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What’s new with Blogger
March 14, 2011
(Cross-posted from
Blogger Buzz
)
2010 was a big year for Blogger. We cemented ourselves as one of the largest blogging platforms and the sixth largest website in the world,
according to Alexa
. Blogger users published more than half a billion blog posts, which were read by more than 400 million active readers across the globe. We introduced
template designer
,
real-time stats
,
comment spam filtering
,
mobile templates
,
web fonts
and
more
. And to top it all off, we were
dubbed
the most reliable blogging service around.
2011 promises to be another exciting year.
To start, we’re kicking things off at
SXSW
by giving folks a sneak peek at our next-generation user interface. The new design is not only cleaner and more modern, but it also uses
Google Web Toolkit
, delivering the latest in web technology.
Current post editor
↓
New post editor
Current dashboard
↓
New dashboard
We’ll also be showcasing our new content discovery feature that lets you uncover interesting and related content based on the topics of the blog you’re currently reading.
These are just a couple of new features we want to share with you. We look forward to unveiling more throughout 2011!
If you’re in Austin for SXSW, be sure to visit us at the Google booth—or come by and enjoy a drink with us tonight at our
annual Blogger bash
.
Posted by Chang Kim, Product Manager, Blogger
Post-earthquake imagery of Japan
March 12, 2011
(Cross-posted from the
LatLong Blog
)
In
response to
the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan, we’ve worked with our satellite imagery providers to get the latest available data of the areas affected most.
To view this high-resolution imagery, courtesy of our partners at GeoEye, download
this KML file
and explore it in
Google Earth
. You can also explore the imagery
with Google Maps
, or have a look at
this Picasa album
of before-and-after shots. Here’s a sample:
Before and after the earthquake and tsunami. Above is Yuriage in Natori, below is Yagawahama; both are in Miyagi prefecture.
High-resolution version of this photo
.
We’re working to provide this data directly to response organizations on the ground to aid their efforts. We hope this new updated satellite imagery is valuable for them as well as everyone else following this situation to help illustrate the extent of the damage.
You can find more information regarding the disaster and resources for those in need at our Crisis Response page in
English
and
Japanese
. You can also follow
@earthoutreach
on Twitter to stay up to date with our mapping and imagery efforts.
Posted by Ryan Falor, Google Crisis Response team
Assembling resources following the earthquake in Japan
March 12, 2011
(Cross-posted from the
Google.org Blog
)
I was in the middle of writing code when the Google Japan office, on the 26th floor of Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, started shaking slowly. The rocking gradually increased, and I looked out the window to see the surrounding buildings all swaying ominously. Although alerts from the building urged us to evacuate via the emergency stairs, I couldn't help but stay and search for information about the earthquake’s epicenter and scale. Amidst a series of aftershocks rocking our office, a small group of us in Tokyo and several other Google offices started gathering information about the earthquake to create the
Crisis Response information page
.
As someone who experienced the
Kobe earthquake
16 years ago when I was at university, I cannot forget the immediate desire for information. There was no way to find out where people's family and friends were, if transportation would be available to get us home, and most importantly, whether we would be able to find shelter.
This experience helped me remember that during a crisis, information about shelters can become increasingly muddled. Together with our Google Crisis Response team, we decided to organize existing public information from local governments about the concerned areas. Because of the very high volume of web traffic yesterday, this proved difficult to access. Collaborating with the Google Maps engineering team in Tokyo, we rapidly put together a
page of information on Google Maps
for our Crisis Response page.
And thanks to our colleagues in California and around the globe, within one hour of the earthquake we launched
Google Person Finder
, a tool to help locate missing people, in Japanese, Chinese and English. We published sites in
Japanese
and
English
with maps, news updates, videos and resources. We also posted tsunami alerts on the Google homepage for appropriate domains to make sure as many people as possible saw the warning. And in addition to these tools we've made available, we are donating $250,000 to organizations in Japan who are working on relief and recovery efforts.
Our hearts go out to those who have been affected by the tragedy, and we thank the citizens, first responders and organizations working hard to keep everyone safe.
Posted by Ken Miura on behalf of Google Japan and international Crisis Response teams
This week in search 3/11/11
March 11, 2011
This is part of a regular series of posts on search experience updates that runs on Fridays. Look for the label "
This week in search
" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.
