Thursday, December 8, 2011

Googland

Googland

[G] Continuous improvements with Google Goggles 1.7

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 09:24 PM PST

Official Google Mobile Blog: Continuous improvements with Google Goggles 1.7

With Google Goggles, you can quickly add someone to your contacts, learn about paintings, translate foreign text, and even solve Sudoku. Starting today, with Goggles 1.7 for Android, we're making your visual search experience much faster and providing better results with new features like continuous mode, improved text recognition and contributed results.

Skip the shutter with continuous mode
Continuous mode is a quick and easy new way to use Goggles. You can now get results instantly without having to take a picture - no shutter press required! Goggles will scan the scene continuously so you don't need to worry about taking multiple pictures. The new continuous mode works best with books, products, artwork, and landmarks. Snapshot mode is still available, and has some tricks that aren't in continuous mode yet, including translating text and adding a contact. Also, images recognized in continuous mode sessions won't show up in your Goggles Search History, so if you'd like to refer back to something, such as a painting in a gallery you should use snapshot mode.

Goggles also scans multiple items in continuous mode

Get richer results with text recognition
Starting today, when Goggles recognizes a portion of text, you'll get results that have a close match to the text you've scanned. Let's say you're reading a magazine article you really like and want to share it with your friends. Just point Goggles at a part of the page, and instantly find a link to an online version to share immediately or read again later. You won't even need the entire article in the frame. Goggles will also pull up more information from pages around the web where that text is mentioned, so its easier to learn about what you're seeing.

Goggles finds web results to provide more information

More comprehensive results with your suggestions
Since Goggles 1.4, you've been able to suggest better results when Goggles doesn't recognize what you're searching for. To date, hundreds of thousands of submissions have been made to improve Goggles. Starting today, if you choose to suggest a better result or submit a new object altogether, your suggestion could become a result for the next user who searches for a similar object with Goggles. I've added a snapshot of the album cover from my old band so that my fans can use Goggles to find out about our music online. Now, if a fan searches for the cover of our album, they will see the information I suggested, along with my name and link to my Google profile.

Submitting the result for my band's album cover

Google Goggles 1.7 is available for all Android devices, but you'll need a device running Android 2.3 or newer to use Continuous Mode. Scan the QR code below to download, or visit Android Market. Tell us what you think on our Google + page.

Download the new Goggles in Android Market

Posted by David Petrou, Software Engineer

URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/12/continuous-improvements-with-google.html

[G] Atmosphere 2011: A view from the cloud

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 09:24 PM PST

Official Google Blog: Atmosphere 2011: A view from the cloud

Last month 350 CIOs and thousands of live stream viewers joined us for Atmosphere 2011, our annual cloud event. Leading companies from around the world came to explore how businesses are using the web to drive collaboration, innovation and growth in their organizations. In case you missed them, the keynotes are now available on our YouTube channel. You can watch the entire conference in order on the Atmosphere playlist.

This year's speakers included a best-selling author, award-winning computer scientists, Google executives and product managers, and several Google Apps customers including Flint Waters, CIO of the state of Wyoming, Bryson Koehler, SVP of Global Revenue and Guest Technology at IHG, Michael O'Brien, CIO of Journal Communications and Christine Atkins, VP of Group IT at Ahold.

One of the highlights was listening to Christine Atkins talk about Ahold's experience moving 55,000 users to Google Apps and how, in her words, "Google Apps is helping us deliver on the promise that we've all been seeking: that of strong collaboration platforms that help our company come together and work together." You can watch Christine's presentation here:



Posted by Chris Farinacci, Global Marketing Director, Google Enterprise
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/atmosphere-2011-view-from-cloud.html

[G] Saluting Europe’s eTowns

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 09:24 PM PST

Official Google Blog: Saluting Europe's eTowns

It's often assumed that big cities benefit the most from the Internet, but we believe the net offers giant opportunities to everyone from urbanites to small town residents, farmers and nature lovers in the far-flung countryside. We recently tested this thesis in our first-ever European Google eTown awards, which recognize those areas that had most embraced the web's potential over the last year.

The results were fascinating—and surprising. Smaller, quirky and plucky towns came out ahead. Scunthorpe, a steel town in the north of England, topped the U.K.'s list. Caen, a town in rural Normandy not far from the D-Day beaches and famed as the home of camembert cheese, came first in France. Salerno, nestled between the Amalfi and the Cilento Coast led the way in Italy and Elbląg, a remote northern town located in the region of 1,000 lakes won in Poland. In all four participating countries, eTown lists included towns of all sizes.

