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Friday, April 30, 2010


This week Google [April 30th]

Facebook Finding More Ways to Compete with Google

Apparently Facebook is not content with only taking over the web, but wants to get some penetration into the physical world as well. Taking a cue from another dominant company, Google, Facebook is now giving brick and mortar businesses decals to put in their windows. While Facebook tells WebProNews the decals are currently only a test with a small number of businesses, I would expect this to be expanded in the future...

Read more at : http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/04/28/facebook-finding-more-ways-to-compete-with-google

Keeping Track of the World with Chrome Extensions

In recent weeks, we saw not only breaking news, but erupting, stunning and unveiling news! To keep myself from drowning in the news flood, I found that using a few Chrome extensions can help me keep track of it all...

Read more at :http://chrome.blogspot.com/2010/04/keeping-track-of-world-with-chrome.html

Integrating virtual keyboards in Google search

You've spilled coffee on your keyboard. The a, e, i, o, u, and r keys have stopped working. Now try to search Google for the nearest computer repair shop. The pain of typing on this broken keyboard is similar to what many people searching in non-English languages feel when trying to type today. Typing searches on keyboards not designed for your languages can be frustrating, even impossible...

Read more at : http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/integrating-virtual-keyboards-in-google.html

More ways to share your photos

Like many other things in life, photos are best when shared. I share the majority of my photos on Picasa Web Albums, but I also sometimes tweet about specific photos or share them on my blog. Today, we're making it a little simpler to share your PWA photos to whichever destination you want, with the launch of easy share buttons for Google Buzz, Blogger and Twitter.

To share a photo or album from Picasa Web Albums straight to any of these sites, just click the appropriate icon to the right of your photo, customize your message, and post it...

Read more at : http://googlephotos.blogspot.com/2010/04/more-ways-to-share-your-photos.html

Wednesday, April 28, 2010


Blog Updates : Discovering pages “similar to” ones that you like

Doantam Phan, (Software Engineer) Say's

One of the great things about the web is choice. There's a website out there for nearly everything, and sometimes there are many sites all dedicated to a single topic. But how can you find all the sites that are related to the subject that interests you? This week, we launched a search feature that helps you easily find new websites that are similar to the ones with which you're already familiar.

For example, with the recent earthquakes around the world, many of us have been looking for international relief organizations. We knew that Direct Relief International has been actively involved in Haiti, so we started off by searching for [direct relief international]. The first result on the page linked us to the Direct Relief website, where we found many ways to help in Haiti. But what if one wants to support several organizations? If you click the "Similar" link that's on the same line as the "www.directrelief.org/" URL, you'll find other nonprofits that are also involved in relief efforts.

We've offered a "Similar" feature on results for a while now as a way to discover new, useful sites, but it hasn't been too visible. Since we've been continuously improving this feature and we think it's really useful, we're now going to start showing these alternative sites more prominently. Starting this week, for queries where similar sites are likely to be helpful, we'll display a list of "Pages similar" at the bottom of the results page. For example, this is the list of sites similar to Direct Relief International:


These sites might provide alternative ways to contribute to Haiti or Chile, like AmeriCares and Operation USA. Or they could provide a different perspective or approach, like giving more broadly through a blood donation at the Red Cross.

We hope this feature helps you discover many useful websites that you didn't know about before and get a better understanding of all the choices the web has to offer.

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Tuesday, April 27, 2010


Blog Updates : Earthly pleasures come to Maps

Brian McClendon, (VP of Engineering, Google Geo) Say's

Earth Day may have just passed, but the Google Earth team loves it too much to let it go. So we've found our own special way to celebrate Earth Day (a little late) by making an announcement that we've been working toward for a long time: Earth view in Google Maps.


When we first launched Google Earth back in 2005, it revolutionized the world of digital mapping. In the years since, Earth has been getting faster and lighter while adding large amounts of imagery, more ambitious features and an ever-expanding roster of platforms, including support for Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android and even the 2011 Audi A8!

