have up-to-date statistics, and continue to work towards making sure that the delays are kept to a minimum.

Posted by Dia Muthana - Inside AdSense Team
URL: http://adsense.blogspot.com/2010/06/adsense-facts-fiction-part-iii-stats.html

[G] Like Web Analytics? Check Out The Beyond Web Analytics Podcast

Posted: 25 Jun 2010 01:20 AM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Like Web Analytics? Check Out The Beyond Web Analytics Podcast

Do you like Web Analytics? Do you want to stay up to date on the latest developments in the industry? Recently, a few Web Analytics "geeks" decided to start an audio podcast to interview key people/vendors in the Web Analytics space. The podcast also covers topics related to Web Analytics such as Mobile Measurement, Social Media Tracking, Engagement, etc. With over 20 episodes and 20,000 downloads so far, the podcast has been well received and we'd like to help spread the word. In the most recent installment, you can hear Google's own Phil Mui so click here to listen to that podcast.

You can subscribe to the podcast via RSS at www.beyondwebanalytics.com or you can subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. You can also follow the podcast on Twitter. Enjoy!

Posted by Adam Greco, Beyond Web Analytics
URL: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2010/06/like-web-analytics-check-out-beyond-web.html

[G] Google Fusion Tables celebrates one year of data management

Posted: 25 Jun 2010 12:18 AM PDT

Official Google Research Blog: Google Fusion Tables celebrates one year of data management

Posted by Alon Halevy, Google Research and Rebecca Shapley, User Experience

A year ago we launched Google Fusion Tables, an easy way to integrate, visualize and collaborate on data tables in the Google cloud. You used it and saw the potential, and told us what else you wanted. Since then, we've responded by offering programmatic access through the Fusion Tables API, math across data columns owned by multiple people, and search on the collection of tables that have been made public. We published about Fusion Tables in SIGMOD 2010 and in the First Symposium on Cloud Computing. And since the map visualizations were such a hit, we made them even better by supporting large numbers of points, lines and polygons, custom HTML in map pop-up balloons complete with tutorials and integration with the Google Maps API. We've made all this capability available on Google's cloud and are excited to see examples every day of how our cloud approach to data tables is changing the game and making structured data management, collaboration, and publishing fast, easy, and open.

But more exciting than all the features we've been releasing is the things that people have been *doing* with Fusion Tables. News agencies have been taking advantage of Fusion Tables to map data that governments make public, and tell a more complete story (see the L.A. Times, Knoxville News, and Chicago Tribune). Just this month the State of California kicked off an application development contest, hosting data sets like this one in Fusion Tables for easy API access for developers. And the US Department of Health and Human Services held the Community Health Data Forum, where attendees presented data applications such as the heart-friendly and people-friendly hospital-finder, built with Google Fusion Tables.

It continues to astound us how quickly our users are able to pull together these kinds of compelling data applications with Fusion Tables, again showing the power of a cloud approach to data. Fusion Tables were the multimedia extension to Joseph Rossano's art exhibit on Butterflies and DNA barcodes, an easy way to map real-estate in Monterey county or potholes in Spain, provided the geo-catalog for wind power data and ethanol-selling stations, and even the data backend for an geo portal to organize water data for Africa, among many, many other uses.

As we head into our second year, we're looking forward to delivering more tools that make data management easier and more powerful on the web. What's next for Fusion Tables? Request your favorite features on our Feature Request (a special implementation of Google Moderator), and follow the latest progress of Fusion Tables on our User Group, Facebook, and Twitter. We love to hear from you!
URL: http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2010/06/google-fusion-tables-celebrates-one.html

[G] Powering document search and management using Google Apps Script

Posted: 24 Jun 2010 07:33 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Powering document search and management using Google Apps Script

Editor's Note: James Ferreira is the Chief Information Officer for the Office of the New Mexico Attorney General, providing IT services to the largest law office in the state. Mr. Ferreira is tasked with the responsibility of facilitating the communication between the public and nearly 200 office staff, including attorneys. Additionally, Mr. Ferreira has served as a member on many committees including the NM Information and Technology committee, NM Technical Counsel, and the Department of Information and Technology Project Review Committee.

