Friday, September 30, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] An update on our Motorola acquisition

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:50 PM PDT

Google Public Policy Blog: An update on our Motorola acquisition

Posted by Dennis Woodside, SVP Google

Since we announced our plans to acquire Motorola Mobility, we've been excited about the positive reaction to the proposed deal -- particularly from our partners who have told us that they're enthusiastic about our defense of the Android ecosystem.

And as David Drummond said when we announced our plans in August, we're confident that this deal will be approved. We believe very strongly this is a pro-competitive transaction that is good for Motorola Mobility, good for consumers, and good for our partners.

That said, we know that close scrutiny is part of the process and we've been talking to the U.S. Department of Justice over the past few weeks. Today we received what is called a "second request," which means that the DOJ is asking for more information so that they can continue to review the deal. (This is pretty routine; we've gotten these kind of requests before.)

While this means we won't be closing right away, we're confident that the DOJ will conclude that the rapidly growing mobile ecosystem will remain highly competitive after this deal closes. We'll be working closely and cooperatively with them as they continue their review.
URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2011/09/update-on-our-motorola-acquisition.html

[G] Refocused Design Evolution, Continued

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:50 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Refocused Design Evolution, Continued

In June we launched the start of a comprehensive visual redesign for Google Maps founded on three key principles: focus, elasticity, and effortlessness. This week we're continuing to implement that philosophy by improving and evolving a few key features.
Our new pin

Perhaps the most notable change is an update to the styling and color of our iconic pins across all Google properties. This change reflects our interface's recent design evolution, introducing a more harmonious visual relationship between the on-map markers and the map itself.


Our on-map controls are also now more visually aligned with the rest of our design system. Together these changes reflect our recent efforts to reduce unnecessary clutter and give greater priority to information on the map.




In the header we're also introducing more prominent buttons for Directions and My places integrated into an elastic interface that expands and contracts to best fit your browser window size.

Putting all of these changes together you get:




We hope you find this a welcome update making Google Maps more functional, effortless, and enjoyable. This is just one part of the many design updates that will continue rolling out across Google Maps in the coming weeks and months, so keep an eye out for more!

Posted by Willem Van Lancker, User Experience & Visual Designer
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/09/refocused-design-evolution-continued.html

[G] Search Stories: Surfing for the Perfect Wave

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:50 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Search Stories: Surfing for the Perfect Wave

(Cross posted from the Google Inside Search Blog)

Searches can become stories. Some are inspiring, some change the way we see the world, and some just put a smile on our face. Today we continue our series of posts about people who have used Google to discover or do something extraordinary. Have a story? Share it. - Ed.


I've surfed all my life. And every summer I spend a couple weeks with my family on a small island called Hornby just east of Vancouver Island. I always think that area would be paradise if only it had great surf. It turns out it does... And with the help of Google Maps and Search, local pro surfer Sepp Bruhwiler is well on his way to finding that perfect wave that breaks somewhere off Vancouver's west coast.

Vancouver Island has a large, beautiful coastline. Before Google, local fishermen would tell Sepp about these enormous waves they found along some remote part of the coast. Sepp would run down to the dock, hop in a boat, and try his luck tracking down those elusive "breaks". It was an imprecise science with mixed results.

Sepp's quest then led him to pull up the satellite layer in Google Maps, where he scanned the coastline near his hometown of Tofino. What, exactly, was he was searching for? That tell-tale image of a line of curling white swells -- waves.

Just like Google Maps lets you zoom in to explore your city, your street and your house, that same viewing experience extends to Canada's rugged coastlines. As Sepp put it, "we navigated the entire coastline by dragging my finger across my phone." When he found what he was looking for, he zoomed in and put a virtual pin in the location of the waves. Sepp and his surfing pro friends then pulled up the weather conditions and a swell report from nearby buoys on Google Search. And, just like that, it was on!

They found great waves that had possibly never been ridden before. In the words of Sepp's friend, Pete Devries: "To go to a spot that few people have surfed ever before, that's been breaking for hundreds, maybe thousands of years, keeps you wondering what else is out there and what else we could possibly find."

