Friday, January 14, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] AdWords system maintenance on January 15

Posted: 14 Jan 2011 03:45 AM PST

Inside AdWords: AdWords system maintenance on January 15

On Saturday, January 15, the AdWords system will be unavailable from approximately 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. PST due to our regularly scheduled system maintenance. While you won't be able to log into your account during this time, your campaigns will continue to run as usual.

AdWords system maintenance typically occurs on the second Saturday of each month during the above times. We'll continue to update you here as we always have, but you may want to take note of our intended dates and times to help you plan for any scheduled downtimes further down the road.

Posted by Gordon Zhu, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/01/adwords-system-maintenance-on-january.html

[G] Contextual targeting just got easier for your display campaigns

Posted: 14 Jan 2011 03:45 AM PST

Inside AdWords: Contextual targeting just got easier for your display campaigns

This week, we're launching the Contextual Targeting Tool to help you more easily reach customers as they spend time on millions of sites in the Google Display Network.

As you may already know, contextual targeting helps you reach potential customers as they read webpages related to your products or services. Now, with this tool, you can create contextually-targeted campaigns more easily and quickly, while generating more clicks and conversions for your campaigns.

What does the Contextual Targeting Tool do?
This tool automatically builds keyword lists that can be used to show your ads on relevant webpages in the Google Display Network. Tightly-themed keyword lists are the basis of effective contextual targeting, and with the Contextual Targeting Tool, you no longer have to build them manually. In minutes, you can build dozens, even hundreds, of keyword lists, scaling your campaign performance while ensuring accurate targeting for your ads. This means you can get more clicks and conversions for your campaigns and you can do it more quickly.

How do I use it?
Let's say you sell soccer equipment and gear. Normally, you'd have to build out separate ad groups for each of your product lines, like soccer gear, soccer balls, soccer cleats, etc. With the Contextual Targeting Tool, simply type each product category into the search box, and the tool will automatically generate tightly-themed keyword lists for you. For example, when you enter soccer gear into the tool, you get more specific ad groups, such as youth soccer gear, discount soccer gear, soccer uniforms, soccer bags, etc.

These new ad groups can help you get additional traffic and sales, as you may not think of creating them when manually building out your campaigns. Along with the new ad groups, the tool provides suggested bids and predicted placements to give you an idea of the types of sites in the Display Network where your ads can appear.

The Contextual Targeting Tool has been available to advertisers using AdWords Editor. This week, all advertisers will be able to access it from the Opportunities tab in their AdWords account. You'll still need AdWords Editor to implement the ad groups in your account for now (download AdWords Editor). However, this requirement will be lifted and you'll be able to implement new ad groups directly from your AdWords account in the coming months.

You can learn more about using the Contextual Targeting Tool by watching this video. We hope this tool will help you more easily and efficiently reach your goals with your Display Network campaigns.


Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/01/contextual-targeting-just-got-easier.html

[G] Serving enhancement for Ad Sitelinks

Posted: 14 Jan 2011 03:45 AM PST

Inside AdWords: Serving enhancement for Ad Sitelinks

Over a year ago, we launched Ad Sitelinks on Google.com as way to help you enhance your top-performing ads with additional relevant information. The results for Ad Sitelinks have been stunning, with the two-line format increasing clickthrough rates, on average, by over 30%.

We've also been impressed by your creativity. Since we launched Ad Sitelinks, we've seen you employ many different strategies when deciding which links to use in your ads. A willingness to test and experiment with different links has helped some advertisers, like Nationwide Insurance, get results that blow past the network average.

To help you get the most from Ad Sitelinks, we're launching a serving enhancement designed to help improve your overall performance. In the past, we simply used the order in which you entered your Sitelinks to rank which ones to serve. For example, while you could enter up to ten Sitelinks for a campaign, we primarily used the top four for any ad in the campaign (as long as they met our policy guidelines).

We received requests from many of you to improve this logic by automatically determining which Sitelinks to show based on historical performance. We're happy to say that, starting today, that's exactly what we're doing. Now, we'll be using the historical performance of your Sitelinks to determine which ones to serve.

With this new serving enhancement, AdWords will automatically rotate your Sitelinks and show the ones with the best clickthrough rates more frequently. We'll do this optimization at the ad group level, which means that although you'll continue to set Ad Sitelinks at the campaign level, we'll optimize which Sitelinks to show based on their performance for each ad group.

To make sure that you're getting the most from Ad Sitelinks, check for the following:
  1. Make sure that you have more than four Sitelinks entered so that we have options to rotate and optimize.
  2. Include several shorter Sitelinks in your list, since our one-line Sitelinks format has a lower overall character limit than the two-line format.
  3. Continue to rank your Sitelinks in priority order. We'll continue to use your rank order as a factor, in addition to historical performance, when determining which Sitelinks to show with your ad.

