Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Advanced: E-Commerce Roll Up Reporting For Websites With Different Languages

Posted: 29 Jun 2010 01:28 AM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Advanced: E-Commerce Roll Up Reporting For Websites With Different Languages

If you're a business owner of any size, you've at some point considered expanding. And as the web makes the world smaller, one way to expand is to offer your website in different languages and take your business across borders or to different segments. By entering other markets with your website, you can gauge new markets and find ways to grow and generate revenue.

Getting set up to offer your products and services in a different country can have a number of steps including localization and legal processes. Another thing to keep in mind is how you will set up your web analytics for the different languages and countries your site now serves.

We're highlighting a series of posts on the topic, called "Google Analytics reporting for multilingual e-commerce stores" by Gavin Doolan, a Googler based in Dublin specializing on Google Analytics for Europe. The posts are all from our Analytics blog in Europe, the Conversion Room. This is obviously a topic very close to the European businessperson's heart.

The great thing about the posts is that Gavin presents solutions for different structures of sites, since not everyone is doing the same thing when they sell products internationally or in different languages.



We hope you'll find this information helpful as you think about expanding your business and your website.

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Google Analytics Team
URL: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2010/06/advanced-e-commerce-roll-up-reporting.html

[G] Get your ROI in shape for the summer with these tips

Posted: 29 Jun 2010 01:00 AM PDT

Inside AdWords: Get your ROI in shape for the summer with these tips

A couple of weeks ago, we announced the Conversion Champion Challenge, a contest to help you get your ROI in shape for the summer using free AdWords conversion products. It's not too late to enter and compete to win the grand prize – an AdWords voucher and a trip to Google!

Whether you're just getting started or actively working to get your conversion rate in shape, here are some best practices for getting the most out of two key conversion products: Conversion Optimizer and Search Funnel reports.


Tips for using Conversion Optimizer
  • Save time by letting Conversion Optimizer manage your bids to reach your ROI goals (On average, campaigns that use Conversion Optimizer experience a 21% increase in conversions and a 14% decrease in cost-per-conversion )*.
  • Choose to bid using the metric that you're most comfortable with: Target Cost per Acquisition (CPA) or Max CPA.
  • Set different CPA bids for each ad group if conversions in one are more valuable to you than they are in another.
  • Let Conversion Optimizer run for a couple weeks to give it a chance to acclimate to your campaign's performance.
  • Test Conversion Optimizer on a single campaign if you're not ready to make large scale changes to your account. If you ever choose to turn it off, you'll be able to return to the Max CPC bids that you'd previously set.
  • Learn more and check out success stories from advertisers who've used Conversion Optimizer.

Tips for using Search Funnel Reports

  • Run Search Funnel Reports within your AdWords account to figure out which ads and keywords potential customers clicked on leading up to a conversion.
  • Identify keywords that are driving conversions and ensure that you're bidding competitively on them.
  • Identify the keywords you're paying for but aren't leading to conversions and decrease your bids on them accordingly.
  • Use the Time Lag and Path Length reports to understand how long (time and number of searches) it takes before conversions typically happen on your site. This can help you determine how long to run your campaigns.
  • Learn more about Search Funnel Reports.

We can't wait to hear about your experiences, so let us know how it goes by entering the Conversion Champion Challenge.

Posted by Miles Johnson, Inside AdWords crew

*This analysis compares the performance of Conversion Optimizer campaigns over the course of a year with a control set of campaigns and represents the average impact of Conversion Optimizer. The actual impact will vary from campaign to campaign.
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/06/get-your-roi-in-shape-for-summer-with.html

[G] Introducing seller rating extensions on Google.com

Posted: 29 Jun 2010 01:00 AM PDT

Inside AdWords: Introducing seller rating extensions on Google.com

Over the last year, we've introduced a number of new advertising features to help merchants provide potential customers with the most relevant information when they're searching on Google.com. For example, last year we introduced product extensions, which allows you to include the pictures and prices of the products you sell, right below your ads.

Starting today we're introducing a new feature, called seller rating extensions, that makes it easier for people to identify highly-rated merchants when they're searching on Google.com. Seller rating extensions does this by attaching your merchant star rating from Google Product Search to your AdWords ads. These star ratings, aggregated from review sites all around the web, allow people to find merchants that are highly recommended by online shoppers like them.


If your online store is rated in Google Product Search, you have 4 or more stars, and you have at least 30 reviews, you'll automatically get seller ratings with your ads. What's more, you'll only be charged if someone clicks on the headline of your ad - clicks on the review link are free.

