Friday, November 5, 2010

Googland

Googland

[G] AdWords Editor 8.5 for Windows and Mac

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 06:12 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: AdWords Editor 8.5 for Windows and Mac

We've just released AdWords Editor 8.5 for Windows and Mac. This version adds support for several new AdWords features, making it even easier to manage your AdWords account. Among other additions, version 8.5 includes new tabs for managing Audiences, display ads created by the Display Ad Builder, and WAP mobile image ads. You can find the full list of features and updates in our release notes.


If you're already using AdWords Editor, you'll be prompted to upgrade automatically. After you install the new version, you'll need to download your account again. To preserve your comments and unposted changes, select the 'Backup then Upgrade' option in the automatic upgrade prompt, then import the backup file after downloading the account.

If you're not using AdWords Editor, learn how you can use it to manage your AdWords accounts and download it from our website. Visit the Help Center for additional information and answers to your AdWords Editor questions.

Posted by Jason Shafton, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2010/11/adwords-editor-85-for-windows-and-mac.html

[G] Show Me (All) the Money! Google Finance rolls entire portfolios into one chart

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 05:41 PM PDT

Google Finance Blog: Show Me (All) the Money! Google Finance rolls entire portfolios into one chart

Posted by Patrick Coskren, Software Engineer

Any investment advisor's first tip to new investors is to look at their investment portfolio as a whole, rather than banking on individual stocks. So for most of us, the most important metric for our investments is how our portfolio performs, especially relative to broader markets.

To make it even easier to track your portfolios, today we launched Portfolio Charting on Google Finance. Now you can graphically track your portfolio's historical performance either individually or versus a specific stock or market index to get an instant snapshot of how you're doing. For the first time on Google Finance, you can see a visual representation of an entire portfolio as well as track it over time, rather than graphing each stock individually.

To get started, visit your Portfolio page and scroll down under 'Portfolio related news'. From here you can see your portfolio's total value over time or zoom to a specific date. Use the graph to compare your portfolio to indices like Dow, S&P 500, and NASDAQ, or enter a symbol to compare your portfolio to a particular stock.



















The graph uses the transaction data you've entered or uploaded for your portfolios to display the market value of each portfolio at a given time. If you haven't entered transaction information for a portfolio, we make some assumptions to give a general overview of the stocks you've selected. For a full breakdown of the assumptions we make, visit the Help Center.

Try this feature out and let us know what you think or submit your suggestions for Google Finance on our Product Ideas page. Stay tuned for more as we keep building out Google Finance and catch the latest from the Google Finance team by following us on Twitter.
URL: http://googlefinanceblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/show-me-all-money-google-finance-rolls.html

[G] Show Me (All) the Money! Google Finance rolls entire portfolios into one chart

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 05:41 PM PDT

Google Finance Blog: Show Me (All) the Money! Google Finance rolls entire portfolios into one chart

Posted by Patrick Coskren, Software Engineer

Any investment advisor's first tip to new investors is to look at their investment portfolio as a whole, rather than banking on individual stocks. So for most of us, the most important metric for our investments is how our portfolio performs, especially relative to broader markets.

To make it even easier to track your portfolios, today we launched Portfolio Charting on Google Finance. Now you can graphically track your portfolio's historical performance either individually or versus a specific stock or market index to get an instant snapshot of how you're doing. For the first time on Google Finance, you can see a visual representation of an entire portfolio as well as track it over time, rather than graphing each stock individually.

To get started, visit your Portfolio page and scroll down under 'Portfolio related news'. From here you can see your portfolio's total value over time or zoom to a specific date. Use the graph to compare your portfolio to indices like Dow, S&P 500, and NASDAQ, or enter a symbol to compare your portfolio to a particular stock.



















The graph uses the transaction data you've entered or uploaded for your portfolios to display the market value of each portfolio at a given time. If you haven't entered transaction information for a portfolio, we make some assumptions to give a general overview of the stocks you've selected. For a full breakdown of the assumptions we make, visit the Help Center.

Try this feature out and let us know what you think or submit your suggestions for Google Finance on our Product Ideas page. Stay tuned for more as we keep building out Google Finance and catch the latest from the Google Finance team by following us on Twitter.
URL: http://googlefinanceblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/show-me-all-money-google-finance-rolls.html

[G] GitTogether ‘10 at Google

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 05:36 PM PDT

Google Open Source Blog: GitTogether '10 at Google

Last week around 30 Git developers and users gathered for GitTogether '10 at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, CA for three days of hacking, sharing ideas, and making plans for the future of Git and its supporting tool ecosystem. This was the third time we've hosted a GitTogether, and we were really excited about the turnout this year. Based on attendees' $DAY_JOB employers, Git is becoming much more popular in commercial development organizations, demonstrating yet-again how open source can be an effective alternative to traditional propriety development methods.