I'm inspired. Next summer when I head up north, I plan to bring my surfboard, a smartphone, and a really warm wetsuit. I can't wait to join Sepp in the never ending search for great new waves.

Surf on...

Posted by Brett Crosby, Surfer & Director of Product Marketing.
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/09/search-stories-surfing-for-perfect-wave.html

[G] Welcome to the world’s largest intact forest: Canada’s boreal

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:50 PM PDT

Google LatLong: Welcome to the world's largest intact forest: Canada's boreal

Editor's Note: Today's guest author is Steve Kallick, from the Pew Environment Group's International Boreal Conservation Campaign. We are excited to support Pew in the development of this narrated tour and think that Google Earth is a great way to make Canada's boreal forest accessible to the world.

In just three minutes, you can take a non-stop, coast-to-coast Google Earth narrated tour of Earth's "green halo:" the boreal forest. The Pew Environment Group takes you over the vast northern forests and waterways and unveils an ecosystem that stores twice as much carbon per acre as tropical rainforests, holds more freshwater than any other continental-scale ecosystem and teems with wildlife. Watch the tour below or download the KML file to view in Google Earth.

Pew's Google Earth tour shows why the boreal forest is so important.

The Pew Environment Group is the conservation arm of The Pew Charitable Trusts, a nongovernmental organization that works globally to protect our oceans, preserve wildlands and promote clean energy. Pew and its sister organization, the Canadian Boreal Initiative, developed this tour to illustrate the nature of the blue forest and its ability to store massive amounts of carbon, primarily in its soil and wetlands. The tour is featured at the launch of Google Earth Outreach in Canada, happening this week.

Viewers will see bears, wolves, and caribou that still roam this vast landscape, learn about aboriginal communities that depend on the boreal, view the Peace-Athabasca Delta, one of the most important wetlands in the world, and the last refuges for North American Atlantic salmon.

The Peace-Athabasca Delta viewed in the Pew Environmental Group's new Google Earth tour.

Unfortunately, Canada's boreal forest is increasingly affected by large-scale industrial activities. A rapidly expanding footprint of development already includes 180 million acres (728,000 km²) affected by forestry, road building, mining, oil and gas extraction, and hydropower.

Pew and CBI have worked with aboriginal communities, conservation groups, federal, provincial and territorial governments to protect the boreal, resulting in 185 million acres set aside from development to date, including key wetland and river areas. That total represents more than 12% of Canada's 1.2 billion-acre (nearly 4.9 million km²) boreal forest.

Visit us online to learn more about this new tour and the steps we can take together to protect this global treasure.

Posted by Steve Kallick, Pew Environment Group
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/09/welcome-to-worlds-largest-intact-forest.html

[G] Introducing Google Analytics Premium

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:50 PM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Introducing Google Analytics Premium

We built Google Analytics on the principle of democratizing data-- giving all website owners, big and small, the ability to learn from their visitors. Many websites use Google Analytics, ranging from personal blogs to large enterprises whose products and services we use daily.



We learned from some of our largest customers that they have some specific needs that the current version of Google Analytics can't meet in their entirety. Today we're addressing these needs by announcing a new option built for our largest customers: Google Analytics Premium.



We developed Google Analytics Premium around these pillars: more data, advanced tools, dedicated support and guarantees. Here's a summary of what that covers:

  • Extra processing power - increased data collection, more custom variables and downloadable, unsampled reports

  • Advanced analysis - attribution modeling tools that allow you to test different models for assigning credit to conversions

  • Service and support - experts to guide customized installation, and dedicated account management on call - all backed by 24/7 support

  • Guarantees - service level agreements for data collection, processing and reporting

Google Analytics Premium was developed in close coordination with some of our largest clients. During our pilot phase, we've been working with Gucci, Travelocity, TransUnion, eHarmony and others, to make sure Google Analytics Premium meets their needs. We're very happy with what we've built and we're now ready to make it available to all interested clients.