How did we determine our eTown awards? We broke down the U.K., France, Italy and Poland into all of their thousands of towns and then ranked local areas according to the growth in small businesses using AdWords over the last year. The top towns in each country won Google eTown awards.



The results back up recent research identifying the Internet as a main force driving growth throughout Europe. For example, a recent McKinsey report Internet Matters states that 2.6 Internet jobs are created globally for every job destroyed. Separately, the Boston Consulting Group estimates that by 2015 the web will account for 7.3 percent of Denmark's GDP, 10 percent of the U.K.'s GDP and 5.5 percent of France's GDP. The net drives growth of both big and small businesses—indeed another BCG report called "Turning Local" (PDF) makes clear that small businesses with a website grow faster than businesses without a web presence.

We've seen this ourselves, in the businesses of all shapes and sizes that we encountered as part of our eTown awards. An entrepreneur in Hartlepool in the U.K. sells golf balls online. A Polish programmer runs a data recovery business from Piaseczno. An plumber directs a heating systems company from Vicenza, Italy and a French retailer has reached new scooter customers online in Reims. Online advertising has helped them grow and reach more customers than ever before. When it comes to the Internet, our eTown awards show that anybody, almost anywhere, can boost a business by going online.

Posted by Ben Novick, European Communications Manager
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/saluting-europes-etowns.html

[G] An invitation to social sites to integrate with Google Analytics

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 05:39 PM PST

Google Analytics Blog: An invitation to social sites to integrate with Google Analytics

Every day, millions of people share and engage with content online. But most sharing doesn't happen on the site where it was published, it happens throughout the social web. Marketers and publishers are looking for a comprehensive view of all interactions with their content - on and off their site - and so we're working hard to make this happen.


To enable our customers to discover who's sharing, voting and bookmarking their content on the social web, cross-network measurement needs to become easier.  So today we're inviting social networks and platforms to integrate their activity streams with Google Analytics. Through these integrations, marketers and publishers will be able to discover off-site engagement, optimize their engagement within each social community, and measure the impact of each social channel and its associated digital investment.



Any network can integrate their streams - like +1, votes, and comments - into the Google Analytics social reports, which will be fully available next year to the many marketers, publishers, and websites that are using Google Analytics for free.



To make integration easy for social networks and platforms we've created a social data hub - it's based on widely deployed, open web standards such as ActivityStreams and PubsubHubbub. A number of partners are already working with us to improve measurement of social actions - including Delicious, Digg, Diigo, Gigya, LiveFyre, ReadItLater, Reddit, TypePad, Vkontakte, and of course, Google+, Blogger and Google Groups.







We'll have more to share next year, so keep reading the blog or follow us on twitter @googleanalytics for updates. If you're a social network or platform interested to learn about integrating with Google Analytics you can visit our developer site where you'll find more information.



Phil Mui, Group Product Manager & Ilya Grigorik, Engineering Manager, Google Analytics  


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tRaA/~3/N6T7etEvWE8/invitation-to-social-sites-to-integrate.html

[G] Testing Gmail’s new look

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 02:13 PM PST

Official Gmail Blog: Testing Gmail's new look

Posted by Mark Striebeck, Engineering Director

Editor's note: This post, like yesterday's, is more technical than most posts here, but we thought some of you might find it interesting to look inside how Gmail works.

Yesterday, we talked about how we make changes like the new look to Gmail. The new look is not just visual, but involves completely different code in the interface. Testing a large user interface (UI) change like we launched for Gmail is foremost a permutation problem. Because all the Gmail features we wrote while we developed the new UI had to work both there and in the old existing UI, we basically needed to double our testing. Plus, the new UI has to work in many browsers, in all languages Gmail is available in, which means even more testing -- and by testing, we mean functional testing, latency testing, usability testing... you get the idea! The only way to handle all of these moving parts is through a) test automation, and b) using the new look.

