Friday, November 11, 2011

Googland

Googland


[G] Think Insights with Google is out of beta and packing a data punch

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Official Google CPG Blog: Think Insights with Google is out of beta and packing a data punch

Quick pop quiz:
  1. Based on search history, consumer demand for pretzels peaks in what month of the year?
  2. How much (in $) does search add to the world's GDP?
  3. In 2011, what percent of people dreamed and brainstormed about their next vacation?
  4. What percent of the daily queries on Google.com have never been seen before?
These are just a few questions that can be answered* on the new Think Insights with Google, our information and resource hub for marketers. The site is fresh out of beta and sporting a playful new look, helpful tools, more studies, the latest trends and exciting videos. We invite you to visit the site, take a look around and see what's new.


If you only have a few minutes to spare, try playing with our new Real Time Insights Finder tool. With just a few clicks you can spot emerging trends and gain valuable consumer insights, all in real time. For example, the most popular video in common among males 25-34 in Italy and the U.S. is the Official Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 game trailer.


Although we've made a lot of enhancements to Think Insights based on initial user feedback, we're always trying to iterate and improve. So please don't be shy! Join the conversation by adding the Think with Google page on Google+ to one of your circles, or stay tuned for updates by subscribing to our newsletter.

Think Insights is forward-thinking and rooted in data. We hope you'll use it as a one-stop shop for consumer trends, marketing insights and industry research.

*Answers to pop quiz (they can all be found on Think Insights in less than 60 seconds):
  1. December, Real Time Insights Finder Tool
  2. $540 billion directly to global GDP, The Impact of Internet Technologies: Search Study, Jul 2011
  3. 50%, 5 Stages of Travel Interactive Infographic
  4. 16%, Search Fact & Stat
URL: http://google-cpg.blogspot.com/2011/11/think-insights-with-google-is-out-of.html

[G] Raising awareness for breast cancer through the Pink Pin Initiative in NYC and beyond

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Official Google Blog: Raising awareness for breast cancer through the Pink Pin Initiative in NYC and beyond

Every October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time when organizations and individuals around the world come together to raise awareness to support the fight against breast cancer.

This year, Google joined in and partnered with Susan G. Komen for the Cure on the Pink Pin Initiative, which challenged local businesses in New York City to rally their customers, friends and families around breast cancer awareness. Using Google's products, including Maps, YouTube, Picasa and Google+, we made it easy for local businesses and New York residents to show their support for the cause. On an interactive website, pinkpin.com, people could register their businesses on the Pink Pin Map, share their experiences by uploading their own videos and photo stories, as well as donate to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

More than 300 businesses signed up to participate in the first 24 hours, and we saw an outpouring of public support from both businesses and individuals, demonstrating how small, random acts of participation can translate to larger scale impact. In fact, some businesses took it upon themselves to take Pink Pin a step further. One New York business offered $100 of free services for every $100 donated. A Brooklyn restaurant hosted a one-day "Dine-out" for Pink Pin, where a percentage of their earnings for that day went to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Pink Pin was a tremendous demonstration of what people will do if you give them the tools to use technology for good. We're thrilled that Pink Pin has been so positively received by New Yorkers and hope to continue and expand our efforts next year.

Googlers also celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness month in 23 of our offices around the globe. In addition to health talks encouraging Googlers to learn more about breast cancer prevention, we heard a panel of survivors speak in Mountain View, held walk/runs in California, New York and Washington, and participated in flash mobs to raise awareness in Dublin and London. On Wednesday, October 19, we celebrated a global "Wear Pink, Think Pink Day." We also encouraged donations (and gift matching!) to organizations like Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. You can see a photo album of all our activities below:



Posted by Noel Paasch, Pink Pin team
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/raising-awareness-for-breast-cancer.html

[G] Supporting entrepreneurs around the world with Startup Weekend

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Official Google Blog: Supporting entrepreneurs around the world with Startup Weekend

We recognize the transformative power of startups and the entrepreneurs behind them that have the passion and courage to pursue a dream; the impact they can make on society can be significant. Google was once a startup in a garage, and Google Ventures is a testament to our ongoing commitment to entrepreneurialism. As we head into Global Entrepreneurship Week, it's clear that having a robust community of entrepreneurs, mentors and educational resources can be a key ingredient in a startup's success, and we're excited to be part of that.

Today, we're announcing a partnership with Startup Weekend—a global organization committed to promoting real entrepreneurship in local communities. In more than 200 cities and across six continents, Startup Weekend holds 54-hour startup creation events, bringing together entrepreneurs from engineering, product, design, marketing and business backgrounds. Participants gather on Friday, and by Sunday afternoon, they launch a product.

