Thursday, March 24, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] Explore the world with updated apps for iPhone: Check in with Latitude and use Places in 30 languages

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 10:36 PM PDT

Official Google Mobile Blog: Explore the world with updated apps for iPhone: Check in with Latitude and use Places in 30 languages

We're happy to announce updates for two iPhone apps that help you connect the people you care about with the places you love: Google Latitude with check-ins and Google Places in 30 languages.

Check in with Google Latitude for iPhone
After adding check-ins to Google Latitude for Android-powered devices, we're happy to announce that you can now start checking in at places with the updated Latitude app for iPhone.

With Google Latitude, you can see where your Latitude friends are on a map and choose to continuously share where you are. Now, you can also choose to check in at specific places, such as your favorite restaurant or a park, to add more context to your location. You'll be able to not only let friends know that you're just around the corner but also let them know the actual coffee shop that you're at in case they want to join you. If Latitude is set to continuously update your location, you'll also be automatically checked out when you leave. This way, friends aren't left guessing if you're still there or not before heading over to join you for a latte.


Tap the "Check in" button to start checking in at nearby places. Keep checking in every time you visit your favorite places to start gaining special status there. You'll not only progress to become a Regular, VIP, and then Guru at your favorite places, but if you're near Austin, Texas, gaining status lets you unlock check-in offers at over 60 places.

Just like with sharing your location, you can control your Latitude check-in privacy. Checking in is 100% opt-in, and you can choose to share any check-in with your friends on Latitude, publicly on the web and your Google profile, or just yourself.

To start checking in with Latitude on your iPhone, update the Latitude app from the App Store. The app requires iOS 4 and above, and it's available for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, and iPod touch (3rd/4th generation). However, background location updating is only available on the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPad 3G.

Google Places in 30 languages
Best ever! Me gusta! Mi piace! Ich liebe es! Wherever you are and whatever language you speak, we want to give you the best personalized place recommendations when you use Google Places with Hotpot. Update the Google Places app from the App Store to rate on the go and get personalized recommendations for places in 30 languages.


You'll also have one more way to personalize your experience: saved places. Sign in with your Google Account using the info icon in the top left corner. Then, tap the new "Saved" icon on the app's main screen to see all the places that you've saved or starred from the app, google.com/hotpot or maps.google.com.

Updates will appear in the App Store in supported countries throughout today. Get the latest version of Google Places from the App Store and start discovering great new places wherever you are!

Posted by Greg Blevins, Software Engineer, Google Maps for mobile team
URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/03/explore-world-with-updated-apps-for.html

[G] Introducing Nexus S 4G for Sprint

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 10:36 PM PDT

Official Google Mobile Blog: Introducing Nexus S 4G for Sprint

Recently, we introduced Nexus S from Google, the first phone to run Android 2.3, Gingerbread. In addition to the UMTS-capable Nexus S, today we're introducing Nexus S 4G from Google, available for Sprint. Nexus S 4G is part of the Nexus line of devices which provide a pure Google experience and run the latest and greatest Android releases and Google mobile apps.

We co-developed Nexus S 4G with Samsung to tightly integrate hardware and software and highlight the advancements of Gingerbread. Nexus S 4G takes advantage of Sprint's high-speed 4G data network. It features a 4" Contour Display designed to fit comfortably in the palm of your hand and along the side of your face. It also features a 1GHz Hummingbird processor, front and rear facing cameras, 16GB of internal memory, and NFC (near field communication) hardware that lets you read information from everyday objects that have NFC tags.

In addition, today we're excited to announce that Sprint customers will soon be able to take advantage of the full set of Google Voice features without changing or porting their number.

You can find more Nexus S information and videos at google.com/nexus or follow @googlenexus on Twitter for the latest updates. Nexus S 4G can be purchased this spring online and in-store from Sprint retailers and Best Buy and Best Buy Mobile stores in the U.S.


Posted by Andy Rubin, VP of Engineering
URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/03/introducing-nexus-s-4g-for-sprint.html

[G] AdWords Campaign Experiments (ACE) now available in AdWords reports

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 03:07 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: AdWords Campaign Experiments (ACE) now available in AdWords reports

Experiments are only as useful as the results they produce. For those of you who use AdWords Campaign Experiments (ACE) to run experiments on your keywords, bids, placements, ad groups, ad creatives, and more, you'll be happy to know that you can now run an AdWords report to evaluate your experiment performance instead of having to export your data to a spreadsheet for analysis.