At this time, seller rating extensions will show to English-language users searching on Google.com. Please note that because we'll be rolling out seller rating extensions over the next 24 hours, you may not see it immediately, even if your ads meet the qualifications above.

To learn more about seller rating extensions, including how to manage when they appear with your ads, you can read the FAQ in the AdWords help center.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/06/introducing-seller-rating-extensions-on.html

[G] An update on China

Posted: 28 Jun 2010 10:52 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: An update on China

Ever since we launched Google.cn, our search engine for mainland Chinese users, we have done our best to increase access to information while abiding by Chinese law. This has not always been an easy balance to strike, especially since our January announcement that we were no longer willing to censor results on Google.cn.

We currently automatically redirect everyone using Google.cn to Google.com.hk, our Hong Kong search engine. This redirect, which offers unfiltered search in simplified Chinese, has been working well for our users and for Google. However, it's clear from conversations we have had with Chinese government officials that they find the redirect unacceptable—and that if we continue redirecting users our Internet Content Provider license will not be renewed (it's up for renewal on June 30). Without an ICP license, we can't operate a commercial website like Google.cn—so Google would effectively go dark in China.

That's a prospect dreaded by many of our Chinese users, who have been vocal about their desire to keep Google.cn alive. We have therefore been looking at possible alternatives, and instead of automatically redirecting all our users, we have started taking a small percentage of them to a landing page on Google.cn that links to Google.com.hk—where users can conduct web search or continue to use Google.cn services like music and text translate, which we can provide locally without filtering. This approach ensures we stay true to our commitment not to censor our results on Google.cn and gives users access to all of our services from one page.

Over the next few days we'll end the redirect entirely, taking all our Chinese users to our new landing page—and today we re-submitted our ICP license renewal application based on this approach.

As a company we aspire to make information available to users everywhere, including China. It's why we have worked so hard to keep Google.cn alive, as well as to continue our research and development work in China. This new approach is consistent with our commitment not to self censor and, we believe, with local law. We are therefore hopeful that our license will be renewed on this basis so we can continue to offer our Chinese users services via Google.cn.

Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/update-on-china.html

[G] Google Docs Viewer on Mobile Browsers

Posted: 28 Jun 2010 10:42 PM PDT

Official Google Docs Blog: Google Docs Viewer on Mobile Browsers

Cross posted on the Google Mobile Blog

Last week, we announced that the Google Docs viewer supports .doc and .docx attachments. Today we're also releasing a mobile version of the Google Docs viewer for Android, iPhone and iPad to help you view PDFs, .ppt, .doc and .docx files you've uploaded to your documents list, without needing to download the file.



With our mobile viewer you can switch quickly between pages and pan/zoom within a page. On your iPhone and iPad, you can pinch to zoom in or out.

You can try it out by going to docs.google.com on your Android-powered device, iPad or iPhone and select any document in these formats that you've previously uploaded. Let us know what you think in the Mobile Help Forum.

Posted by: Mickey Kataria, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/06/google-docs-viewer-on-mobile-browsers.html

[G] Google Docs viewer on Mobile Browsers

Posted: 28 Jun 2010 08:59 PM PDT

Official Google Mobile Blog: Google Docs viewer on Mobile Browsers

(Cross-posted with the Google Docs Blog)

Last week, we announced that the Google Docs viewer supports .doc and .docx attachments. Today we're also releasing a mobile version of the Google Docs viewer for Android, iPhone and iPad to help you view PDFs, .ppt, .doc and .docx files you've uploaded to your documents list, without needing to download the file.

With our mobile viewer you can switch quickly between pages and pan/zoom within a page. On your iPhone and iPad, you can pinch to zoom in or out.

You can try it out by going to docs.google.com on your Android-powered device, iPad or iPhone and select any document in these formats that you've previously uploaded. Let us know what you think in the Mobile Help Forum.

Mickey Kataria, Software Engineer
URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/06/google-docs-viewer-on-mobile-browsers.html

[G] Summer school is in session with Google Apps Teacher Training

Posted: 28 Jun 2010 07:49 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Summer school is in session with Google Apps Teacher Training

Teachers and students may already be enjoying their summer vacations, but the Google Apps for Education team is going back to school for the annual ISTE conference in Denver, Colorado this week. We're excited to talk with educators about the latest ways that Google Apps empowers teachers to teach – and schools to save money.

We're also excited to share the news that the states of Colorado and Iowa have made Google Apps available to their public schools, joining Oregon in leading the movement to Google Apps for education.

One of the things that we value most about working with educators is their commitment to always improving the tools and practices they use when they teach. Teachers often ask us about resources that support the use of Google Apps in the classroom. Today, we're announcing a full spectrum of training solutions that schools can use to develop and enhance their use of Google Apps – regardless of their size or budget.

