Saturday, March 10, 2012

Googland

Googland

[G] Providing a springboard for women entrepreneurs in India

Posted: 10 Mar 2012 01:38 AM PST

Official Google Blog: Providing a springboard for women entrepreneurs in India

Meghana Musunuri was a typical female entrepreneur in India. Born and brought up in Medak, she received a good education and spent time abroad both studying and working. Eventually, she decided to return to India and make a difference in her native country. After teaching in London for more than eight years, Meghana opened the Fountainhead School in Hyderabad in 2009. Meghana was smart, driven and passionate, but like many of her contemporaries in India, she needed guidance on how to use the web to broaden her business and her education mission. To help Meghana and the many other women entrepreneurs like her, we recently launched Women Entrepreneurs on the Web (WEOW).

Women Entrepreneurs on the Web teaches participants how to use web-based technologies to improve and grow their businesses. WEOW is divided into five different units or "circles," all designed for women entrepreneurs with varied degrees of online presence and expertise. Entrepreneurs at various stages in their startups can enter the program through any of these circles.
  1. Building an online presence: creating a website, a YouTube channel, and a business page on a social network like Google+
  2. Collaborating effectively: tools like Gmail, Calendar and Docs
  3. Connecting with customers: hosting Google+ Hangouts, creating and distributing targeted offers and discounts
  4. Promoting your organization: online product demos, creating viral videos on YouTube, advertising through AdWords and AdSense
  5. Tracking and optimizing your online presence: Google Analytics, Google Alerts, ripples on Google+, the +1 button, webmaster tools
Meghana completed all five circles of the program and today, her school is completely online. She's hosted several Google+ Hangouts for students and parents from the Fountainhead School's Google+ page and is also using the page to post news, resources and recaps of in-person workshops. There's more from Meghana on what she learned from the WEOW program in this video.

Rupa Aurangabadkar, another WEOW participant, recently launched a design company, Colorquill. She's now working on a series of digital videos that will showcase each step of creating a mural and will distribute them via her YouTube channel. Archana Doshi of Archanas Kitchen has started offering cooking classes online via Google+ Hangouts. She also plans to have guest chefs sign up to offer culinary lessons via her website.

As part of our launch event at Google Hyderabad, Yolanda Mangolini, our head of diversity and inclusion, spent time with 30 women entrepreneurs. During this meet-and-greet, she highlighted company initiatives that focus on female empowerment, like the Google Anita Borg India Memorial Scholarships, Grace Hopper Celebrations and several outreach programs run by the Women@Google employee group. She also talked about our goal to build an organization that reflects its globally diverse users. Watch the highlights in the video below:



For updates on WEOW India, visit our website and YouTube channel. To date, we've had more than 300 women sign up for WEOW, and we plan to roll out WEOW to more offices and countries in the future.

Posted by Keerthana Mohan, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, Asia-Pacific
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/providing-springboard-for-women.html

[G] Exploring 1938 San Francisco through aerial photography in Google Earth

Posted: 10 Mar 2012 01:38 AM PST

Google Lat Long: Exploring 1938 San Francisco through aerial photography in Google Earth


Editors Note: Today's guest author is David Rumsey, President of Cartography Associates and founder of the David Rumsey Map Collection, an online archive of historical maps and cartographic materials. Additional pieces from this collection can be viewed in Google Earth by browsing the Rumsey Historical Maps layer.

In August of 1938, a pioneer of aerial photography, Harrison Ryker, worked with pilots out of Oakland Airport to create a series of high resolution images of San Francisco. Each pilot flew from north to south, completing about 12 passes to create a group of vertical black-and-white photographs, overlapping each other by approximately 30 to 50 percent. The result was 164 large prints covering the entire city at about 1 meter resolution. Residents of San Francisco can enjoy these magnificent photographs by visiting the San Francisco Public Library. But if you don't happen to be visiting the Bay Area anytime soon, you can also enjoy the entire collection online, courtesy of the David Rumsey Map Collection.

