Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] Join the conversation: Getting to know our Top Contributors

Posted: 22 Sep 2010 12:17 AM PDT

Inside AdSense: Join the conversation: Getting to know our Top Contributors

As we mentioned in our post last week, we're working on ways to introduce you to our Top Contributors to the help forum. A Top Contributor (TC) for over a year, Gracey tells us about why she became a TC, shares some of her experiences as an AdSense publisher, and provides some tips for all of you. We hope you enjoy getting to know her, and continue to visit the help forum with any questions you may have!

What does it mean to be a Top Contributor (TC), and what do you like about it?
Being a TC gives me the ability to call on an AdSense Pro to help out someone who really needs help; for me, that's one of the main reasons I accepted the invitation. The other thing I really enjoy about being a TC is the ability to call on other TCs for help when a situation has me stumped. All of the TCs are good people, each with different areas of expertise. I believe in 'paying it forward' or the old adage 'what goes around, comes around,' so in helping others, I believe that someday when I need help, there will be someone there to help me.
What it doesn't mean is that I'm any smarter than the next publisher -- most of what I know came from the AdSense Help Center and from my own experiences, and these are things any publisher or volunteer in the help forum can learn. I like that being a TC, I learn something new every day. Helping others to resolve issues often means searching for answers I don't already have.
Being a TC also doesn't mean that any of my sites are exempt from being disabled. Just like any other publisher, my sites must meet quality standards and follow all the AdSense program policies and Webmaster Guidelines.

Are you a Google employee?
No, I'm not employed by Google in any capacity. I'm simply a publisher -- one who ran into her own problems a while back and came to the help forum for guidance. I stuck around the forum because I started learning things that I didn't know before.

What is your experience like as a publisher?
I've been an AdSense publisher since 2005. I have about 13 blogs and 3 websites, with AdSense ads displayed on only two of my blogs and one of my websites. I'm careful to only use AdSense on sites I feel would be acceptable to AdWords advertisers. It's important to me to maintain the quality of my sites, and at this point in time my schedule is busy enough that I can only reasonably maintain 3 or 4 of my sites on a regular basis. One of my sites (without AdSense ads on it because it's about AdSense and Blogger) has been helpful for many new publishers.

What's the most important piece of advice you can give a new publisher to help them make the most of AdSense?
I think the most important thing new publishers can do for themselves is read. Read everything available in the Help Center that relates to the products you are going to use, and do that before putting ads all over your website.
One other thing I'd tell a new publisher is to ask for clarification in the help forum when he or she doesn't understand the meaning of a policy. AdSense provides a great deal of information to help publishers, but many of them run full tilt to the ad code and never look back at the policies and guidelines.

How can publishers best utilize AdSense for content?
AdSense for content requires some work and diligence. Rather than just grabbing ad codes and plastering them wherever you can on a site, take the time to set up test ads on your site pages. Setting up a different ad size, format, or color combination on various pages throughout your site can help you discover the ones that may be the most effective for you. Use custom channels for each ad on each page during this simple test and give it some time. After a month or so, when you view the reports for each of these ads you should have a good idea of what ad formats and colors work best on your site.

Posted by AdSensePro Chris - AdSense Forum Team
URL: http://adsense.blogspot.com/2010/09/join-conversation-getting-to-know-our.html

[G] Taking rogue pharmacies to court

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 11:27 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Taking rogue pharmacies to court

We work very hard to make sure that ads shown on Google provide useful information for our users. But sometimes we need to take action against ads that violate our policies, as when we block malware ads, or when we filed suit last year against "Google Money" scammers. This is especially true when it comes to advertising for products such as pharmaceuticals, which can be dangerous without the right prescription.

Like many online services, we have struggled with this problem for years. It's been an ongoing, escalating cat-and-mouse game—as we and others build new safeguards and guidelines, rogue online pharmacies always try new tactics to get around those protections and illegally sell drugs on the web. In recent years, we have noticed a marked increase in the number of rogue pharmacies, as well an increasing sophistication in their methods. This has meant that despite our best efforts—from extensive verification procedures, to automated keyword blocking, to changing our ads policies—a small percentage of pharma ads from these rogue companies is still appearing on Google.

So this morning we filed a civil lawsuit in federal court against advertisers we believe have deliberately broken our rules. Litigation of this kind should act as a serious deterrent to anyone thinking about circumventing our policies to advertise illegally on Google. As we identify additional bad actors, we will add them to the lawsuit. Rogue pharmacies are bad for our users, for legitimate online pharmacies and for the entire e-commerce industry—so we are going to keep investing time and money to stop these kinds of harmful practices.

Posted by Michael Zwibelman, Litigation Counsel
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/taking-rogue-pharmacies-to-court.html

[G] Your questions on the future of Iraq

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 11:27 PM PDT

Official Google Blog: Your questions on the future of Iraq

(Cross-posted from the YouTube Blog)

There is perhaps no other country in the world that has undergone more change or been under more scrutiny in the past decade than Iraq. The draw-down of U.S. troops and a recent election that has yet to produce a formal government have left Iraq in a state of flux. The country's destiny has implications not just for the Arab world, but for the world at large.

That's why, in partnership with the Arabic-language television network, Al Arabiya, we're launching "Iraq Looks Forward," a series of interviews on YouTube in which Iraqi leaders answer your questions about the future of the country. This is your chance to engage directly with top Iraqi officials, so visit youtube.com/alarabiya to submit your questions and vote on which you think should be asked.



A selection of the top-voted questions will be posted to sitting Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Barham Salih, and others.

The deadline for submitting questions is Monday, September 27.

Posted by Olivia Ma, News Manger, YouTube
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/your-questions-on-future-of-iraq.html

[G] New My Client Center features: email notifications and custom alerts

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 10:24 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: New My Client Center features: email notifications and custom alerts

For those of you who use My Client Center (MCC) to manage your client accounts, we're launching two new features to help you stay on top of critical notifications and alerts about your accounts.

