Thursday, October 7, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] The Station Premieres Hot Girls Season 2 on YouTube

Posted: 07 Oct 2010 12:13 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: The Station Premieres Hot Girls Season 2 on YouTube

Today's homepage spotlight marks the premiere of the second season of Hot Girls, an original web series produced by The Station. The series follows the exploits of "BFFFFs" Ariel, played by LisaNova, and Jazzy, played by KassemG (in drag!).







We asked series writer Ben Donovan for some background on the new season and his words of advice to other online content creators.



1) How did you come up with the idea for Hot Girls?



LisaNova, KassemG and I came up with the one-off video "Teen Cribz" for The Station at the end of last summer. We wanted to parody some of the content on MTV and "Teen Cribz" was one of the most ridiculous shows we came across. Lisa and Kassem created two hilarious characters that really resonated with our audience. The parody ended up being one of our most popular videos and was so much fun to make we decided to turn it in to a six episode web series on the LisaNova channel which Michael Gallagher of Totally Sketch directed. After the success of the first season, we decided to try a second season, which I wrote and directed.



2) How did you get KassemG, ShayCarl and so many other YouTube stars involved?


Kassem, Lisa and Shay are all founding members of Maker Studios and The Station so they naturally wanted to be involved. Also, as I mentioned, Kassem and Lisa created the characters. I think after the success of Season 1 it was easier to get other YouTube stars like Ryan Higa and Timothy Delaghetto to participate because they knew what it was and were interested in working with Kassem and Lisa.



3) What are the components of a great web series?


First and foremost: great characters. Without relatable, engaging characters, you have nothing. The audience really connected with Ariel and Jazzy. I feel like they would watch them in almost any situation. That combined with a good story, fun guest spots and high production value go a long way to making a quality web series.



4) With over 5MM views to Hot Girls Season 1, what advice would you give to other web series creators looking to build an audience like yours?


I'd say to have a successful web series with a large audience on YouTube you probably want to hire some of the big YouTube stars to be in it. They're essentially the "movie stars" of the Internet and have real, committed audiences that want to see them in various projects.



5) Can fans expect a Season 3? If so, how do you see the series evolving?


Obviously, we have to wait to see how Season 2 is received before deciding on a third season, but we definitely have some fun ideas on where to take the characters. We shot on location in Las Vegas for part of this season, which was challenging but also a lot of fun. It'd be great to take Ariel and Jazzy on the road again. The possibilities for story lines really are endless.



Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager, recently watched "HOT GIRLS IN LOVE! Episode 2."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/_DG8XIDfvRY/station-premieres-hot-girls-season-2-on.html

[G] An easier way to use Google Latitude on your computer

Posted: 06 Oct 2010 09:50 PM PDT

Google LatLong: An easier way to use Google Latitude on your computer

[Cross-posted from the Google Mobile Blog]

We're happy to introduce an easier way to use Google Latitude from your computer at google.com/latitude. You can now see where your friends are, start using Latitude apps, and share your location all from one place when you're at your computer.

Find your friends
We launched Latitude with a desktop iGoogle gadget to help you stay in touch with friends and family that may not have a smartphone. We've since learned that a desktop experience is important to you even if you're already using Latitude on your phone. Today, you can now visit a dedicated site that makes it easier than ever to use Latitude when you're already on your computer. From the Friends tab, you can:

  • See where your friends are on Google Maps
  • Add friends and accept sharing requests
  • Control your privacy settings


Do more with Latitude
You'll also now find Latitude and Latitude apps together in one place. After browsing your friends list, go to the History or Apps tabs to turn on optional Latitude apps such as:


Share your location
Just like on your phone, you can choose to share your location with friends and family from your WiFi-enabled computer. Before you can share your location, you'll need to first give Latitude permission to access your location when prompted by your supported browser. You can always change your browser or Latitude privacy settings later. Learn more in the Help Center.

To get started, go to google.com/latitude on your computer. If you're new to Latitude, you can then start on your phone by sending yourself a text message or choose to start on your computer.

Posted by Kenneth Leftin, Software Engineer, Google Mobile Team
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2010/10/easier-way-to-use-google-latitude-on.html

[G] ‘Tis the season for placement targeting

Posted: 06 Oct 2010 09:06 PM PDT

Inside AdSense: 'Tis the season for placement targeting

With the holiday season fast approaching, everyone is spending more online. As consumers start shopping for gifts, searching for holiday activities, and booking vacations, advertisers are putting more of their marketing dollars online to reach these potential customers. This means there is an increased demand for the ad space on your site and an opportunity for you to earn more. To help you capitalize on this trend, we recommend you take advantage of placement targeting.