This partnership will help Startup Weekend expand to dozens of additional cities around the world and launch new vertical competitions focused on specific themes such as education, health or gaming.

In addition, we'll be working to bring in Google's developer community in the form of Google Technology User Groups as an additional resource to Startup Weekend participants. Started in early 2008, there are now more than 280 GTUGs in 86 countries that bring tech enthusiasts together via hundreds of events each month. GTUG members will receive discounted registration for Startup Weekend events and will help run pre-weekend local bootcamps on Google's developer platforms and tools (e.g., App Engine, Android, Chrome).

We'll start rolling out our product training and community events at Startup Weekends in the coming weeks and months. To learn more or find the next event happening in your city, visit startupweekend.org/google. Hope to see you at a weekend event soon!

Posted by Mary Himinkool, Head of Global Entrepreneurship Outreach
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/supporting-entrepreneurs-around-world.html

[G] Google Photography Prize: Looking for the photography stars of the future

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Official Google Blog: Google Photography Prize: Looking for the photography stars of the future

Google+ is only a few months old, but the photography community is already thriving on it. Take a look at the profiles of Scott Jarvie, Thomas Hawk, Colby Brown or Claire Grigaut to see just a few of the inspiring photographers on Google+. More than 3.4 billion photos have been uploaded to the platform in the first 100 days.

We're really excited about this, and think great art deserves great exposure. So we're teaming up with Saatchi Gallery, London for the Google Photography Prize, a chance for students around the world to showcase their photos on Google+ and have their work exhibited at a major art institution.

The contest is open to university students around the world (some exceptions apply, see google.com/photographyprize for more details). From far-away places to up-close faces, there are 10 different categories to spark your imagination. And there are some great prizes to be won: 10 finalists chosen by a jury of renowned photographers will show their work at Saatchi Gallery, London for two months in 2012 alongside Out of Focus, a major photography exhibition, and win a trip to London to attend the exhibition opening event with a friend. One winner will go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to an amazing destination with a professional photography coach.

It's easy to enter: After you pick a category, upload your photos to Google+ and share them with the world as a public post, then visit the submission form on google.com/photographyprize by January 31, 2012 to enter.

Saatchi Gallery, London will share updates on their Google+ page for the contest, so add it to your circles if you want to see the great work that's being submitted.

We can't wait to see your photos!

Posted by Obi Felten, Director of Consumer Marketing, Google EMEA
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/google-photography-prize-looking-for.html

[G] BlogWorld 2011 Recap

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Blogger Buzz: BlogWorld 2011 Recap

As we mentioned last week, some members of the Blogger team from Google HQ in Mountain View, Tokyo, Dublin, and Sydney (see group photo below) headed to Los Angeles to attend the 2011 BlogWorld & New Media Expo.


One of the primary reasons we attended the expo was to meet Blogger users 1:1, and to gain a better understanding of what we can do to improve the product to better meet your needs.

In addition to these discussions, we conducted surveys with many conference attendees to collect more in-depth feedback. Thank you! We really appreciate the valuable and candid responses.

In the survey results and our 1:1 discussions with you we heard a few common themes:
  • You're hoping to widen your audience with Google+
  • You'd like more opportunities to customize and use gadgets with Dynamic Views
  • You're looking for tips and best practices for how to make more money from your blog with AdSense
Your requests have been shared with the broader team and we're hard at work making them happen for you. Stay tuned to the Buzz Blog in the coming weeks for follow ups, and in the meantime, check out some other photos from the expo below.
Bruce and Mara of MlovesM
Sabrina and Michael in the Blogger photo booth
Sabine and Lisa host a Google+ Hangout with bloggers from around the world



Posted by Michael Bolognino, Product Marketing Manager
URL: http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/11/blogworld-2011-recap.html

[G] Blogger’s Brand New Google+ Page

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Blogger Buzz: Blogger's Brand New Google+ Page

Earlier this week, the Google+ team launched Pages, a new way for you to keep up-to-date with your interests and build relationships with the people who share them. Today, the Blogger team is launching our own Google+ Page, and we'd like to invite you to add us to one of your circles.


By adding Blogger's Page in one of your circles, you'll start seeing updates from the Blogger team in your Google+ stream. You'll also have the opportunity to engage with other bloggers by writing comments on the posts.