Email notifications
As we make this feature available over the next few weeks, you'll be able to manage which email notifications you receive about your client accounts. From the My Account tab, click 'Notification settings' then the 'My Client Settings' tab to edit settings for email alerts about billing issues, campaign updates, and disapproved ads. These alerts will be emailed to the email address associated with the Google Account you've used to sign in to your MCC.


Custom alerts
In the past, to create custom alerts for your client AdWords accounts you had to sign into each account directly. The new MCC custom alerts allow you to create alerts at the MCC level from your single MCC login. To create alerts at the MCC level, click the 'Custom alerts' button from your MCC dashboard.


Please note that alerts you create when you're signed in with your MCC login are associated with your MCC login email address and won't be accessible when you or your client sign in at the client account level. Learn more about creating and managing custom alerts within client accounts.

To let us know what you think of these new features, click the 'Send feedback' link in your account.

Posted by Jason Shafton, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/09/new-my-client-center-features-email.html

[G] How Blogger Inspired The Creation Of BlogWorld & New Media Expo

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 07:19 PM PDT

Blogger Buzz: How Blogger Inspired The Creation Of BlogWorld & New Media Expo

Guest post by Rick Calvert, CEO of BlogWorld & New Media Expo 


When the Google Blogger team asked me to write a guest post for the Blogger Blog, I really didn't know where to start. Today it occurred to me that the story of how I found Blogger might be a good place.

I have been reading and commenting on blogs since the year 2000. I am a news and political junkie so most of the blogs I read were political. Tons of them were hosted right here on Blogger. I was amazed at the original news being reported; the insightful commentary and opinion; the incredibly moving personal stories from Milbloggers and their families and yes the crazy conspiracy theories. This Blogging thing was really incredible. Who were all these smart people?

So many times I wished I could be a blogger, but I wasn't a techie or a geek and it just seemed like it would be too difficult. Fast forward to 2005; I was in the middle of my two-hour daily commute home on the 91 freeway out of Los Angeles and listening to center right talk radio guy Hugh Hewitt. He said something that got me worked up so I called in. I don't remember what we talked about but at the end of the conversation he said "you should start a blog." So that night I went home and Googled "how to start a blog." Blogger was the first result. So I clicked through and found the message you have all seen and the message that changed my life forever "Create Your Blog Now." I had no idea how easy it was to start a blog! It only took me five minutes to do something I had been longing to do for nearly five years!

Things started moving very quickly from there—someone actually read my blog. How the heck did they find me? I wondered. Top political bloggers from both sides of the aisle were linking to me. TO ME! Every political pundit I asked to interview said yes! Other bloggers were selling books on their site through Amazon. I thought to myself, I read a lot of books; I should sell the books I like on my blog. A friend helped me sign up as an Amazon Associate and I was off to the races. Then one day an Ad Network contacted me and wanted to sell ads on my blog.

I had so many questions. How much money could I make blogging? How do I add things like widgets and blog rolls to my blog? Can I do audio and video posts? So I started looking for the "Blogging Tradeshow." Being a tradeshow and conference organizer for the last 15 years I knew there was a tradeshow for every industry. I was stunned when I realized no such conference existed. I asked my blogger friends if they would ever attend the "Blogging Tradeshow." They all said yes. I asked my tradeshow friends if they thought it was a good idea. They all said yes.

And so BlogWorld & New Media Expo was born in November of 2006. We held our first event in November of 2007 with 1,600 attendees! This October 14-16 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas we will host the fourth annual BlogWorld & New Media Expo. Over 4,000 bloggers, podcasters, YouTubers, internet radio, and TV broadcasters will be attending and things have come full circle.

We are thrilled that for the first time the blog platform that changed my life, Blogger, will be exhibiting at BlogWorld. We have had folks from Blogger speak at the conference every year, and this year Product Manager Chang Kim will be speaking on "The Future of Blogging Platforms." And now for the first time all of you can visit the Blogger booth (# 308) and ask your own questions. Or just stop by to say hi and meet the Blogger team, or like me stop by and give them a huge THANK YOU for changing your life.

By the way if you still need to register for the show, as a member of the Blogger community you can use this special code for 20% off of any registration package at BlogWorld 2010: BLOGGER20
URL: http://buzz.blogger.com/2010/09/how-blogger-inspired-creation-of.html

[G] Changing the Look of the Web with Stylebot

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 04:19 PM PDT

Google Open Source Blog: Changing the Look of the Web with Stylebot

Stylebot editing the Open Source Blog in advanced mode
Stylebot editing the Open Source Blog in basic mode

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are a part of every web designer's vocabulary when styling websites, and since its inception, the C (Cascading) in CSS was intended as a way to empower users to have the final say over how they perceive content on the web. But because creating user stylesheets generally requires programming, end users have not always been able to easily leverage this functionality. Stylebot, a new Google Chrome extension created as a Google Summer of Code project, hopes to finally unlock the power of the C in CSS by giving the end user final control on how web content is displayed.

At Google, the Accessibility Engineering team is very excited about the potential of extensions like Stylebot to improve the accessibility of the web, making it possible for users to customize the web to fit their needs. For example, a Stylebot user with special reading needs might change a webpage by removing images, picking new text and background colors, and even moving blocks of text around. And Stylebot saves the custom style they create, so the next time they access that page the changes will still be there. Even better, they can sync their saved styles across computers so that webpage will always appear with their preferred style.

We invited Ankit Ahuja, the Google Summer of Code student who worked on Stylebot, to write about his experiences creating the extension. While there's still a lot of work to be done to make Chromium more accessible, extensions like Stylebot are a great step - giving users themselves the power to shape the way they interact with the web.
My name is Ankit Ahuja, and I successfully completed my Google Summer of Code project this year for Chromium. I was mentored by Rachel Shearer. My project is Stylebot, a Chromium extension that enables users to easily customize the web's appearance. Ultimately, Stylebot aims to make the web more accessible and adaptable.