Here at Google we use Git on our big open source projects like Android and Chromium OS, but also for smaller projects like Gerrit Code Review or the Eclipse Git plugin, as well as our continuing contributions to the Linux Kernel. During my last 2 years at Google, I ( Shawn) have been working on Gerrit Code Review (a web based code review system for Git), as well as maintaining and improving JGit (a pure Java reimplementation of Git). Junio C Hamano, one of the earliest Git contributors and the current Git maintainer, also joined Google last May and continues to contribute to Git as part of his job duties.

The schedule for the three day conference was determined in "unconference" style, with topics for discussion originally suggested on the wiki and later developed in-person through sticky notes posted on a white board. Attendees also took advantage of the #gittogether IRC channel on freenode and an Etherpad server hosted by the OSUOSL, allowing individuals who couldn't make it in-person to at least have a virtual presence.


The session scheduling process

In addition to the technical discussions, we had a chance to get to know each other socially, enjoying lunches in Google cafés and dinners at some local restaurants. Unfortunately the group failed to develop a "patch of questionable value," where in prior years Sverre wore a hat, diff learned --pirate, bash completion earned a splash screen, and git auto-upgraded itself.

Photo by Thomas Rast

by Shawn Pearce, Open Source Team
URL: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2010/11/gittogether-10-at-google.html

[G] Five new themes

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 04:28 PM PDT

Official Gmail Blog: Five new themes

Posted by Manu Cornet, Software Engineer

Manu: Hey, how would you fancy some new Gmail themes?
Jake: Sure, I would love that! How usable are they?
Manu: Huh, usable? Well, there's a flishy-flashy theme that blinks every...
Jake: What? I don't want things to flash, I want to read my email.
Manu: No? Well then, what about this fluorescent pink theme that will make your screen look very special when your friends are looking at...
Jake: No pink please!
Manu: Oh. Then maybe this hyper dynamic and playful theme that makes all links on the page jump away each time you try to click on...
Jake: Are you insane? Please, just give me something usable. If I want flashy game-like graphics, I can use High Score. If I want something dapper for my friends to look at, I can use Shiny. If I want cartoon characters hanging out here and there in my Gmail, I can use Zoozimps. I just want something dead simple.
Manu: What about stripping the Gmail interface to the bare bones, like these two new themes, Basic Black and Basic White?


Jake: That's better. The dark one may be good for my eyes.
Manu: Great! Do you have an Android phone?
Jake: Yes.
Manu: Then you may like this Android theme too. How about that?


Jake: Nice! Some graphics but still subtle. Give me more.
Manu: Relaxing tree tops? This one ain't blinking.


Jake: Not bad! What about something that would feel more handmade?
Manu: You're in luck, sir. I have this cool Marker theme in store for you. Very unprofessional.


Jake: Nice — I'm gonna stick with this one for now.
Manu: Good choice! See you next time for some more.
URL: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/five-new-themes.html

[G] The Mexican Revolution on YouTube

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 02:35 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: The Mexican Revolution on YouTube

November 20 will mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the Mexican Revolution and we're looking forward to observing that anniversary on YouTube by celebrating a new revolution that's taking place in Mexico today: a cultural revolution that has pushed Mexican filmmakers onto a global stage.

A number of the nation's most talented filmmakers, including Gael Garcia Bernal (who starred in Amores Perros, The Motorcycle Diaries and Pedro Almodovar's Bad Education), Diego Luna (who came to fame with Y tu mama tambien), Carlos Reygadas (who won the jury prize at Cannes for his film Silent Light in 2007), Rodrigo Garcia (who directed the award winning Nine Lives and was nominated for an Emmy for directing an episode of HBO's Big Love) and Patricia Riggen (who directed 2008 Sundance hit La misma luna), to name just a few, have banded together to create a feature film, Revolución, made up of 10 individual short films that explore the topic of Mexico's revolution 100 years after it took place. The film has played at numerous film festivals throughout the last year, including the Cannes Film Festival, and will be available on YouTube for 24 hours on November 20 (thanks to YouTube partner Mubi) and for Mexico from November 20th at 23 hrs to November 21st until 23 hrs.

In advance of the film's premiere, you're invited to submit questions about the movie, the filmmakers or about the Mexican Revolution at youtube.com/mubi. The filmmakers will answer the most popular questions in videos that will be posted to the Mubi channel on November 20, the day of the film's premiere.

Get your questions ready after watching this video from the filmmakers of Revolución:


Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager, Directors' invitation to watch Revolución


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/Xe4IJfEZt4E/mexican-revolution-on-youtube.html

[G] Google Apps Adventures: Into the Fire with National Geographic’s Mark Thiessen

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 12:10 PM PDT

Official Google Enterprise Blog: Google Apps Adventures: Into the Fire with National Geographic's Mark Thiessen


We're thrilled to share stories from the people and organizations that use Google Apps to explore, discover and push the boundaries. These businesses truly embody the freedom enabled by the cloud.

Our first Apps Adventure profiles Mark Thiessen, a 20-year veteran photographer for National Geographic who works on the front lines of some of the world's most powerful fires.