Here's a quick list of what to expect:

  • Product news and announcements
  • Video Hangouts with the Blogger team
  • Spotlights on Blogger users and their blogs
  • Pro tips from the Blogger team and other users

Lastly, be sure to mention +Blogger when you share your own tips -- if we come across something particularly helpful, we may reshare it.

See you on Google+!

Posted by Lisa Ding, Community Manager


URL: http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/11/bloggers-brand-new-google-page.html

[G] Introducing custom mobile templates

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Blogger Buzz: Introducing custom mobile templates

(Cross-posted from the Blogger Developers Network Blog)

Many Bloggers put a lot of time and effort into creating a unique look for their blog, so today we're excited to announce that custom templates are now available for mobile devices.

Side by side comparison of web and mobile experience.

If you have a custom template for your blog and want it to appear on mobile browsers as well, visit the "Template" tab of your dashboard, click on the gear icon beneath the mobile template preview, and select "Custom" from the "Choose mobile template" pulldown.


For more technical details and sample code, head over to the Blogger Developers Network blog.

We hope you enjoy creating your own custom mobile templates and sharing them with your readers.

Posted by Brett Morgan, Developer Relations Engineer

URL: http://buzz.blogger.com/2011/11/introducing-custom-mobile-templates.html

[G] Google Photography Prize: Looking for the photography stars of the future

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Google Photos Blog: Google Photography Prize: Looking for the photography stars of the future

(Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog)

Google+ is only a few months old, but the photography community is already thriving on it. Take a look at the profiles of Scott Jarvie, Thomas Hawk, Colby Brown or Claire Grigaut to see just a few of the inspiring photographers on Google+. More than 3.4 billion photos have been uploaded to the platform in the first 100 days.

We're really excited about this, and think great art deserves great exposure. So we're teaming up with Saatchi Gallery, London for the Google Photography Prize, a chance for students around the world to showcase their photos on Google+ and have their work exhibited at a major art institution.

The contest is open to university students around the world (some exceptions apply, see google.com/photographyprize for more details). From far-away places to up-close faces, there are 10 different categories to spark your imagination. And there are some great prizes to be won: 10 finalists chosen by a jury of renowned photographers will show their work at Saatchi Gallery, London for two months in 2012 alongside Out of Focus, a major photography exhibition, and win a trip to London to attend the exhibition opening event with a friend. One winner will go on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to an amazing destination with a professional photography coach.

It's easy to enter: After you pick a category, upload your photos to Google+ and share them with the world as a public post, then visit the submission form on google.com/photographyprize by January 31, 2012 to enter.

Saatchi Gallery, London will share updates on their Google+ page for the contest, so add it to your circles if you want to see the great work that's being submitted.

We can't wait to see your photos!

Posted by Obi Felten, Director of Consumer Marketing, Google EMEA
URL: http://googlephotos.blogspot.com/2011/11/google-photography-prize-looking-for.html

[G] How real users helped us develop Gmail’s new look

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Official Gmail Blog: How real users helped us develop Gmail's new look

Posted by David Choi, User Experience Researcher

When building Gmail's new look, our goal was to make the most engaging, accessible, and most of all, easy to use email experience possible. To accomplish that, we had many real Gmail users try out changes to the look and provide feedback during its development.

One of the most important ways we obtained feedback was through usability studies. In these types of studies we observe people trying out our products in a controlled environment. We invited Gmail users from all walks of life to participate in usability studies and used the results to find problems and identify improvements before we launched.

For Gmail's new look, we started very early. Long before any Googler began using or even building the new look, our designers created an early prototype. We then had Gmail users participate in a usability study either by coming to one of our offices or remotely connecting from their homes.

An example of one of our usability labs. People in usability studies use our products on the pictured computer while they are being observed through a one way mirror and video cameras from the room next door.

The study participants evaluated the early prototype by doing many of their everyday Gmail tasks, such as reading, sending, and replying to emails. We then looked at how easy or difficult it was to complete those tasks, and made changes based on this feedback. For example, one of the things we found with our prototype was that we had put too much emphasis on conversation level actions at the expense of per-message actions. As a result, our study participants had difficulty finding the reply button on each message. In response, we changed its appearance, size, and location to make the reply button easier to see.

As we continued to develop the new look, we evaluated our progress through additional usability studies with even more people. Much of what we captured from these studies was users' first reactions to the new look. But Gmail is something people use repeatedly, not just once. So in addition to first impressions, we were also interested in seeing how people adjusted to the new look as they used it repeatedly in their daily lives. To find that out, we conducted a different kind of study called a longitudinal study. Longitudinal studies are used to observe the longer term effects our products have on people's usage.