StyleBot screencast demo

One of the main objectives of the project was to allow users unfamiliar with CSS to be able to use this extension with ease. In the Basic mode, users launch Stylebot on a page, select an element and style it. Changes made by the users are automatically saved, so the next time they visit the page, their custom styles are already applied. This mode provides an easy-to-use GUI for the commonly used CSS properties. For the more advanced users, there is a separate mode in which they can write their own CSS.

A nontrivial problem was allowing the users to preview the changes instantly. So although a stylesheet is used to apply the custom CSS when the page is initially loaded, inline CSS is deployed while the user is in editing mode for a smooth, dynamic editing experience. Another important issue was determining the best way to position the Stylebot panel on the page. During testing, I found drag-and-drop to be slow. Instead, allowing the panel to be moved to a fixed left or right position felt the most user friendly. CSS parsing was required and luckily there already existed a CSS parser in JavaScript.

On my part, I've tried to make sure the Stylebot code is useful for other developers. I've kept the implementation of features like extension data synchronization, selection of elements, CSS selector generation, etc. separate, so that anyone can reuse the code easily. I've also used code from other open source projects. For example, the user interface is the CSS version of Cappuccino's Aristo and the selection of elements is similar to Firebug's implementation.

Take a look at a few examples we created using Stylebot. You can install the extension from the Google Chrome extensions gallery. We're already receiving some positive and critical feedback, which is exciting!

I had an amazing experience participating in Google Summer of Code this year. I had a great time interacting with my mentor through the summer, who was very helpful and motivating. Finally, I would like to thank Google for sponsoring and making this project possible.
By Ankit Ahuja, 2010 Google Summer of Code Student and Rachel Shearer, Google Accessibility Engineering Team
URL: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2010/09/changing-look-of-web-with-stylebot.html

[G] A more fontastic Google Docs

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 03:54 PM PDT

Official Google Docs Blog: A more fontastic Google Docs

Cross posted on the Official Google Blog

Documents without font choices are like photographs without colors. Just as shades of color can add depth to a picture, smart font choices give your text another dimension.

For a long time, the set of fonts that you've seen when you browsed the web has been quite limited. That's because you could only use a font that's already been installed on your computer. So if a website designer wanted all her visitors to see the same thing, she could only use fonts that are so ubiquitous that the chances are very high that every computer will have them. And there are only a handful of fonts that fit that bill.

Thankfully, that situation is changing. All modern browsers now support the ability to download web fonts. A web font doesn't need to be installed on your local computer—it can be read directly from a web server and used immediately on the webpage that you're loading. In May, we launched the Google Font API, which makes it easy for website developers to include any one of an ever-growing list of web fonts on their pages. We're already using the new API for the latest themes in Google forms.

As of today, Google documents supports web fonts (using the Google Font API) and we're excited to announce six new fonts.

Droid Serif and Droid Sans
Android fans will already be familiar with the Droid family of fonts. Droid Serif and Droid Sans both feature strong vertical lines and a neutral, yet friendly appearance. They're designed specifically for reading on small screens.


Calibri and Cambria
Every day we have many people import documents from Microsoft Word into Google Docs. Today we're making import fidelity better by adding two of the most popular Microsoft Word fonts. Calibri is a beautiful sans serif font characterized by curves and soft edges. It's designed to be high impact. Cambria is built with strong vertical serifs and subtle horizontal ones. It's very legible when printed at small sizes.


Consolas and Corsiva
Consolas joins Courier New as the second monospaced font in Google Docs. It's a modern monospaced font with character proportions that are similar to normal text. Finally, Corsiva is our first italic font with embellished characters and an elegant style.


Right now our font support covers most Latin and Western European character sets. However, we'll be adding web fonts for other languages (like Hebrew and Greek) soon. If you don't see the new fonts in your documents, check that web fonts are supported in your language and that the document language is set correctly from the File -> Language menu.


This is just the beginning of fonts in Google Docs. We added six new fonts today and we're already testing our next batch. You'll see many more new fonts over the next few months. And because Google Docs uses web fonts, you'll never need to install a new font: when you load your document, the latest set of fonts will always be there, ready to use.

Finally, adding web fonts is just one of the challenges that we have been working on. If you're interested in learning more about the challenges of building a collaborative application, check out the first post of a three-part series on collaboration posted earlier today.

Posted by: Jeremie Lenfant-Engelmann, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-fontastic-google-docs.html

[G] What’s different about the new Google Docs: Working together, even apart

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 03:54 PM PDT

Official Google Docs Blog: What's different about the new Google Docs: Working together, even apart

Editor's Note: In May, we walked through some technical details about what's different in the new Google Docs. Beginning today, we'll dive into the collaboration technology behind Google Docs in three parts, starting with a look at the challenges encountered when building a collaborative application. Tomorrow's post will describe how Google Docs uses an algorithm called operational transformation to merge edits in real time. Finally, on Thursday, we'll dive into the collaboration protocol for sending changes between the editors.

The way people work is changing. Ten years ago, it was too hard to co-author a document, so things took longer, or people just put up with less collaboration. But as our communication tools have become better, it's become more common to have a group of people writing a doc collaboratively.

Collaboration is technically difficult because many people can be making changes to the same content at almost the same time. Since connection speeds aren't instantaneous, when you make a change, you're temporarily creating a local version of the document that is different from the versions other collaborators see. The core implementation challenge is to make sure that all the editing sessions eventually converge on the same, correct, version of the document.

One approach taken by the old Google documents and by many other collaborative word processors is to compare document versions. Suppose there are two editors: John and Luiz. In the old Google Docs, the server begins with one version of a document and receives an updated version from John. The server finds the differences between its version and John's version and decides out how to merge those two versions as best it can. Then the server sends this merged version to Luiz. If Luiz has changes that have not yet been sent to the server, then he needs to compare the server version with his local version and merge the two versions together. Then Luiz sends this merged local version to the server and the process continues.