ACE reports are now one of the many reports you can run from the Campaigns tab (or through the API!). When you run a report segmented by "Experiment," you'll see a side-by-side comparison of the performance of your experimental campaign changes ("experiment") versus your original setup ("control"). You'll also be able to see the level of statistical significance for your experiment performance, which should help you judge if experiment performance was due to chance or an actual difference in performance. You can learn more about evaluating your results and statistical significance here.

Understanding your experiment's performance can help you determine whether you're ready to accept your changes fully, remove changes or keep running your experiment. Reports also serve as an important record of experiment outcomes as you won't see your past experiment data after you've accepted or removed your changes.




ACE can provide you with invaluable real-time data on how campaign changes affect your account. Whether you find that you have significant improvements to make or your account is running just fine, every experiment is a good experiment! To learn more about ACE, watch our video series on YouTube or visit the AdWords Help Center.

What are you waiting for? Ready, set, test!


Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/03/adwords-campaign-experiments-ace-now.html

[G] Location targeting on AdWords: Now with more advanced controls

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 03:07 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Location targeting on AdWords: Now with more advanced controls

Many of you use location targeting to show your ads in specific geographic locations such as countries, regions, and cities to more precisely reach your potential customers.

We've heard your requests to have more choice over how to reach your potential customers. Beginning today, you can choose to target or exclude your ads based on the user's physical location or the location of interest (for example, the location-specific terms in their search queries). By physical location, we mean the place where the user is actually located, such as "New York City," instead of the location that's included in the search query, such as "restaurants in New York". In addition, we've modified the default setting for locations that you don't want to reach and made it more in line with your requests.

Because the use of advanced location options will limit your ad exposure, we recommend that you use these location targeting settings only when your advertising goals specifically call for more granular controls.

Here are a couple scenarios to illustrate the new targeting and exclusion methods:
  • Targeting method: Target using physical location
    Let's say you run a furniture store in Chicago and you want to advertise only to people located near your store. With the existing location targeting in AdWords, you can only specify the location you wish to target, Chicago. However, your ad might be shown not only to people in Chicago, but also to people elsewhere in the US whose searches include one of your keywords along with the word "Chicago".

    With the new settings, you can now target Chicago "using physical location" only. As a result, the ad will only be shown to users based in Chicago who search for keywords that are part of the campaign. Someone in, say, Milwaukee who searches for "chicago furniture stores" will not see your ad. Similarly, someone who's in Chicago whose search indicated they're interested in a different region will not see your ad. For example, a Chicago-based user searching for "pennsylvania amish furniture" will not see your ad. This is the case even if your campaign includes that exact keyword.


  • Exclusion method: Exclude by physical location and search intent
    This time, let's assume that you run a vacation rental company and are advertising properties in California, and you don't want to advertise to people who are based in Florida or interested in Florida properties. You can opt for a more restrictive exclusion method by choosing "exclude by physical location and search intent," as shown below. As a result, your ads won't be shown to people based in Florida or to those who include a Florida location in their search queries.


And, here's how the new default behavior of excluded locations will work:
  • If you happen to own a restaurant in New York City, you may want to advertise special deals only to people planning a visit to the city but not to those who live there. Previously, if you excluded New York City from location targeting in AdWords, your ads wouldn't be shown to people in the city nor to those searching for places in New York. With the new default settings, your ads won't be shown to people who are in the city, but people outside the city can see these ads if they specify "New York City" in their search queries.


With these changes, we're excited to provide you with more control over how you reach your potential customers. If you'd like to learn more about the new location targeting features, please visit the Help Center.

Posted by Lisa Shieh, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/03/location-targeting-on-adwords-now-with.html

[G] Live online webinar on ‘Advanced Optimisation for the Google Display Network’

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 03:07 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Live online webinar on 'Advanced Optimisation for the Google Display Network'

On Wednesday, March 23rd, we'll be holding a live and interactive webinar about optimising AdWords for the Display Network.

The Google Display Network, which reaches over 70% of unique Internet users around the world, allows you to reach potential clients beyond search. It also has the advantage of reaching potential customers at different points of the buying cycle.

