Googland |
- [G] More data, more transparency around government requests
- [G] Making Chrome even more app-ealing
- [G] Non-Interaction Events! Wait... What?
- [G] ScriptCover: Javascript coverage analysis tool
- [G] Dynamic Views: Update #2
- [G] Introducing the next generation of the DFP ad tag
- [G] Small business and the power of video: Announcing “My Business Story” by Google and American Express
- [G] Using Google Insights for Search to Analyze Ethnic Restaurant Trends
- [G] Watch Coldplay’s UNSTAGED performance live today
| [G] More data, more transparency around government requests Posted: 26 Oct 2011 05:13 PM PDT Google Public Policy Blog: More data, more transparency around government requestsPosted by Dorothy Chou, Senior Policy Analyst(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog) How do governments affect access to information on the Internet? To help shed some light on that very question, last year we launched an online, interactive Transparency Report. All too often, policy that affects how information flows on the Internet is created in the absence of empirical data. But by showing traffic patterns and disruptions to our services, and by sharing how many government requests for content removal and user data we receive from around the world, we hope to offer up some metrics to contribute to a public conversation about the laws that influence how people communicate online. Today we're updating the Government Requests tool with numbers for requests that we received from January to June 2011. For the first time, we're not only disclosing the number of requests for user data, but we're showing the number of users or accounts that are specified in those requests too. We also recently released the raw data behind the requests. Interested developers and researchers can now take this data and revisualize it in different ways, or mash it up with information from other organizations to test and draw up new hypotheses about government behaviors online. We believe that providing this level of detail highlights the need to modernize laws like the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which regulates government access to user information and was written 25 years ago—long before the average person had ever heard of email. Yet at the end of the day, the information that we're disclosing offers only a limited snapshot. We hope others join us in the effort to provide more transparency, so we'll be better able to see the bigger picture of how regulatory environments affect the entire web.  URL: http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2011/10/more-data-more-transparency-around.html       |
| [G] Making Chrome even more app-ealing Posted: 26 Oct 2011 05:13 PM PDT Google Chrome Blog: Making Chrome even more app-ealingFrom sharing photos, to collaborating on documents, to enjoying online games, web apps make the web fun, useful and entertaining. Since the beginning, Chrome has been designed to allow apps to do more, faster. Today, changes in Chrome make it even easier to access your favorite apps and discover new favorites.In the latest Stable release of Chrome, we've completely redesigned the New Tab page. It's more streamlined, so it's easier to access and organize your apps in different sections on the page. Watch the video below for a quick tour. To add more apps to your New Tab page, click the Chrome Web Store icon. The Web Store also has a new look:  Apps and extensions are now presented in a wall of images that's updated every time you visit the store. We hope this will help you quickly scan the store and find interesting things to try out. In addition, apps and extensions are easier to install—just hover over an image on the grid and click "Add to Chrome." Getting additional information about an app or an extension is just a click away. When you click on an app, extension or theme, you'll see a panel featuring screenshots, videos and other relevant information neatly organized into separate tabs. The store also includes a brand new reviews interface that links to the Google+ profile of each reviewer. (To protect your privacy, we made sure to anonymize any reviews that you previously submitted.)  Along with the new look, a bunch of new apps have joined the store. I'm personally excited about My Robot Nation™, an app that lets you design your own robot and bring it to life with a 3D printer. There are plenty of new games to play, including The Godfather: Five Families and Fieldrunners. And for those of you still looking for a Halloween costume, check out the brand-new eBay shopping app. We have many more features on deck, and we're looking forward to making the app experience in Chrome even better soon. Posted by Shannon Guymon, Product Manager  URL: http://chrome.blogspot.com/2011/10/making-chrome-even-more-app-ealing.html   |
| [G] Non-Interaction Events! Wait... What? Posted: 26 Oct 2011 05:13 PM PDT Google Analytics Blog: Non-Interaction Events! Wait... What?Hey event tracking friends, we are really excited to announce a new feature to the Analytics event tracking landscape: non-interaction events. "But wait!" you ask, "How can an event—which measures user interaction—be non-interactive? And why would I want that anyway?"The answer is simple: sometimes you want to track passive events on your pages, like images from an automatic slide show. In this case, you want such events to be excluded from bounce rate calculations because they don't track visitor interaction. Now, you can mark these events as non-interaction events, so that they don't affect the bounce rate for the page. Let's illustrate. Suppose your home page has an image slide show that automatically serves up 5 images in rotating order. Like so:  You want to apply an event tracking