Google Analytics Premium is available for a fixed annual fee in the United States, Canada, and the UK. You can get it directly from Google or through Google Analytics Premium Authorized Resellers. To learn more about Premium, you can contact the Google team or our authorized resellers. We've put together a short video:







We're more committed than ever to providing our customers, large and small, with options to measure and improve their marketing efforts. Google Analytics will continue to offer a powerful, free product as it always has and you'll see plenty of new features and enhancements in the future. We're pleased to help all of our customers to work more effectively with Google Analytics. Happy analyzing!



Posted by Enrique Munoz Torres, Product Manager, Google Analytics team


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tRaA/~3/onEuDRDQdLs/introducing-google-analytics-premium.html

[G] What’s happening on your site right now?

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: What's happening on your site right now?

The web is getting faster, and not just the speed of the pages, but also the speed of change. Before, it was fine to build a website and modify it only when new products were launched. All of us avid Analytics users know that's just not good enough. We need to be constantly on the lookout for problems and opportunities.

Currently, Google Analytics does a great job analyzing past performance. Today we're very excited to bring real time data to Google Analytics with the launch of Google Analytics Real-Time: a set of new reports that show what's happening on your site as it happens.



Measuring social media impact
One way that I like to use these reports is to measure the immediate impact of social media. Whenever we put out a new blog post, we also send out a tweet. With Real-Time, I can see the immediate impact to my site traffic.

For example, last week we posted about the latest episode of Web Analytics TV and also tweeted about the post. By campaign tagging the links we shared, we could see how much traffic each channel is driving to the blog as it happened. We could also see when we stopped receiving visits from the tweet, which helps know when to reengage.



Campaign measurement
Another way I'm using Real-Time is to make sure campaign tracking is correctly implemented before launching a campaign. When getting ready to launch a new campaign it's critical to make sure your measurement plan is working before you start driving visitors to the page. With the Real-Time reports you can find out in seconds whether you're getting the data you want in Google Analytics.

Accessing Real-Time
You'll find the Real-Time reports only in the new version of Google Analytics. If you're not already using the new version, you can start by clicking the "New Version" link in the top right of Google Analytics. Real-Time reports are in the Dashboards tab (though they will move to the Home tab in the updated interface next week) . You will have access to Real-Time reports if you are an Administrator on your Analytics account, or if you have access to a profile without profile filters. Real-Time does not support profile filters.

We just turned the reports on for a number of you, and over the coming weeks, everyone will have access to Real-Time. If you can't wait, sign up for early access here: https://services.google.com/fb/forms/realtimeanalytics/. We'd love to hear about how you are using (or planning to use) Real-Time, so please share in the comments.

Posted by John Jersin, Google Analytics Team


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tRaA/~3/wUfi864TyBw/whats-happening-on-your-site-right-now.html

[G] Introducing Google JS Test

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

Google Open Source Blog: Introducing Google JS Test

Google JS Test is a JavaScript unit testing framework that runs on the V8 JavaScript Engine, the same open source project that is responsible for Google Chrome's super-fast JS execution speed. Google JS Test is used internally by several Google projects, and we're pleased to announce that it has been released as an open source project.

Features of Google JS Test include:
  • Extremely fast startup and execution time, without needing to run a browser.
  • Clean, readable output in the case of both passing and failing tests.
  • An optional browser-based test runner that can simply be refreshed whenever JS is changed.
  • A built-in mocking framework that requires minimal boilerplate code (e.g. no $tearDown or $verifyAll calls), with style and semantics based on the Google C++ Mocking Framework.
  • A system of matchers allowing for expressive tests and easy to read failure output, with many built-in matchers and the ability for the user to add their own.

See the Google JS Test project home page for a quick introduction, and the getting started page for a tutorial that will teach you the basics in just a few minutes.