When searching, sometimes you have a pretty good idea of what you want to see and what you don’t. With features like
Google Instant
and
Instant Previews
, you’re able to quickly scan results to find exactly what you’re looking for. This week’s changes continue to make Google more interactive so you can get to your desired search result even faster—whether you’re on the go, looking for videos or weeding out unhelpful search results.
Instant Previews for Videos
When it comes to videos, people want to spend less time searching and more time watching. That’s why we added an enhancement to Instant Previews—the ability to preview videos. Click once on the magnifying glass next to the title of any video search result in universal or video mode. For some videos, you'll now be able to play through a set of four short segments from the video to see if it’s what you’re looking for (video providers have to opt to make the previews available, so you won't find it for every video yet).
Example searches: [
roy halladay
], [
bi-winning
], [
heat vs. lakers
]
Instant Previews for Mobile
When you’re searching on your mobile device you want to find what you’re looking for fast. Similar to the desktop version,
Instant Previews for mobile
displays search results in the form of webpage snapshots, so you can visually compare results without having to go back and forth between websites and search results. To use Instant Previews, go to
www.google.com
on your Android (2.2+) or iOS (4.0+) device and tap on the magnifying glass next to any search result. You can quickly scroll across previews by swiping with your finger and when you find one you like, tap on the preview to go straight to the page. Try searching for [
honeycomb
] or [
how to poach an egg
] on your phone and preview the results to find what’s most interesting and useful to you.
Scroll across Instant Previews of search results on your mobile phone
Hide sites to further personalize your search result
s
Have you ever clicked on a result and come right back to Google to look for another one? Sometimes, this happens when the first result just isn’t quite right, but other times, it could be because the entire site seemed offensive or of generally low quality. Yesterday, we
announced
a new option for times like these, so you can further personalize your search results and block sites that you don’t find useful. When you click a result and then return to Google, you’ll find a new link to “Block all example.com results.” If you click the link and confirm it, the domain won’t appear in your future search results.
The next time you do a search that would normally return results from a site you’ve blocked, you’ll see a message telling you that results have been hidden from view. You can also manage your list of blocked sites from a
separate page
, which is accessible via your Search Settings, when you block a site, and when you see a blocked results reminder.
This week’s changes are designed to give you more control over the information you find on Google, so you can quickly decide what’s most useful to you and get to the result you need. Information has been exploding on the web for years now, whether it's real-time, video or blog posts, but one thing has stayed the same—your time. That's our inspiration for coming to work every day: to look for new ways to help you pinpoint exactly the information you need in seconds.
Posted by Amit Singhal, Google Fellow
Three years of Google + DoubleClick by the numbers, and video arrives on the DoubleClick Ad Exchange
March 11, 2011
In 2008,
we acquired DoubleClick
, and our efforts to make the display advertising landscape a better, simpler place for users, publishers and marketers began in earnest. Today marks exactly three exciting years together. The time has flown by, and we’ve made huge strides towards our goal, largely powered by DoubleClick’s technological and industry expertise.
Here are a few of the things we’ve achieved in the past three years: we’ve offered people
control over what ads they see
on the web, created a new way for
advertisers and publishers to buy and sell ads
, given publishers a powerful tool to
maximize the value of their content
, introduced a way to bring a campaign to life across the web with
instantly customized creative
, added a platform to
buy across ad exchanges in real time
, enabled
small advertisers to launch display campaigns
in minutes, introduced a highly effective way of
delivering ads to interested consumers
on the Google Display Network and rolled out video ads that allow consumers to watch
only the ads they want to see
(while letting advertisers pay for only the ads that consumers watch).
We realize that the display industry is
still complex
(we actually turned to the
laws of physics
to help marketers navigate their way through it). But we’re getting there.