The longitudinal study consisted of turning on the new look for a group of Gmail users. We captured their initial reactions after their first experience. Then we let them use the new look in Gmail as they normally would as part of their everyday lives. As the days and weeks passed by, we periodically checked with them to see how they were adjusting to all the changes. Like with anything new, there were some changes that our participants initially needed time to adjust to, but later came to prefer as they used the new look more. On the other hand, problems that were not seen during the first couple times of use later emerged after more prolonged use. For example, many of the changes we made to the new left navigation were the result of people reporting their repeated experiences using labels and the chat area over time.

These studies have been absolutely critical in helping us build Gmail's new look. Much of how it looks and behaves is a result of people participating in these studies and giving us their feedback. If you are interested in becoming a participant in a research study about Gmail or any of Google's products, you can sign up at google.com/usability.
URL: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-real-users-helped-us-develop-gmails.html

[G] Ad serving explained

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Inside AdSense: Ad serving explained


As an AdSense publisher, you know that the ad revenue you're earning from your site is important to maintaining and growing your online business. In addition to AdSense, are you also using other ad networks on your pages or selling some of your ad space directly to specific advertisers?



If so, you may have found that it can be time-consuming to determine and manage when and where your ads should show, in order for you to earn the most money possible. And if an advertiser has very specific requirements for their campaigns -- such as only appearing during a certain time of day or only to users located in a certain country -- it can be challenging to fulfill these types of requests.



That's where an ad server like DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) Small Business can help. An ad server helps you deliver ads to your pages, allowing you to manage ads from AdSense, multiple ad networks, and directly sold ads. Watch our introductory video below to learn more:







If you've started using multiple ad networks or have started receiving requests from advertisers to place their ads on your site directly, DFP Small Business is a great solution. Sign up for a free account, or visit our Help Center to learn more.



Posted by Arlene Lee - Inside AdSense Team


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tuAm/~3/xD53xxsUi_0/ad-serving-explained.html

[G] Connect your Google+ Page to your AdWords campaigns

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Inside AdWords: Connect your Google+ Page to your AdWords campaigns

This week we introduced Google+ Pages, a new way to get closer to your customers online. At that time we announced that you'd be able to link your Page to your AdWords campaigns, so that all your +1s -- from your Page, your website, ads and search results -- get tallied together and appear as a single total. We're happy to announce that starting today, and rolling out to all advertisers globally over the rest of the week, we're making this functionality available with a new AdWords feature called Social Extensions.

With Social Extensions, consumers will be able to see all the recommendations your business has received, whether they are looking at an ad, a search result or your page. This means your +1's will reach not only the 40+ million users of Google+, but all the people who come to Google every day.

Currently (and for campaigns that don't have Social Extensions enabled) your AdWords ads only show +1's from people who have +1'd that ad's landing page. This limits the likelihood that someone who sees your ad will have a friend or contact who's recommended it. By enabling Social Extensions on your ad campaigns you're able to leverage all the +1's your brand has received, whether it be on a search result, on your Google+ Page, your website or on your ads, making it more likely that someone who sees your ad will have a friend or contact who has recommended it.

We believe that this has the potential to improve your overall ad performance. In fact, 71% of shoppers say that recommendations from friends and family impact their purchasing decisions.* These additional recommendations may result in more conversions and deeper engagement with your business overall.

Not only have we enabled you to serve more personalized ads, but we've also added a new reporting segment that will help you better understand the impact that social annotations are having on your campaigns and ads. Starting today you can segment any campaign, adgroup, keyword or ad by a new +1 annotation segment.

This segment will breakout your performance metrics into three categories
  • Impressions with personal annotations - (impressions where the viewer had a friend or contact who had +1'd your brand.)
  • Impressions with basic annotations - (impressions that included an anonymous count of people who +1'd your brand)
  • Impressions without any social annotations
Note that this segment works on all campaigns, even ones that don't leverage the new Social Extension (since +1 annotations can come from a number of sources, and not simply Google+ Pages).

To enable Social Extensions on your AdWords campaigns simply click the Ad Extensions tab in your account and select Social Extensions from the drop down menu and choose new extension. You'll be prompted to add your verified Google+ Page URL and click save.

