Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Googland

Googland

[G] Introducing more detailed 3D landmarks on Google Maps

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 09:08 PM PDT

Google Lat Long: Introducing more detailed 3D landmarks on Google Maps


Landmarks have often served as one of the most useful ways to help navigate an unknown area. For example, a Parisian might tell a tourist, "the cafe you're looking for is just north of the Eiffel tower" because the Eiffel tower is easy to spot and everyone knows how to get there.

In our ongoing effort to make Google Maps as accurate and useful as possible, we've significantly enhanced the quality of more than a thousand 3D landmarks around the world, making it easier to compare the digital map to the physical landscape.

For example, take a look below at the enhanced detail for the 3D model for Piazza del Duomo in Florence, Italy.

Before

After: Note the smooth curves on the dome

Say, you're looking out your hotel room window in Florence for the first time; it's much easier to get a sense of your location by simply comparing the shapes of buildings on the map to what you see out your window. By combining 3D buildings with other Google Maps features like Street View and driving directions, you'll have the most advanced "tourist map" on the planet.

Here are some additional examples of the beautiful 3D landmarks we've recently updated. This will be available soon on Google MapsGL as well.


View Larger Map
Burj Khalifa


View Larger Map
Sydney Opera House


View Larger Map
The White House


View Larger Map
Petronas Towers

There are several more 3D landmarks to see, so start exploring!

Posted by Paul Messmer, Google Maps software engineer
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2012/03/introducing-more-detailed-3d-landmarks.html

[G] A New Home for Google Maps API Developers

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 09:08 PM PDT

Google Lat Long: A New Home for Google Maps API Developers

(Cross-posted from Google Geo Developer Blog)

When we first launched the Google Maps API, it was all about a map, a pin, and a dream. Back then our technical documentation was relatively simple, consisting of a couple of developer docs and some code samples. Since then the Google Maps API has expanded far beyond our expectations, due in large part to the diverse and innovative developer ecosystem that has grown with us.

With the continuing evolution of the Google Maps API, it became clear that we needed more than just code documentation to convey what's possible with the Google Maps API. Thus, developers.google.com/maps was born.

In addition to having all the same developer content that was previously available on code.google.com, the site is designed to highlight and illustrate new features of the Google Maps API through fun and interactive demos. Our goal with developers.google.com/maps is to inspire the next wave of innovation on the Google Maps API, and to connect developers and decision makers with the tools and services that can make their products better.


One of the features of the Google Developers site we're most excited about is the 3rd party developer showcase, which allows us to celebrate a selection of innovative sites in the Google Maps API ecosystem. Showcase content is carefully curated by the Google Maps API team.

In order to help users discover relevant apps and topics in the showcase, we've devised a tagging system that allows you to filter examples both by theme, and by Google Maps API features used.



We hope that the showcase and the interactive examples on the new Google Maps API Developers capture your imagination and inspire you with what's possible using the platform. The imagination of Google Maps API developers has always been what makes the product great and we're looking forward to seeing what you come up with next.

Posted by Carlos Cuesta, Product Marketing Manager, Google Maps Developer
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2012/03/new-home-for-google-maps-api-developers.html

[G] Start a love affair with Google Map Maker; now available in France and Monaco

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 09:08 PM PDT

Google Lat Long: Start a love affair with Google Map Maker; now available in France and Monaco


Spring is in the air, carrying with it that special kind of love one feels when taking a romantic stroll along the Seine, visiting a countryside chateau, or finding an exotic garden by the sea. What better way to celebrate the season than by adding the places you love to Google Maps for the whole world to discover.


With Google Map Maker for France and Monaco, you can add your favorite places to the map. Start with your local bakeries, cinemas, parks, and museums. Once approved your contributions will appear on Google Maps, Google Earth and Google Maps for mobile for all the world to see. Now the French map can embody the rich culture and spirit unique to France, reflecting the heart of your neighborhood as you add details to the map.

Claude Monet's house and studio, where he painted his water lilies, brought to life in Google Maps with Google Map Maker.

Parts of your neighborhood may already be mapped on Google Maps. If your favorite park is on the map, why not add the lake, football pitch and market to add that joie de vivre. Mark the best bicycle route through and edit road attributions so visitors can find their way around town. Join with other local mappers by bringing your local expertise to review their contributions to the map.

Google Map Maker proudly welcomes France to join citizen cartographers from across the globe as they create a more complete map of the world around us. To learn more, subscribe to the Map Maker YouTube Channel, and get started mapping. C'est génial!

