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This year of Google blogging
December 31, 2007
Posted by Karen Wickre, Google Blog team
It's that time again, the end of a year - time to tote up Google's blogging activity for the last 365 days. First, a few bits of data about this particular blog:
Number of posts this year: 300
New product announcements: 15 (not counting our
April 1 release
)
News about upgrades and additions to products: 87
Announcing products in more languages and countries: 30
Acquisitions: 12
Unique visitors: 6,738,830 (for 8,655,830 visits)
Languages: 511 (preferred language configured on computers)
Top non-Google referrers: Yahoo, Digg, Slashdot, Fark
Beyond these basics, this year saw many more posts on privacy (9),
accessibility
(10), and
energy and the environment
(11). We blogged a good deal about Google's
people and culture
, our various offices around the world, and the pastimes and passions of Googlers (26, including 2
recipes
). We talked about
healthcare issues
that challenge consumers (5). There were competitions including Google Code Jam and events for developers, educators and others (29). Through YouTube, there has been much
political activity
(7) in the U.S. as well as in
Australia
.
The posts that elicited the most reaction in terms of views and linkbacks include:
- the much-discussed
"Gphone"
news
- our thinking about the upcoming
FCC spectrum auction
- what the
OpenSocial APIs
could mean
- how a
black screen
might not save energy
- announcing the
Knol test project
- building
your own Google homepage
Of course, there's more than business to write about. We celebrated
National Gorilla Suit Day
,
deconstructed the Valentine's Day doodle
, and then
a snake went missing
.
As for the Google family of blogs, there's been lots of growth this year:
42
new ones launched, for a total to 83 active company blogs. Increasingly, Googlers want to quickly and regularly convey product news and updates to various constituents, and blogs are a great way to do that. Among the most popular of this newest crop are the
Gmail blog
(nearly 1.5 million unique visitors), the Orkut blogs (in
English
- 3.5 million uniques; and
Portuguese
- 8.8 million), and
Google Lat Long
, with 824,000 unique visitors, which covers everything geographical. In addition, readers can now turn to new product blogs including those for
Google Finance
,
Google News
, and
Mobile
. Reflecting keen interest in activity outside the U.S., the YouTube blog had the greatest number of comments for its
June post
about the fact that YouTube is available in 9 more countries, followed by the August post
announcing InVideo ads
.
On the ads side: there are now 6 more non-English blogs for AdSense publishers (
French
,
Turkish
,
Japanese
,
Korean
,
Italian
,
Chinese
). The AdWords team opened blogs for
Brasil
and the
Netherlands
, Japan now has
its own Analytics blog
, and there are now
German
and
Chinese
versions of the popular
Webmaster Central
. (The most popular ads-related blog is the one for
Analytics
, with nearly half a million unique visitors, followed by closely
Inside AdSense
and then
Inside AdWords
.)
To keep current and share their work, developers got a raft of new blogs, too, including those focused on APIs for
YouTube
,
Checkout
,
Gears
,
Mashup
, and
Gadgets
. Needless to say, there are now also blogs for
Android
and
OpenSocial
.
Two new country blogs, for the
Czech Republic
and
Australia
, went public, to talk about all things Google in their regions. Yet more readers congregated around the new
Public Policy
and
Google.org
blogs, as well as one dedicated to
online security
and malware.
Despite all this activity, and the fact that a growing number of companies also host corporate blogs, the
Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki
(a collaborative project begun by
Wired Magazine
and SocialText) indicates that even today, just 46 of the Fortune 500 companies (about 9%), have active public blogs produced by company employees that focus on the company and its products. Let's hope in 2008 that number goes up. We think such blogs can serve users, journalists, critics, investors, and fans more effectively and directly than more traditional approaches. Apparently, so do 41,395,926 people around the world - the number of visitors to all of our blogs this year.
Google: the chainmail version
December 28, 2007
Posted by TJ Riley, Data Center Technician
From time to time we highlight the non-work interests and pastimes of individual Googlers. - Ed.
I have been working with chainmail, and metal working in general, for nearly 5 years now. I picked it up when I started college. My first major in college was history, and I was going to focus on the Middle Ages because of my fascination with the medieval period. After I changed majors to Computer Science, my hobby remained medievalism.