A few numbers help tell the story of the past three years:
5,400,000: A rough estimate of the hours our engineers have spent working on our display business since 2008 (that’s equivalent to 616 years without sleep or rest)
33 billion: Our estimate of the number of potential customers that our clients’ display ads have driven immediately to marketers’ websites (to say nothing of the exposure, engagement and brand-building that these ads enable)
5: On sites in the Google Display Network, the number of times larger that spending on display ads is today, compared to three years ago (that’s like a toddler growing to the size of a one-story house)
We’re kicking off year four with another step towards our overall vision: the addition of video ad formats to the
DoubleClick Ad Exchange
. We’re about to start a beta test, allowing Ad Exchange buyers to run
in-stream video ads on YouTube
using real-time bidding technology. (We’ll eventually extend this capability to include additional video formats and will serve ads on more videos across the web.)
We think that video ads are going to quickly become an
even bigger piece of the display landscape
. And in our own survey with Digiday, about 20% of marketers indicated that they wanted to use
real-time bidding to buy video ads this year
. Combining the power of exchange buying with the potential of video will to help grow the advertising pie (or in honor of today’s anniversary, cake) for everyone.
We can’t wait to see what else the next year has in store.
Update
10:53 AM
: Fixed one of our estimates.
Posted by Susan Wojcicki, Senior Vice President, Product Management and Neal Mohan, Vice President, Product Management
A fairytale marriage: Google Earth and London in 3D
March 11, 2011
(Cross-posted on the
Lat Long Blog
)
On April 29, the eyes of the world will focus on London for the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, and the U.K. will deliver a royal celebration that will capture the imagination of a global audience. We’re doing our part too: following last week's
announcement
of new aerial imagery for London, we’re expanding our 3D imagery of central London’s buildings and trees in Google Earth—including the entire royal procession route.
With this new 3D data covering the royal procession route, you can indulge yourself in a “royals’-eye” view to see the same sights that William and Catherine will see. Upon departing
Westminster Abbey
, you’ll pass the
Houses of Parliament and Big Ben
, the famous
ministries on Whitehall
and the
Prime Minister’s residence
at 10 Downing Street. Traverse
Horse Guards Parade
, and from there, you can travel down The Mall—with
3D trees lining the route
—and see
Buckingham Palace
standing proudly at the finish.
This new 3D imagery isn’t limited to the royal parade route. Thousands of buildings are available, so people from around the globe can digitally experience the beauty of London. You can view buildings such as the
British Museum
, a treasure trove of historical artifacts,
Goodge Street tube station
, where General Eisenhower commanded allied forces in WWII, and
Shaftesbury Avenue
, the historical theatre district of London.
What’s more, we’ve also turned St James' Park, Green Park and Hyde Park into a
3D lush green carpet
, thanks to the help of our friends at the
Royal Parks
. We’ve modeled five different species of trees, and virtually planted more than 12,000 individual trees (available in Google Earth 6).
To see all the landmarks and greenery in Google Earth, check the 3D buildings box in the left-hand panel under “Layers,” type “London” in the search bar on the top left and use the navigation controls in the upper right to zoom in, spin around and tilt the view. Or you can go to Earth View on Google Maps in your browser.
Since moving to London from
Leek
, in Staffordshire, I’ve grown to appreciate all the royal and historic landmarks in the capital. So whether you’re standing near me and millions of my fellow Britons on the Mall on April 29 to catch a glimpse of the happy couple, or enjoying the spectacle from home, I hope this new 3D data for London brings you closer to this wonderful city.
A preview of the sunrise on April 29
Posted by Phil Verney, Program Manager, Google Earth & Maps
We want YOU-Tube: now hiring
March 10, 2011
(Cross-posted from the
YouTube Blog
)
Nearly six years ago, YouTube was created to enable people to create, share and discover the world through video. Today,
35 hours
of video is uploaded to YouTube every minute and we see well over 2 billion views a day. It’s been amazing to watch an idea become a platform that turned into a stage for hundreds of millions of people to express themselves. We now have
aspiring filmmakers
and
musicians building their careers
on YouTube,
activists
opening our eyes to global issues and individuals
telling their stories
in ways that only video can capture. And because we believe that technology and platforms like YouTube are giving rise to the most diverse set of faces and voices ever seen or heard in human history, us YouTubers really enjoy and feel proud to work here.
2010 was a bang-up year. And in 2011, we plan to grow the number of people working at YouTube by more than 30% (!), making it the largest hiring year in YouTube’s history. We’re looking for top talent from
around the world
. Why don’t you
join us
?
Posted by Jeff Ferguson, YouTube HR
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