This live webinar will give recommendations on how you can structure your Google Display Network campaigns, as well as provide various optimisation tips and tools such as advanced bidding options, interest category marketing, and reporting that will help you in the optimisation process.

This webinar will be presented by AdWords Specialists as part of the AdWords Online Classroom (UK) and will take place on Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011, from 3 pm to 4 pm GMT, 7 am to 8 am PST, so make sure to sign up now!



Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/03/live-online-webinar-on-advanced.html

[G] New In-Ads Notice Label and Icon

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 03:07 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: New In-Ads Notice Label and Icon

You've probably noticed that ads appearing on the Google Display Network have a special "i" icon that expands to an "Ads by Google" label in the bottom corner of the ad. Users who click this label are taken to a page where they learn more about online advertising and the ads they've seen. Giving users clear notice about the ads they see is a high priority for Google and for many in the online advertising industry at large.

We'll soon start to change our in-ads notice icon to a new icon that expands to an "AdChoices" label. These notifications were developed by the online advertising industry's Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising to more proactively give users notice and choice about the ads they see. With the change from our "i" icon and "Ads by Google" label to these new notifications, we hope to show our support for this cross-industry initiative, and to increase our users' understanding about ad choices through adoption of an icon they'll see on ads across the web.

In a few weeks, we'll begin to show the new icon and label on most ad formats across the majority of English-language sites. Over time, we'll expand the notice to ensure that all English-language publisher sites in the Google Display Network come within the Self-Regulatory Program (until then, these sites will show the existing "i" icon and "Ads by Google" label). This will be the single most widespread rollout of the "AdChoices" label to date, and we're encouraged that others in the industry are also adopting it. Additionally, we're looking at ways to increase transparency and control in other languages and countries. In the meantime, those languages and countries will continue to see the "i" and "Ads by Google" notice.



Just like before, users who click on the "AdChoices" label will be taken to a page where they can learn more about online advertising and the ads they've just seen. This page will also provide a link to the Ads Preferences Manager, where users can control the types of interest-based ads they see. Our tests of this new icon and label showed that they shouldn't have any effect on ad performance. We think this rollout will help users better understand the ads they're seeing, and we look forward to seeing widespread adoption of this label throughout the industry.

Posted by Lisa Shieh, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-in-ads-notice-label-and-icon.html

[G] Find the right account management support with Google Partner Search

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 03:07 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Find the right account management support with Google Partner Search

Today we released new functionality in Google Partner Search that allows advertisers looking for account management support to directly contact certified partners by filling out a lead form, and for certified partners to easily review and respond to advertiser inquiries.

When Google Partner Search first launched in April 2009, if you found a partner listing and wished to contact the company, you would need to go directly to the company site to find contact information.

Now, to make the lead management process more efficient, we added a "Contact us" button on the company profile page:



This enables you to review and contact certified partners directly through Partner Search:



You'll automatically receive a confirmation email that the lead was sent, and the prospective partner will receive an email alert that a new lead is available for review. Partners can review their leads using the new Lead Management function on their Google AdWords Certification Program page, and from there they can follow up on the lead.

If a partner decides not to pursue your request, you'll receive a notification email informing you of their decision. If this is the case, we encourage you to contact additional partners. To increase the likelihood of finding a suitable partner for your business, we recommend filling in your approximate budget.

If you're a certified partner, and wish to learn more about the benefits of these features, visit the Agency Ad Solutions Blog.

For more information on these, and other features of the Google Certification Program and Partner Search Engine, please visit the program Help Center.

Posted by Gordon Zhu, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/03/find-right-account-management-support.html

[G] Watch Lady Gaga’s exclusive Q&A with Google

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 10:36 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: Watch Lady Gaga's exclusive Q&A with Google

Google went totally Gaga Tuesday, when the indomitable artist otherwise known as Stefani Germanotta clicked onto the Mountain View, Calif. campus in her impossibly tall black boots.

The diminutive superstar wowed a capacity crowd in a venue that was (literally) packed to the rafters with adoring Googlers. In a wide-ranging interview that saw Gaga taking questions from fans via Twitter and Moderator, the musician spoke about everything from bullying to Rebecca Black, the creative process and her upcoming album. She took questions from the audience—hugging several Googlers in the process—and even became a judge when a gaggle of Gaga-alikes flooded the stage.