But often, this approach doesn't work well. Take the example below. John, Luiz and the server start with the text The quick brown fox. John bolds the words brown fox. As he's doing this, Luiz highlights the word fox and replaces it with the word dog. Suppose John's changes arrive at the server first, and then the server sends those changes to Luiz.



The correct way to merge John's style change and Luiz's text substitution is as The quick brown dog. But Luiz doesn't have enough information to know what the correct merge is. From his perspective, The quick brown fox dog, The quick brown dog, The quick brown dog fox are all perfectly valid ways of merging the two versions. And that's the problem: if you just compare versions, you can't make sure that changes are merged in the way that an editor would expect.

You can avoid the merging problem by introducing more restrictions on the editors. For example, you could lock paragraphs so that only one editor was ever allowed to type in a single paragraph at a given time. But locking paragraphs isn't a great solution: you're sidestepping the technical challenges by hampering the collaborative editing experience. Plus, it's always possible for two editors to begin editing a paragraph at the same time. In that case, one of the editors will find out that he didn't actually acquire the paragraph lock and any changes that he made while he thought he had the lock will need to be merged (which has all of the above problems) or discarded.

The new version of Google documents does things differently. In the new editor, a document is stored as a series of chronological changes. A change might be something like {InsertText 'T' @10}. That particular change was to insert the letter T at the 10th position in the document. A fundamental difference between the new editor and the old one is that instead of computing the changes by comparing document versions, we now compute the versions by playing forward the history of changes.

This approach creates a better collaboration experience, because the editors' intentions are never ambiguous. Since we know the revision of each change, we can check what the editor saw when he made that change and we can figure out how to correctly merge that change with any changes that were made since then.

That's it for today. Tomorrow's post will give an overview of the algorithm for merging changes — operational transformation. Even if we know how to properly merge changes, we still need to make sure that each editor knows when there are changes that need to be merged. This challenge is handled by the collaboration protocol which will be the subject of Thursday's post. Together, these technologies create the character-by-character collaboration in Google Docs.

Posted by: John Day-Richter, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/09/whats-different-about-new-google-docs.html

[G] Updated Gmail app in Android Market

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 12:38 PM PDT

Official Google Mobile Blog: Updated Gmail app in Android Market

We just released a new version of the Gmail app in Android Market, so Gmail updates aren't tied to Android version releases anymore. Now you can get new Gmail stuff faster without having to wait for system updates. To start you off, we've improved message replies, access to quoted text, and more.

As you scroll through a conversation, your most important message actions will now stick to the top of the screen, one click away, no matter how long the email is.


Don't remember what prompted the most recent email in a thread? Now you can view previous message content more easily, just like in the desktop version of Gmail. Tap "Show quoted text" to reveal the previous message.


Finally, this updated version of the Gmail app has limited support for Priority Inbox. If you've enabled Priority Inbox via the desktop version of Gmail, you'll see an "Important" label that shows all messages flagged as important. You can even add a shortcut to "Important" to your home screen.


The Gmail update requires Froyo (Android version 2.2), so it's available if you have a Nexus One, HTC EVO, Motorola Droid 2 or Motorola Droid. (Not sure if your device is running Android version 2.2? Check here.)

Get the update from Android Market (just scan the QR code below, or click here if you're on a phone) and check out the new Gmail. We'd love to hear what you think at android-apps-support@google.com.


Update 9/21/10 12:13pm Pacific time: There is a known issue with important actions not sticking to the top of the screen on HTC phones running Anrdoid 2.2, like the EVO 4G and
the Droid Incredible. We are working to address this.

Posted by Simon Arscott and Paul Westbrook, Gmail for Android team
URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/09/updated-gmail-app-in-android-market_21.html

[G] Updated Gmail app in Android Market

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 12:38 PM PDT

Official Google Mobile Blog: Updated Gmail app in Android Market

We just released a new version of the Gmail app in Android Market, so Gmail updates aren't tied to Android version releases anymore. Now you can get new Gmail stuff faster without having to wait for system updates. To start you off, we've improved message replies, access to quoted text, and more.

As you scroll through a conversation, your most important message actions will now stick to the top of the screen, one click away, no matter how long the email is.


Very long thread? Now you can view previous message content more easily, just like in the desktop version of Gmail. Tap "Show quoted text" to reveal the previous message.


Finally, this updated version of the Gmail app has limited support for Priority Inbox. If you've enabled Priority Inbox via the desktop version of Gmail, you'll see an "Important" label that shows all messages flagged as important. You can even add a shortcut to "Important" to your home screen.


The Gmail update requires Froyo (Android version 2.2), so it's available if you have a Nexus One, HTC EVO, Motorola Droid 2 or Motorola Droid. (Not sure if your device is running Android version 2.2? Check here.)

Get the update from Android Market (just scan the QR code below, or click here if you're on a phone) and check out the new Gmail. We'd love to hear what you think at android-apps-support@google.com.


Posted by Simon Arscott and Paul Westbrook, Gmail for Android team
URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2010/09/updated-gmail-app-in-android-market.html

[G] Partial FriendFeed Subscriber count outage

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 12:16 PM PDT

The FeedBurner Status Blog: Partial FriendFeed Subscriber count outage

Issue: FriendFeed discovered an issue with their subscriber count reporting resulting in reporting outages for a number of publishers over the previous week.

Update (7:30am PST 21-Sep): FriendFeed fixed the issue this morning and we expect the counts to return within the next reporting cycle.
URL: http://feedburnerstatus.blogspot.com/2010/09/partial-friendfeed-subscriber-count.html

[G] Top tips for partners: Words, Words, Words!!

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 12:11 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: Top tips for partners: Words, Words, Words!!