I have apprenticed under a blacksmith and learned some general metal working techniques. But I could not build my own forge then, so I turned to chainmail, which is a "cold" metal craft. Now I can take a bag of rings with me anywhere I go, and any time I have free time, I can work on whatever my current project is.
The crafting of chainmail is a relatively inexpensive hobby -- for the cost of a single videogame I can have enough chainmail supplies to last me months. The best part is that is requires very little thought most of the time, so you can multitask; watch TV, or movies, or even browse the web while working on chainmail.
A while back I was wanting to try my hand a chainmail inlay, but I did not have a design in mind. Most people make a chainmail shirt that has some dragon, or rampant lion design on it. I wanted to make something more unique. After a few weeks of thinking about this, I realized that I could use the Google logo.
I started construction in late April 2007, my plan was to only work on it while on my lunch break, or other downtimes. But I soon realized it would take me years at that pace. And the opening of our new office area was going to happen later in the summer. So I began to work on it whenever I was not actually doing my job. I spent around 4 to 5 hours a day every weekday weaving the banner.
Four months later, I had a completed banner, which now hangs in our office.
For the numbers-minded, here are some details:
The entire project is exactly 25,829 rings.
Dimensions: 67 units by 44 units (c. 66" x 27")
Rings: 1/4" 16-gauge aluminum; the silver is bright aluminum and the inlay uses colored anodized aluminum.
The entire thing is the traditional 4 in 1 pattern turned 90 degrees.
The year in YouTube politics
December 26, 2007
Posted by Steve Grove, Head of YouTube News and Politics
Candidates caught singing on camera
.
Dorm-room presidential interviews
. A martial arts master
endorsing
a presidential candidate. Citizen-created campaign
commercials
. And
two presidential primary debates
. 2007 was quite a year for YouTube Politics.
At this time last year, YouTube had developed a reputation as a place where
"gotcha!" videos
posted by citizens were changing the political landscape. Some even called the 2006 U.S. midterm elections "the YouTube election" after several candidates were caught on camera saying things they probably shouldn't have. But in 2007, that changed. Seizing the YouTube opportunity, presidential candidates came rushing to the platform themselves, setting up official campaign channels on our
You Choose '08
platform. Seven of the 16 presidential candidates even announced their candidacies on YouTube.
Candidates and voters now speak to each other through video. At their best, campaigns use YouTube not as a shrunken TV screen through which to distribute their soundbites, but as a window through which to have a dialogue with the American people. YouTube's leveling effect is this: anyone can upload a video with their political message, and the best content rises to the top through community view counts, rankings, linkages, and embeds. Any voter with a video camera and access to the Internet has the opportunity to be seen and heard.
Our two presidential debates with CNN highlighted this phenomenon. Eight thousand video questions were submitted for the two record-setting debates, which opened up a traditionally closed event to the rest of the world via YouTube. Time was, you had to be in New Hampshire, Iowa, or Florida to get access to candidates at a debate. With questions coming directly from voters via video, our YouTube debates helped to break down some of the geographical barriers that have so sharply defined American politics in the past.
So what's ahead in 2008? Things are only going to get more exciting. As Congressional and Senate races heat up, you'll see more and more candidates coming to YouTube. And as the presidential races narrows down to two candidates, YouTube will be a critical battlefront in the general election. With voters, candidates, issue groups, media companies, trade associations, lobbyists and activists all interacting on the same level platform, 2008 promises to be a true "YouTube Election."
NORAD tracks Santa with Google
December 23, 2007
Posted by Melissa Crounse, Santa Tracker
Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen!
We're counting down the hours until Santa's flight around the world. On Monday, December 24th, starting at 1 am PST, visit
noradsanta.org
to track Santa with NORAD on his annual trip.
NORAD will use Google Maps to track several hundred of Santa's stops in over 200 countries and territories, and will embed videos of Santa's stops captured on their
Santa Cams
on the Google Map and post the videos on the
NORAD Tracks Santa YouTube channel
.
Want to see more of Santa? NORAD will also provide a downloadable Santa Tracker file to track several thousand of Santa's stops in
Google Earth
. Santa's visits are only a few seconds long, and then -- poof, he's off to the next location. Click on the gift icons in Google Maps or Google Earth to learn more about the cities that Santa visits.
Happy holidays from all of us at Google!