You can link your Google+ Page to your AdWords campaign with Social Extensions. Social Extensions are available in the ad extensions tab in your AdWords account

To learn more about the AdWords Social Extensions please visit the AdWords Help Center.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords Crew

*Harris Interactive, June 2010
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/11/connect-your-google-page-to-your.html

[G] Introducing the revamped Ad Traffic Quality Resource Center

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Inside AdWords: Introducing the revamped Ad Traffic Quality Resource Center

We are pleased to introduce the revamped Ad Traffic Quality Resource Center, a site designed for advertisers and publishers to learn more about invalid clicks. The Google Ad Traffic Quality Team monitors traffic across Google's ad network, and prevents advertisers from paying for invalid traffic. Our team provides this protection for everyone without any action needed from you, but we also know that many of you want to do whatever you can to ensure the best performance for your ads. We have created this site to share various resources that can help you learn about invalid clicks and maintain a successful AdWords or AdSense account.


On the site, you'll learn about:

To get started, check out the articles on the site. We'll be adding more content and improving the site over time, so be sure to check back often.

Posted by Fili Wiese, Ad Traffic Quality Team
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/11/introducing-revamped-ad-traffic-quality.html

[G] Learn how to get your business on Google+

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Inside AdWords: Learn how to get your business on Google+

Yesterday, we opened up Google+ to businesses, a way for businesses to get closer to their customers. We've already seen many brands using Google+ in unique and exciting ways, such as hangouts out with Miss Piggy and style bloggers from Macy's.

How can you best use Google+ to grow your business? We have set up a number of opportunities for you to learn how to get started:

ad:tech New York keynote: Getting Closer to Your Customers on Google+
Wednesday, November 9, 5:30pm - 6:15pm ET
Join Google's Head of Social Advertising Products, Christian Oestlien as he maps out the company's vision for putting people at the center of the web experience and the opportunities Google+ creates for marketers to engage customers in new, better ways. If you can't make it in person, you can watch the live stream or follow the reaction by searching for #gplusbiz on Google+.

ad:tech New York booth
Wednesday November 9 (10am - 6pm), Thursday November 10 (10am - 4pm)
We'll also have Google+ experts on hand at ad:tech to answer questions and help you create your own page. We'd love for you to stop by and meet the team!

Learn with Google Webinar: Getting Your Business on Google+
Wednesday November 16, 2pm ET. Register here.
Join our live webinar hosted by Google+ experts to learn more about how you can bring your company and customers closer together using Google+. Key topics that'll be covered include:
  • Setting up a Google+ Page for your business
  • Best practices and early use cases for using Google+
  • Promoting your Google+ Page
  • Improving the performance of your ads with +1 annotations
Help Desk Hangouts
Thursday November 17, 12pm - 3pm ET. Visit our Google+ Your Business page.
Still have questions? Talk face-to-face with a Google+ expert using our group video chat product, Hangouts. Learn technical tips, content strategies, and potential use cases for your business.

In the meantime, you can check out our Getting Started Guide on our Google+ Your Business site. To keep up to date on the latest tips, add the Google+ Your Business page to your circles.

Posted by Dan Friedman, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/11/learn-how-to-get-your-business-on.html

[G] Get closer to your customers with Google+

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Inside AdWords: Get closer to your customers with Google+

Since the initial launch of Google+ just a few months ago, we've welcomed over 40 million people and introduced more than 100 new features. For all these people, one important part is still missing - your business.

We want to help you make the same kinds of lasting connections with your customers online the way you can in real life. That's why we are introducing Google+ Your Business, a collection of tools and products to help you get closer to your customers. At the heart of this is Google+ Pages, your business's identity on Google+.



Google+ Pages: Have real conversations with the right people

To get your business on Google+, you first need to create a Google+ Page. On your page, you can post updates and news about your business, engage in conversations with your customers, send tailored messages to specific groups of people, and see how many +1's you have across the web. Here are a few features of Google+ Pages that we think will help you build relationships:


Google+ Pages are at the heart of Google+ for Business

Hangouts
Sometimes you might want to chat with your customers face-to-face. For example, if you run a bookstore, you may want to invite an author to talk about her latest novel, or if you market a cosmetics line, beauty specialists might want to hold how-to sessions for makeup tips. Hangouts make this easy, by letting you have high-quality video chats with nine customers, with a single click. You can use Hangouts to get product feedback, help solve problems or simply get to know people better, all in real time.

Hangouts let you meet your customers, face to face

Circles
Circles allow you to group followers of your Page into smaller audiences. You can then share specific messages with specific groups. For example, you could create a Circle containing people who are your most loyal customers and offer them a special discount.