As a partner, you have probably asked yourself, "How can I make my videos more discoverable?" "Is it kosher to ask for subscribers?" and "What's the most effective way to use annotations?" Well, after almost three years since the Partner Program launched, we want to answer some of your questions and offer tips on how you can use YouTube's arsenal of tools to become a truly great partner.



Over the next few weeks, we'll feature a series of blog posts with advice and actionable suggestions regarding what has helped partners be successful on YouTube. As always, we want your feedback. If there are things we are missing, or other optimization tips you want us to cover, let us know via the comments section in this post.



To kick off our series, we will be covering the first and most important step to increasing awareness of your videos: metadata, which is near and dear to all of our hearts. Find out what YouTube defines as metadata and read on for ways to come up with new tags and descriptions.



Words, Words, Words



YouTube is the second largest search engine, so don't get lost in the mix, let people find you. Our algorithms are good, but they can only read, they can't watch your videos. So in order to properly classify your video and index it for search, we need your help.



To do:

  • Have a basic understanding of how we index our search results so you know how we crawl and index your video. Use our tools to your videos' advantage. 

  • Titles, tags and rich descriptions (all categorized as metadata) will help your discoverability and increase CPMs. Descriptions can include up to 5,000 characters, tags can be 120 characters. Make a goal to use every one of these limits for each of your videos.

  • The more words you include in your description, the higher your chances of being discovered by searchers, which means the larger your audience can grow, and the more potential revenue you can earn.

What YouTube defines as metadata:


  • Use our Keyword Tool to expand on or update your tags. It will give you good suggestions for related queries. You can also check out the Google Insights for Search tool built for online advertisers. 

  • Don't just include tags upon video upload. If you have a popular video that continues to get views over time, update your tags regularly to take advantage of new searches. Online search behavior is always changing, so your tags should change along with it. 

  • If you have a transcript available, make sure to upload it and turn on captions. This can help your discoverability as it will give us more data points to index your video.

To avoid:
  • Users hate spam. Google hates spam. Spammy tags and thumbnails may help increase views in the very short term, but our algorithm will catch on and punish you for spam. Long term, you want your users searching for videos to find what they are looking for and to associate your channel with accurate information.

  • Don't repeat words in your description or title, this will not help you. Rather use different words and variations that users might search on to find your video.

Now is a great time to log into your account and check out what your metadata looks like and add some more tags. Tune in this Thursday to hear from one of our partners who'll discuss first-hand how she uses metadata to increase views. 


Julie Kikla and Mahin Ibrahim, Account Managers, YouTube Partnerships recently watched "Triple Backflip - 60 foot Rope Swing!"


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/mopmG1tK4X4/top-tips-for-partners-words-words-words.html

[G] Updated Gmail app in Android Market

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 11:59 AM PDT

Official Gmail Blog: Updated Gmail app in Android Market

Posted by Simon Arscott and Paul Westbrook, Gmail for Android team

(Cross-posted from the Mobile Blog)

We just released a new version of the Gmail app in Android Market, so Gmail updates aren't tied to Android version releases anymore. Now you can get new Gmail stuff faster without having to wait for system updates. To start you off, we've improved message replies, access to quoted text, and more.

As you scroll through a conversation, your most important message actions will now stick to the top of the screen, one click away, no matter how long the email is.

Don't remember what prompted the most recent email in a thread? Now you can view previous message content more easily, just like in the desktop version of Gmail. Tap "Show quoted text" to reveal the previous message.

Finally, this updated version of the Gmail app has limited support for Priority Inbox. If you've enabled Priority Inbox via the desktop version of Gmail, you'll see an "Important" label that shows all messages flagged as important. You can even add a shortcut to "Important" to your home screen.

The Gmail update requires Froyo (Android version 2.2), so it's available if you have a Nexus One, HTC EVO, Motorola Droid 2 or Motorola Droid. (Not sure if your device is running Android version 2.2? Check here.)

Get the update from Android Market (just scan the QR code below, or click here if you're on a phone) and check out the new Gmail. We'd love to hear what you think at android-apps-support@google.com.

URL: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/updated-gmail-app-in-android-market.html

[G] Shades of red, shades of blue: mapping midterm election ratings

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 11:50 AM PDT

Google LatLong: Shades of red, shades of blue: mapping midterm election ratings


With the midterm elections in the U.S. just six weeks away, everyone is wondering how the balance of power between Republicans and Democrats will shake out after November 2. Although more than 500 seats will be decided in House, Senate, and Governor races, the current tallies are so close that individual races are receiving great scrutiny: you'll find several sources providing estimations for how each race is leaning.

To make tracking the blues and reds a little easier for armchair pundits, we've partnered with some of the most respected names in politics—Cook, Rothenberg, CQ-Roll Call and RealClearPolitics—to put their ratings in the same place and on the same map. You can find it at maps.google.com/elections2010.


The map initially shows loads with states shaded according to one of the sources' ratings of the Senate race; click the links on the left to switch to House or Governor races, or to switch sources. To compare the ratings head-to-head, click a given state or district, and you'll see ratings from each source displayed. We refresh the data daily based on the latest ratings, so come back as the races develop. If you would like to put this map in your own website, you can embed it as a gadget and grab the code here.

This gadget is powered by the highly flexible yet simple-to-build-on Fusion Tables, which directly integrates into Google Maps API v3. Even if you're not a programmer, there's a lot that you can do with Fusion Tables to manipulate and visualize data, and in the spirit of the season, check out our new tutorial that demonstrates how to analyze Census data by congressional district and share what you've come up with.

Along with other initiatives, including the Election Center with our Public Sector team and You Choose at YouTube, this map gadget is an important way that we're working to improve communication, discourse and understanding of the political process.