By Aaron Jacobs, Google Engineer


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GoogleOpenSourceBlog/~3/QohYcomK7yU/introducing-google-js-test.html

[G] Continuing the AdSense in Your City journey

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

Inside AdSense: Continuing the AdSense in Your City journey








The AdSense in Your City optimization team was back on the road again and recently hosted over 40 publishers in Walnut Creek, CA.  Publishers in attendance learned about top optimization tips, our DoubleClick for Publishers Small Business product and the Google +1 button. Each publisher also received a 1:1 optimization session with one of our specialists.



One publisher shared his thoughts on the experience he had:

"I traveled [for] hours to attend this event and found it well worth it. The presentation was great and the one on one session was invaluable. Also, networking with other content publishers at the event added even more value to the experience. A must attend for anyone looking to optimize their websites and increase AdSense revenue."



If you'd like to attend an event, we're heading to Kansas City, MO next week and there are still a few spots open. We'll also be going to Chicago, IL and Las Vegas, NV in the coming weeks. If you're interested in learning more about AdSense optimization and meeting our team, please fill out our interest form.







We asked publishers to share what AdSense has given them.



Thanks to all of our publishers who came to Walnut Creek. We had a great time working with you and hearing your AdSense stories.



Posted by Courtney Yamada, AdSense Optimization Team



URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tuAm/~3/w6mx0c3_xVY/continuing-adsense-in-your-city-journey.html

[G] Music review channel theneedledrop wins September's "On The Rise"

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: Music review channel theneedledrop wins September's "On The Rise"

Congratulations to Anthony Fantano of theneedledrop, the channel that received the most votes for our September On The Rise poll. Anthony's channel will be featured on the YouTube homepage today thanks to your support.



Hailing from Connecticut, Anthony began his independent music reviewing career in 2007 with the goal of introducing people to new songs, albums, and artists. His critiques of various indie rock, pop, and experimental bands have earned him a dedicated following across his various review outlets. And varied they are: The Needle Drop programming includes a regular blog, an NPR radio podcast, and of course the YouTube channel you voted for this month. So whether you're into Fleet Foxes, Danny Brown or Andrew Jackson Jihad - or whether you've never heard of them and are just looking to expand your music library - let Anthony be your guide. He explains his channel's history and purpose in more detail in the video below.







If you're open to learning about new albums from bands you may not know, here's a plug from Anythony himself:


Hey, you! Yeah, you! Wanna try out some new music? Bend your mind with some fresh sounds? That's what this YouTube channel is all about: theneedledrop. It's hosted by the Internet's Busiest Music Nerd, Anthony Fantano, and follows him on his personal adventures through the newest albums out there. Hear some opinions and get turned on to some artists you might not know about yet in the process. Have a nice day. Thank you for reading!

If you've enjoyed this monthly On The Rise blog series and want to see more rising YouTube partners, check out our On The Rise channel or look for our playlists on the browse page. Keep an eye out for next month's blog post, as your channel may be the next one On The Rise!



Devon Storbeck, YouTube Partner Support, recently watched "Wild Flag - Self-Titled ALBUM REVIEW."



URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/ALTvnzaxWXo/music-review-channel-theneedledrop-wins.html

[G] Custom Maps lets you take posted maps with you

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

Google Open Source Blog: Custom Maps lets you take posted maps with you

Do you love to explore the outdoors with Google Maps but sometimes wish it had the details of a trail map or a tourist attractions map of a foreign city? Do you sometimes wish you could take one of those "You are here" maps with you to help you find places in an unfamiliar environment? Do you prefer maps on your phone rather than on paper?

If you answered "yes" to even some of these questions, you may want to take a closer look at a new Android app called Custom Maps -- recently released as open source at code.google.com.


Custom Maps showing a birdwatcher's location overlaid on a photo of a posted park map.

The Custom Maps app allows for easy creation of digital maps from any map image. The image can be a photo of a paper map, a photo of a brochure map, or a picture of the map posted at a trailhead or at the entrance to an amusement park. It could also be a .jpeg or .png image hosted on the internet or a screenshot of a PDF map. All you have to do is choose two (or more) matching points that are common to both the map image and Google Maps, and Custom Maps can show your GPS location on the map. This makes it an excellent mapping option in situations where data signal is not available like in state parks or abroad, or when alternate map images show details that are not included in Google Maps.


