Saturday, July 10, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Analytics Intelligence Tips: Automatic Alerts

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 04:05 AM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Analytics Intelligence Tips: Automatic Alerts

When was the last time you checked the bounce rate for visits from Hong Kong? You may never have needed to, until an "alert" in your Intelligence reports tells you that the bounce rate from Hong Kong has suddenly doubled.

An automatic alert in Intelligence is triggered when the expected performance of a metric, historically, differs from what is happening now. Intelligence monitors the past and current activity of all your metrics and lets you know when something out of the ordinary happens. One reason why these automatic alerts can provide so much insight is that they often bring your attention to traffic segments you might never have thought to examine before.

Now that the alert has caught your attention, you're ready to dive in and learn more. In this 3 1/2 minute video on automatic alerts, also below, you'll learn how. Did you know that you can graph the bounce rate from Hong Kong with a single click? Or that you can quickly create an advanced segment from the alert and start using it throughout your reports? You'll learn these tips and others, including how to use annotations with automatic alerts, and when to use daily, weekly, or monthly alerts.



Enjoy the video and feel free to share your own automatic alerts tips in the comments. Next week, we'll look at custom alerts.

Posted by Alden DeSoto, Google Analytics Team
URL: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2010/07/analytics-intelligence-tips-automatic.html

[G] All things local: Location extensions get a makeover.

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 02:59 AM PDT

Inside AdWords: All things local: Location extensions get a makeover.

In 2009, we launched location extensions, which allows you to "extend" your AdWords campaigns by dynamically attaching your relevant business address to your ads. Today we're introducing a new enhancement to location extensions that lets you show multiple business addresses in a particular area.

For example, if a potential customer is looking for a Toys"R"Us store in their area, the ad can now show them all the nearby locations so they can find the one closest to them.

Including multiple addresses within location extensions helps you by:
  • Showing multiple addresses that are relevant to a potential customer's location (up to four at a time);
  • Updating results dynamically whenever someone moves the map; and
  • Enhancing ads with relevant information about your business to drive in-store traffic.
This feature is available now to primary business owners who have enabled location extensions with Google Places listings. Currently, location extensions with multiple addresses are available in the United States and many other countries/regions - please visit this link to see if this feature is available in your country.

To learn more about location extensions with multiple addresses, including additional information about reporting and filtering, please see the information we've put together on the Help Center.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/07/all-things-local-location-extensions.html

[G] We appreciate your interest

Posted: 10 Jul 2010 02:44 AM PDT

Official Google Video Blog: We appreciate your interest

Our recent posts about Video Sitemaps are of interest to a wide range of webmasters, so we've chosen to post them on the Webmaster Central Blog, rather than the Google Video Blog. As a result we've decided to retire the Google Video blog and post news and information about Video Sitemaps, as well as developments with our video index that powers the video results in Google search and Google Videos (video.google.com), on the Webmaster Central Blog.

Thanks for your readership over the years—we look forward to seeing you in our new home

Posted by Amy MacIsaac, Strategic Partner Manager Google Videos
URL: http://googlevideo.blogspot.com/2010/07/we-appreciate-your-interest.html

[G] Vektrex on switching to Gmail to cut spam and IT costs

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 10:36 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Vektrex on switching to Gmail to cut spam and IT costs

Editor's note: Continuing our "Going Google Everywhere" series, we've invited Jeff Hulett, Founder and CTO of Vektrex, an electronics company that produces LED and laser power sources and reliability test systems. Located in San Diego, California, Vektrex makes products to help companies develop energy-saving LED illumination. Learn more about other organizations that have gone Google on our community map.

Spam was killing our server
Vektrex had been successfully hosting its own email using Microsoft's Exchange Server for years. It had always been pretty simple: our IT person, Mike, occasionally did updates to our Microsoft Exchange server, and our dozen or so employees used Outlook to access their accounts.