+1 button and Google+ badge: Inspire current customers to recommend new ones
Google+ Pages also help you deliver your great content to users in a way that's easy to share with their friends. We introduced the +1 button as a way for your customers to recommend your business across the web - on Google search, in your ads, on sites across the web and on mobile devices. Now, your customers can +1 your Page, recommending your actual brand -- not just an individual ad or a site -- directly to their friends.

To help your customers find your page and start sharing, we have two buttons you can add to your site by visiting our Google+ badge configuration tool:

The Google+ icon is a small icon that directly links to your Page.

In the coming days, we're introducing the Google+ badge, which lets people add your page to their circles, without leaving your site, to start getting updates from your business via Google+.


Make your +1's count, improving the performance of your ads

Coming soon, we will also make it possible to link your Page to your AdWords campaigns for your site, so that all your +1s -- from your Page, your website, ads and search results -- will get tallied together and appear as a single total.

Your +1's will be shown with your brand wherever it appears, including search, ads, Google+ and your website

Consumers will be able to see all the recommendations your business has received, whether they are looking at an ad, a search result or your page, meaning your +1's will reach not only the 40 million users of Google+, but all the people who come to Google every day. In the coming days. you'll be able to link your page to your AdWords campaigns by following the instructions in the AdWords Help Center.

You can link your Google+ Page to your AdWords campaign with Social Extensions. Social Extensions are available in the ad extensions tab in your AdWords account.

Bringing Google+ to the rest of Google
Our ultimate vision for Google+ is to transform the overall Google experience-- weaving identity and sharing into all of our products. Beginning today, with a select group of websites at launch, we're rolling out a new feature, Direct Connect -- an easy way for your customers to find your Google+ Page on Google search. For eligible pages, when someone searches for your business with the '+' sign before it Direct Connect will send them directly to your page. For example, try searching for '+YouTube' on Google. Users will also be prompted to automatically add Pages they find through Direct Connect to their circles. Direct Connect will not work for everyone.

Direct Connect suggestions start populating as you type on Google.com

Just the beginning
We wanted to help you get your business on Google+ as soon as possible, so we're opening the field trial for Google+ Pages to everyone today. Creating a Google+ Page only takes a few minutes. To get started, you'll need a personal Google+ profile. If you don't have a Google account, it's very quick and easy to join. And if you are looking for inspiration, check out some of the companies that are already starting to set up their Pages:

Partner LogosBurberryHMMacysPepsiABC NewsAmazonAssassins_CreedATTBreaking_NewsOrangeDC_ComicsDellNBC_NewsGol_Linhas_aerasKiaLOrealMarvelNYTimesPiagetShadyTmobileToyotaUniqloVirgin

To learn more about how Google+ works for your business, check out the Google+ Your Business site. We're just getting started and have many more features in the coming weeks and months. To keep up to date on the latest news and tips, add the Google+ Your Business page to your circles. If you have ideas on how we can improve Google+ for your business, we'd love to hear them.

Posted by Dennis Troper, Product Management Director, Google+ Pages
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/11/get-closer-to-your-customers-with.html

[G] Re-thinking Mobile Marketing & Analytics webinar recording featuring Avinash Kaushik

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Inside AdWords: Re-thinking Mobile Marketing & Analytics webinar recording featuring Avinash Kaushik


Missed the Think Mobile webinar on Nov. 2nd? The recording is now available here on the Google Business Channel on YouTube.

In this video, Avinash Kaushik shares some best practices regarding mobile marketing strategies, and points out some strategies that you should be aware of. He also shares a framework for bringing fast, innovative measurement to your mobile data (including a special downloadable report).

We hope you enjoy the webinar!

Posted by Jaime Mayer, Marketing Manager
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/11/re-thinking-mobile-marketing-analytics.html

[G] Google Code-in 2011 participating organizations announced

Posted: 10 Nov 2011 05:24 PM PST

Google Open Source Blog: Google Code-in 2011 participating organizations announced

We are excited to announce the 18 open source organizations we have chosen to participate in this year's Google Code-in contest for 13-17 year old students. Please click on the link to the organization to see their preliminary task list. The organizations will be adding more tasks up until the start of the contest on November 21st.


You can check out our Google Code-in program site for more details about this year's contest. If you meet the eligibility requirements, you can go ahead and register for an account now, so once the contest starts on November 21st you can start claiming and completing tasks right away.

For more important contest dates please see our timeline and join our announcement and discussion lists for more information.

By Stephanie Taylor, Open Source Programs


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GoogleOpenSourceBlog/~3/zAFA3CcRF-8/google-code-in-2011-participating.html

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