We use automated tests as much as possible. Automated tests check the code for pieces that might be broken. We run tests on the new code to see how it affects Gmail's servers, whether it breaks in major browsers, how it impacts speed and performance, and more. The scalable build and test infrastructure at Google helps a lot in running all of these tests quickly. However, a major code change like this really tests the stability of your tests. If a test relies too much on a specific element, then the test starts failing -- not because the functionality is broken, but because that element is missing or different in the new interface. Luckily, we learned this lesson early and most of our tests did not have this problem.

We use automated tests as much as possible: we test if code changes lead to functional regressions, how they affect speed and our servers, if the UI breaks in many browsers and more. The scalable build and test infrastructure at Google allows us to run these tests automatically after every single(!) code change. However, a major UI change like this requires that our automated tests are very stable. If a test relies too much on the structure of the UI, then the test starts failing - not because the functionality is broken, but because it fails to work with the new UI. Luckily, we learned this lesson many years back and most of our tests did not have this problem.

But even the best automated tests can't guarantee that everything is working well and that the visuals are pleasing. The only way to find out is to actually use the new look. For Gmail, we have special environment that gets updated every night with the latest stable code. Almost all Gmail engineers and a handful of other Googlers are using this environment for their real Gmail usage. But it turned out even daily updates were too slow for the rate of code change with the new look. So, we created an environment that updates every hour with the latest stable code. This version of Gmail was used by all engineers who worked on the redesign. It allowed us to test code changes very quickly on the real system. We were able to find many functional and usability issues here. And because we used this system and no engineer likes their email to be broken, issues were fixed very quickly. We can only do this because we have a very good coverage by our automated tests. When all these tests pass, we can be sure that most of the Gmail functionality is working. However, there could still be usability, color, layout or other challenges that tests can't catch.

Gmail's new look also put a lot of additional load on our testing team. They had to keep up with a high rate of change, test critical functionality quickly and triage a lot of reported issues. Plus, they had to test new features in both the old publicly-available UI as well as the new unlaunched UI. The dedication of our testing team helped us catch bugs early so we could fix them in preparation for launch.

Once we felt that the new look was good enough to be used by others, we turned it on for all Googlers. At Google, we "eat our own dogfood," meaning we use new products and features ourselves before releasing them to the public. Often, this is a very humbling experience. The shiny, new features, that we just developed and are so proud of are now used by people, including sales teams, managers and other non-engineers, who just want to get their job done. And believe me, Googlers are not shy when it comes to feedback! But for a project like this one, this step is absolutely critical. Our different teams at Google tested Gmail in all kinds of use cases and the feedback that we received from this phase was invaluable. It helped us to put the final touches on the new look and get ready for usability tests that were previously discussed.

We hope you've enjoyed a look into the Gmail's design, development and testing of the new look.
URL: http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/testing-gmails-new-look.html

[G] Hey Brazil, who's NextUp?

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 02:13 PM PST

YouTube Blog: Hey Brazil, who's NextUp?

We just kicked off the next round of the YouTube NextUp program in Brazil, to supercharge the careers of Brazilian partners who are ready to become the next big video stars. The 10 partners selected will receive R$20,000 to advance their YouTube careers, as well as global promotion across the platform. They'll also attend the first YouTube Creator Camp in Sao Paulo for personalized training and mentoring to build their brands and improve their content.



Interested? Give wings to your creativity and submit a three minute video to YouTube NextUp Brazil. This site also includes all the rules of the program, notably that you need to be a YouTube partner at least 18 years old, and your Channel must have less than 100,000 subscribers.







On January 23, one hundred submissions will be chosen and posted for public voting in the YouTube NextUp Brazil Channel. The top 40 videos will advance to the final round of judging, and we'll announce the 10 partners selected for the program on March 8.



So Brazil — time to tell us who's NextUp!



Bibiana Leite, Partner Development & Programs, recently watched "Denis Lee apresenta: regras do YouTube NextUp."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/c3zyi8Zc300/hey-brazil-whos-nextup.html

[G] Set up a crawler login for increased ad relevancy on pages behind a login

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 02:13 PM PST

Inside AdSense: Set up a crawler login for increased ad relevancy on pages behind a login


This is the second post in our two-part AdSense Crawler Errors series.



Recently we discussed ways to improve ad targeting and relevancy by making sure that the AdSense crawler can view all pages that have AdSense code on them. Sometimes though, it can become problematic when a publisher has a members only site that requires the user to log in to view the site's content. In cases like this, the AdSense ads that are located behind the login aren't as relevant and targeted as they could be.



