Thursday, February 17, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] Known Issue: More Socialize delivery problems

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 08:05 PM PST

The FeedBurner Status Blog: Known Issue: More Socialize delivery problems

Issue: Posts being sent by the Socialize service to Twitter are not always being delivered due to authorization errors. We are investigating the issue.
URL: http://feedburnerstatus.blogspot.com/2011/02/known-issue-more-socialize-delivery.html

[G] Updates to the Google Reader app for Android

Posted: 16 Feb 2011 03:19 PM PST

Official Google Mobile Blog: Updates to the Google Reader app for Android

(Cross-posted from the Google Reader blog)

Today we're excited to announce some updates to the official Google Reader app for Android. Over the last couple of months, we've added some of your most-requested features:

Unread count widget - choose any feed, label, person, or "all items" and get the unread count on your home screen. Clicking on the widget takes you to straight to that stream.

  • News ticker widget - if you prefer a bit more information, you can add a larger size widget that cycles through items on any stream you want in Reader. Clicking any headline will take you to the article, while clicking the folder will take you to that stream.


    • That is a lot of widgets

  • Mark previous as read - if you've used the mobile version of Reader before and missed this feature, it's now back! As you scroll down your reading list, hit "Mark previous as read" at any time to only mark things above the screen as read.



    • In addition to these new features, we now have an official Russian translation as well.

    We hope you enjoy the update - give it a try! You can download the app in all countries from Android Market. The Google Reader app is available for devices running Android 1.6 or higher, with widget functionality available for devices on Android 2.2+. 

    Posted by Brian Shih, Product Manager
    URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/02/updates-to-google-reader-app-for.html

    [G] Advertisers save time and uncover new keyword ideas with the Opportunities tab

    Posted: 16 Feb 2011 02:14 PM PST

    Inside AdWords: Advertisers save time and uncover new keyword ideas with the Opportunities tab

    If you're a small business, time can often feel like your most valuable and most constrained resource. While you're doing everything you need to do to keep your business up and running, important tasks like AdWords account optimization can fall to the bottom of your to-do list.

    Knowing that time is a key factor for all AdWords advertisers, we created the Opportunities tab to provide you with automated and customized keyword, bid, and budget ideas. Here are two stories of advertisers who used the Opportunities tab to find new keywords quickly and easily.

    Fitness Singles
    Chris Mattioli founded Fitness Singles, a fitness-focused online dating website in 2003. With Chris's dedication and some help from AdWords, he has grown his business to over one million global members today.


    Like many small business owners, Chris wanted to improve his AdWords performance, but didn't have a lot of time to work on his account. When Chris discovered the Opportunities tab, he knew it was a good fit for Fitness Singles, since it allowed him to uncover new keywords quickly and easily.

    Chris scans the keyword ideas in the Opportunities tab regularly to find terms related to fitness, online dating, and singles. He's found many ideas that are similar to the keyword combinations and variations that are in his account, but that he may have accidentally overlooked. He's also found completely new relevant keywords to include in his campaigns. In one instance, Chris saw terms such as promotion code and coupon among his keyword ideas. From there, he decided to add a number of discount-based keywords to his campaigns. Chris says, "The Opportunities tab can often find new keywords that are relevant our ads and that don't currently exist in our account. It also helps you identify new keyword areas--even when you thought you had it covered."

    resortsandlodges.com
    Ryan Bailey, President and Co-Founder of resortsandlodges.com, describes his company as a full-service agency rather than a travel directory. "We have a rapidly growing client base of two thousand-plus and a business model that gives our clients turnkey marketing and advertising support." While part of a large company, VEMGlobal.com, resortsandlodges.com runs as a small business and keeps its operations small and scrappy.


    On the site, you can 'book your spot' to save your travel information, plan your next trip, and more
    click for full size image

    Like Fitness Singles, resortsandlodges.com uses the Opportunities tab to find new keyword ideas and save time. Ryan says, "The Opportunities tab provides high-quality keywords--and a lot of ideas we wouldn't have thought of otherwise, which is the whole point! It's great that you can easily scan through the ideas and find hidden jewels and then apply those insights for both keyword selection and site optimization."