Posted by Jesse Friedman, Product Marketing Manager, Google Maps
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/09/shades-of-red-shades-of-blue-mapping.html

[G] Your questions on the future of Iraq

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 10:40 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: Your questions on the future of Iraq

There is perhaps no other country in the world that has undergone more change or been under more scrutiny in the past decade than Iraq. The draw-down of U.S. troops and a recent election that has yet to produce a formal government have left Iraq in a state of flux. The country's destiny has implications not just for the Arab world, but for the world at large.



That's why, in partnership with the Arabic-language television network, Al Arabiya, we're launching "Iraq Looks Forward," a series of interviews on YouTube in which Iraqi leaders answer your questions about the future of the country. This is your chance to engage directly with top Iraqi officials, so visit youtube.com/alarabiya to submit your questions and vote on which you think should be asked.



A selection of the top-voted questions will be posted to sitting Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Barham Salih, and others.



The deadline for submitting questions is Monday, September 27, one week from today.



Olivia Ma, News Manger, recently watched "Tony Blair on Iraq and Iran - The View"


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/8EtKLq57BKM/your-questions-on-future-of-iraq.html

[G] Shades of red, shades of blue: mapping midterm election ratings

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 10:12 AM PDT

Google Public Policy Blog: Shades of red, shades of blue: mapping midterm election ratings

Posted by Jesse Friedman, Product Marketing Manager, Google Maps
(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)

With the midterm elections in the U.S. just six weeks away, everyone is wondering how the balance of power between Republicans and Democrats will shake out after November 2. Although more than 500 seats will be decided in House, Senate, and Governor races, the current tallies are so close that individual races are receiving great scrutiny: you'll find several sources providing estimations for how each race is leaning.

To make tracking the blues and reds a little easier for armchair pundits, we've partnered with some of the most respected names in politics—Cook, Rothenberg, CQ-Roll Call and RealClearPolitics—to put their ratings in the same place and on the same map. You can find it at maps.google.com/elections2010.

The map initially shows loads with states shaded according to one of the sources' ratings of the Senate race; click the links on the left to switch to House or Governor races, or to switch sources. To compare the ratings head-to-head, click a given state or district, and you'll see ratings from each source displayed. We refresh the data daily based on the latest ratings, so come back as the races develop. If you would like to put this map in your own website, you can embed it as a gadget and grab the code here.


This gadget is powered by the highly flexible yet simple-to-build-on Fusion Tables, which directly integrates into Google Maps API v3. Even if you're not a programmer, there's a lot that you can do with Fusion Tables to manipulate and visualize data, and in the spirit of the season, check out our new tutorial that demonstrates how to analyze Census data by congressional district and share what you've come up with.

Along with other initiatives, including the Election Center with our Public Sector team and You Choose at YouTube, this map gadget is an important way that we're working to improve communication, discourse and understanding of the political process.
URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/09/shades-of-red-shades-of-blue-mapping.html

[G] Internet at Liberty 2010 live stream

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 10:12 AM PDT

Google Public Policy Blog: Internet at Liberty 2010 live stream

Posted by Bob Boorstin, Director, Public Policy

The development of the Internet as a global, free and open resource is a constant challenge. The dynamic and decentralized nature of the Internet offers new opportunities for communication and free expression as well as new threats. Today we have reached a critical moment in time when governments that wish to control the spread of information and individuals using digital technologies to promote change are becoming increasingly sophisticated and strategic as they confront each other around the world.

This week in Budapest, Google and the Central European University are sponsoring Internet at Liberty 2010: The Promise and Peril of Online Free Expression, a conference that brings together grassroots global activists alongside representatives of NGOs, academic centers, governments and corporations in order to explore the many issues at hand. The conference will explore creative ways to address the boundaries of online free expression; the complex relationship among technology, economic growth and human rights; ways in which dissidents and governments are using the internet; the role of internet intermediaries; as well as pressing policy and legal issues such as privacy and cybersecurity. You can follow the live stream of the conference from wherever you are.
URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/09/internet-at-liberty-2010-live-stream.html

[G] Tools to visualize access to information

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 10:12 AM PDT

Google Public Policy Blog: Tools to visualize access to information

Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer
(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)

When Google's services are blocked or filtered, we can't serve our users effectively. That's why we act every day to maximize free expression and access to information. To promote transparency around this flow of information, we've built an interactive online Transparency Report with tools that allow people to see where governments are demanding that we remove content and where Google services are being blocked. We believe that this kind of transparency can be a deterrent to censorship.

Like all companies, Google's services occasionally experience traffic disruptions. Our new traffic tracking tool helps us and others track whether these interruptions are related to mechanical outages or are government-induced. Each traffic graph shows historic traffic patterns for a given country and service. Graphs are updated as data is collected, then normalized and scaled in units of 0 to 100. This new tool—which is global and includes China—will replace the Mainland China service availability chart, which showed product access for China alone. By showing outages, the traffic graphs visualize disruptions in the free flow of information, whether it's a government blocking information or a cable being cut. For example, the graphs show that YouTube has been inaccessible in Iran since June 12, 2009, following the disputed presidential election.


In April we also created a website that shows the number of government inquiries for information about users and requests for Google to take down or censor content. Today we're updating this interactive Government Requests map with data from the first six months of 2010. We've also updated our analysis of the trends we saw across the data over the past six months. The new data for 2010 now includes the number of individual items asked to be removed, per country (for example, there may be many URLs per a single request.) You can learn more about trends in the data here. We view this as a concrete step that, we hope, will encourage both companies and governments to be similarly transparent.

Free expression is one of our core values. We believe that more information means more choice, more freedom and ultimately more power for the individual. Free expression is, of course, also at the heart of Google's business. Our products are specifically designed to help people create, communicate, share opinions and find information across the globe. We hope this step toward greater transparency—and these tools—will help in ongoing discussions about the free flow of information.
URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/09/tools-to-visualize-access-to.html

[G] Shades of red, shades of blue: mapping midterm election ratings

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:53 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Shades of red, shades of blue: mapping midterm election ratings

With the midterm elections in the U.S. just six weeks away, everyone is wondering how the balance of power between Republicans and Democrats will shake out after November 2. Although more than 500 seats will be decided in House, Senate, and Governor races, the current tallies are so close that individual races are receiving great scrutiny: you'll find several sources providing estimations for how each race is leaning.