If you're a publisher with content behind a login page, be sure to set up an AdSense crawler login so that your ads are as well-targeted as possible. Doing so will give the AdSense crawler the ability to scan content on these pages, resulting in more relevant, targeted ads that can potentially increase your CTRs and revenue. Please note that adding a crawler login will only help to deliver better, more relevant ads to pages with AdSense code already on them, and will not have any effect on which pages of your site Google Search will index.



To grant the AdSense crawler access, log in to your AdSense account and
click on 'Account settings.' From there, scroll down to the 'Access and
authorization' section and click on 'edit logins' next to crawler
logins.



Then click on 'Add a Login.' You'll be prompted to fill in pertinent information that the AdSense crawler will use to log in to your site and crawl your content.





After that, you'll need to log in to Webmaster Tools to verify your website, if you haven't already done so. Once verified, the crawler will be able to log in successfully and scan your content to deliver more targeted ads.



For additional information, take a look at our help center article regarding displaying ads on login-protected pages.



Posted by Andrew Boni - Inside AdSense Team


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tuAm/~3/52xLJyiTTro/set-up-crawler-login-for-increased-ad.html

[G] Show your love for charities on Google+ this holiday season

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 06:42 AM PST

Official Google Blog: Show your love for charities on Google+ this holiday season

We've been thrilled to see the ways nonprofit organizations use Google+ to raise awareness about their work, as well as the ways people connect with causes on Google+. In the past couple days, several entertainers have helped start a movement for this holiday season, drawing attention to their favorite charities on Google+ using the phrase #CauseILoveEm and creatively showing their followers what they love about these nonprofit organizations.
  • Co-founder +Hugh Jackman and +Laughing Man Coffee & Tea asked people to share photos of themselves with Laughing Man's fair trade products (the profits of which go to charity) and to sound off on living their motto, "All Be Happy," using #CauseILoveEm to be included in a thank you photo album.

  • +Find Your Light Foundation and +Josh Groban announced the Fulfill-a-Wish campaign, spotlighting the needs of nonprofit arts organizations from across North America in videos and posts, and asking for your help fulfilling these holiday wishes.
We hope you'll join these folks and lots of others in the Google+ community who have already started sharing their favorite nonprofits this holiday season. Say which nonprofit you like and what you like about them in a public post using the phrase #CauseILoveEm and mentioning the nonprofit's Google+ page by typing "+" and the nonprofit's name. Be creative and post videos, images and stories that will convince others to love them too. Through the end of December on our +Google for Nonprofits page, we'll re-share great examples of the ways people are recognizing their favorite nonprofits and highlight some nonprofits with which you might want to connect.


If the nonprofit you care about most isn't yet on Google+, be sure to let them know about our Google+ for Nonprofit community page that they can use to get started and learn more. Thanks in advance for caring about these organizations and doing something small to help them grow and achieve their goals during the holiday season.

Posted by Mimi Kravetz, Google.org, Senior Product Marketing Manager
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/12/show-your-love-for-charities-on-google.html

[G] 10 Billion Android Market downloads and counting

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 06:42 AM PST

Official Google Mobile Blog: 10 Billion Android Market downloads and counting

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog and Android Developer's Blog)



One billion is a pretty big number by any measurement. However, when it's describing the speed at which something is growing, it's simply amazing. This past weekend, thanks to Android users around the world, Android Market exceeded 10 billion app downloads—with a growth rate of one billion app downloads per month. We can't wait to see where this accelerating growth takes us in 2012.




To celebrate this milestone, we partnered with some of the Android developers who contributed to this milestone to make a bunch of great Android apps available at an amazing price. Starting today for the next 10 days, we'll have a new set of awesome apps available each day for only 10 cents each. Today, we are starting with Asphalt 6 HD, Color & Draw for Kids, Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro, Fieldrunners HD, Great Little War Game, Minecraft, Paper Camera, Sketchbook Mobile, Soundhound Infinity & Swiftkey X.

Of course, none of these apps would have existed if it weren't for the developers who created them. Every day, these developers continue to push the limits on what's possible and delight us in the process. For that, we thank them.

Please join us in this 10-day celebration and check in every day to see what new apps our developer partners are making available on Android Market - for only a dime.