Many advertisers create targeted brand campaigns at this time of year that are shown on AdSense sites in the Google Display Network. In fact, 99% of Google's 1000 largest advertisers run campaigns on the Display Network. To ensure their brand is noticed by the right shoppers, advertisers will often use placement targeting to show their ads on websites in the Display Network that cater to their target audiences.

You can take advantage of this holiday increase in advertiser spend, and help advertisers placement target specific sections of your site using a feature called ad placements. By creating an ad placement, you'll make sections of your site available to be targeted directly by AdWords advertisers.

Imagine a sport shoe manufacturer. To ensure his shoes get to the right consumers for the holidays, he may want to select sites within the Display Network that appeal to 25- to 34-year-old athletic males looking to purchase athletic shoes. As a publisher with a sports site, you can create ad placements for specific segments of your site so that the sport shoe manufacturer can find you based on these criteria. You can provide descriptions of your site, general demographic segment / audience information, and where the ads appear on your site. Placement targeting connects you directly to the advertisers who want to reach your readers, and are ready to spend their holiday budgets to do just that.

In the coming weeks, we'll post more tips on how to make the most of placement targeting. In the meantime, check out the Help Center and this video to learn more about placement targeting and how you can get started. The sooner you do so, the sooner advertisers can see your ad placements and potentially include you in their holiday campaigns!

Posted by Katrina Kurnit - Inside AdSense Team
URL: http://adsense.blogspot.com/2010/10/tis-season-for-placement-targeting.html

[G] Google Summer of Code report: WorldForge

Posted: 06 Oct 2010 07:37 PM PDT

Google Open Source Blog: Google Summer of Code report: WorldForge

For the third time in a row, Worldforge participated in Google Summer of Code, with three students completing the program this year. Worldforge is the original open-source Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) project, so it's great at getting students who are interested in games into open source.

This post showcases some of the work done by one of our students, Tiberiu Paunescu, to implement a series of improvements to the Ember UI. These improvements were all end-user focused and meant to provide a better and more streamlined user experience.

The first feature implemented was an improvement to the inventory which makes it possible to drag items from the inventory widget into the world, and place them there. When an item is dragged off the inventory and into the world a preview model is created, showing where the item will end up.




The second feature Tiberiu worked on was a new quick-help system. This is designed to provide context-sensitive help messages to the user, triggered by various actions performed. The overall goal is to make it easier for new users to quickly get immersed in the world, and to get proper help messages when they are needed.




The last feature implemented is a new action bar framework. The action bar allows the user quick access through either the keyboard or the mouse to frequently-used items and actions. Action bars can be created and destroyed on the fly, and items can be dragged from the inventory onto an action bar to create a new binding.




Action bars are also property persisted between server sessions.




As you can see from the videos, these are all solid and very useful features which greatly improve the user experience. Tiberiu is a great example of the amazing contributions that can be made in just one summer, we're all very proud of what Tiberiu has achieved.

By Erik Hjortsberg, WorldForge Mentor

This post is cross posted from the WorldForge Developers Journal.
URL: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2010/10/google-summer-of-code-report-worldforge.html

[G] Responding to the Rutgers University tragedy

Posted: 06 Oct 2010 07:10 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: Responding to the Rutgers University tragedy

At YouTube, we pride ourselves on creating an accepting, open and diverse community, and consistently strive to promote these ideals - both online and off. Tyler Clementi's death, as well as similar tragedies, have sparked questions about privacy and harassment that will only increase as access to the web grows. So let us be clear: Intolerance is not OK. We will not stand by and allow for egregious violations of user privacy to threaten a vibrant and creative online community. YouTube will always prioritize the safety of our users - we encourage you to reach out and let us know if you or someone you know is in need of help.



In the wake of this tragic event, we'd like to take a moment to remind our community of the many resources available to individuals dealing with cyberbullying and online harassment. We understand that the internet can be a very tough place to navigate, and we want you to know that you are not alone in dealing with issues of privacy and harassment. If you or someone you know is at risk, reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK. We also encourage you to visit YouTube's Help & Safety Center to learn about tools to deal with abuse and harassment online.



Finally, check out the It Gets Better Project, a venue for individuals to share and hear stories from the LGBT community about the difficulties of coming out in what can be an often judgmental society.