While cataloging these historic images, our team geo-referenced each photo to create a mosaic of all the images, corrected for terrain variation, lens distortion, and variance of angle. This was a challenging task because we did not have any records of the project's camera calibration report, lens used, or any other specifics on how the original photos were produced. Rather, we had to rely on placing ground control points in the correct places to get the desired accuracy. Glenn Bachmann of the Rumsey Map Collection led this project, the results of which allow the 1938 imagery to be overlaid on current satellite views of the city in Google Earth when you turn on historical imagery for San Francisco. You can also view these historic photos in geographic context online in the Rumsey Historical Maps online gallery using the Google Earth plug-in. 
Composite of 1938 aerial photos of San Francisco

The individual aerial photos that make up the mosaic above of the entire city of San Francisco are each 50 cm high and 60 cm wide, with an effective scale of 1:2,000. The prints are in very good condition with high contrast and sharp detail, as you can see in the example below of the area around the Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street.

Aerial Photograph 18, area around the Ferry Building in San Francisco, 1938

It is endlessly fascinating to compare the city in 1938 to the current landscape. The area around the old Mission Bay has undergone a huge transformation: you can see the old Southern Pacific Railroad round house, which is now transforming into the University of California's Mission Bay Campus.

Detail of Aerial Photograph 14, Mission Bay Railroad Yards, Southern Pacific Round House, San Francisco, 1938
Another part of the city that has experienced tremendous growth are the sand dunes of the Outer Sunset district, now filled in with the Doelger housing developments of the 1940's.

Aerial Photograph 148, Sand dunes in the outer Sunset District, San Francisco, 1938

Some of the images show parts of the cities that are no longer part of the modern landscape. Below you can see the cemeteries around Lone Mountain that were moved to Colma in the 1940's.


Aerial Photograph 85, Calvary and Laurel Hill Cemeteries, San Francisco, 1938
Learning more about the creator of this historical archive proved to be nearly as much of a challenge as geo-referencing and cataloging his work. After much sleuthing, Dan Holmes of the Rumsey Map Collection was able to uncover more detail about Harrison Ryker's life and work online. You can read more about Mr. Ryker in our blog post about the aerial photographs on the David Rumsey Map Collection website.

We are grateful to the San Francisco Public Library and Susan Goldstein of the library's San Francisco History Center for making these amazing photographs available to the public, and for saving and preserving them for the past 74 years! 
This is an exciting time for historical aerial photography. New technology creates a platform for these images to be scanned, georectified, mosaicked and enjoyed by people all over the globe. Google Earth and Google Maps give new life to these images, pulling them out of the archives and encouraging comparison to present-day imagery. These photographs combine the best aspects of photographic veracity and immediacy with the scale, artistry, and cartographic tools of mapping. It is like combining a photograph and a map of the same place, together. We hope that more of these aerial photographs will be scanned and geo-referenced, covering all parts of our globe, helping us to see in detail how the world looked from above, long ago. 


Posted by David Rumsey, founder of the David Rumsey Map Collection
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2012/03/exploring-1938-san-francisco-through.html

[G] Better insights with Multi-Channel Funnels: Product update

Posted: 10 Mar 2012 01:38 AM PST

Google Analytics Blog: Better insights with Multi-Channel Funnels: Product update

Since we launched Multi-Channel Funnels, we've seen marketers gain new insight into how marketing channels are working together to bring valuable customers to your site. For example, Technologia, a leading business training company in Montreal, recently partnered with online strategy firm Adviso and used Multi-Channel Funnels to understand the full path to conversion and improve their marketing efforts; read this customer story here.



Last week we released an update to Multi-Channel Funnels to help you more easily understand the impact of your marketing channels. We have expanded the Basic Channel Grouping dimension to more closely match the range of online channels used by the majority of marketers. Specifically, we replaced the previous Paid Advertising channel with three new channels: Display, Paid Search, and Other Advertising (see the updated channel definitions). You'll find these updated channels reflected in the Multi-Channel Visualizer, and in reports such as Top Conversion Paths and Assisted Conversions, where you'll now be able to see the interaction between these channels at a glance.









We also updated the Social Network channel to include a longer list of referral domains (more than 400) that will be classified as social. 



Of course you can still create your own Custom Channel Groupings, either creating one from scratch, or by copying and modifying the Basic Channel Grouping template. Some of the most valuable custom groupings you can create include breaking out branded and generic search, and identifying a group for affiliates. These types of custom groupings can help you better understand the roles played by different channels in driving conversions.



As you use Multi-Channel Funnels to measure your marketing campaigns, we'd love to hear about your insights and analysis. You can share them with us using this form.