Posted by Lakshminath Bhuvanagiri, Software Engineer
URL: http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2012/03/start-love-affair-with-google-map-maker.html

[G] Learn about other Google products with our new Help Desk Hangouts on Air series

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 09:08 PM PDT

Inside AdSense: Learn about other Google products with our new Help Desk Hangouts on Air series


You're looking to grow your business, and we offer a ton of tools to help you do just that. But sometimes, you might need a little help learning all the options and getting started. That's why this week on the Google+ Your Business page, we've launched a new series of Help Desk Hangouts On Air to put you in touch with teams who can help you get the most out of our products and features.



To kick things off, we asked +Justin Cutroni of the Google Analytics team (and author of the blog Analytics Talk) to show us how business owners like you can use Analytics to track your website performance and see how users are getting to your site (email, social media, referrals). If you missed it, you can watch the full hour-long Hangout on the Google Business YouTube channel:








Here are a few of the questions Justin addressed in the Hangout:



Is there a threat in respect to data privacy?

We take privacy very seriously at Google. The only person who has access to your Google Analytics data is you. You can also grant other people access to your Analytics data, but that's up to you.



Is there a plan to update the administration part of GA? We need more levels: creator, administrator, manager, reader.

Excellent feature request, and it relates to the question above. We get this question often and know that the current model is limiting. We are working hard to figure out the best user model for Analytics.



Is there a good WordPress plug-in for adding GA code to a blog?

Plug-ins! Justin's favorite, we learned yesterday in the Hangout. There are some great ones out there, especially for WordPress. Check out Google Analytics for WordPress.



Can you tell us more about the benefits of using Analytics for tracking mobile apps?

Great question. You can absolutely track apps with Google Analytics. We have two SDKs, one for Android and one for iOS, that make it easy to  track how people use an app. If you're going to use GA to track apps you should also understand Event Tracking and Custom Variables. These two features are very useful when tracking apps.






Justin shows us a feature that tells you how often you show up in Google's organic search results and the number of clickthroughs that you get.



To learn more about how to get started with Google Analytics, visit our Help Center. And remember to tune in to the live stream of our next Hangout at 11 a.m. PDT Wednesday, as we discuss how to use Hangouts (something a bunch of you have asked us to talk about!). We'll be collecting your Hangout questions today on the Google+ Your Business page.



Posted by Vanessa Schneider, Google Places community manager


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tuAm/~3/I1-q2uvA5bA/learn-about-other-google-products-with.html

[G] Diagnose ads faster with new status insights icon

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 09:08 PM PDT

Inside AdWords: Diagnose ads faster with new status insights icon

This week we're introducing a status insights icon in the Ads tab that provides visibility into the approval status and potential policy limitations for each individual ad creative. The new icon will be particularly valuable if you're advertising products or services that are restricted by our advertising policies to show only in specific countries or with certain keywords.

To use the new status icon, simply hover over the speech bubble in the Status column of the Ads tab next to the ad of interest:


We'll tell you if the individual ad is showing for the default keyword and location displayed in the hover. If you would like to re-diagnose the ad with with a different targeted location or keyword, you can edit the parameters from right within the hover:


This new icon complements the existing ad diagnosis tools, which include the status hover on the Keywords tab, a batch option to diagnose many keywords at once, and the Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool.

Posted by Katie Miller, Inside AdWords crew
URL: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2012/03/diagnose-ads-faster-with-new-status.html

[G] Test your Web Apps on Chrome with ChromeDriver

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 09:08 PM PDT

Google Open Source Blog: Test your Web Apps on Chrome with ChromeDriver



ChromeDriver is a tool for testing websites with Google Chrome that implements the open source WebDriver wire protocol so it can easily be integrated with an existing WebDriver test suite. For those who aren't familiar with WebDriver, you may want to refer to our initial post about the project. Simply put, WebDriver presents an object-based API for automating the web from a real users perspective, such as clicking elements on a page and typing into text fields.



The WebDriver API is available for many popular browsers.  Each browser has its own driver, with ChromeDriver, of course, supporting the WebDriver API for Google Chrome. Unlike other drivers which are maintained by the open source Selenium/WebDriver team, ChromeDriver is developed by Chromium, the open source project that Google Chrome is based on.