I wanted to become a photographer because it allowed me to see parts of people's lives and lifestyles that I've never seen any other way. What I love about my job is not so much getting my pictures published – that used to be really important to me. For me, what I love are the people I get to meet along the way. They say it's the journey, not the destination that's important, and that is so true.


A lot of people think I just go on vacation and take pictures. That couldn't be further from the truth. To impress picture editors who have seen the best pictures in the world, I need to show them pictures they've never seen before. At National Geographic they give you the time and resources to go do stories no one has ever done before.

I have a deep personal passion for photographing wildfires and the people who fight them. A couple years ago I went to Russian Siberia. Russia is twice the size of the United States and two thirds of it is covered in timber. They have about 4,000 smoke-jumpers and their job is to put out fires anywhere they're burning.

We flew in helicopters with them for hours over vast forest, with no signs of human life. There's no place to land, so they repel out of helicopters straight into the fire with nothing but the metal part of a shovel. Then they'd whittle a handle in five minutes and get to work. These guys do it for barely any pay – no hazard or overtime pay. We were there for five weeks, in the middle of Siberia, with mosquitoes the size of jet planes all over us. It was terrible, but it was such a great story.

No one else had done that story. There are so many aspects to fire that intrigue me – the people who fight them, the forests' need for fire, the human impact, people's desire to build in fire-prone areas. Most people don't even know the Russian smoke-jumpers exist, but with National Geographic, I get to experience their lives and share their experiences with the world, and Google Apps helps me do that.

With Google Apps my data is backed up in the cloud. So no matter what happens to my laptop, I know that my data is safe. That's important with a job like mine. Google Apps allows us to do things we never could have done before. We can collaborate on a master plan for a story, we can share a calendar with story deadlines and shoot dates, and because of Gmail's search capabilities, I know I can find any email whenever I want it. Google Apps allows me to be flexible. I can access emails or my documents on any computer or any mobile device. That's critical when I'm out in the field.

Posted by Mark Thiessen, National Geographic
URL: http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2010/11/google-apps-adventures-into-fire-with.html

[G] Forrester analyst: Google-ITA Software deal “legitimate and fair”

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 11:29 AM PDT

Google Public Policy Blog: Forrester analyst: Google-ITA Software deal "legitimate and fair"

Posted by by Adam Kovacevich, Senior Manager, Policy Communications

Forrester travel analyst Henry Harteveldt spoke on CNBC Tuesday about the Google-ITA Software acquisition, saying:
...In the end, Google has made a legitimate and fair claim to buy ITA Software, and I think there's a little bit of sour grapes on the part of some of the companies that are not the companies buying ITA.
Check it out:

URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/11/forrester-analyst-google-ita-software.html

[G] Major New Features Added To Intelligence

Posted: 04 Nov 2010 09:51 AM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Major New Features Added To Intelligence

Today at Ad Tech NYC, we announced a few major new features in your Intelligence reports which should be very useful: Major Contributors for Custom Alerts, and SMS and Email alerts.

Major Contributors
When you have a custom alert set up to capture important changes in your account, you can now see a break down of the individual segments that are the most likely instigators of the change in traffic. For example, in the below screenshot we can see that on June 4, visits to the GoogleStore are up 510%. That alert was triggered because we set up a Custom Alert for "Visits Up By 10%".

(click to enlarge)

Now, as you can see underneath that Custom Alert there is a new sub-section called "Major Contributors." When Google Analytics detects causes to a major change in traffic, this section will display up to 5 segments that have contributed to that particular change.

In this case, we see the source "gmail.blogspot.com" is sending new traffic to a particular landing page. You can click on the url of the referrer or landing page to view the path your users took to arrive at your site. It turns out that an article posted to the gmail blog is sending heavy traffic to the gmail sweatshirts on the GoogleStore. Digging in further, we also discover that it has resulted in an increase of 10 times the revenue for that day, which we can now attribute to a known cause thanks to this major contributor section.

That's Major Contributors!

In order to use it, create a custom alert. Here's an image of the "Manage Intelligence Alerts" area in your reports:

And here's a help center article on examples of useful custom alerts, and you can also use the alert templates, pictured here, to quickly create custom alerts:


SMS and Email
Also, when a custom alerts is triggered, you can now opt in to be notified by SMS (US only) or send alerts to your colleagues with multiple email recipients.

This is a practical feature when you've set up important alerts such as traffic or conversions down by 50%, for example. That's info you or someone in your organization should know ASAP, wherever you are.

And, as a reminder, you can get alerts on GA's full suite of metrics, including all 20 GA goals, Adwords metrics like CTR and content metrics like time on page.

This latest version of alerts with major contributors is a first for the analytics industry anywhere. We hope you enjoy it, and use it to take action quickly.


Posted by Beth Liebert, Google Analytics Team
URL: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2010/11/major-new-features-added-to.html
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