These Google Apps for Education training solutions encompass three components: a free online training center, a set of qualification exams for teachers, and a Certified Trainer and Partner program.

Schools wanting a "self service" approach to mastering Google Apps can now find a comprehensive set of resources on using Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sites, and more in our new online Google Apps Education Training Center. This free online center is designed to take a new user of Google Apps – even someone with no Apps experience – and guide them step-by-step to understanding and proficiency.

Schools can take this proficiency one step further with a set of exams that let educators or trainers prove their mastery of Google Apps – a key step in becoming a Google Apps Certified Trainer or Partner. These exams are based 100% on the content in the training center, so everything that's needed to pass the test is available online. Exams are administered by an independent third party training organization and can be purchased directly from our new training center.

These training solutions also support schools with the training and professional development resources they need to enhance their teachers' use of Google Apps as a teaching tool. The new Google Apps for Education Certified Trainer and Partner program provides a formal structure for certifying individuals and partners who lead workshops or trainings about Apps, and provides schools with an easy way to find the best partners in their area.

We'll be talking more about this program at ISTE, but if you're not there, take a look at the site to see what it can offer you and your school.

We have one more piece of good news for educators everywhere: we're extending our offer to provide Google Message Security (GMS) at no charge to schools who sign up with Apps through the end of this year. Primary and secondary schools that add the GMS service to their domain before December 31, 2010 will be able to take advantage of GMS's custom email filters, policy management, and enhanced security controls.

If you're at ISTE this year, stop by the Google booth #2536 and take a seat in our teaching theater to learn more about Google Apps from our team and some of our Google Certified Teachers.

You can also join us tonight at our Google Block Party and hear from Executive Directory of SIPA John Conley about how Colorado schools are moving to Google Apps.

Posted by Dana Nguyen, Product Marketing Manager, Google Apps Education
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/06/summer-school-is-in-session-with-google.html

[G] The new voice of Google Voice

Posted: 28 Jun 2010 04:16 PM PDT

Google Voice Blog: The new voice of Google Voice

If you've called your Google number to listen to your voicemail over the last couple days, you may have noticed that things sounded a bit different. The new voice that's greeting you is Kiki Baessell, a fellow Googler with a friendly voice who helped us record new automatic voice messages. When she's not helping us out, she spends her days fighting spam and abuse in Google's consumer products.



Kiki has absolutely no experience doing professional voiceover, which is exactly why we picked her — we wanted a pleasant, familiar voice that we wouldn't mind listening to each time we called to check voicemail.

Here's a sample of Kiki in action:



Posted by Jason Toff, Google Voice Team
URL: http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/new-voice-of-google-voice.html

[G] An update on the AdSense Product Ideas page

Posted: 28 Jun 2010 01:39 PM PDT

Inside AdSense: An update on the AdSense Product Ideas page

A few months ago, we created a Product Ideas page for AdSense, where you could tell us what product and feature updates you'd like to see. We received over 600 ideas from publishers all around the world, with ideas ranging from ad filtering options to increased transparency, and more detailed reporting to easier account management.

Our product and engineering teams have been hard at work to bring you ideas from the wishlist. We still have more to do, but wanted to share some of the progress so far:

You asked for...More transparency about how much you're earning from AdSense.
What we've delivered...The AdSense for content and AdSense for search revenue shares are now publicly shared.

You asked for...The ability to block certain categories of ads, like religion and dating.
What we've delivered...Category blocking (previously known as category filtering) is now available in 13 languages. You can filter up to 11 ad categories, including religion, dating, politics and weight loss.

We've also been developing a new version of the AdSense interface. Although the interface is currently in beta, it addresses many of the requests we saw on the Product Ideas page. Take a look at the improvements that the new interface offers:

You asked for...Make it easy to change addresses when we move from one location to a new one.
What we've delivered...You can make requests to change the country of your payment address directly in the new AdSense interface. (Due to legal and system constraints, some country updates will still require you to create a new account.)


You asked for...Automatic revenue tracking to quickly and easily compare performance of ads of different sizes and types.
What we've delivered...The new AdSense interface offers Ad units, Ad sizes, and Ad types reports in the Performance Reports tab. These detailed reports cam help you understand which individual ad units, ad sizes, and ad types perform best on your site.


You asked for...The ability to view data for a custom date range, similar to Google Analytics.
What we've delivered...The new AdSense interface includes a date range selector just like Google Analytics. Plus, to see how your earnings have changed over time, we also have a feature that allows you to compare two date ranges. Simply select the date range you want to compare, check "Compare to other dates", fill in the start date, and we'll fill in the end date for you!