Custom Maps showing a hiker's location on Mist Trail in Yosemite National Park.

Custom Maps stores the geo aligned map images into KMZ files, which are simply ZIP files containing the geo location information in KML format, and the map image file. This makes it possible to take the map image out of the KMZ file, add some personal markup in the map using an image editor, and put the image back into the KMZ file. As long as the image is not resized in the process, the marked up map image can now display the user's GPS location.

Custom Maps users can share created geo aligned map images as email attachments or by using QR codes. When a Custom Maps compatible QR code is scanned by a barcode scanner application, users can open the link directly in the Custom Maps app instead of a web browser.

Google has published the source code for Custom Maps under Apache License 2.0 at http://code.google.com/p/custom-maps/. The source code can be studied for examples of how to deal with the following topics on Android mobile apps:
  • dealing with large images in constrained memory environment of mobile devices
  • parsing XML (KML) documents using XML Pull API
  • using the Google Maps Android API and displaying translucent overlays on MapView widget
  • declaring an app as able to handle special URLs and file types so it can be launched by QR codes and so mail applications can direct attachments to it
  • triggering file sharing intents from an app
But Custom Maps is not finished yet. Several new features are planned including distance measurement, marking map locations with icons, making it possible to geolocate map images without Google Maps or data connection, working around the app memory limit to load larger map images, and automatically switching between stored maps based on user's location and zoom level. Join the open source project to add these and more features to Custom Maps.

By Marko Teittinen, Google Geo Team
URL: http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2011/09/custom-maps-lets-you-take-posted-maps.html

[G] Learn to predict the present with Think Quarterly

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

Inside AdWords: Learn to predict the present with Think Quarterly

In July, we launched our first issue of Think Quarterly, a publication that packages up the insights and ideas that we learn from both inside and outside of Google. Today we're launching our second edition, the "People" issue. It explores the latest technologies connecting us and the big ideas driving society forward.

One way we can gain insight into people's actions, intentions, and future actions is through their search behavior. When looked at in aggregate, queries can speak volumes. In "Predicting the Present", our chief economist Hal Varian talks about how you can use publicly available tools like Insights for Search and Google Correlate to this end. In his words:
"If you type 'weight loss' into Google Correlate you find 'healthy smoothie' and 'meal replacement.' Not too surprising. But you also see terms like 'vacation destination,' 'cruises to,' and 'wedding checklist.' And if you look at the searches that occur three weeks after the 'weight loss' query, you see 'weight loss plateau' and 'not losing weight' at the top of the list."
Hal's team has uncovered a number of interesting relationships by analyzing query data. For example, here's an infographic that shows the online and offline spending behavior of people throughout a typical week.


For more, read the full article here. We hope you enjoy (and +1) it!

Posted by Andrew Truong, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/09/learn-to-predict-present-with-think.html

[G] ROFLCon Summit: Exploring how Internet communities affect everyone IRL

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

YouTube Blog: ROFLCon Summit: Exploring how Internet communities affect everyone IRL

We're proud to be a part of the vibrant culture of the web, and are pleased to welcome today's guest blogger Tim Hwang and the rest of the team from ROFLCon, an organization celebrating all the wonderful memes out there.



On October 1 in Portland, Oregon the first-ever ROFLCon Summit will address the incredible potential of the Internet, memes, funny cats, and beyond.



ROFLCon Summit is a spin-off of the wildly awesome biennial ROFLCon. It brings together the leading generators, preservers and advancers of online culture so they can talk about where it's all headed and what it means to everyone else. Speakers will include Chris Poole from Canv.as/4Chan, Eric Fensler (the GI Joe PSA guy), Bennett Foddy (the creator of QWOP), Jason Scott, and Brewster Kahle. Here's a useful informational video that we made to help you get a sense of what we're all about.