Besides a new ChromeDriver release this past week, we wanted to share info about a new website dedicated to the project: http://code.google.com/p/chromedriver. This site will serve as the central location for all things relating to ChromeDriver. You can use the new site to:


ChromeDriver works with the current stable, beta, and dev versions of Google Chrome. Older versions of Google Chrome are not supported and are not guaranteed to be compatible with ChromeDriver.  Consult the release wiki for more information on our release and support policy.



Thanks for testing with Google Chrome!



By Ken Kania, Chromium Developer


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GoogleOpenSourceBlog/~3/6y5WcaFeP98/test-your-web-apps-on-chrome-with.html

[G] Capturing The Value Of Social Media Using Google Analytics

Posted: 20 Mar 2012 07:47 AM PDT

Google Analytics Blog: Capturing The Value Of Social Media Using Google Analytics

Measuring the value of social media has been a challenge for marketers. And with good reason: it's hard to understand exactly what is happening in an environment where activity occurs both on and off your website. Since social media is often an upper funnel player in a shopper's journey, it's not always easy to determine which social channels actually drive value for your business and which tactics are most effective.


But as the social industry matures, marketers and web analysts need true outcome-oriented reports. After all, although social is growing in popularity, brand websites - not social networks - remain the place where people most often purchase or convert. 


That's why we're releasing a new set of Social reports within Google Analytics. The new reports bridge the gap between social media and the business metrics you care about - allowing you to better measure the full value of the social channel for your business. We wanted to help you with 3 things:
  • Identify the full value of traffic coming from social sites and measure how they lead to direct conversions or assist in future conversions 

  • Understand social activities happening both on and off of your site to help you optimize user engagement and increase social key performance indicators (KPIs)

  • Make better, more efficient data-driven decisions in your social media marketing programs



The Social reports allow you to analyze all of this information together and see a more complete picture of social impact than often used today. Here are a couple of the things you can do with our new reports:


Overview Report: see social performance at a glance and its impact on conversions




The Overview report allows you to see at a glance how much conversion value is generated from your social channels. The Social Value visualization compares the number and monetary value of all your goal completions against those that resulted from social referrals - both as last interaction, and assisted.


A visit from a social referral may result in conversion immediately or it may assist in a conversion that occurs later on. Referrals that lead to conversions immediately are labeled as Last Interaction Social Conversion. If a referral from a social source doesn't immediately generate a conversion, but the visitor returns later and converts, the referral is included as an Assisted Social Conversion. 


Conversions Report: which goals are being impacted by social media





With the Conversions report, marketers can now measure the value of each individual social channel by seeing the conversion rates of each social network and the monetary value they drive to your business.


For example, you can see the effect that social content (i.e. a new video you created) had on conversions. Look at the time graph to see whether Goal Completions via Social Referral peaked after the content was published. Remember that you need to define goals and goal values in order to see data in this report, so tailor it to the things that matter to your business. Networks with a higher assisted / last interaction conversions ratio provide greater assisted conversions.


Social Sources - find out how visitors from different sources behave





The Social Sources report shows engagement and conversion metrics for each social network so you can see how people are interacting with your content and whether it's leading to a desired outcome.



For example, if you run social campaigns that promote specific products, you can see via the Social Visitor Flow whether visitors from each social network entered your site through these product pages and whether they continued on to other parts of the site or whether they exited.  


Social Plugins: find the content that's good enough to share







If you publish content, you'll want to know which articles are most commonly shared or recommended, and on which social networks they're being shared. The Social Plugin report shows which articles on your site are receiving the most engagement and which social buttons - for example, Google +1 - are being clicked to share them. 


You can use this information to create more of the type of content that's popular with your visitors, and test different layouts of social sharing buttons to improve use by your community. 


Activity Stream: what's happening outside of your website


While the other reports show you the impact that social engagement is having on your site, the Activities Stream tab (located within the sources report) shows how people are engaging socially with your content off your site across the social web. 


For content that was shared publicly, you can see the URLs they shared, how and where they shared (via a "reshare" on Google+ for example), and what they said. Currently, activities are reported for Google+ and across a growing list of our Social Data Hub partners including recently signed brands Badoo, Disqus, Echo, Hatena and Meetup.


These new social reports will be available for all users over the next few weeks under the Standard Reporting Tab - please take a look and tell us what you think.


Posted by Phil Mui, Group Product Manager


URL: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/tRaA/~3/SJfaeoeb-4s/capturing-value-of-social-media-using.html
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