Friday, June 10, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] Add +1 to help your site stand out

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 10:29 PM PDT

Social Web Blog: Add +1 to help your site stand out

(Cross-posted on the Webmaster Central Blog and the Inside Adsense Blog)

Webmaster level: Intermediate

When we introduced the +1 button in March, Google search took a small step in an important direction. Search results can be more helpful, and more personal, when recommendations from the people you trust are there to guide your way.

The +1 button can help publishers, too. As potential visitors see recommendations from their friends and contacts beneath your Google search results, you could see more, and better qualified, traffic coming from Google.

Since we announced +1, we've gotten lots of requests from Google search users and webmasters alike for +1 buttons in more places than just search results. That's why today we're making the +1 button available to sites across the web. Sometimes you want to recommend a web page after you've visited it. After all, how do you know you want to suggest that great article on Spanish tapas if you haven't read it yet?

We've partnered with a few sites where you'll see +1 buttons over the coming days:


Partner LogosAddThisMashableHuffington PostRotten TomatoesNordstromO'ReillyReutersWashington PostBest BuyTechCrunchBloomberg


You'll also start to see +1 buttons on other Google properties such as Android Market, Blogger, Product Search and YouTube.

Adding +1 buttons to your pages is a great way to help your content stand out in Google search. By giving your visitors more chances to +1 your pages, your search results and search ads could show up with +1 annotations more often, helping users see when your pages are most likely to be useful.




To get started, visit the +1 button tool on Google Webmaster Central. You'll be able to configure a small snippet of JavaScript and add it to the pages where you want +1 buttons to appear. You can pick from a few different button sizes and styles, so choose the +1 button that best matches your site's layout.




In the common case, a press of the button +1's the URL of the page it's on. We recommend some easy ways to ensure this maps as often as possible to the pages appearing in Google search results.

If your site primarily caters to users outside of the US and Canada, you can install the +1 button code now; the +1 button is already supported in 44 languages. However, keep in mind that +1 annotations currently only appear for English search results on Google.com. We're working on releasing +1 to searchers worldwide in the future.

If you have users who love your content (and we bet you do), encourage them to spread the word! Add the +1 button to help your site stand out with a personal recommendation right at the moment of decision, on Google search.

To stay current on updates to the +1 button large and small, please subscribe to the Google Publisher Buttons Announce Group. For advanced tips and tricks, check our Google Code site. Finally, if you have any questions about using the +1 button on your websites, feel free to drop by the Webmaster Help Forum.

Written by Evan Gilbert, Software Engineer, +1 Button
URL: http://googlesocialweb.blogspot.com/2011/05/add-1-to-help-your-site-stand-out.html

[G] Pilot the Webmaster Tools in Google Analytics integration

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 06:02 PM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Pilot the Webmaster Tools in Google Analytics integration

Google Analytics or Webmaster Tools, which tool should you use? For many webmasters and online marketers, the answer is both. Much of the data in Google Analytics is about what happens after a user chooses to visit your site; whereas, Webmaster Tools reports are more focused on data from before the user makes that choice.

We've heard from many of you that an integration between Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics is at the top of your wishlists. So, today we're happy to announce that we're starting a limited pilot of just such an integration.

The initial release will be a set of reports in Google Analytics using search data from Google Webmaster Tools. This includes query information, clicks, impressions, clickthrough rate, and average position. You'll also be able to use Google Analytics advanced data filtering and visualizations with this data.


We hope this will be the first of many ways to surface Webmaster Tools data in Google Analytics to give you a more thorough picture of your site's performance. We're looking forward to working with members of the pilot to help us identify the best ways to make this happen. If you're interested in using these reports, please sign up for the pilot.

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Google Analytics Team
URL: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2011/06/pilot-webmaster-tools-in-google.html

[G] Custom Variables: Fairmont and Swissotel use-cases

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 06:02 PM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Custom Variables: Fairmont and Swissotel use-cases

The introduction of custom variables to Google Analytics opened up many possibilities in measurement for site owners. It allows you to extend the dimensions tracked by Google Analytics to include facets that are meaningful to your business. For example, wouldn't you like to know how your logged in members behaved differently than your casual visitors? Or which categories of content your visitors are consuming?

Barbara Pezzi, Director of Analytics and Search Optimisation, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, has been kind enough to share her use-cases for the different types of custom variables. Head on over to the APAC Conversion Room blog to find out more about:
  • Visitor-level custom variables: Swissotel were able to segment their visitors based on membership levels, understand their preferences, and then target their marketing efforts accordingly.
  • Session-level custom variables: Fairmont measured which booking method (i.e. single vs multiple) was more popular on their booking engine; and were able to understand which method appealed to which types of customers.
  • Page-level custom variables: Swissotel used page-level custom variables to group pages according to the language of the content. With these groupings they were able to conveniently analyse the behaviour patterns and preferences of visitors according to the language of content consumed.
We would also love to hear how you use custom variables. If you have any tips or suggestions, please leave them in the comments of Barbara's articles.