Helpful, no? By this point, it's a cliche to note that internet culture has become a major engine for pop culture. But perhaps less noted is the background role of web platforms in providing the critical infrastructure for setting these cultural engines into motion. YouTube irrevocably changed the social dynamics of the internet precisely because of its ease of share-ability, the scale of its user base, and its endless catalogue of content. Let's take one now-famous example.



"Friday." Released March 14, 2011.







Weeks later, Conan O'Brien had a choreographed performance "Thursday."







Less than two months later, Glee (one of the most popular shows on TV) performed a rendition of it on FOX. (Skip to 1:25).







And there are countless examples of this, happening every day on scales large and small.



Because they contribute so much to the endless churning of internet culture, what better way to promote ROFLCon Summit than with a video?



We're huge nerds. ROFLCon is at once a celebration of the present and future of web culture, and an homage to glorious proto-internet days gone by. It's deeply enmeshed in a childhood forged in late nights of programming in BASIC, River City Ransom, floppy disks, and the glorious days of VHS.



Needless to say, we wanted the conference (and our videos) to reflect that. The audio drops, hiccups and poor quality of the video actually helped show how far we've come. And once we've seen where things began, we're much more able to foresee what might happen in the future.







Join us on the internets! We will be hosting a live stream of the ROFLCon Summit event on October 1 on our website, with live updates on Twitter as well.



Tim Hwang and the ROFLCon crew recently watched, "ROFLCon Summit Promotional Video."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/SdaWDFBTPIk/roflcon-summit-exploring-how-internet.html

[G] Design updates to the new interface coming next week

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Design updates to the new interface coming next week

In March, we unveiled the new version of Google Analytics that included, along with many other improvements, a redesigned user interface. Since then we've heard from many of you on how we can improve different aspects of the design.



Designers from our User Experience team took a step back objectively asked "How can we make Analytics better?" They focused on the core organization (our information architecture) and way-finding as areas that could be improved. What followed were a series of brainstorming sessions with engineers and product managers, analysis of your feedback, customer interviews, card-sort studies, and general user testing – all done to iterate on our product while keeping our users involved in the process.



Next week we'll release these changes. The biggest change you'll notice is that we have simplified the primary navigation into three tabs – Home, Standard Reporting, and Custom Reporting – to give you quicker access to the information that matters. We also incorporated the second layer of navigation that appeared in "My Site" throughout the Home and Standard Reporting tabs.





Here's what you can expect in each tab:



Home: The Home tab holds all reports and features that allow you to quickly understand what is happening on your site. You'll find your custom dashboards here as well as your automatic and custom alerts from Google Analytics Intelligence.



Standard Reporting: All the built-in reports to understand your audience, advertising impact, traffic sources, conversions, content, and more are now displayed in one central place.



We're also excited about the addition of a report finder in the Standard Reporting tab. This will allow you to type the name of a report you're interested in and quickly navigate to it without needing to hunt for it in the proper section.





Custom Reporting: Google Analytics lets you build your own reports to get exactly the data you need. With the new tab, we're making Custom Reports a more important part of the interface. You'll be able to access any reports you've created here and build new ones.



So what's next for our designers? We have a number of improvements planned to the overall Analytics interface to bring more focus on data, as well as exciting new features that will make analyzing data faster and easier.



If you'd like to help shape Google Analytics and want to participate in future user studies, please register here.



Posted by Lucas Pettinati, Lead User Experience Designer, Google Analytics team


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tRaA/~3/lcfMj31aaNM/design-updates-to-new-interface-coming.html

[G] Gold Star Partner Showcase

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

Inside AdSense: Gold Star Partner Showcase


Over the past month, we highlighted homebuyinginstitute.com and govisitcostarica.com as the first two AdSense publishers in the Gold Star Partnership Showcase.  To recap, the showcase is an opportunity for us to publicly recognize some of our AdSense partners.