You asked for...More time frames for analyzing metrics. Specifically we heard the wish to "select the same period of time and say group by week or month to see the trend."
What we've delivered...Reports by week and month, in addition to by day, are available in the Performance Reports page. Along with reports for "Entire account by day" you can choose from weeks and months.

If you'd like the new beta interface enabled in your account, you can make a request.

Thanks for all your ideas and votes. Your ideas and feedback help our teams determine where we should be spending our time, so keep them coming!

Posted by Becky Feren - Product Specialist
URL: http://adsense.blogspot.com/2010/06/update-on-adsense-product-ideas-page.html

[G] Two more states open Google Apps for teachers and students

Posted: 28 Jun 2010 10:43 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Two more states open Google Apps for teachers and students

We recently announced that Oregon is the first state to begin offering Google Apps to public schools. Today, Colorado and Iowa are joining the movement. Google Apps for Education will now be available to more than 3,000 schools across the two states.

These state-wide agreements enable schools and districts to benefit from centralized resources such as deployment support and training materials, paving the way for an easy transition to Google Apps—including Gmail, Docs, Sites, Calendar, Video, and Groups—in their classrooms, immediately.

Colorado Governor Bill Ritter said it best, "I'm pleased to see the Statewide Internet Portal Authority (SIPA) continue its tradition of bringing innovative tools to members of the Colorado public. By leveraging the Internet, educators are able to bring new ways of learning to the classroom and connect with students in exciting and challenging ways." And Brent Siegrist, Director of Iowa Area Education Agencies Services, reflects, "As a former teacher, I can see how these tools will engage students, make the classroom a more vibrant place and allow teachers to work together more collaboratively."

Saving money is just one reason schools are moving to Apps. Educators and students from JeffCo Public Schools, the largest school district in Colorado with more than 85,000 students, have been using Google Apps to help students collaborate and learn by working together. Teachers in Colorado and Iowa praise the "anytime, anywhere" availability of Google Apps. They're using the unique online collaboration tools to teach feedback and revision strategies to students, and are even starting to go paperless on a number of assignments.

This week we're also introducing a set of training solutions for schools to start making the most of Google Apps. We're also extending the promotion for Google Message Security to allow primary and secondary schools opt-in to the email filtering service free until the end of this year.

If you'd like to learn more, come meet the Google Apps Education Team and some of the teachers using Google Apps in Colorado today, Monday June 28, through Wednesday at the annual ISTE conference. Stop by booth #2536 and take a seat in our teaching theater to learn more about what Google Apps can do for your school. Executive Directory of SIPA John Conley will join us at our Google Block Party after the conference today. We hope you'll join us to learn more about Colorado's decision to move to Google Apps.

Posted by Jaime Casap, Google Apps Education Manager
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/two-more-states-open-google-apps-for.html

[G] Make Money With Your Blog and Google AdSense

Posted: 28 Jun 2010 09:22 AM PDT

Blogger Buzz: Make Money With Your Blog and Google AdSense

Posted by Courtney, AdSense North America team

AdSense is a great way to get paid for doing what you love to do: blogging! AdSense allows you to show targeted ads on your blog and earn revenue from your traffic. It also helps your visitors find things they may be interested in, based on the content of your blog posts. Best of all, AdSense is free and you have the option to remove the ads at any time.

The AdSense system shows ads relevant to the content of your blog and you can easily customize the look and feel of the ads to match your blog. If your blog is about fashion, you may show ads for shoe designers or clothing stores. If your blog is about cars, you may see ads for car dealerships or auto shops. Using filters, you can have control over the content of the ads you display by choosing to block categories of ads or even specific advertisers.

With the free suite of powerful AdSense reporting tools, you can pull detailed reports that will help you track your revenue and identify opportunities to earn more money. You can see earnings by day, page, domain or specific ad unit and can also use Google Analytics to see the source of your traffic and earnings.

Adding AdSense to your blog is easy. Just follow these steps:
  1. Log in to Blogger, choose your blog, and go to the "Monetize | Set up AdSense" tab.
  2. Choose where you want to show your ads on your blog and hit "Next."
  3. If you're new to AdSense, follow the easy online steps to sign up for a new AdSense account. If you already use AdSense, you can log in to AdSense and link your Blog to your AdSense account.



If you're using a Classic template, you can add AdSense to your blog by following the steps outlined here.

To learn even more, come take a tour with Google AdSense.
URL: http://buzz.blogger.com/2010/06/make-money-with-your-blog-and-google.html
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