To learn how to get started with Ad Sitelinks, visit this link in the AdWords Help Center.

Posted by Lisa Shieh, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/01/serving-enhancement-for-ad-sitelinks.html

[G] Using Google AdSense to Complement Your AdWords Account

Posted: 14 Jan 2011 03:45 AM PST

Inside AdWords: Using Google AdSense to Complement Your AdWords Account

As AdWords users, you know how effective AdWords can be in driving traffic to your website and how it can turn curious visitors into regular customers. But since not every visit leads to a sale, wouldn't it be great to have other ways of making money from those visits?

Google AdSense is a free program that helps you earn revenue by displaying relevant ads on your site. We give you a piece of code to put on your site, you choose where to place ads, and you earn revenue when visitors click on them. (To learn more about Google AdSense, watch this video.)

DesignerApparel.com is an AdWords and AdSense client that has had great success using these two products together. DesignerApparel.com offers premium designer clothes at affordable prices. They implemented AdSense for Content and AdSense for Search and specifically targeted certain pages within their site. DesignerApparel.com had complete control over what types of ads appeared.


"We have come to think of AdSense revenue as a partial but instant rebate on our AdWords investment," said Dominic Ang, President of MyPerfectSale.com, the owner of DesignerApparel.com. "While we were initially concerned about potential cannibalization, we have found out that using certain spots for AdSense such as the end of a page or in exit pages can drive significant additional revenue with no loss in our core e-commerce revenue."

To try Google AdSense, visit our homepage or sign up for an account. You can also learn more about Google AdSense here and find the latest news and tips on our nifty AdSense blog.

Posted by Lisa Shieh, Inside AdWords crew, and Jennifer Bahk, AdSense team
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/01/using-google-adsense-to-complement-your.html

[G] Rebuilding L’Aquila in 3D with Google SketchUp

Posted: 13 Jan 2011 06:57 PM PST

Google LatLong: Rebuilding L'Aquila in 3D with Google SketchUp

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)

On April 6, 2009, a powerful earthquake struck l'Aquila, Italy. Three hundred and eight people died, and most of the buildings in the city center and surrounding areas were damaged or destroyed. About six months ago, we received an email from a British architect named Barnaby Gunning proposing an ambitious project: to use Google SketchUp to build a digital 3D model of the city, as it is now, in order to stimulate discussion about its reconstruction. He had already created a website—called Comefacciamo ("What can we do?")—to contact and organize volunteers.


Barnaby Gunning with the project T-shirt

Barnaby asked if Google would support a geo-modeling workshop in L'Aquila in an effort to create a digital model of the city. An engineer working on SketchUp and an Italian by birth, I was asked to travel to L'Aquila and give geo-modeling classes in Italian. I was excited! I could visit my motherland, teach people about the product I work on and help out with a project that could have a great impact on reviving the city. I ended up teaching six full-day classes over the course of two trips in October and November.


Teaching Google SketchUp skills to volunteers in L'Aquila

Teaching in Italian about a product on which I work almost exclusively in English proved to be more challenging than I thought. It took me awhile to get used to using the correct Italian name for the Push/Pull tool: Spingi-Tira. (It's more fun to say, though.) The passionate volunteers who attended my classes more than made up for the language frustrations. Not only were they interested and attentive learners, but their desire to do something for their beloved city was contagious.


The church Santa Maria Paganica in real life (top) and modeled with SketchUp in Google Earth (below).

The modeling phase of the project is now in full swing. Several of the volunteers' models have already been accepted into Google Earth—you can see them in your browser if you like. You can even take part in the project by helping to model the city from wherever you live. We've added L'Aquila to the list of places where you can use Google Building Maker to create geo-models, so no previous 3D modeling experience is necessary. If you'd like to dive in a little deeper, you can use SketchUp in connection with the many photos and other information on Barnaby's website.

My few days in l'Aquila teaching SketchUp proved to be a fantastic experience. I met so many people who are enthusiastic about this project and willing to sacrifice their weekends to learn how to model, and to provide an exhaustive photographic record of the current situation. The time I spent with them was a wonderful remainder of the love they feel for their city—a love that I now share. I count myself lucky to be a participant in this important project.

Posted by Simone Nicolò, SketchUp Software Engineer
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/01/rebuilding-laquila-in-3d-with-google.html

[G] Haiti, one year after the earthquake

Posted: 13 Jan 2011 06:57 PM PST

Google LatLong: Haiti, one year after the earthquake

[Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog]

It's been one year since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, and governments and NGOs are continuing to respond, many using high-resolution images of the area. To support these efforts, we've updated our aerial imagery in Google Earth of the Port-au-Prince area to include images from before and after the earthquake, as well as made updates throughout 2010. These pictures provide an evolving view of the movement of people, supplies and rubble.