To make tracking the blues and reds a little easier for armchair pundits, we've partnered with some of the most respected names in politics—Cook, Rothenberg, CQ-Roll Call and RealClearPolitics—to put their ratings in the same place and on the same map. You can find it at maps.google.com/elections2010.


The map initially shows loads with states shaded according to one of the sources' ratings of the Senate race; click the links on the left to switch to House or Governor races, or to switch sources. To compare the ratings head-to-head, click a given state or district, and you'll see ratings from each source displayed. We refresh the data daily based on the latest ratings, so come back as the races develop. If you would like to put this map in your own website, you can embed it as a gadget and grab the code here.

This gadget is powered by the highly flexible yet simple-to-build-on Fusion Tables, which directly integrates into Google Maps API v3. Even if you're not a programmer, there's a lot that you can do with Fusion Tables to manipulate and visualize data, and in the spirit of the season, check out our new tutorial that demonstrates how to analyze Census data by congressional district and share what you've come up with.

Along with other initiatives, including the Election Center with our Public Sector team and You Choose at YouTube, this map gadget is an important way that we're working to improve communication, discourse and understanding of the political process.

Posted by Jesse Friedman, Product Marketing Manager, Google Maps
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/shades-of-red-shades-of-blue-mapping.html

[G] A more fontastic Google Docs

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:53 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: A more fontastic Google Docs

(Cross-posted from the Google Docs Blog)

Documents without font choices are like photographs without colors. Just as shades of color can add depth to a picture, smart font choices give your text another dimension.

For a long time, the set of fonts that you've seen when you browsed the web has been quite limited. That's because you could only use a font that's already been installed on your computer. So if a website designer wanted all her visitors to see the same thing, she could only use fonts that are so ubiquitous that the chances are very high that every computer will have them. And there are only a handful of fonts that fit that bill.

Thankfully, that situation is changing. All modern browsers now support the ability to download web fonts. A web font doesn't need to be installed on your local computer—it can be read directly from a web server and used immediately on the webpage that you're loading. In May, we launched the Google Font API, which makes it easy for website developers to include any one of an ever-growing list of web fonts on their pages. We're already using the new API for the latest themes in Google forms.

As of today, Google documents supports web fonts (using the Google Font API) and we're excited to announce six new fonts.

Droid Serif and Droid Sans
Android fans will already be familiar with the Droid family of fonts. Droid Serif and Droid Sans both feature strong vertical lines and a neutral, yet friendly appearance. They're designed specifically for reading on small screens.


Calibri and Cambria
Every day we have many people import documents from Microsoft Word into Google Docs. Today we're making import fidelity better by adding two of the most popular Microsoft Word fonts. Calibri is a beautiful sans serif font characterized by curves and soft edges. It's designed to be high impact. Cambria is built with strong vertical serifs and subtle horizontal ones. It's very legible when printed at small sizes.


Consolas and Corsiva
Consolas joins Courier New as the second monospaced font in Google Docs. It's a modern monospaced font with character proportions that are similar to normal text. Finally, Corsiva is our first italic font with embellished characters and an elegant style.


Right now our font support covers most Latin and Western European character sets. However, we'll be adding web fonts for other languages (like Hebrew and Greek) soon. If you don't see the new fonts in your documents, check that web fonts are supported in your language and that the document language is set correctly from the File -> Language menu.


This is just the beginning of fonts in Google Docs. We added six new fonts today and we're already testing our next batch. You'll see many more new fonts over the next few months. And because Google Docs uses web fonts, you'll never need to install a new font: when you load your document, the latest set of fonts will always be there, ready to use.

Finally, adding web fonts is just one of the challenges that the Google Docs team has been working on. If you're interested in learning more about the challenges of building a collaborative application, check out the first post of a three-part series on collaboration posted on the Google Docs Blog.

Posted by Jeremie Lenfant-Engelmann, Software Engineer
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/more-fontastic-google-docs.html

[G] Our Clinton Global Initiative commitment to Pakistan

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:53 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Our Clinton Global Initiative commitment to Pakistan

At the opening ceremony of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) this morning, President Clinton discussed the urgent need to help the people of Pakistan recover from widespread floods which have affected more people than the 2004 South Asia tsunami, the 2005 South Asia earthquake, and the Haiti earthquake combined. The floods have put one-fifth of the land underwater, impacting more than 20 million people, damaging or destroying 1.9 million homes, putting 3.5 million children at risk of waterborne diseases, and wiping out livestock and crops.

Unfortunately the global response has been anemic. While U.S. corporations, foundations and individuals responded admirably to the earthquake in Haiti by donating $900 million in the first five weeks after the disaster, that same group donated $25 million to Pakistan in the first five week weeks after the floods hit. In an interview with citizens hosted by YouTube, President Clinton called for a dramatically increased global response.

As part of our CGI commitment this year, Google is providing $1 million in charitable grants, as well as technology support to help the people of Pakistan recover from these floods. Roughly one-third of our grants support organizations providing clean water, shelter, medical care and other immediate needs, while two-thirds will be focused on longer-term rebuilding efforts. Partners for the first round of support include: A.S. Edhi International Foundation, Architects for Humanity, CARE, The Citizens Foundation, Naya Jeevan for Kids, Real Medicine Foundation, SIUT North America, Sungi Development Foundation and UM Healthcare Trust.

Amazing work is already being done by these organizations. SIUT, for example, has already established seven medical relief camps and three field hospitals in different parts of the country. Their doctors and paramedics have treated more than 100,000 people, many of whom are suffering from gastroenteritis, malaria and skin diseases.