Posted by Eric Chu, Director, Android Developer Ecosystem
URL: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2011/12/10-billion-android-market-downloads-and.html

[G] Developing Gmail’s new look

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 06:42 AM PST

The Google Apps Blog: Developing Gmail's new look

Posted by Mark Striebeck, Engineering Director

Editor's note: This post is more technical than most posts here, but we thought some of you might find it interesting to look inside how development on the Gmail team works.

Developing the new look for Gmail was like the proverbial "changing tires on a moving car" - only that the car is carrying hundreds of millions of users and is under constant construction and development. The two main technologies that we use for these types of projects in Gmail are "conditional features" and "Javascript mods" (other Google products use very similar systems). Both technologies were particularly important for testing the new look.

Let's start with the first one: conditional features. This is our ability to make changes to the Gmail code that get deployed, but not executed. You can think of it as a lot of if-statements around the new code that get enabled when the conditional feature is on. The conditional feature flag itself is set outside of the deployed code. These flags can be set in various ways: as a percentage of overall users (if we want to rollout a feature slowly), for Googlers only (if we want to use a new feature internally), for individuals (if we want to give users early access to a features) and in many other ways. In short, conditional features allow us to update our production systems separately from releasing new features. This way, Gmail developers can make changes, but don't have to worry about their unfinished changes being released before they are ready.

The other technology is "Javascript mods". We use this technology to create modifications for a new feature in Javascript across many files. The main challenge with Javascript is that we want to keep the amount of Javascript code that the browser has to download as small as possible - the more code the browser has to download, the longer it takes to load Gmail. So, we don't want to include the code from all possible mods, but only the code that's relevant to your browser. Let's use our Gmail mobile app as an example: it comes in various forms, including the smartphone user interface (UI), the tablet UI, and the offline UI. All these UIs are slightly different. We don't want to download the Javascript code for all different UIs to the browser. Instead, our server inspects which browser or device you are using and creates the exact Javascript that you need. The selection of mods can be triggered by browsers, devices and even "conditional features".

Using these technologies, we can make sweeping changes in Gmail without those changes going "live" before they are ready. Plus, since we can turn pieces of code on or off, we can enable new features in specific environments, such as Google, or for specific users, like the Gmail team, without changing the code itself.
URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GoogleAppsBlog/~3/ziHgFtp0Kj0/developing-gmails-new-look.html

[G] 2011's Best CPG Marketing on YouTube

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 06:42 AM PST

Official Google CPG Blog: 2011's Best CPG Marketing on YouTube

As we approach the end of the year, we've taken some time to reflect on all of the great brand marketing that we've been fortunate to be a part of in 2011. The video below highlights what we think are some of the best examples of CPG marketing done on YouTube this year. We'd love to hear your thoughts about your favorites.

Happy viewing!

URL: http://google-cpg.blogspot.com/2011/12/as-we-approach-end-of-year-weve-taken.html

[G] YouTube and TV Ads: Your Media Plan Needs Both

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 06:42 AM PST

Official Google CPG Blog: YouTube and TV Ads: Your Media Plan Needs Both

Pre-roll video ads are playing an increasingly important role in online media plans, and many advertisers wonder how these newer formats compare with traditional TV ads. YouTube partnered with Ipsos on a study across 2,400 people split into groups exposed to :15s & :30s video ads. We tested to see how these units compared and complemented each other and found:

· Among those exposed to the 15 second spot on both YouTube and TV combined, we found 2x better recall than TV alone, 1.5x better for those exposed to the 30 second spot

· 5 out of 6 advertisers saw ad recognition lift on the :15 spot for YouTube + TV over TV Alone, and 4 out of 6 advertisers saw lift on the :30 spot

· YouTube generally has the same impact on aided brand attribution as TV for both :15 and :30 ads

URL: http://google-cpg.blogspot.com/2011/12/youtube-and-tv-ads-your-media-plan.html

[G] CPG Thought Leader Video Series Final Episode - Google's Kevin Kells

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 06:42 AM PST

Official Google CPG Blog: CPG Thought Leader Video Series Final Episode - Google's Kevin Kells

The final episode of our CPG Thought Leader series features Kevin Kells, the Industry Director for the Home & Personal Care vertical at Google. Over the past 5 years he has helped hundreds of brands enhance their digital marketing plans. Kevin also has rich experience as a brand marketer at companies like Revlon, Unilever, and Diageo.