To access this imagery directly, use the Historical Imagery feature of Google Earth.

Complementing our online efforts with this imagery, a webpage and crisis response tools such as Person Finder, Google has made an effort to contribute to relief in Haiti by providing technical and financial support to NGOs. These organizations such as Doctors Without Borders and Partners in Health and specific technology NGOs such as Samasource and Frontline SMS continue to help the Haitian people. We've looked to them to help us guide our ongoing response to this crisis.

In November, we gathered updated aerial imagery, and sent a second wave of Google teams to Haiti to evaluate our earlier response efforts and see where Google could continue to provide help. We met with local Haitians and technology NGOs under tents, in trailers, in Internet cafes and at restaurants.

From these visits we witnessed the difficulty involved in using our mapping tools under the unpredictable nature of the Internet in Haiti, and so have focused on developing better offline capabilities and have proposed ideas for improving overall Internet access in Haiti. We also ran training for aid workers on our collaborative tools like Google Apps, which can help coordinate resources. While there, we spent time understanding how NGOs are combating the cholera epidemic, and brainstorming tools that could help aid workers produce specialized maps of epidemic case data and chlorination levels at water points, which are critical for planning and prevention.

If you're interested in helping with Google's efforts in Haiti, you can:
Our experience and the updated imagery demonstrate that there are still significant needs on the ground in Haiti. We're continuing our efforts to support locals and NGOs and look forward to seeing how technology will continue to help both Haitians and victims of disasters worldwide.

Posted by Prem Ramaswami, Product Manager, on behalf of Google Crisis Response
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/01/haiti-one-year-after-earthquake.html

[G] Now available: Google Places with Hotpot for iPhone

Posted: 13 Jan 2011 06:57 PM PST

Google LatLong: Now available: Google Places with Hotpot for iPhone


We recently released Google Places with Hotpot in Google Maps for Android, and starting now, you can have that same great experience as an iPhone app. We realize the importance of finding places you'll love while you're out and about, no matter what mobile device you use. And Places with Hotpot not only helps you find places near where you are, it gives you the best places to go for you by personalizing your search results.

In case you aren't familiar with Google Places, it lets you quickly search for places nearby and personalizes the results based on places you've rated. We get you started with a few popular search categories, but you can also tailor the list by adding your own favorite searches. This makes it fast and easy to find the best places for you with little fuss.


Use a default search category, save your own, or rate the nearest place quickly.

It can be pretty rewarding to discover a new place you love, but we also realize that there are some experiences you just can't wait to share. So Places makes it super simple to rate a place with your iPhone while you're there. Just fire up the app and hit "Rate now." It will use your location to guess your current place and let you post a Hotpot review right from your phone. But it's not just about getting to say what you think—the more you rate places, the more you're sharing about your tastes and the more we can give you personally tailored recommendations.


Give your star rating and add optional details or a review so Hotpot knows your taste.

If you want to make things even tastier, just visit google.com/hotpot from your desktop computer. Here you can add friends to the mix and quickly rate all the places you already know. Once you've added friends, you'll find your results seasoned not just with reviews from around the web and recommendations based on your own personal taste, but also with your friends' opinions too.


Once you start rating and add friends, Places can give you personalized recommendations.

Get the Places app on your iPhone now by searching for Google Places in the App Store or going here.

This first version of Places is available for all iOS devices in English only. However, expect more features and improvements to roll out soon, including localization in many new languages. We're hard at work to make Places with Hotpot more and more delicious.

Posted by Greg Blevins, Software Engineer, Google Hotpot team
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/01/now-available-google-places-with-hotpot.html

[G] Discover New Places From Your Hotpot Friends on Google Maps

Posted: 13 Jan 2011 06:57 PM PST

Google LatLong: Discover New Places From Your Hotpot Friends on Google Maps


(Cross-posted from the Hotpot Blog.)

When you need a great restaurant, hotel or pub, who do you turn to first for a recommendation? Your friends. We wanted to recreate that valuable exchange with Hotpot, our local recommendation engine from Google Places, which allows you to add friends whose opinions you trust and see their place recommendations right in your search results.

Because we find adding friends on Hotpot so valuable to the experience, today we're excited to announce a new feature that makes it easy to stay up to date with the latest place recommendations from your Hotpot friends.

If you're a Hotpot user, when you visit Google Maps on your desktop computer, you'll now see a stream listing the most recent rating and review activity of your Hotpot friends.

Here's what Maps looks like for me:




Keep in mind this feature is in beta mode, which means we'll be building it out over time, making it even easier for you to keep track of your friends' activities.

Visit Google Maps right now to discover that great new restaurant or bar you should check out this weekend. And be sure to thank the Hotpot friend who recommended it!