call with each movement of the slider, so that you know which images are being seen most by visitors to your home page. However, there isn't really any interaction required on the visitors' behalf to engage with this slider. You know that in the past, event tracking for this slider would make the bounce rate for your home page drop dramatically. Better to exclude these events from bounce rate calculation, so that the bounce rate for your home page is calculated only from pageviews for the page and not events. How do you use it? Add our new non-interactive parameter with the _trackEvent() method like this: _gaq.push(['_trackEvent', 'ImageSlider', 'Home', 'Image1', 1, true]); To read the details, check out our Event Tracking Guide or our Reference doc on the _trackEvent() method.In the past, you had to trade off bounce rate signals for event tracking in some situations. Now, with the ability to designate an event as either interactive or not, you can have your events and bounces too. We hope you think this features is as nifty as we do. Tell us some of your great applications and uses below! Posted by Patricia Boswell, Google Analytics team     URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tRaA/~3/l1RR1cZ3Q5k/non-interaction-events-wait-what.html   |
| [G] ScriptCover: Javascript coverage analysis tool Posted: 26 Oct 2011 05:13 PM PDT Google Open Source Blog: ScriptCover: Javascript coverage analysis toolWe are pleased to announce the open source release of a Javascript coverage analysis tool called ScriptCover. It is a Chrome extension that provides line-by-line Javascript code coverage statistics for web pages in real time without user modification of the site. Results are collected when the page loads and continue to be updated as users interact with the page. These results can be viewed in real time through a reporting tool which highlights the executed lines of code for detailed analysis. ScriptCover is useful when performing manual and automated testing and in understanding and debugging complex code. Short report in Chrome extension popup, detailing both overall scores and per-script coverage.  Sample of annotated source code from the detailed report. First two columns are line number and number of times each instruction has been executed. We envision many potential features and improvements for ScriptCover, e.g.:
Want to get involved with ScriptCover and make it better? Join the team! To get started, visit our project page, join the community, read documentation and download the code. By Ekaterina Kamenskaya, Software Engineer in Test, Google     URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GoogleOpenSourceBlog/~3/fa7ZW0XVKp8/scriptcover-javascript-coverage.html   |
| Posted: 26 Oct 2011 05:13 PM PDT Blogger Buzz: Dynamic Views: Update #2Hi Bloggers!Thanks again for all the terrific feedback on Dynamic Views. Over half a million blogs have selected Dynamic Views as their default template since they were introduced less than a month ago, which is solid evidence that you're as excited about this new technology as we are! As I mentioned in my last update, we've been working hard to respond to your feedback and quickly introduce enhancements. The ability to customize Dynamic Views has been a top request, so I'm pleased to announce that as of today, this is now possible. Using the Template Designer, you can now modify your background, fonts, or colors, and add a custom header image like we did on Blogger Buzz (just make sure it's 65 pixels high). If you don't fancy yourself a web designer, simply choose from one of the "suggested themes" that we provide.   Finally, if you're waiting for gadget support in Dynamic Views, stay tuned... Happy blogging! Posted by: Bruce Polderman, Product Manager  URL: http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/10/dynamic-views-update-2.html   |
| [G] Introducing the next generation of the DFP ad tag Posted: 26 Oct 2011 05:13 PM PDT DoubleClick Publisher Blog: Introducing the next generation of the DFP ad tagFor websites that sell display advertising, the ad tag is the essential link between a publisher's ad server, such as DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), and website content. An ad tag is a snippet of code that is inserted into the source code of a web page in order to display ads.Properly implementing your ad tags is a vital piece of your ad operations since it directly affects your visitor's experience to your website and bottom-line. Tagging errors can prevent the correct ad from being displayed, or prevent ads from displaying altogether. Slow loading ads can also slow down the loading of content, resulting in long wait times for your site's visitors. This is why we're so excited to introduce the next generation of the DFP ad tag: The Google Publisher Tag. The new tag provides publishers with several key benefits including: Speed: We've designed the new tags with speed in mind since we know that long load times can lead to a poor user experience and lost revenue opportunities. The new tags can deliver your ads asynchronously, meaning that your web page will render creatives as they are received from DFP so slow loading ads will not slow down your content. Flexibility: The Google Publisher Tag supports all formats and devices, simplifying ad delivery to your web, mobile, and video content. The tag also supports:
Efficiency: If you've found yourself navigating through your website in efforts to get your ads to show with no success, the Google Publisher Console is here to help.  The Publisher Console can be used on any webpage you manage that contains the Google Publisher Tag, and allows you to easily view the real-time decision making process DFP uses to determine which ad to serve, the time DFP took to generate each ad, and information about missing or incorrect ad tags. To take advantage of the new functionality introduced above, you will need to re-tag your pages using the new tag. If you're already using any of our older ad tagging formats, you won't be required to re-tag any of your pages to continue using DFP. We're committed to providing ad tags that are easy for publishers to implement, and provide the best possible experience for end users. Posted by Ajay Surie, Product Manager and Phil Lee, Software Engineer  URL: http://doubleclickpublishers.blogspot.com/2011/10/introducing-next-generation-of-dfp-ad.html   |
| Posted: 26 Oct 2011 05:12 PM PDT Inside AdWords: Small business and the power of video: Announcing "My Business Story" by Google and American ExpressLet's say you're a custom sneaker maker. Or you run a yoga retreat center. Or maybe you even sell vegan Vietnamese out of a gourmet food truck. Your business has its own unique story to tell. If you had the chance to show the world what your business is all about -- from its founding roots to the ways it changes your customers' lives -- would you take it?Today you have that chance. We're pleased to be presenting "My Business Story®" alongside American Express. "My Business Story" is a program for small businesses to tell their stories through video, leading up to the second annual "Small Business Saturday," a day set aside to encourage communities to spend and support local businesses by shopping small. And since Google research has shown that companies who use video can expect better customer engagement and retention, we are launching a new video tool so that small business owners can create personalized, professional-quality videos about their business. Once you've got your video crafted, business owners are invited to submit it to the contest for an opportunity to appear in the YouTube homepage ad on Friday, November 25th, which is viewed by an estimated 22 million people in the United States every day. Thirty-six small businesses will be featured in the ad and will receive an online ad campaign worth $5,000 from Google and American Express. All submissions will be viewed and judged by an independent panel of experts. The deadline for the contest entry is Tuesday, November 15, but entry is not required to use the My Business Story editing tool. Happy editing! We're eager to see what you come up with. Posted by Marisa Currie, Product Marketing Manager  URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/10/small-business-and-power-of-video.html   |
| [G] Using Google Insights for Search to Analyze Ethnic Restaurant Trends Posted: 26 Oct 2011 05:12 PM PDT Official Google CPG Blog: Using Google Insights for Search to Analyze Ethnic Restaurant TrendsLast week at my birthday dinner at an excellent Chicago Korean restaurant (San Goo Gab San), a friend mentioned that ethnic food, especially the cuisines of Asia and Africa, has become increasingly accessible and popular in the Chicago area since he first moved there in the 1980s. This isn't a revelation. There are clearly more ethnic places in the Windy City than there were when we were young. According to one account, in 1970 there was just one Indian restaurant in all of Chicago and now there's a buffet on every corner. It was the discussion that followed the comment that got me thinking. The dinner attendees started speculating about which cuisines have grown the most in popularity, and whether Korean food has become more widely available, or grown more in popularity than Indian food. Some enterprising guests even started speculating about which cuisines were "poised to pop" – which ethnic foods would become as popular 30 years from now as Chinese food is today. Everyone had an opinion, but no one had any data. Being an analytical chap, I decided to see if Google's enormous query database could help us answer these burning (or should I say spicy?) questions. The tool that I used, Google Insights for Search, is a publically accessible tool that allows you to compare indexed search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, and time frames. You can find it at: http://www.google.com/insights/search/. I used query volume for "Chinese Restaurant, Indian Restaurant," etc. as a proxy for a cuisine's popularity. While this is not a perfect way of measuring the popularity of ethnic food, it's a whole lot easier than hand counting every ethnic restaurant in the US, which would take a rather fun and tasty 100 years. My research attempted to answer three questions: 1) Which ethnic cuisines are the most popular in the US, and how have these trends changed over time? 2) Which "emerging" or "frontier" cuisines are likely to become more accessible and beloved in the future? And 3) is the growth of ethnic food in America geographically broad-based, or limited to large, diverse cities? This analysis yielded some obvious conclusions and some that were more, shall we say, delectable. Which ethnic cuisines are the most popular in the US? Three cuisines, Italian, Chinese, and Mexican dominate America's ethnic food landscape. From 2004-2008 (and likely before that as well), Italian food held a slim lead over the other two big players. In mid-2009, just as the world economy emerged from the depths of the financial crisis, Italian food lost its (probably) century-old lead to Chinese food. Shortly after, in mid-2010, Mexican food also jumped ahead of Italian food and, according to forecasts, will likely stay there. If current trends hold, Italian food will have great difficulty regaining the title of America's ethnic food king. As in so many other fields of contemporary human endeavor, the Chinese seem to have won out over the Western Europeans in the American food game.