Web browsers haven't exactly been standing still either. As their capacity to handle richer applications has steadily grown, our ability to bring Google Earth online has grown along with it. In 2008, we released the Google Earth Plugin to developers, and since then thousands of sites have used it to create many cool applications and even games. Now the time has come to take off the plugin's online training wheels and roll it out on the main stage: Google Maps. So if you're one of the hundreds of millions of people who use Maps worldwide, you can now explore the world in luxuriantly-detailed, data-rich 3D imagery and terrain from Google Earth. If you've already downloaded the Google Earth Plugin, you should be able to see Earth view in Maps right away. Otherwise, you can just install the Plugin to enjoy a Maps experience that includes angled Earth views, 3D buildings, smooth panning and zooming and a great introductory showcase of places to visit and things to see.

Current Google Earth users, of course, will continue to enjoy the full power of the standalone application: KML editing, historical imagery, GPS tracks, tour-creation, Mars, Sky, flight simulator and so on. But for quick online access, the power of 3D will also be available at the click of a[n Earth] button. We're thrilled to be able to bring this functionality to the web and we invite you to come share the moment with us.

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http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/earthly-pleasures-come-to-maps.html

Monday, April 26, 2010


Blog Updates: A new approach to how we work with advertising agencies

Penry Price, (Vice President, Global Agency Development) Say's

As the advertising industry has grown and evolved, so too has our relationship with advertising agencies. These companies, from SEMs to the largest traditional agencies, play a critical role in the continued success of Google, our advertisers and our industry — so we spend a lot of time talking to agencies about how we can make it easier for them to work with us and our advertisers.

We've had a lot of great feedback from agencies and today we're announcing changes designed to offer them better training and more rigorous certification in AdWords proficiency, and to lower costs for those who help advertisers get the most out of AdWords. We're also making it easier for advertisers to find certified agency partners to work with them on digital advertising. Here's an overview of what's changing today.

Raising the bar for Google AdWords Certification
We're retiring our long-standing Google Advertising Professionals (GAP) program and replacing it with a new Google AdWords Certification program for those managing AdWords accounts on behalf of advertisers. The new program provides agencies and their employees with more up-to-date, comprehensive, strategy-focused training and certification on the latest tools and best practices for managing AdWords accounts, including:
  • New training materials to help agencies better understand recent changes in search marketing and AdWords functionality, available via webinar series, learning center, or on-site training at Google
  • More challenging certification exams to test practical application of knowledge and best practices (rather than simple recall of knowledge)
  • Advanced-level exams to highlight competency in search, display, reporting and analysis
  • A redesigned Certified Partner badge, which includes a "Click to Verify" element so advertisers can view the partner's profile page for additional information.

For more information on the AdWords Certification Program or to create an account, visit theGoogle Certification program site and help center.

Helping advertisers find Google Certified Partners
Google Certified Partners can opt in to Google Partner Search, an online, searchable directory that helps advertisers identify Certified Partners that meet their criteria. Small and medium-sized advertisers who haven't previously used an agency have told us that evaluating potential partners can be a daunting task, so we think Google Partner Search will be especially valuable for them.

To show up in advertiser searches through Google Partner Search, agencies must opt in and fill in details about their core attributes and capabilities. Searches can be filtered by location, agency experience within a particular budget range, the types of services provided and the industry verticals an agency serves. Advertisers can then evaluate the list of Certified Partners that meet their criteria and contact the partners who seem best suited to their needs. To learn more about Google Partner Search, visit the help center.

Introducing preferred AdWords API pricing 
The Google AdWords API allows developers to build applications that interact directly with the AdWords platform. Agencies and developers of search engine marketing tools use these applications to manage large AdWords campaigns more efficiently and creatively.

Today, we're announcing preferred AdWords API pricing. This gives qualified Google AdWords Certified Partners who manage client AdWords accounts free use of the AdWords API based on managed client spend. To apply, agencies must have an active agency profile page and be compliant with the AdWords API terms and conditions. We'll evaluate applications for preferred AdWords API pricing based on the criteria listed here.

We hope preferred AdWords API pricing will encourage agencies and developers to experiment with new strategies, expand the functionality of their tools, and build more comprehensive client campaigns without worrying about increased costs. You can learn more about preferred pricing and how to apply at the preferred AdWords API pricing site.

We're looking forward to receiving feedback on all of these initiatives and to continuing to improve our partnership with agencies.

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