Posted by Bill Kee, Google Analytics team


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tRaA/~3/xP5Rcl1LCUw/better-insights-with-multi-channel.html

[G] Tornadoes in the U.S. Midwest, Super Tuesday, Elections in Russia

Posted: 10 Mar 2012 01:38 AM PST

YouTube Blog: Tornadoes in the U.S. Midwest, Super Tuesday, Elections in Russia

Everyday on the CitizenTube channel (and @CitizenTube on Twitter), along with our curation partners @storyful, we look at how the top news stories are covered on YouTube. Each week we post a weekly recap of the top news stories of the week, as seen through the lens of both citizen-reported footage and professional news coverage.

Come back next week to see the news unfold on YouTube.

Olivia Ma, YouTube News and Politics, recently watched "Two massive solar flares erupt from the sun."


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/youtube/PKJx/~3/coFI_xX55n4/tornadoes-in-us-midwest-super-tuesday.html

[G] Our approach to free expression and controversial content

Posted: 09 Mar 2012 01:07 PM PST

Official Google Blog: Our approach to free expression and controversial content

Four years ago we first outlined our approach to removing content from Google products and services. Nothing has changed since then, but given World Day Against Cyber-Censorship is coming up on Monday, March 12, we figured now was a good time for a refresher. Here goes.

At Google, we have a bias in favor of free expression—not just because it's a key tenet of free societies, but also because more information generally means more choice, more power, more economic opportunity and more freedom for people. As Article 19 of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

That said, we recognize that there are limits. In some areas it's obvious where to draw the line. For example, we have an all-product ban on child pornography. But in other areas, like extremism, it gets complicated because our products are available in numerous countries with widely varying laws and cultures.

For Search—where we are simply indexing content—we take down as little as possible because helping people find information goes to the heart of our mission. We remove webpages from our search index when required by law, and we post a notice to Chilling Effects when we do so. For example, if we're notified about specific pages that glorify Nazism, which is prohibited by German law, then we remove those specific pages from Google.de (our German domain).

For products like Blogger, orkut, Google+ and YouTube—where we host the content—we encourage users to express themselves freely, but we also want to ensure that people behave responsibly, so we set guidelines covering the use of our different services. For example, no hate speech, no copyright-infringing content, no death threats, no incitement to violence. And when we're notified about content that either violates those guidelines or breaks the law—for example, we receive a court order—we will remove it, or restrict it in the country where it's illegal. Earlier this year, for example, we removed a number of specific webpages from Google properties in India after a court ruled that they violated Indian law.

One final point—none of this is simple. Dealing with controversial content is, well…controversial. It's why we always start from the principle that more information is better, and why we've worked hard to be transparent about the removals we make.

Posted by Rachel Whetstone, Senior Vice President, Global Communications and Public Policy
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/our-approach-to-free-expression-and.html

[G] Helping entrepreneurs in the Crescent City

Posted: 09 Mar 2012 01:07 PM PST

Official Google Blog: Helping entrepreneurs in the Crescent City

I made my first visit to the Gulf Coast as a Red Cross shelter manager six weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. What I witnessed there made me believe in the potential for individuals and businesses to come together to rebuild a community devastated by disaster. Every year since, I've returned to New Orleans to engage in and lead much of Google's commitment to the area, which has included the direct use of Google Earth to aid in rescue efforts, search tools to help during the aftermath and many service hours put in by Google volunteers.

Almost seven years later, I find myself amazed at the recovery and revitalization of the entire region, specifically in New Orleans. The city has come to embody a spirit of perseverance and evolved into a model for economic and community redevelopment. In 2010, Google provided $102 million of economic activity for Louisiana businesses, website publishers and nonprofits—and there's still more work to do. Next week, we're heading back to NOLA once again, this time to serve as the Premier Partner for the fourth annual New Orleans Entrepreneurship Week (NOEW).

Our support for NOEW is diverse and wide-ranging. Among other activities, we're providing seed grants to up-and-coming educational entrepreneurs in the Education Entrepreneurship Challenge, as well as hosting "Google 101" (and 201) workshops for entrepreneurs and one-on-one Google Office Hours for small business owners. On Saturday, March 10, we'll be working with Brad Pitt's foundation, Make It Right, to help the organization engage with supporters globally during their NOEW charity event. At 8:00pm ET the Make It Right Google+ Page will host a live hangout with Brad Pitt and special guests Ellen DeGeneres, Randy Jackson and Aziz Ansari. Following the hangout, real time updates from the evening will be posted exclusively on the Google+ page, and visitors can view photos, ask questions of celebrity guests and watch videos from the evening.