Then, a while back, the job became much tougher. With several longstanding email addresses, we started to receive a lot of spam. My account started getting one or two spam emails per minute – and our CEO received many times that amount. Mike tried various programs to filter the spam, but each was eventually overwhelmed. We suffered with monthly email outages that lasted a few hours – or even days – despite Mike's all-nighters. After a lot of discussion, we finally decided that we would try moving our email to external hosting at our next outage. We chose Gmail because it seemed like a good fit for the size of our company. The conversion to Gmail itself was very simple and fast; we were able to move our accounts quickly and easily. Initially we stayed with Outlook as our client and we used the IMAP interface with local caching. As time passed, we found most users choosing the native Gmail web interface, so eventually we moved the whole company to it.

Gmail can display folders
After moving to Gmail's interface, we had to learn the differences between Outlook and Gmail. The main difference in the beginning was the way that emails are displayed, sorted and archived. Gmail offers labels instead of folders. Labels give you the ability to "tag" one email with several key words and Gmail provides ways to move/archive tagged messages in folders, providing functionality that makes everything more familiar and useful to our users.

The last remaining issue was email access on our cell phones and PDAs. To optimize functionality with our business accounts that include our own domain name, we moved initially to Palm Treos and then to HTC Androids, which worked flawlessly with Gmail's business accounts.

Converting is work but Gmail is worth it
When we started the conversion, IT staffers were a little reluctant to abandon the independence and control we felt we had with our own server. But we overcame our reluctance and the end result was worth it. I see only a few spam emails per week, and we haven't had a significant outage in over a year.

Vektrex employees are re-focused on our core products – reliability test systems for LEDs – rather than on keeping things up and running. The switch has saved roughly $500 per month in IT labor. It was also more economical than a hardware spam filter costing at least $1,000 up front, $350 in yearly fees, and an unknown amount to administer. Even Mike is happy. He finally got some well-earned time off - and the chance to drive his 1970 Volkswagen beetle in a 1,000-mile off road race through the Baja desert!

Vektrex IT Administrator Mike Zavos takes a vacation
after switching the company to GMail


Posted by Serena Satyasai, the Google Apps team

Do you have an informative and fun Google Apps story to share? Please submit it here.
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/07/vektrex-on-switching-to-gmail-to-cut.html

[G] Changing your perspective, once again...

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 04:21 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Changing your perspective, once again...


A few months ago we released a new type of aerial imagery to our users, first to the developer community through the Google Maps API, and then later as an experimental feature in Google Maps Labs. Today, we're excited to announce the release of 45° imagery for of select cities in the U.S. and worldwide to all users of Google Maps. As you may have guessed from the name, 45° imagery is imagery depicting a location from a 45° angle rather than from the top. This type of imagery allows you to explore the sides of buildings and other locations -- you can even rotate around a particular point of interest using the compass ring to view it from four different perspectives. To see the new imagery, simply zoom into an area while in Satellite mode. Where we have 45° imagery available, the imagery will switch from an overhead to 45° angle as you zoom all the way in. You can then pan smoothly across the map to get a richer view of the area. Here are a few of my favorite spots:

SeaWorld, San Diego, California:

View Larger Map

Winchester Mystery House, San Jose, California:

View Larger Map

Rialto Bridge, Venice, Italy:

View Larger Map

Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa:

View Larger Map

See below for a map of areas where 45° imagery is currently available.

View 45° Imagery on Google Maps in a larger map. 45° imagery is available for portions of the U.S., Europe and South Africa.

We think you will find this imagery particularly helpful when exploring a new area on the map before a visit. After checking out the landmarks from a new angle, it's helpful to turn on existing map layers like Photos or Wikipedia to get more context on the area. Even when looking at familiar areas, seeing driving directions overlaid on 45° imagery will give you a whole new understanding of the neighborhood. As we expand our coverage over the coming months, I hope you enjoy this new perspective on the world.