Posted by Vinoaj Vijeyakumaar, Senior Conversion Specialist, Google Southeast Asia
URL: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2011/06/custom-variables-fairmont-and-swissotel.html

[G] Behind the scenes of the NBA Draft with the Golden State Warriors

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 05:42 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: Behind the scenes of the NBA Draft with the Golden State Warriors

We love sports here at YouTube and are always looking for ways to connect fans on our site more closely to the sports they love, working with our partners to create cool, engaging and video-driven experiences. We're also big U.S. hoops fans, so we've teamed up with our neighbors across the SF Bay — the Golden State Warriors — to bring you a comprehensive inside look at the NBA Draft process.

Go to Warriors Draft Central on YouTube for exclusive interviews with top prospects, footage from workouts with Warriors coaches and behind-the-scenes video like this interview with Warriors guard Jeremy Lin:



Who do you think the Warriors should draft? What are their most pressing on-court needs? Let the Warriors know what you think, right on the channel through your YouTube, Facebook or Twitter accounts — and subscribe for more video up through the Draft.

Andrew Bangs, YouTube Sports, recently watched "Brandon Westgate Emerica Stay Gold B-Side."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/6SSVbJZqD1A/behind-scenes-of-nba-draft-with-golden.html

[G] Announcing Blogger Mobile Templates

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 03:19 PM PDT

Blogger Buzz: Announcing Blogger Mobile Templates

Posted by Jiho Han, Software Engineer

A few months ago we introduced mobile templates to Blogger in Draft. Today, we're excited to announce that not only will these templates be available to everyone, we'll be supporting all 27 Template Designer templates. We invite you to make your blog smartphone-friendly by going to the Dashboard > Settings > Email & Mobile tab and enabling the mobile template option.




Blogger mobile templates are mobile-optimized versions of our Template Designer templates. If you are using one of these templates, when you enable the mobile template option your blog will begin rendering using the mobile version of the same variant. Even if you are not using a Template Designer template, or using a heavily-customized version of one, you can still enable this feature to have your blog start rendering in a generic default mobile template that we have created.


Some of our feature highlights:
  • Preview: Get a glimpse of how your blog will be displayed by clicking on the Mobile Preview button. You can also see it on your smartphone by scanning the QR-code.
  • Automatic redirection: Viewers will see the mobile version of your blog when accessing from smartphones*.
  • Template support: We are now supporting all 27 templates. Some gadgets are also supported**.
  • Mobile ads: Mobile AdSense ads will be displayed at the top of the post pages and at the bottom of the index page if the blog has an AdSense gadget or in-line blog ads.
  • Comments and videos: Viewers on smartphone devices will be able to make comments and watch videos.

We hope you enjoy the mobile templates. As always, we would love to hear from you so please let us know what you think through our feedback form, and stay tuned for future improvements.

*WebKit-based mobile browsers are supported for this launch.
**Supported gadgets/elements in this launch: Header, Blog, Profile, AdSense, Attribution.
URL: http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/06/announcing-blogger-mobile-templates.html

[G] Add the +1 Button to Your Blog

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 03:19 PM PDT

Blogger Buzz: Add the +1 Button to Your Blog

Posted by Marcos Almeida, Software Engineer

"+1" is often used as a digital shorthand for "this is pretty cool." It's also a way for friends, contacts, and the rest of the world to find great things on Google search. Google launched the +1 button back in March as a way to help share web content and make search more personal and relevant. For more information about the +1 button, you can watch this short video:



Since Google made this feature available, web publishers and bloggers have been asking us how they can add the +1 button to their sites, including Blogger blogs. Today, we're excited to let you know that you can add the +1 button to Blogger blogs with just a few clicks.

To add the +1 button to your blog, you'll need to enable Share buttons on Blogger. To do this, go to Design > Page Elements on your Blogger dashboard, find the Blog posts area, click on Edit, and select the "Show Share Buttons" option. If you are already using Share buttons, the +1 button will automatically show up as a new share option.



By adding the +1 button to your blog, you're providing an easy way for your visitors to recommend your posts to their friends right from your blog. Here's how it works: Let's say you blog about biking. One of your readers, Tom, finds your recent post about mountain biking interesting, and clicks on the +1 button. Now, when Tom's friends and contacts search for biking or mountain bikes and your post appears in Google search results, they might see an annotation showing that Tom +1'd your post, helping your content stand out.


[Example of how a blog post +1'd by visitors appears on the Google search results page]

We hope +1's will help your blog stand out better in search results, which could increase both the quality and quantity of traffic to your blog. Now, that's indeed a big +1, isn't it?
URL: http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/06/add-1-button-to-your-blog.html

[G] The next step in embedded videos: HD preview images and a logoless option

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 01:03 PM PDT

YouTube Blog: The next step in embedded videos: HD preview images and a logoless option

It may be hard to imagine, but YouTube's video preview images represent to many the ultimate deciding factor as to whether or not to watch a video. If a preview image looks interesting, it can mean the difference between someone pressing the play button. In addition, your site and the videos on it represent to you polished masterpieces. Yet, your videos' preview images can appear lower in quality, and sometimes you don't want a logo in your player. So today we're rolling out new features for both situations: HD preview images and the option to remove the logo from your player.