We asked publishers to submit their sites for consideration if they clearly demonstrate the following:


Today we'd like to highlight Max Levitte, founder of cheapism.com:






Name: Max Levitte

Site: Cheapism.com

Vertical: Shopping

AdSense Partner for:  5+ years





Tell us about your site:

Called by The New York Times 'a Consumer Reports for the cheap', Cheapism.com is a budget-products review site, serving consumers who can only afford/wish to buy inexpensive products, but still want the best value for their money. Cheapism is the only review site that focuses exclusively on low-price products, a part of the market that is rarely reviewed by the experts.



What we do at Cheapism is research the low price products and services in various categories and then create a thorough buying guide on how to buy budget products in that category. Our editorial process involves defining the low-price range for each category, identifying must have features, summarizing key performance attributes, and then analyzing relevant reviews and recommending the best budget buys and what to avoid. We follow strict journalistic editorial guidelines when creating our content and take great pride in our articles.



What makes cheapism.com a great AdSense publisher?

We implement AdSense in a non intrusive way yet generate high eCPMs.  We also manage to generate a significant amount of our AdSense revenue from a link unit.



Why do you love AdSense?

Because it targets exactly what our visitors are looking for.

Because it saves us from having to deal with advertisers.

Because it generates most of our revenue.


Finally, thank you again to everyone who submitted their sites for consideration!



Posted by Julia Riley, AdSense Partnerships



URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tuAm/~3/Zrc_YLIeMsY/gold-star-partner-showcase_28.html

[G] Fresh Perspectives about People and the Web from Think Quarterly

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

Google Research Blog: Fresh Perspectives about People and the Web from Think Quarterly

Posted by Allison Mooney, Christina Park, and Caroline McCarthy, The Think Quarterly Team

There's a lot of research, analysis and insights—from inside and outside Google—that we use in building our products and making decisions. To share what we've learned with our partners, we created Think Quarterly. It's intended to be a snapshot of what Google and other industry leaders are talking about and inspired by right now.

Today we're launching our second edition, the "People" issue, exploring the latest technologies connecting us and the big ideas driving society forward. It also includes some of the research and analysis that helps us shape our strategies.

For those who love data as much as we do, here are a few articles worth reading:

  • "Following Generation Z," in which Google research scientist Ed Chi details what he's learned from monitoring the course of digital innovation and mapping patterns of digital technology use in the future
  • "Predicting the Present," by chief economist Hal Varian, about how publicly available search tools can help anyone gain valuable insights into the behavior of web users and predict what they might do next
  • "Power to the People," by Meg Pickard, anthropologist turned head of digital engagement at Guardian News and Media, about tracking the influence and power of online communities
  • "From Cash to Contentment," about the use of happiness as a measurable metric of success, with insights coming from Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz

Click here to read all the articles, and if you have a suggestion for our next issue please tell us here. We hope you enjoy (and +1) it!
URL: http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/2011/09/fresh-perspectives-about-people-and-web.html

[G] Visualize your data with charts in Google Sites

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

Docs Blog: Visualize your data with charts in Google Sites

Ever since we launched the chart editor in Google spreadsheets, many of you have asked us to integrate charts into Google Sites as well. Today we are making this possible. Now you can display charts in your Sites by going to Insert Menu and choosing Charts in edit mode.


Once you select a spreadsheet, the editor picks existing charts from the spreadsheet to embed into a Site.


You can also create a chart by specifying the sheet and range and customize the chart by changing various properties such as color, axes, labels and more. Choose which chart type best expresses your data or let the chart editor recommend one for you.

You can decide to choose between two modes Live and Snapshot to show the data.
  • Live provides you with dynamic charts. Whenever the chart is loaded in the Site, the chart will display the most recent data in the spreadsheet. This is very useful in cases when the spreadsheet data is updated manually or using a script.

  • Snapshot means just that. It's a snapshot at a point in time, so the chart will store and display the exact same data, regardless of whether you make changes to the underlying data sheet.

Changes made to charts in Sites are independent to the specific chart, so the same spreadsheet data can be applied across multiple charts.