The New Mexico State Attorney General's office maintains data sets containing hundreds of thousands of documents relating to ongoing trials, cases, investigations and lawsuits. Like many state and federal agencies, a significant problem we face in public sector document management is keeping track of the relevance of individual documents within large data sets. Client-side document management systems can help but are very expensive and often lack the flexibility required by a large state agency. Unlike cloud-based offerings, client-side solutions are not designed to let people collaborate easily, so adding important meta-data to a data set is often a complex and frustrating undertaking that can't easily be split or shared by large teams. Nor can you easily access your work outside the office, since files stay on your local corporate network.

The New Mexico State Attorney General switched to Google Apps Premier Edition for email and documents last year, and a few months ago we started thinking about using Google Apps Script to help us automate parts of our document management system. Google Apps Scripts comes free with Google Apps Premier Edition, so there is no cost involved to build on this platform, making good fiscal sense for any cost-conscious government agency.

After spending just a few days to build scripts, we built a developmental App to search data sets and return a list of results to a spreadsheet. From the spreadsheet, users can then enter additional meta-data to describe documents. In addition, users can organize and group documents on related topics by selecting choices from custom-made menus powered by scripts.


By using the new UI App service in Google Apps Script, we were also able to extend the functionality of this App to mobile platforms like Android without needing to deploy an application to each device.

And since the entire data chain runs on Google servers through secure SSL connections, the risk of in-transit data attacks is minimized - a significant benefit given the sensitive nature of the legal documents in our data set.

We are seeing a fundamental shift in information sharing. It is no longer enough to have a place to store files, we also need to build the semantics of our documents to create relevance for a wider audience. Rather than cumbersome client-side software, cloud-based tools like Google Apps Script make it easier to share and collaborate on document management through an inexpensive, secure, and extensible platform.

James Ferreira, CIO, Office of the New Mexico Attorney General

Editor's Note: For more examples of how organizations are using Apps Script, head on to the Google Apps Script Blog.

Posted by Hicham Alaoui, Google Apps Marketing Manager
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/06/powering-document-search-and-management.html

[G] Graduation: our latest Search Story

Posted: 24 Jun 2010 03:42 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Graduation: our latest Search Story

This is part of our summer series of new Search Stories. Look for the label Search Stories and subscribe to the series. -Ed.

My dad's family grew up in Vietnam. Even as they faced an uncertain future, they attended school, believing strongly in the value of education. So when my aunts and uncles immigrated to the U.S., they went to great lengths to make sure their sons and daughters had the best opportunities. It wasn't always easy—learning a new language and finding a new job was a struggle at first. But through their selfless efforts, my cousins and I were able to excel in our studies and pursue college degrees.

So for this reason, and on behalf of the Search Stories team, I'm delighted to introduce our latest video, Graduation. It's both poignant and relevant to my family's own experiences, and I think it speaks to devoted caregivers the world over.



Visit www.youtube.com/searchstories to check out the whole collection, or to create your own story.

Posted by Dana Nguyen, Product Marketing Manager, Google Apps Education
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/graduation-our-latest-search-story.html

[G] Shakira takes your questions on YouTube

Posted: 24 Jun 2010 02:56 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: Shakira takes your questions on YouTube

She's a global music star with hypnotic dance moves, a philanthropist and a YouTube phenom (her "Waka Waka" video, made for the 2010 World Cup, has over 32 million views). But now, Shakira is opening herself up to your questions.



Beginning today, you can ask her any question you'd like -- about her music, her work supporting education for all children through the 1Goal campaign and her own Barefoot Foundation, her World Cup stint, or anything else. The top questions will be posed to the Colombian songstress in an interview next week.



Here's more from the lady herself:







Questions should be submitted in either video (preferable) or text to www.youtube.com/join1goal before midnight PT on Saturday, June 26. The full interview will be posted to the same channel and featured on the YouTube homepage next week.



Ramya Raghavan, Nonprofits & Activism Manager, recently watched "Queen Rania Invites You to Join 1Goal."



URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/EjcJzkVE8fI/shakira-takes-your-questions-on-youtube.html

[G] Ad Sitelinks now available for any campaign

Posted: 24 Jun 2010 12:33 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Ad Sitelinks now available for any campaign

Back in November we launched Ad Sitelinks to help you get even better results from your top performing ads. Since then, we've seen advertisers experience huge gains with Ad Sitelinks, boosting their clickthrough rates on average by more than 30%. Today, we're introducing a new one-line format that allows you to get the benefits of Ad Sitelinks for even more of your campaigns, including your more generic, unbranded campaigns.