In remarks during the opening plenary today, Eric Schmidt noted the importance of bringing 21st century technology solutions to disaster relief work. In collaboration with numerous NGOs, for example, Google developed Person Finder, an application that allows individuals to check on the status of friends and loved ones affected by a disaster, a few days after the Haiti earthquake. We developed Resource Finder, an experimental tool that aggregates information on health facilities to help first responders, and shared our MapMaker data with the U.N. We've published sites linked from our homepage to provide updated maps and imagery, videos, news and ways to donate in the wake of recent natural disasters in Haiti, Chile, China, Pakistan and the Gulf oil spill.

We're excited to be at CGI this week to learn about innovative ways to use technology to assist with health, development and disaster response. We encourage non-profits to visit our newly updated Google for NonProfits site to learn how Google's free tools can help expand the impact of each organization.

Posted by Jacquelline Fuller, Advocacy Director, Google.org
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/our-clinton-global-initiative.html

[G] Tools to visualize access to information

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:53 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Tools to visualize access to information

When Google's services are blocked or filtered, we can't serve our users effectively. That's why we act every day to maximize free expression and access to information. To promote transparency around this flow of information, we've built an interactive online Transparency Report with tools that allow people to see where governments are demanding that we remove content and where Google services are being blocked. We believe that this kind of transparency can be a deterrent to censorship.

Like all companies, Google's services occasionally experience traffic disruptions. Our new traffic tracking tool helps us and others track whether these interruptions are related to mechanical outages or are government-induced. Each traffic graph shows historic traffic patterns for a given country and service. Graphs are updated as data is collected, then normalized and scaled in units of 0 to 100. This new tool—which is global and includes China—will replace the Mainland China service availability chart, which showed product access for China alone. By showing outages, the traffic graphs visualize disruptions in the free flow of information, whether it's a government blocking information or a cable being cut. For example, the graphs show that YouTube has been inaccessible in Iran since June 12, 2009, following the disputed presidential election.


In April we also created a website that shows the number of government inquiries for information about users and requests for Google to take down or censor content. Today we're updating this interactive Government Requests map with data from the first six months of 2010. We've also updated our analysis of the trends we saw across the data over the past six months. The new data for 2010 now includes the number of individual items asked to be removed, per country (for example, there may be many URLs per a single request.) You can learn more about trends in the data here. We view this as a concrete step that, we hope, will encourage both companies and governments to be similarly transparent.

Free expression is one of our core values. We believe that more information means more choice, more freedom and ultimately more power for the individual. Free expression is, of course, also at the heart of Google's business. Our products are specifically designed to help people create, communicate, share opinions and find information across the globe. We hope this step toward greater transparency—and these tools—will help in ongoing discussions about the free flow of information.

Posted by David Drummond, SVP, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/tools-to-visualize-access-to.html

[G] Introducing the DFP mobile interface: Manage your ad operations while on-the-go

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:31 AM PDT

DoubleClick Publisher Blog: Introducing the DFP mobile interface: Manage your ad operations while on-the-go

Over the past few months, many of you have let us know how much you'd like to have fast and easy mobile access to your ad operations.

The new DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) mobile interface lets you quickly check your ad operations and account performance while away from your computer. When you sign into your DFP account from your mobile browser, you'll immediately get an overview of the most important areas of your account.

With an activity stream that's constantly updated, you can monitor all of the trafficking changes made to your account even when you're away from the office. If you discover a problem that needs immediate attention, you can pause the line item or even contact the trafficker or salesperson - all directly from your phone.

See how it works in the following video:



We built the DFP mobile interface to help you quickly access the essentials in your account, so we've focused on letting you view and make basic edits to your orders through the mobile application. If you need access to the other parts of your account, you can switch to the desktop version of DFP through a link at the bottom of the screen.

DFP's mobile interface was designed make checking in on your account fast and easy and is available to all users using compatible Android, iPhone, and Palm Pre devices. To access DFP from your mobile device, simply point your mobile browser to www.google.com/dfp

Posted by Alex Anikul, Software Engineer
URL: http://doubleclickpublishers.blogspot.com/2010/09/introducing-dfp-mobile-interface-manage.html

[G] Strengthen your advertising strategies with the Train & Gain challenge

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 09:26 AM PDT

Inside AdWords: Strengthen your advertising strategies with the Train & Gain challenge

Today we're announcing the first AdWords Train & Gain challenge.

You've asked us how to improve the performance of your AdWords account, so we've put together a series of simple steps to help you become more successful online.



Sign up for the AdWords Train & Gain challenge starting October 4th. You'll receive a weekly list of simple steps for improving your AdWords account. Sign into your account twice a week and take the suggested actions on how to better manage your account. At the end of four weeks, you'll be armed with many different ways to improve your AdWords account.

If you complete all the steps and answer a short questionnaire to let us know what you've learned, you could win an Android Phone or a trip to meet with an AdWords consultant in Sydney, Australia for you and a colleague.


Here's a sneak peek of the fast and easy tips you'll get:
Improve ad text: Stand out from your competition by writing ads that highlight your most competitive features (low price, special services, free delivery, etc).
Use negative keywords: Specify which search terms you don't want your ad to appear on. This will help you keep costs down because it prevents clicks from people looking for things you don't offer.
Track sales and leads: See where your ad spend is working best and focus your money on the efforts that are generating business.

This challenge doesn't take up a lot of time and it can make a big difference for your business. Learn more and see the official rules for details about the challenge, who is eligible to compete and how we're selecting winners. Terms and conditions can be found here.

Also, if you'd like to learn more about your AdWords account, check out our brand new AdWords Small Business Center, which we announced in last week's post. The site is a one-stop shop for small and medium businesses. It allows visitors to explore beginner, intermediate or advanced AdWords topics and connects you to the latest AdWords news and best practices.

Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/09/strengthen-your-advertising-strategies.html
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