We hope you take some time to think carefully about your responsibilities to yourselves and to the online community as you continue to use YouTube and other social media websites. Remember that public videos can have many unintended consequences - as a result, we encourage you to consider the possible effects your videos and comments may have on the people around you.



The YouTube Policy Team, recently watched "It Gets Better: Dan and Terry"


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/eDLU3P-qWGI/responding-to-rutgers-university.html

[G] Your questions about ads and advertising answered

Posted: 06 Oct 2010 03:13 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: Your questions about ads and advertising answered

For the next edition of "YouTube Answers," a series in which you're invited to ask us questions on a broad topic, we're tackling your queries about ads and advertising. You submitted nearly 50 questions about our ad business, and here we have Rick Silvestrini, Product Marketing Manager, addressing the seven most popular:







Next up: head over to the YouTube channel where we're using Moderator to collect questions on the topic of "Building an audience on YouTube." This is a good opportunity to ask about how to build a robust subscriber base and how to engage those viewers, and to get answers from partners who've already done this well, earning hundreds of thousands of subscribers in the process. We'll be taking questions until Wednesday, October 13, and then we'll be back as soon as possible afterward with a new illuminating video.



Mia Quagliarello, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched "Star Wars Tai Chi."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/bCsRTqt5lyE/your-questions-about-ads-and.html

[G] Back To Basics: Part 3 - The Power of Exclusion

Posted: 06 Oct 2010 12:53 PM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Back To Basics: Part 3 - The Power of Exclusion

In Part 2, we saw that a store owner gained an unexpected lift in search traffic to his website after running a promotion on a referring site. The questions we left until this week to answer are these: How many extra searches resulted from the promotion? And, what keywords did people search on?

To answer these questions, we need to compare what usually happens versus what actually happened after the promotion. A good way to do this is to use the Compare to Past feature on the date range selector. If we compare the previous week with the promotion week, we can see how much of a lift there was after the promotion.










Notice that we use the exact same days, Monday through Sunday, so that the days of the week line up. Here is the resulting graph. The green line is the search traffic leading up to the promotion (what he would ordinarily expect without a promotion); the blue line is the search traffic during and after the promotion.








From the report below, you can see the specific increase for each keyword.

























The promotion resulted in a 209.68% increase in searches on the first keyword and an increase of 1,242.86% in searches on the second keyword. That's good to know. It looks like one day promotions are the way to go for this business.

This is good example of how to use Compare to Past. You might also want to check out this tip on how to line up your date ranges when using Compare to Past.

Posted by Alden DeSoto, Google Analytics Team
URL: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2010/10/back-to-basics-part-3-power-of.html

[G] The creative process - illustrated on YouTube

Posted: 06 Oct 2010 09:01 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: The creative process - illustrated on YouTube

When most people talk about job perks and benefits, they mention insurance, retirement plans, or flexible hours. Here at YouTube, we're lucky to count access to the world's most entertaining videos amongst our job perks. From Double Rainbow to David After the Dentist, entertainment is in no short supply. What I've been surprised by, however, is how well advertisers are embracing this same idea. They're creating video advertising that engages and delights viewers. Around YouTube's marketing team, we're often asked, "What makes a successful campaign? Is there a recipe for success? How can I make something go viral?"



I am certainly not alone in saying that one of my favorite campaigns in the past year is the Old Spice guy. It debuted earlier this year and has enjoyed well over 55 million views on YouTube and helped make the Old Spice channel the most subscribed sponsored channel on YouTube. It has also been parodied endlessly across the web, on tv, and on the radio. When you consider that the product in question is an everyday hygiene item, the buzz generated by their creative team is that much more impressive.



So what makes a successful campaign? And how can you make something like deodorant or magnetic jewelry appealing to the masses? As the next step for YouTube Show & Tell, our home for the best creative marketing examples on YouTube, we examined the creative process behind four great campaigns on YouTube that have taken off. Take a look for yourself below, and check out Show & Tell to see some very entertaining campaigns.





Caption: Craig Allen and Eric Kallman, creatives at Wieden + Kennedy, the men behind The Old Spice Guy





Caption: Terrence Kelleman, founder and president of Dynomighty, the man behind The Original Magnetic Plaything]





Caption: Benjamin Palmer, co-founder and CEO of The Barbarian Group, the agency that helped start YouTube Show & Tell





Caption: Kevin Roddy, former CCO of BBH, the man behind Axe



Posted by Mark Sabec, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched Tipp-Ex's "A Hunter Shoots A Bear" campaign


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/kPGHoYRqfYE/creative-process-illustrated-on-youtube.html
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