True to form, the singer was by turns funny, thoughtful and inspiring. But don't take our word for it—you can watch the entire Q&A now on YouTube.



Posted by Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, YouTube
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/watch-lady-gagas-exclusive-q-with.html

[G] 2011 European Scholarship for Students with Disabilities: results announced

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 10:36 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: 2011 European Scholarship for Students with Disabilities: results announced

(Cross-posted from the Google Students Blog)

We're pleased to announce the winners of the second annual European Scholarship for Students with Disabilities. This scholarship gives recognition to outstanding scientific contributions from students with disabilities who are pursuing university degrees in the field of computer science at a university in the European Union, Switzerland or Israel. It aims to help break barriers that keep students with disabilities from entering computing and encourages them to excel in their studies and become active role models and leaders in creating technology.

Scholarships will be granted for the 2011-2012 academic year, and recipients will be invited to attend an all-expenses-paid retreat at Google's Engineering Center in Zurich in June 2011. The retreat includes workshops with a series of speakers, panels, breakout sessions and social activities.

This year we received almost double the amount of applications compared to 2010 and have increased the number of scholars from seven to 10.

Congratulations to our scholars!

Aurora Constantin, The University Of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Celine Moret, University Of Geneva, Switzerland
Lewis McLean, Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom
Max Hinne, Radboud University Nijmegen, Netherlands
Niclas Bellm, Heidelberg University, Germany
Peter Gatens, University Of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Peter Weller, Aberystwyth University, United Kingdom
Polina Proutskova Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom
Sophie Kershaw, University of Oxford, United Kingdom
Thomas Hennigan, University Of Southampton, United Kingdom

For complete details, see www.google.com/studentswithdisabilities-europe. To learn more about scholarships, grants and other opportunities for students in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, visit www.google.com/university/emea.

Posted by Jenny McColl, Univeristy Programs Specialist, EMEA
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/2011-european-scholarship-for-students.html

[G] Watch Lady Gaga’s exclusive Q&A with Google

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 10:25 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: Watch Lady Gaga's exclusive Q&A with Google

Google went totally Gaga yesterday, when the indomitable artist otherwise known as Stefani Germanotta clicked onto the Mountain View,  CA, campus in her impossibly tall black boots.

The diminutive superstar wowed a capacity crowd in a venue that was (literally) packed to the rafters with adoring Googlers. In a wide-ranging interview that saw Gaga taking questions from fans via Twitter and Moderator, the musician spoke about everything from bullying to Rebecca Black, the creative process and her upcoming album. She took questions from the audience—hugging several Googlers in the process—and even became a judge when a gaggle of Gaga-alikes flooded the stage.

True to form, the singer was by turns funny, thoughtful and inspiring. But don't take our word for it — you can watch the entire Q&A now on YouTube.



Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched "Lady Gaga - Born This Way."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/T2OMaX5-Ak8/watch-lady-gagas-exclusive-q-with.html

[G] Revisions, and presence, and painters, oh my. Updates to Drawings

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 10:23 AM PDT

Docs Blog: Revisions, and presence, and painters, oh my. Updates to Drawings

Today we're releasing a bunch of new features in Google Drawings, designed to make editing easier and more collaborative.

Presence + Revision history
Google Docs has always been designed to make it easy to work on documents together. We're making that easier in drawings by introducing two new features. First, we've added presence highlights around shapes. The color that you see beside a person's name in the sidebar is now used to highlight the shapes which that person has selected. In the example below, mfrederick is editing the triangle at the edge of the drawing.

When you're working on drawings together it's really helpful to see who made which change and to be able to go back to previous versions. That's just what we've added. We took the new revisions interface from documents and spreadsheets and brought it to the drawings editor. Now it's easy to see all the edits that went into your drawing. You'll also see the full revision history for any drawings that you've already created.


Format painter & recent colors
The new format painter lets you choose a source shape, press the format painter icon to copy its formatting, and then click on another shape to apply that formatting to the destination shape.

Colors are a special type of formatting because in drawings you can choose any color value you want. This feature is nice because it lets you make your drawings just so, but it can be frustrating because you need to remember any custom color codes in order to make sure that different shapes had the same colors. You can now solve that problem with the format painter, but we've also made matching colors even easier by adding a recent color palette. The palette shows you up to eight custom colors that you've used in your drawings.


