Saturday, January 8, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] Google Apps highlights – 1/7/2011

Posted: 07 Jan 2011 05:15 PM PST

Official Google Blog: Google Apps highlights – 1/7/2011

This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label "Google Apps highlights" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.

It's a new year, and we have new reasons to celebrate what's possible with Google Apps. Since our last update, we've made it easier to track spreadsheet revisions and work with videos in Google Docs, added two new security features for organizations using Gmail and introduced new capabilities to make migrating to Google Apps even easier.

Revision history for spreadsheets
A few months ago we added better revision history tools for documents in Google Docs, and we just added a similar revision history tool for spreadsheets. Spreadsheet changes made by each co-author are marked by a different color, and you can easily see all of the changes made to your spreadsheet cell-by-cell.


Video player in the document list
Google Docs lets groups collaborate simultaneously on documents, spreadsheets, presentations and drawings, but you can also use it to upload and share a wide range of file types. Previously, if you uploaded and shared a video file, people you shared with could only download the file. Yesterday we released an update which lets you play many videos right from Google Docs, no file download required.


A safer email environment for customers
Organizations using Google Apps usually provide unrestricted email access to their users, but some organizations—like K-12 schools—want to prevent outsiders from interacting with a subset of their users over email. On Tuesday, we released a feature enabling an email "walled garden," so organizations can meet this requirement. K-12 schools can help protect youngsters, and other types of organizations can provide limited email accounts to select employees, like contractors.

DKIM email authentication for improved email delivery
Yesterday we made it possible for customers to easily validate their outgoing email with DKIM digital signatures. DKIM allows many receiving email systems to verify whether an incoming message truly originates from the domain in the message's "sent from" field. Spam filters can then use the reputation of the sender's domain to help separate good mail from spam. For customers, using DKIM authentication means their outgoing mail is less likely to get caught up in their recipients' spam filters.


Chrome browser for organizations
Google Chrome is built for speed, security and the ability to run the most sophisticated web-based applications. Until recently, it was tough for businesses to deploy Chrome as a successor or alternative to traditional browsers, but last month we added capabilities to Chrome so IT administrators can efficiently deploy and manage Chrome across their organizations. We've also made it possible for businesses to centrally deploy Chrome Frame to improve the performance of Internet Explorer®.

Improved tools for moving existing data to Google Apps
Customers are already moving data from legacy systems to Google Apps at an astounding rate, and we've just made improvements to our data migration tools. Whether you're moving from Microsoft® Exchange, Lotus Notes® or other IMAP-based email systems, it's now even easier to move email, calendar and contacts data into Google's cloud.

Who's gone Google?
Tens of thousands of businesses, schools and other organizations took advantage of the holiday break to move over to Google Apps. Some of the noteworthy additions include Compositites One, Broadway Maylan and BI-LO. We also heard some great stories from Traffic Konzept + Film GmbH a team of explorers and filmmakers on a first-ever expedition to sail both North Pole passages in a single season. You can learn more about their adventure and how they use Google Apps here:



I hope these product updates and customer stories help you and your organization get even more from Google Apps. For details and the latest news in this area, check out the Google Apps Blog.

Posted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/google-apps-highlights-172011.html

[G] On the Rise: Help these users get on the homepage!

Posted: 07 Jan 2011 03:17 PM PST

YouTube Blog: On the Rise: Help these users get on the homepage!

Check it out, people! This month's "On the Rise" nominees are in -- and we need your help to choose a winner.

Just to remind you how this works: we identify a handful of channels who've rapidly increased their subscriber base in the last 30 days but haven't yet hit the 100,000 mark. You watch their videos, and then vote for your favorite in the top right-hand corner of this blog. You have until noon PT on January 14, 2011, to make your choice. Once we have a winner, we'll give them a big leg up with a feature on the YouTube homepage and videos page, as well as love on Facebook and Twitter. Past winners emilynoel83 and justjesse197 more than doubled the number of subscribers gained during the month of their spotlight versus the previous month, and Emily is close to hitting the 100,000 subscriber milestone herself.

And now, in alphabetical order, here are the nominees for the homepage spotlight on January 22:

Michael Aranda
You never quite know what you're going to get with a Michael Aranda video: one minute he's dropping knowledge, the next he's freak-dancing -- or turning his car into an art project.




Luke Conard
Catchy pop songs. A sense of humor. Adorably goofy videos....What's not to like about Luke Conard?





Tori Kelly
Tori Kelly's just 18 years old, but she plays piano and guitar and sings like nobody's business. Check out one of her original songs.






Josh Sundquist
Josh Sundquist has quite a personal story: overcoming childhood cancer and a leg amputation to become an athlete, inspirational speaker and author. Check out his sweet and affecting animations.