HD preview images
Video resolutions have been increasing across YouTube, and the sizes of your embedded players are bigger than ever. But until now, video preview images in today's larger players (e.g. the image that appears before you click "Play") haven't kept up with your high-quality and larger videos.

Any new video uploaded to the site in a resolution of 480p or higher will have an HD preview image wherever the player is embedded. The difference is even more striking with larger embeds (which don't fit on this blog), so try it out yourself and see what we're talking about. Here's an example:

Before:


Now:


We'll also automatically give HD preview images to older videos in the next few weeks, as long as they're 480p or larger. A note for partners, if you've uploaded a custom preview image for your video, you'll need to re-upload a new one for your videos in order to upgrade it to HD (1920 x 1080px, 2MB max).

Logoless player
Many of you have asked us for a version of the YouTube player without a YouTube logo, so the video plays without any branding nearby. We've now added a simple option to do it. At the end of the video URL in your embed code, just add the code ?modestbranding=1 and the player will show without the YouTube logo in the control bar. Note that a small "YouTube" text label will still show up in the upper-right corner of a paused video when you hover over the player. We've published the full list of the player's possible parameters, and here's an example:



We hope these features help you show your videos the way you want them to be seen.

Kevin Wilson, Software Engineer, recently watched "I'm Yours (ukulele)" and Ravi Kanodia, Software Engineer, recently watched "Candy BBQ - Epic Meal Time."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/HoCtX4anvsw/next-step-in-embedded-videos-hd-preview.html

[G] YouTube EDU partners Dartmouth College and Stanford University to live stream commencements on YouTube

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 09:03 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: YouTube EDU partners Dartmouth College and Stanford University to live stream commencements on YouTube

To kick off the 2011 graduation season in the United States, we featured some inspiring commencement speeches available on YouTube. Since then, many new addresses have been uploaded, including Amy Poehler's speech at Harvard Class Day, Denzel Washington's address at the University of Pennsylvania, and First Lady Michelle Obama's (Part 1 and Part 2) at Spellman College.

While you can spend hours watching these and other addresses on YouTube, sometimes there's nothing like watching a live event. So to tune in this Sunday June 12 and watch the commencement ceremonies of two YouTube EDU partners live — Dartmouth College and Stanford University will use YouTube's live stream platform to broadcast their ceremonies beyond their own campuses.

Dartmouth College will kick off the festivities this Sunday at 9:30am ET from Hanover, New Hampshire. Conan O'Brien will deliver the commencement address, likely to be as entertaining as his visit to Google. You can also stay tuned as honorary degrees are presented to former President George H.W. Bush; philanthropist and retired executive Russell A. Boss '61; New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast; Native American leader and activist Elouise Cobell; actress Ruby Dee; brain scientist Michael S. Gazzaniga '61; physician and researcher Howard Hiatt; and Joel Klein, former chancellor of the New York City public school system.



Then, travel from small town New England to Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California, to watch Stanford University's 120th commencement ceremony at 12:30pm ET. The day will start with the traditional "Wacky Walk" processional of graduates wearing zany costumes and carrying signs, props and even floats into the stadium with them. Mexican President Felipe Calderón will speak, expected to discuss leadership, social justice and international cooperation. Stanford President John Hennessy will also address those gathered and awards will be presented to the graduating students.

Whether you're a relative or friend of a graduate unable to attend the day's events, or simply interested in tuning in to catch the speeches, we hope you enjoy your front row seat at the ceremonies. Hats off again from YouTube to the graduates of 2011!

Will Houghteling, YouTube Marketing Manager, recently watched "Justice series: What's the right thing to do?"


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/ISB5Tj5arlE/youtube-edu-partners-dartmouth-college.html

[G] A doodle for an instrumental inventor

Posted: 09 Jun 2011 05:41 AM PDT

Official Google Blog: A doodle for an instrumental inventor

The electric guitar brings back memories for me of exchanging riffs with friends and wearing out cassette tapes as I meticulously learned songs. Today, we're attempting to recreate that experience with a doodle celebrating the birthday of musician and inventor Les Paul.

For the next 24 hours on the Google homepage, you'll find an interactive, playable logo inspired by the guitar developed by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee that made the sound of rock and roll possible.

As well as his guitar work, Les Paul experimented in his garage with innovative recording techniques like multitracking and tape delay. In keeping with this spirit of tinkering, those of you in the U.S. can click the black "compose" button to record your own 30-second track. Just strum the strings or trigger notes with the letters or numbers on your keyboards. Clicking the button again will display a link to share the songs you've made. (For example, here's a little tune I put together.)

If you're curious, the doodle was made with a combination of JavaScript, HTML5 Canvas (used in modern browsers to draw the guitar strings), CSS, Flash (for sound) and tools like the Google Font API, goo.gl and App Engine.

I hope you have as much fun playing with and sharing the doodle as we did making it (special thanks to engineers Kristopher Hom and Joey Hurst and doodle team lead Ryan Germick for their work). Crank up your computer volume and make some music!

Posted by Alexander Chen, Designer (and musician), Creative Lab
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/doodle-for-instrumental-inventor.html
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