Sub-group selection
Groups help you keep your drawings organized and they make it easy to format a bunch of shapes with a single action. But sometimes when you have a group of shapes, there's a single shape that you want to modify. Before now, you would need to ungroup the shapes, make your modification, and then regroup. But today we've added the ability to select a shape within a group. To do this, first click on any shape in the group, then click again on the specific shape that you want to modify. You'll see outlines and dragging handles around the entire group and also around the shape you selected.


Hopefully these features make online drawings a little easier. If you've got any fun drawings that you created, please share them with us in the comments.

Posted by: Misha Leder, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2011/03/revisions-and-presence-and-painters-oh.html

[G] Duran Duran’s UNSTAGED concert streams live on YouTube tonight

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 09:54 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: Duran Duran's UNSTAGED concert streams live on YouTube tonight

Duran Duran, the iconic '80s band who's returned with a new album and tour, will be broadcasting their UNSTAGED performance live at 7 p.m. PT tonight, March 23, on their YouTube channel. The show is part of YouTube's UNSTAGED concert series, presented in partnership with Amex and VEVO, and it will be directed by famed cult director David Lynch.

Few bands embodied the 1980s like Duran Duran. They had the best hair, the loveliest makeup, outlandish fashion...and they released a slew of amazing pop songs other bands would have killed to have written. "Planet Earth" is a case in point: one of their earliest hits, it encompasses the style that would make them famous.



In recent years, groups from across the musical spectrum have both embraced and been influenced by Duran Duran's sound. But despite their success, the band hasn't rested on their laurels. Working with famed producer Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Kaiser Chiefs), they released the new album "All You Need Is Now" this week; the first single is a startling and modern pop confection.



And for fans who are looking to learn more about a group who's held the public's attention for so many years, you're in luck. Director David Lynch has been following the band and capturing amazing behind-the-scenes footage. He's asked the band about their firsts -- first concert, first band, first moment they were truly starstruck. He's also been inviting the guys to record their dreams in a video journal. Simon LeBon offers up a fascinating one for your interpretation below.



So don't forget to tune into Duran Duran's channel on Wednesday, March 23 at 7 p.m. PT to watch them live in concert. If you miss the live broadcast, catch show highlights on their channel immediately following the event.

Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched "Pharoahe Monch 'Clap (One Day)' Extended Video."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/t5Jlvr9VUkc/duran-durans-unstaged-concert-streams.html

[G] Filter your data in spreadsheets

Posted: 23 Mar 2011 08:22 AM PDT

Docs Blog: Filter your data in spreadsheets

Collecting information is often much easier than analyzing or understanding it, especially for large information in large spreadsheets. One common challenge is that it's hard to drill down into the data you want to find quickly.

Today we are making it easier to analyze and view your data with the addition of filtering in Google spreadsheets. Adding a filter onto a set of data can help you quickly narrow down the data set to find the data you need. By selecting a data set, you can filter and sort amongst many rows at once.

Let's say you started with a list of wines that your friends like and you wanted to sift through and find the wines from 2006 that Peter and Phil like.


To filter your data set, first select the information you want to filter. If you click on one cell within a large set of data, it will expand to select other cells in that range.

Ranges that are part of the filtered data set will have both the column and row labels colored green.


Once you've selected your data set, clicking on the drop down icon in the header rows will give a set of filter options. Here, you can change sorting, select specific filters, search and perform bulk actions.


Search speeds up filtering for large data sets. For example, typing P will shorten the list to just the names that start with P. You can also Select all or Clear to perform bulk actions on the visible items. For example clicking clear below would de-select Peter and Phil.


The icon in the header row will change to a filter to denote the columns that have a filter applied to them. The filter toolbar icon will also change to green if a filter has been applied to any column. Finding all the wines from 2006 that Peter and Phil liked now takes seconds.


Note that filtering and sorting are both applied immediately for all collaborators and per person filtering isn't available at this time. To turn off filtering, just click on the filter icon.

This is another highly requested feature that we're happy to make available to everyone. We're looking forward to your feedback on how we can improve it.

Posted by: Jane Lu, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2011/03/filter-your-data-in-spreadsheets.html
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)