What's more, we're also enabling the option to set up Ad Sitelinks for any campaign. This means that you don't have to wait for your campaigns to pre-qualify before you can set up Ad Sitelinks.


When a user's query matches a keyword in your Ad Sitelinks-enabled campaign, Google will automatically determine if your ad qualifies to show Ad Sitelinks and whether to show the two-line or the one-line format based on the quality of that ad. Ads that currently qualify for the two-line format will not be affected by the addition of the new one-line format.

You should keep in mind that Ad Sitelinks is a campaign-level extension, so the links you create should be relevant to any ad in that campaign.

You'll find the option to set up Ad Sitelinks in your Campaign Settings tab. It will appear as "Show additional links to my site" under the "Ad extensions" section.

To learn more about Ad Sitelinks, read our FAQ in the Help Center.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/06/ad-sitelinks-now-available-for-any.html

[G] Streaming live from the Twilight Eclipse premiere

Posted: 24 Jun 2010 08:14 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: Streaming live from the Twilight Eclipse premiere

Whether you're on Team Edward or Team Jacob (we're pretty much split 50/50 here at YouTube), tune in tonight to watch red carpet coverage of the Eclipse premiere, live from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. From 5:30 p.m. PT onwards, Twilight's YouTube channel will give you a front-row seat to the arrivals area where many of the film's stars, including the buff Taylor Lautner, beloved Robert Pattinson, and belle Kristen Stewart, will be stopping to chat with Access Hollywood reporter Quddus.

The scene from Hollywood may look nothing like Forks, but all of your favorite vampires and werewolves will be there giving live interviews and greeting fans. Many of these Twilight faithful have been waiting for up to three days in order to catch a glimpse of their favorite pale-faced friends.









The red carpet stream will repeat on the Twilight channel immediately after it premieres so if you miss it the first time, you can see it the necks time around.

Thomas Henry, Display Team, recently watched "New Moon Volturi Fight Scene".....again.


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/8B2MCVukwx4/streaming-live-from-twilight-eclipse.html

[G] Tips & Tricks: Advanced Sorting Rules in Google spreadsheets

Posted: 24 Jun 2010 08:04 AM PDT

Official Google Docs Blog: Tips & Tricks: Advanced Sorting Rules in Google spreadsheets

In April, we launched a new version of Google spreadsheets. One new feature that helps organize your data is advanced sorting rules.

Sorting a selection
With the new sorting capabilities, you can sort a small selection of cells without affecting the rest of your spreadsheet. In my triathlon spreadsheet, for example, I could sort only the selection about running while leaving the biking and swimming sections intact. First, I highlight the range of cells in my spreadsheet about running.


Then, I go to the Tools menu and select Sort. Now I can set a sorting rule. In this case, I'd like to sort my running races by date.


Last, I click the Sort button, and my running times are organized by date.


Setting multiple sorting rules
The new sorting feature also allows you to set more than one sorting rule for any given selection of cells. If you select just the data about running again, you can sort first by distance and then by time to more easily see your average time. Click +Add another to add additional sorting rules.


Sorting the entire sheet
Alternatively, you can sort the entire sheet. Click the square in the top left corner of your spreadsheet to select all cells in your spreadsheet. Once you've selected all of the cells in your sheet, you can set your sorting rules in the same way as sorting a selection.


A detailed look at sorting
The title of your sorting pop-up will tell you what range of cells you have highlighted to be sorted. If it's wrong, click Cancel and try again. If your columns have titles, you'll want to check the Data has header row box. Next, you'll be able to choose what columns you'd like to sort by in the drop down menu next to sort by. If you'd like to add multiple rules, click +Add another until you're done setting your sorting rules. When you're done, click the Sort button, and voila!


Advanced sorting rules and other new features aren't available if you've switched back to the old version of Google spreadsheets. If you have switched, you can easily return to the new version by clicking 'New version' in the top right corner of your browser.

Posted by: Michael Schidlowsky, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/06/tips-tricks-advanced-sorting-rules-in.html
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)