    Mollie Moore, the company's interactive marketing manager, also used the Opportunities tab to help with a website redesign project in March 2010. The previous version of resortsandlodges.com had dozens of links at the bottom of the page, and Moore was tasked with de-cluttering and limiting these links to the most important content. Looking at the number of keyword ideas associated with a particular theme as well as the traffic estimates for each keyword idea, the team learned that "the most effective content sections were top destinations, popular resort types, popular trips, and so forth," says Moore. "We also used ideas from the Opportunities tab to build out our meta titles, descriptions and keywords embedded in the back-end of every page on the site. Using the Opportunities tab, we can reduce guesswork in determining the most effective content."

    To learn more about Fitness Singles and resortsandlodges.com and how they use the Opportunities tab, read their full case studies in the AdWords Help Center. You can learn more about the Opportunities tab in the AdWords Help Center or our YouTube video series.


    Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
    URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/02/advertisers-save-time-and-uncover-new.html

    [G] Automated rules now available to all advertisers

    Posted: 16 Feb 2011 02:14 PM PST

    Inside AdWords: Automated rules now available to all advertisers

    Back in December, we announced the limited release of AdWords automated rules, a new feature that lets you save time by scheduling automatic changes to your account based on criteria that you specify. Today we're happy to announce that this feature is available in all accounts.

    If you regularly log in to your account to pause or enable ads, adjust your bids, or perform other manual tasks, automated rules may be just the tool you need to manage your account more efficiently. For a step-by-step guide to creating an automated rule and best practices to get you started, visit the AdWords Help Center.

    Keep in mind that when scheduling automatic rules, it's important to check your work periodically to make sure your rules are having the desired impact on your account performance.

    Once you've given automated rules a try, we want to hear about it! Share your feedback and ideas for improving automated rules by filling out this survey.



    Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew
    URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/02/automated-rules-now-available-to-all.html

    [G] Think with Google: What We Learned in 2010

    Posted: 16 Feb 2011 02:14 PM PST

    Inside AdWords: Think with Google: What We Learned in 2010

    It's no secret that today's consumer is online more than ever before. In 2010, we conducted over sixty research studies with the help of partners such as Compete and OTX to better understand how consumers are utilizing the web--and to help you reach them! From all of this research, we learned some pretty cool facts. For example, did you know Google provides the most dating site search referrals1? Or that 25% of new vehicle buyers utilize the mobile web during their research process2? Neither did we. Watch this video to see some of the coolest (in our minds!) insights gleaned in 2010!


    Sources: 1Google & Compete Personals Study 2010. 2Google & Compete Automotive Buy Flow Study 2010.

    Posted by Lisa Shieh, Inside AdWords crew
    URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/02/think-with-google-what-we-learned-in.html

    [G] A simple way for publishers to manage access to digital content

    Posted: 16 Feb 2011 07:17 AM PST

    Official Google Blog: A simple way for publishers to manage access to digital content

    (Cross-posted on the Google News Blog)

    At Humboldt University in Berlin today, Eric Schmidt announced Google One Pass, a service that lets publishers set their own prices and terms for their digital content. With Google One Pass, publishers can maintain direct relationships with their customers and give readers access to digital content across websites and mobile apps.

    Readers who purchase from a One Pass publisher can access their content on tablets, smartphones and websites using a single sign-on with an email and password. Importantly, the service helps publishers authenticate existing subscribers so that readers don't have to re-subscribe in order to access their content on new devices.

    With Google One Pass, publishers can customize how and when they charge for content while experimenting with different models to see what works best for them—offering subscriptions, metered access, "freemium" content or even single articles for sale from their websites or mobile apps. The service also lets publishers give existing print subscribers free (or discounted) access to digital content. We take care of the rest, including payments technology handled via Google Checkout.

    Our goal is to provide an open and flexible platform that furthers our commitment to support publishers, journalism and access to quality content. Like First Click Free, Fast Flip and Living Stories, this is another initiative developed to enable publishers to promote and distribute digital content.

    German publishers Axel Springer AG, Focus Online (Tomorrow Focus) and Stern.de joined Eric at Humboldt University today as some of our first Google One Pass partners. Other publishers already signed up include Media General, NouvelObs, Bonnier's Popular Science, Prisa and Rust Communications.

    Google One Pass is currently available for publishers in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. If you're a publisher in one of these countries and want to learn more, please reach out to the Google One Pass team or submit your information on our website. For interested publishers in other countries, we'd love to hear from you too as we plan to expand to other countries in the coming months.

    Posted by Lee Shirani, director, business product management, Google Commerce
    URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/simple-way-for-publishers-to-manage.html
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