In the video below, Kevin talks about the importance of making Google a part of brands' new product and campaign launch plans. He sees Google as a powerful marketing engine that can help drive rapid awareness and trial of new products. According to Kevin, brands can spark awareness through YouTube and Display advertising, capture intent through desktop and mobile search, and drive purchase through mobile ads and coupons. Don't hesitate to reach out to Kevin with questions or comments.

URL: http://google-cpg.blogspot.com/2011/12/cpg-thought-leader-video-series-final.html

[G] Consumers on tablet devices: having fun, shopping and engaging with ads

Posted: 07 Dec 2011 06:42 AM PST

Official Google CPG Blog: Consumers on tablet devices: having fun, shopping and engaging with ads

(cross-posted on the Google Mobile Ads Blog)

Tablets have quickly emerged as a distinct third digital screen in consumers lives that fill the gap between desktops and smartphones. But there are still many open questions about exactly how consumers are using them. We explored tablet search trends earlier this year, but wanted to dig deeper and answer key questions such as: What are the contrasts between tablet use, laptop use, and smartphone use and how are consumers engaging across these devices? What are the most common activities (playing games, searching, reading, etc.) that tablets are used for? What ads are most relevant and useful based on how people are using the devices?

Tablets are for fun, entertainment, relaxation, while laptops are for work
One of our studies, a diary study that had people record every occasion that they used their tablet over a two-week period, found that most consumers use their tablets for fun, entertainment and relaxation while they use their desktop computer or laptop for work. Tablet devices are personal - 91% of the time that people spend on their tablet devices is for personal rather than work related activities. When a consumer gets a tablet, we've found that they quickly migrate many of their entertainment activities from laptops and smartphones to this new device.

Tablet owners are building the device into their daily routine. Our research found that the most frequent tablet activities are checking email, playing games and social networking. We also found that people are doing more activities in shorter bursts on weekdays (e.g. social networking, email) while engaging in longer usage sessions on weekends (e.g. watching videos/TV/movies).

Tablets are multi-tasking devices with at least 42% of activities occurring while doing another task or engaging with another entertainment medium. Of all the activities that people do on tablets, checking email, playing games, social networking and searching are the ones most frequently done in front of the TV. Many consumers also used their tablets to check email while eating, and listen to music while cooking.



The activities shown in the above chart were self-reported by respondents.


Tablets primarily stay home, few travel
But unlike smartphones that go everywhere and laptops that travel between work and home, few consumers take their tablets with them when they leave the house. However, consumers do take their tablets on vacation or work trips where they use them as a laptop replacement and a small number take them on their commute. Interestingly, our recent research found that tablets are for the most part a one-person device, although there are consumers who share their tablet with other family or household members.

Tablets are, however, mobile within the home, with the highest usage taking place on the couch, from the bed and in the kitchen.



The activities and locations shown in the above chart were self-reported by respondents.


Consumers are shopping on tablets
Many consumers do a lot of window shopping on their tablet and our data shows that they are making more and more purchases on their tablet devices. Indeed, tablets figure to be a significant new way for people to be shopping this holiday season. While shopping they are engaging with familiar brands through social media sites, deals discounts, and navigating directly to trusted shopping sites.

We also found that people are using their tablets for activities that they are also doing in the real world, such as searching for something in their local area, shopping (browsing and purchasing), and managing finances.

For many people, websites and apps designed for smartphones just don't cut it on tablets. Instead consumers are taking advantage of the bigger screen and prefer using fully featured apps and the full desktop sites on their tablet.

We found that some of those activities also extend to additional devices (e.g. smartphone, laptop, etc.). These activities included shopping (both browsing and purchasing), searching for information, managing finances, checking the calendar and checking email.


Consumers don't view ads differently on tablets, but they do expect more interactivity
Consumers are engaging with useful, relevant and rich ads that take advantage of the touchscreen interface on tablets. Some consumers expect more interactivity from ads on tablets than they do from ads on their desktop computer.

We believe that tablet ownership will continue to rapidly grow in 2012 and that tablet usage may change over time, particularly as smaller devices come on the market. We plan on continuing to conduct research to understand consumers' uses of their tablet devices and are excited to share these research insights with you.

Posted by: Jenny Gove and John Webb, User Experience Research, Mobile Ads
URL: http://google-cpg.blogspot.com/2011/12/consumers-on-tablet-devices-having-fun.html
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