A very special Christmas broadcast
December 23, 2007
Posted by Theo Luke, YouTube partnerships, EMEA
1957 was a very special year for the British Monarchy. It had already become an annual tradition for the monarch to issue a Christmas message to people in the United Kingdom and around the world. But fifty years ago this Christmas, Queen Elizabeth II's message was televised for the first time.
In her broadcast, the Queen spoke about the technological developments that allowed her image to appear in people's homes around the nation, saying that "I very much hope that this new medium will make my Christmas message more personal and direct. That it is possible for some of you to see me today is just another example of the speed at which things are changing all around us."
This Christmas, fifty years later, we are thrilled to say that the British Monarchy is embracing another new technology by launching
The Royal Channel
on YouTube. By setting up the first ever channel from a monarchy, the Queen joins other world leaders including the French President
Nicolas Sarkozy
and the
British Government
in using online video to communicate with people around the globe.
Right now, you can visit The Royal Channel to see
that first 1957 broadcast
, along with other rare and previously unreleased archive footage. And at around 3pm BST on Christmas Day,
this year's Christmas broadcast from the Queen appeared on YouTube
as well as on television.
We're delighted to welcome the Queen to the YouTube community, and hope that you enjoy the unseen treasures on her channel as much as we have.
Update:
Linked directly to the 2007 Christmas Broadcast.
Save some energy over the holidays
December 22, 2007
Posted by Bill Weihl, Green Energy Czar
Here's a suggestion for everyone to save energy over the holidays (and at other times!): turn off your computer and monitor or put them into "sleep" mode when you're not using them.
Why? The typical desktop PC uses 100-200 watts even when it's idle. That's the equivalent of 1-2 bright incandescent (read: inefficient) light bulbs. (Note: new PCs that comply with the latest Energy Star specifications consume less than 50-60 watts when idle.)
You wouldn't leave your car running for hours when it's just sitting there. Most of us wouldn't leave a bright light bulb burning for hours when no one is nearby to need the light. So why leave your computer on?
If you're leaving your office for the holidays, turn off your PC. If it consumes 100 watts, that will save 2.4 kWh/day, or over 25 kWh for the next 11 days through January 1st. In California, that will stop about 40 kg of CO2 from being put into the air, and save about $2.50. For every 1 million people who do this, that will stop 40,000 tonnes (metric tons) of CO2 from being emitted, and save $2.5 million. In many areas, it will reduce emissions even further, and save even more money.
The same issue applies at home: turn off your computer or put it to sleep when you're not using it. The automatic power management settings on most computers will put them to sleep automatically after a specified idle period.
If you use a screensaver, set it to "blank" the screen and put the monitor in sleep mode after a few minutes. Screensavers don't have any benefit (other than being nice to look at) on modern displays, and they consume as much or more energy as just about anything else you could ask your computer to do.
You might be thinking, "why now?" This isn't just an issue for the holidays, but this is a good time to remind people. In general, when you're not using your computer, turn it off or put it to sleep. Most computers can go to sleep quickly, and then wake up with all your work exactly as it was when you put it to sleep -- so there's no downside.
If you want to do even more to save energy with your computers and to help the entire IT industry move to higher energy efficiency, check out the
Climate Savers Computing Initiative
, which we co-founded last June to create a positive "virtuous circle" between the supply of and demand for energy-efficient computers. More than 140 companies, universities, governments, and nonprofits, along with thousands of individuals, have pledged to buy energy-efficient computers and to use automatic power management tools to save energy. As more people make the same commitments, the volume of energy-efficient computers sold will increase, and the very modest price premium they demand today should drop.
Have a great holiday season!
'tis the season
December 21, 2007
Posted by David Griswold, Google Blog Team
The holiday season is a time for reuniting with friends and family, reveling in
stories
and sentimentalities, cozying up to a cup of warm cocoa, listening to a fire slowly pop and fizzle. It's a time when we ease ourselves out of our
routines
, and have a moment to share our joys with those who are nearest to us. And the season affords us a unique opportunity to step back and empathize with people who face hardships
throughout the world
.
This season, Googlers everywhere are not only celebrating the joys of the holidays; quite a few of us have joined together to give back to our
local communities
. Whether it's helping kids craft public service announcements, contributing to
toy drives
, gathering donations for food banks, working with high schoolers on their college apps, writing get-well cards for sick children, or pitting teams of chefs against one another for charity, Googlers have made it a point to get creative.
We've assembled pictures from these events in this album, and encourage you
to find a way
to give back in your own community.
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