Posted by Octavian "Vivi" Costache, Hotpot Engineer
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/01/discover-new-places-from-your-hotpot.html

[G] Google Science Fair seeks budding Einsteins and Curies

Posted: 13 Jan 2011 06:57 PM PST

Google LatLong: Google Science Fair seeks budding Einsteins and Curies

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)

Are you a student who loves science? Do you have a good idea for an experiment that you'd like to share with the world? In 1996, two young computer science students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, had a hypothesis that there was a better way to find information on the web. They did their research, tested their theories and built a search engine which (eventually) changed the way people found information online. Larry and Sergey were fortunate to be able to get their idea in front of lots of people. But how many ideas are lost because people don't have the right forum for their talents to be discovered? We believe that science can change the world—and one way to encourage that is to celebrate and champion young scientific talent as we do athletes and pop idols.

To help make today's young scientists the rock stars of tomorrow, in partnership with CERN, The LEGO Group, National Geographic and Scientific American, we're introducing the first global online science competition: the Google Science Fair. It's open to students around the world who are between the ages of 13-18. All you need is access to a computer, the Internet and a web browser.

You may have participated in local or regional science fairs where you had to be in the same physical space to compete with kids in your area. Now any student with an idea can participate from anywhere, and share their idea with the world. You build and submit your project—either by yourself or in a team of up to three—entirely online. Students in India (or Israel or Ireland) will be able to compete with students in Canada (or Cambodia or Costa Rica) for prizes including once-in-a-lifetime experiences (like a trip to the Galapagos Islands with a National Geographic Explorer), scholarships and real-life work opportunities (like a five-day trip to CERN in Switzerland). And if you're entering a science fair locally, please feel free to post that project online with Google Science Fair, too!

To enter, register online and create your project as a Google Site. Registration is open through April 4, 2011. Please note: you must get parental or guardian consent in order to compete. You can check out the complete rules here. After April 4, we'll begin judging and will announce our semi-finalists in early May.

The semi-finalist projects will be posted on our online gallery, where we'll encourage the public to vote for a "people's choice" winner. From our list of semi-finalists, we'll select 15 finalists to bring their projects to Google headquarters on July 11 to compete in our final, live event, where world-renowned science judges will select a winner in each age category, as well as a grand-prize winner.

Here's an example of a great science fair project site to inspire you. We asked Tesca, a U.S. high school senior from Oregon, to create it for us based on an award-winning project she's been working on for years. Tesca's objective is to make hospitals more efficient using artificial intelligence—a world-changing goal, to be sure.

So if you think you're the next Albert Einstein, Marie Curie—or Larry Page or Sergey Brin—sign up today for the Google Science Fair. Prove once again how science can change the world!

Posted by Cristin Frodella and Samantha Peter, Education Product Marketing Managers
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/01/google-science-fair-seeks-budding.html

[G] Football, hot wings, cars, commercials

Posted: 13 Jan 2011 05:20 PM PST

YouTube Blog: Football, hot wings, cars, commercials

Ready for some football? Or perhaps some Garlic Ginger Chicken Wings?

For the third year running, we're proud to launch the Ad Blitz Pre-Game program, sponsored by Chrysler. Ad Blitz is a one-stop shop for anything and everything related to the NFL Playoffs, the Super Bowl and Super Bowl parties.

This includes, but is not limited to, NFL Playoff coverage from Fox Sports, trash talk from our most colorful sports vloggers and party recipes and planning tips from our best chefs.

And, of course, on Super Bowl Sunday come to the Ad Blitz channel to view and vote upon the best Super Bowl commercials that aired on TV during the game. Your votes will determine the best ad, which will then appear on our homepage on Saturday, February 19.

Andrew Bangs, Sports Manager, recently watched "Onion SportsDome".


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/wTHTO9PiEdE/football-hot-wings-cars-commercials.html

[G] Top tasks for Google Tasks

Posted: 13 Jan 2011 01:59 PM PST

Official Gmail Blog: Top tasks for Google Tasks

Posted by David Tattersall, Associate Product Manager

A few months ago, we asked for your help to make Tasks better by voting on your top feature requests. We were blown away by the number of responses we received, with over 17,000 people participating and an overwhelming 185,000 votes.

Now, we're preparing to tackle some of your top requests. In no specific order, here are the top five feature requests that emerged from the Tasks product ideas page:
  • Ability to create repeating tasks
  • Reminders and notifications
  • Sharable task lists
  • Tasks API and synchronization
  • Visual distinction for overdue tasks
So thanks for all the feedback and stay tuned for changes to Tasks throughout the year. In the meantime, we wish you a productive (and Tasks-filled) 2011!
URL: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/top-tasks-for-google-tasks.html
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