Our sponsorship of NOEW 2012 is one piece of our ongoing work supporting entrepreneurship in New Orleans. Other support includes bringing a major partner, Startup Weekend, to NOLA as well as increasing Accelerate with Google in the region. We look forward to contributing to the entrepreneurship ecosystem to provide real economic opportunities for the New Orleans community, its people and its businesses.

I look at the week ahead as a celebration of the potential that one person has to make a difference—one volunteer, one business owner, one celebrity, even you. What I know for sure is that this one person is looking forward to returning to a city that has captured her heart through its people, its spirit, its music and ah yes, most definitely the food. Hope to see y'all there soon!

Posted by Tara Canobbio, Google New Orleans Outreach Lead
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/helping-entrepreneurs-in-crescent-city.html

[G] Re-imagining classic ads for the modern web

Posted: 09 Mar 2012 01:07 PM PST

Official Google Blog: Re-imagining classic ads for the modern web

This year, digital advertising turns 18. Over nearly two decades, waves of innovation have transformed the medium—it's come a long way since the blinking banner ads of the early Internet. But we think the most exciting changes are still to come, as marketers and agencies increasingly embrace technology to enable new types of creativity, and build online ads that don't simply inform, but delight and engage their audience.

For example, what if an online ad could bring together two strangers on opposite sides of the globe? Or let you follow a real-life adventure as it unfolds? We wanted to find out. So we started an experiment, both to celebrate 18 years of online innovation, and to link advertising's digital future to its storied past: Project Re: Brief.

We started with four iconic ad campaigns from the 1960s and '70s from Alka-Seltzer, Avis, Coca-Cola and Volvo, each considered groundbreaking in its day. The advertising legends who made the original ads then came out of retirement to rethink their original "brief," this time, using the full range of technological tools at their disposal, to reach consumers in today's digitally connected world.



Here are previews of two of the re-imagined ads:

Coca-Cola
Original Art Director: Harvey Gabor
A Coca-Cola can connect people. This was the idea behind a 1971 ad in which young people from all over the world stood on a hilltop singing, "I'd like to buy the world a Coke, and keep it company." But imagine being able to walk past a vending machine in New York and finding out that a stranger in Tokyo actually sent you a free Coke. Technology can make this possible by linking online ads to real-world devices, like vending machines, in real time. The new ads let you record a video or text message and send it, along with a free Coke, to special vending machines in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Capetown, South Africa; New York, NY; and Mountain View, Calif. The recipient can also record a message from the machine and send it right back. To see how this ad was brought to life, watch this short film.



Volvo
Original Art Director: Amil Gargano
A Volvo is so durable, you can "Drive it Like You Hate It," according to a 1962 series of print and TV ads. The re-imagined ads center on the durability of one particular Volvo—that of Irv Gordon, who has had his car since 1966 and put a world-record 2.9 million miles on it, so far. In these ads, you can join Irv on his journey to reach 3 million miles. Starting with colorful stories from his past and a live feed of his car's odometer, you can interact with him through Google+, and recreate some of Irv's favorite routes throughout the U.S. on Google Maps. Watch the behind-the-scenes story in this short documentary.



We'll have more to share from this experiment soon. In the meantime, these are just a few examples of how agencies and brand marketers are harnessing technology to rethink what ads can be and make the web work for them (not the other way around). To learn more about the project, visit projectrebrief.com. And if you're planning on attending SXSW, stop by the Discovery House at the Google Village to see demos of these campaigns, or attend a talk.

Posted by Jim Lecinski, Vice President, U.S. Sales and Brad Bender, Director, Product Management
URL: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/re-imagining-classic-ads-for-modern-web.html

[G] Meet Australian AdSense publishers Tim and Victoria van Brugge

Posted: 09 Mar 2012 01:07 PM PST

Inside AdSense: Meet Australian AdSense publishers Tim and Victoria van Brugge

Husband and wife team Tim and Victoria van Brugge run i-do.com.au, an Australian wedding directory. Their original business plan was to sell diamonds online, but in creating the wedding directory to build an audience of potential customers they discovered that media and advertising was an easier business model, and they've never looked back. Recently we sat down with Victoria and Tim to learn about how they use AdSense on their website. Watch this video to learn more.



Posted by Amelia Walkley, Strategic Partner Manager

URL: http://adsense.blogspot.com/2012/03/meet-australian-adsense-publishers-tim.html
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