Surprise, surprise – Kung Pao Chicken has stolen the crown from hapless Veal Parm. Trailing behind the big three are Indian and Thai cuisine, which is easily available in most large cities and small towns all over the US. The demand for Indian and Thai food has remained steady for most of the decade, with the exception of a small bump of ~5% this year. I suspect that Indian and Thai food will be flat to up in the coming years unless their prices drop. Two other well-established ethnic cuisines, Japanese and French, are worth noting. Unlike Chinese, Italian and Mexican ones, Japanese and French restaurants are usually more upscale. As you might expect, interest in this pricier fare has been flat for the past 8 years, and declined slightly during the recession. If things keep moving in their current direction, Indian and Thai cuisines may overtake Japanese food in popularity over the next decade, even with relatively flat growth. Which" emerging" or "frontier" cuisines are candidates to become everyone's favorites five years from now based on growth rate? If I had to bet, I'd put my money on Korean and Vietnamese. Searches for Korean food have delivered an almost 40% increase since 2008 as bulgolgi tacos and kalbi enter the mainstream and Americans realize that Korean food really isn't all that foreign to American palettes. Brazilian food, on the other hand, has taken a tumble, with interest dropping nearly 20% since the mid-2000s. Vietnamese food, which is my personal favorite, has surged 20% in 3 years. It is now ahead of Brazilian food and has separated itself from Ethiopian and Cuban food to take firm command of second place among "frontier" cuisines. Vietnamese food is healthy, flavorful, and contains meats and noodles familiar to average Joe's. As Vietnam's economy continues to grow and more Americans visit Southeast Asia for vacation, the popularity of Pho and Bun is likely to grow. In fact, in this month's issue of Fortune magazine, the founder and CEO of Chipotle announced that he is working on an idea for a fast casual Southeast Asian restaurant, which will launch sometime in the next 5 years. I think he's on to something.  Brazil's economy may be surging, but its cuisine isn't. Are ethnic restaurants growing in small towns (or just big cities)? I was born in State College, Pennsylvania, a tiny Big Ten college town nestled in the mountains in the center of the state. When I was born in 1980, State College was home to few ethnic restaurants – we had a couple of Chinese places, a Mexican place called La Bamba, and not much else. Over the years, however, State College has become something of an ethnic food mecca. It's now home to Indonesian, Vietnamese, Indian, Japanese, Korean, and many other world cuisines. Is State College the exception or the rule? Have smaller towns and more remote states experienced an influx of new cuisines, or is the growth in ethnic foods' popularity limited to large, diverse, immigrant-heavy cities like New York, San Francisco, and Chicago? The answer is a resounding "no." From Ohio to Nebraska to Idaho, ethnic food queries are growing. Try it for yourself! You, too can use Google Insights for Search to find data that confirms or refutes your random hypotheses about everyday life - or even better, your business. Give it a shot: http://www.google.com/insights/search/. Guest Post by Aaron Lichtig  URL: http://google-cpg.blogspot.com/2011/10/using-google-insights-for-search-to.html   |
| [G] Watch Coldplay’s UNSTAGED performance live today Posted: 26 Oct 2011 05:12 PM PDT YouTube Blog: Watch Coldplay's UNSTAGED performance live todayColdplay. Performing live. In a bullfighting ring. In Madrid, Spain.It might sound like a dream, but it's not. It's happening today, and thanks to American Express UNSTAGED in partnership with VEVO and YouTube, you get to watch it as it happens at youtube.com/ColdplayVEVO, starting at 1 pm PT. This is the first time UNSTAGED series has streamed from an international venue, and fans from Argentina to Zimbabwe will be able to tune in and watch. Coldplay is one of the world's most successful bands. They started out as a college duo in 1996, saddled with the unpromising name Pectoralz (which they later changed to Starfish before settling on Coldplay). The group was initially influenced by bands like Travis, but as they added members they found their own sound, one which quickly earned them a label deal and radio play on BBC 1 (as well as comparisons to U2). Their first radio hit, "Shiver," showcased the band's ringing guitars and Chris Martin's nimble falsetto. The band has an uncanny knack for crafting songs that feel both momentous and intimate, as if Martin is crooning his innermost feelings to you while the band translates those feelings into swelling rock orchestration. Coldplay's songs are often deceptively simple -- they have been called "hypnotic" by more than one reviewer -- but they frequently induce a palpable sense of catharsis, building and then dissipating tension. Nowhere was this more evident than in their 2008 single "Viva La Vida." In tandem with their incredible successes -- seven Grammys, six Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards and over 50 million albums sold -- the group has remained true to their core ideals. They've consistently refused to license their music for advertisements, and they continue to donate 10% of the band's profits to charity. If that's not enough to make you a fan, watch them live today and get converted. And if you miss the live show, be sure to tune into the broadcast, which will begin at 3 pm PT and continue on the channel for 10 hours. Sarah Bardeen, Music Community Manager, recently watched "Coldplay - Paradise."     URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/2_Ld0Ji5VsQ/watch-coldplays-unstaged-performance.html   |
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