To learn more about how to express your data more visually with Sites, visit the help center. Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.

Posted by: Hillel Maoz, Software Engineer
URL: http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2011/09/visualize-your-data-with-charts-in.html

[G] Trying on the new Dynamic Views from Blogger

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

Google LatLong: Trying on the new Dynamic Views from Blogger

As you may have noticed, the Lat Long blog looks a lot different today. That's because we—along with a few other Google blogs—are trying out a new set of Blogger templates called Dynamic Views.

Launched today, Dynamic Views is a unique browsing experience that makes it easier and faster for readers to explore blogs in interactive ways. We're using the Magazine view, but you can also preview this blog in any of the other six new views by using the view selection bar at the top left of the screen.



We're eager to hear what you think about the new Dynamic Views. You can submit feedback using the "Send feedback" link on the bottom right of this page.

If you like what you see here, and we hope you do, we encourage you to try out the new look(s) on your own blog—read the Blogger Buzz post for more info.

Posted by Tasha Danko, Geo Marketing Manager
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2011/09/trying-on-new-dynamic-views-from.html

[G] A look ahead at Google Affiliate Network

Posted: 29 Sep 2011 11:27 AM PDT

Google Affiliate Network: A look ahead at Google Affiliate Network

Here at Google Affiliate Network, we're working hard to make our product faster, more innovative, and available to more users. You may have already noticed many changes in the past few months, and we encourage you to check out our Interface Updates page to stay up-to-date on the latest.

In light of these changes (and many more to come), we'd like to take a moment to share our vision for our product.

Scale, scale, scale
We're striving to make our product available to more publishers, advertisers and consumers around the world. So we've completely rewritten our hardware and software ecosystem to achieve vast technical scale. This allows us to make Google Affiliate Network available globally, launch innovative new features, and rapidly implement changes with little to no disruption to our users.

Affiliate Marketing for all
We believe strongly in the value of the affiliate channel, and we want to do our part to help it grow. We're already paying publishers in over 40 currencies. We want to do better. We want all publishers and advertisers to use an interface that is customized to their timezone and language, and to be able to target ads to languages, regions, and audiences that they care about. We also hope to make it easier to sign up, find and run ads, and build relationships, so that publishers and advertisers who are new to the channel can jump right in.

Integrate with other Google products that you use
For those of you who use multiple Google products, we want you to be able to incorporate Google Affiliate Network into a seamless workflow. Today, you can already access Google Affiliate Network using the Google account of your choice. Publishers are paid via Google AdSense's fast and reliable global payments system. Advertisers manage product feeds via their Google Merchant Center account, and they can access Google Ad Planner within their Google Affiliate Network account to evaluate whether a potential publisher affiliate is a good fit. We want to continue integrating with other Google products that are crucial to your workflow.

Find opportunities that make sense to you
Today, publishers and advertisers are able to find new relationships via the Opportunity Center. We're also working on ways for you to see the creatives, opportunities, and products that will perform best on a given site -- and make that update quickly and easily. It should be easier for you to communicate with partners directly within the interface -- no emails or phone calls necessary (unless you want them).

Make decisions based on actionable insights 
We want you to have access to insights that help you understand every aspect of your affiliate program. We're focused on creating tools in the interface to help you develop a profitable commission strategy, better understand how customers are reacting to your opportunities, analyze results of paid placements, and clearly see areas for improvement.

Protect your investment through quality controls
Google Affiliate Network already has the highest standards in the affiliate industry to keep our publisher network clean and free from violations. We will continue to harness Google's strong anti-abuse tools to protect the affiliate ecosystem.

This is the future as we see it, and the changes you see today are the first steps towards these goals. For frequent updates on the latest changes, please refer to our Interface Updates page.

Posted by:
Kurt Spoerer, Senior Product Manager
Ben Collins-Sussman, Engineering Manager
Erica Sievert, Product Marketing Manager
URL: http://googleaffiliatenetwork-blog.blogspot.com/2011/09/look-ahead-at-google-affiliate-network.html
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