Mia Quagliarello, Community Manager, recently watched "Taylor Momsen escapes paparazzi."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/eUmjLsQwPcI/on-rise-help-these-users-get-on.html

[G] The ad your ads could look like: Looking back at the best YouTube ads of 2010

Posted: 07 Jan 2011 12:53 PM PST

YouTube Blog: The ad your ads could look like: Looking back at the best YouTube ads of 2010

2010 was a breakout year for video advertising, which is an unmitigated good thing for advertisers and viewers alike. As audiences, platforms, channels, and devices continue to fragment into ever-more-specific niches, earning people's attention has become ever more challenging. To find audiences and break through all the noise, brands must create content that people seek out, love, and share with others.



On the coattails of YouTube Rewind, which highlighted the most viewed videos of 2010 - we took an informal poll of our team and reporters in the industry to find out their favorite YouTube ads of the year. Here they are, in no particular order:



1) Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" (25M views)







2010 was Old Spice's year. Released to YouTube a few days before the Super Bowl, Isaiah Mustafa's shower-transcending, horse-sitting manliness had already attracted a fan base before the Saints and Colts took the field. This new franchise culminated in Old Spice's Twitter response campaign, attracting more than 100 million views in fewer than 10 days. Smells good!



Experts say: "The challenge for advertisers in social media is keeping up with the real-time nature of it. Old Spice provided the blue print on how to do this with a video blitz that perfectly fit with how the Web operates nowadays." - Brian Morrissey, MediaWeek



Lesson learned: Old Spice spent millions developing the character, and then took advantage of this brand equity by speaking directly to key influencers, who then got their followers to tune in.... for free!



2) Nike "Write the Future" (22M views)







Who was your favorite official sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup? If you said Nike, you're not alone. You're also not an expert on global sports sponsorships, because Nike didn't sponsor the Cup. All they did was hijack world soccer with a glorious, 3-minute mini-epic directed by Alejandro Iñárritu.



Lesson learned: It's hard to imagine a 3-minute commercial running during a major sporting event, but online it attracted an enormous audience that accelerated via sharing.



3) Tipp-Ex "NSFW. A hunter shoots a bear!" (13M views)







Vaguely reminiscent of the revolutionary Burger King Subservient Chicken, this campaign for correction tape product Tipp-Ex hands control of the story to the user, with dozens of funny outcomes that reward experimentation and discovery.



Experts say: "One of 2010's greatest examples of interactive ads." - Ben Parr, mashable

Lesson learned: Interactivity + video = a truly immersive, memorable, and sharable experience.



4) Hell Pizza, "Deliver Me to Hell" (2.5M views)







Ads are definitely content when they include interactive zombie attacks. When you feature clever product placement and a narrative viewers can participate in, it's advertising gold.



Experts say: "With the increased sophistication of YouTube annotations has come a greater number of interactive adventures, and this branded experience sponsored by the New Zealand pizza company Hell Pizza is one of the better ones I've seen. Not only is it executed well, but a zombie comedy fits perfectly with Hell Pizza's brand -- and really makes you crave a hot slice." - Liz Shannon Miller, NewTeeVee



Lesson learned: YouTube video annotations create new opportunities for fun, turning the video viewing experience into an adventure.



5) Toyota "Swagger Wagon" (7.6M views)







Awwwww, yeah. Decidedly un-hip-hop people rapping about their un-hip-hop lives is nothing revolutionary, but the execution on this campaign for Toyota's Sienna minivan was a cooling salve for Gen X parents struggling to embrace the cul-the-sac.



Lesson learned: Perhaps the perfect example of a brand creating content that people will seek out, love, and share.



6) Toy Story 3, "Lots-o-Huggin' Bear Commercial" (1.2M views)







Experts say: "We loved Pixar's phony retro toy ads promoting Toy Story 3. The 'Huggin' Toys' videos were made to resemble toy ads circa 1983 -- complete with VHS tape static crawling along the bottom of the screen." - Zach Rodgers, ClickZ



Lesson learned: The Toy Story franchise has been the most critically and financially successful animated movie series of all time, mostly because of its ability to appeal both to kids and to parents. Kids who grew up in the Reagan Years are powerless against the nostalgia appearl of this very convincing faux-retro spot .



These are, of course, just a tiny taste of what brands and agencies did with online video in 2010, and we didn't even touch the best creative in other languages. We're hoping this list gets people inspired about the creative possibilities.



Eric Meyerson, Video Business Marketing Lead, recently watched "Complete History of The Soviet Union, Arranged to the Melody of Tetris."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/JghF2Ibgrnw/ad-your-ads-could-look-like-looking.html
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