Posted by Randy Wilson, Google Imagery Team
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/07/changing-your-perspective-once-again.html

[G] What's bigger than 1080p? 4K video comes to YouTube

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 11:40 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: What's bigger than 1080p? 4K video comes to YouTube

Today at the VidCon 2010 conference, we announced support for videos shot in 4K (a reference resolution of 4096 x 3072), meaning that now we support original video resolution from 360p all the way up to 4096p. To give some perspective on the size of 4K, the ideal screen size for a 4K video is 25 feet; IMAX movies are projected through two 2k resolution projectors.



We always want videos on YouTube to be available in the highest quality possible, as creators intend. In December of last year, we announced support for 1080p, or full HD. At 1096 x 3072 pixels, 4K is nearly four times the size of 1080p. To view any video in a source resolution greater than 1080p, select "Original" in the video quality pulldown menu:







To illustrate the power of 4K, please check out the videos in this playlist; each one was created by a filmmaker with access to a 4K
camera. (Be warned: watching videos in 4K, even on YouTube, will require
ultra-fast high-speed broadband connections).



Because 4K represents the highest quality of video available, there are a few limitations that you should be aware of. First off, video cameras that shoot in 4K aren't cheap, and projectors that show videos in 4K are typically the size of a small refrigerator. And, as we mentioned, watching these videos on YouTube will require super-fast broadband.



We're excited about this latest step in the evolution of online video. We've been impressed by the 1080p videos you've uploaded over the last seven months and can't wait to see (in 4K!) what you do next.



Ramesh Sarukkai, YouTube Engineer, recently watched "New Dad State of Mind."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/x9eBU0mPf_4/whats-bigger-than-1080p-4k-video-comes.html

[G] Investing in the Future of Video: YouTube Announces Partner Grant Program

Posted: 09 Jul 2010 10:39 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: Investing in the Future of Video: YouTube Announces Partner Grant Program

The YouTube ecosystem is vibrant and growing fast. We have over 10,000 partners, and 94 of Ad Age's top 100 advertisers have run campaigns on YouTube and the Google Display Network. We've made great progress in the last five years. But we think we can do better. That's why today we are announcing the YouTube Partner Grants program that will invest five million dollars across select new and emerging YouTube partners. Our goal is to catalyze the creation of new ideas and production models from some of our most innovative and original content partners for the benefit and advancement of the entire industry.



The idea behind YouTube Partner Grants is fairly simple. We've been amazed by the creativity and resourcefulness of many of our partners. Some, operating on shoe string budgets, have been able to produce incredible videos, generate substantial revenues and command an audience that rivals that of network television. This new creative class often manages 360 degrees of their business operations, from the writing filming and producing of their content to the marketing, post-production and distribution of their videos. Despite their success, many partners lack the resources and deep financial backing available to studio-backed production houses. The goal of YouTube Partner Grants is to act as a catalyst by infusing additional funds into the production budgets of a small group of YouTube partners who are at the forefront of innovation. Funds from YouTube Partner Grants will serve as an advance against the partner's future YouTube revenue share. This additional funding can allow partners to invest in better cameras, achieve higher production quality, expand their marketing efforts, expand their staff, or just hire more talent. Anything that will help them evolve their art, business, and ultimately the entire creator community. We look at this as an investment that will bring an even richer body of content for our users and advertisers and raise the creative bar for online video.



Here's how it works:



  • YouTube is identifying eligible partners based on factors such as video views, subscribers, growth rate, audience engagement and production expertise

  • Selected partners are contacted by YouTube and invited to submit a Grant proposal

  • Proposals are evaluated by YouTube based on signals which include projected performance, distribution plan, marketing plan, cost requirements and appeal to advertisers

  • If approved, funds are transferred to the partner so they can get started on their project



Youtube Partner Grants represents another step forward in the evolution of both video and YouTube. Our hope is that through these investments we'll help nurture talent and bring more great videos to YouTube for all of you to enjoy.



George Strompolos, Partner Development Manager, recently watched "Pixels by Patrick Jean"


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/3wxI608mA-g/investing-in-future-of-video-youtube.html
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