Hey—we've moved. Visit
The Keyword
for all the latest news and stories from Google
Official Blog
Insights from Googlers into our products, technology, and the Google culture
YouTube Rewind: What you watched in 2013
December 11, 2013
A Norwegian Army Dance Troupe. An Epic Split. The Fox. And a Rap Battle with an 18th century Austrian composer.
As 2013 comes to a close, these are some of the videos, channels and moments that shaped our year. While each annual list is unpredictable (what's up, Mr. Miley Cyrus impersonator), trending videos just get bigger each year. And with 80 percent of all views on YouTube coming from outside the U.S., the global community is driving pop culture unlike ever before.
You watched The Fox more than 275 million times, making it the top trending video of 2013. You also made it a
top searched Halloween costume
, and you’ll maybe even read it as
a children’s book
. You turned out in
record-setting numbers
to see PSY’s post-"Gangnam Style" performance. You even made more “Harlem Shake” videos than there are people in Manhattan (1.7 million videos if you’re counting).
To celebrate all these moments, more than 60 top creators on YouTube got together and made a little video for everyone:
Here are the top trending and music videos for 2013:
Top Trending Videos for 2013
1.
Ylvis - "The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)"
by
tvnorge
2.
"Harlem Shake (original army edition)"
by
kennethaakonsen
3.
"How Animals Eat Their Food" | MisterEpicMann
by
MisterEpicMann
4.
"Miley Cyrus - Wrecking Ball (Chatroulette Version)"
by
SteveKardynal
5.
"baby&me / the new evian film"
by
EvianBabies
6.
Volvo Trucks - "The Epic Split feat. Van Damme"
by
VolvoTrucks
7.
"YOLO (feat. Adam Levine & Kendrick Lamar)"
by
thelonelyisland
8.
"Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise"
by
CarrieNYC
9.
"THE NFL : A Bad Lip Reading"
by
BadLipReading
10.
"Mozart vs Skrillex. Epic Rap Battles of History Season 2"
by
ERB
Top Music Videos for 2013
1.
PSY - "GENTLEMAN M/V"
by
officialpsy
2.
Miley Cyrus - "Wrecking Ball"
by
MileyCyrusVEVO
3.
Miley Cyrus - "We Can't Stop"
by
MileyCyrusVEVO
4.
Katy Perry - "Roar (Official)"
by
KatyPerryVEVO
5.
P!nk - "Just Give Me A Reason ft. Nate Ruess"
by
PinkVEVO
6.
Robin Thicke - "Blurred Lines ft. T.I., Pharrell"
by
RobinThickeVEVO
7.
Rihanna - "Stay ft. Mikky Ekko"
by
RihannaVEVO
8.
Naughty Boy - "La La La ft. Sam Smith"
by
NaughtyBoyVEVO
9.
Selena Gomez - "Come & Get It"
by
SelenaGomezVEVO
10.
Avicii - "Wake Me Up (Official Video)"
by
AviciiOfficialVEVO
... see
even more top music videos
.
Check out the
YouTube Rewind 2013 channel
for even more top lists of the year from around the world, and stay tuned at
Google.com/zeitgeist
next week for Google's annual look at the people, places and events that captured the world's attention this year.
Posted by Kevin Allocca, Head of Culture and Trends
Feast your eyes on new works added today to the Cultural Institute
December 10, 2013
At the
Cultural Institute
we’ve been taking a break from our holiday shopping to feast our eyes on a different kind of gift—the gift of ingenious art that plays tricks on our eyes.
Called
Trompe l'oeil
, which means “fool the eye” in French, these techniques require complete control over every detail of size, color, light and gradation of color so that a two-dimensional work appears to be three-dimensional. You can see several examples amongst the
new content being launched by 34 global partners
today on the Cultural Institute and across our entire collection of more than
57,000 artworks
.
Enter the wonderful world of Adriana Varejão—or not, it’s hard to tell. Varejão’s
O Colecionador
(Inhotim, Brazil)
Trompe l'oeil has been used on things as large as a ceiling—like this fresco at the National Archaeological Museum of Ferrara which uses clever architectural form to momentarily confuse:
Don’t drop that lute!
Treasure Room Fresco
, 1503-1506 (National Archaeological Museum of Ferrara, Italy)
And as small as a vase:
Manufacture royale de Sèvres:
Vase "ferré" en première grandeur
, Vers 1765-1770 (Ephrussi de Rothschild Villa & Gardens, Italy)
Sometimes the trickery lies in the deft organization of the elements in the picture, like this one. Can you find the secret image lurking within this seemingly innocent painting of a young man and woman?
Bernardino Montañés Pérez:
Caprice
, 1891 (Museo de Huesca, Spain)
Other new works exhibit a similar visual trickery. This relic from the Qing dynasty comes from the National Palace Museum of Taiwan—does the cabbage look good enough to eat?
Unknown:
Jadeite Cabbage
, Qing Dynasty (National Palace Museum, Taiwan)
Or take a look at the
Musée
d’Orsay’s exhibition
of its unusual history, and then c
ompare the details of the former station to the indoor Street View imagery of today's modern museum:
The station d'Orsay in its heyday
. (
Musée
d’Orsay
)
The Musée
d’Orsay on Street View
From
Trompe l'oeil
to
archaeological artifacts
,
royal portraits
and
famous scientists
, there’s a lot to discover in the latest collection, which comes from all over the world. Enjoyed the visual trickery? See what else can you spot and tell us your favorite examples on our
Google+ page
.
Posted by Simon Rein, Program Manager, Cultural Institute
Join Santa and his elves in the countdown to Christmas Eve
December 4, 2013
After 11 months soaking up the sun in the tropics, Santa and his elves are back at the North Pole getting ready for Christmas Eve. In addition to making toys, they need to clear the snow off 23 elf homes, candy factories and command centers in
Santa’s Village
.
Santa's jet-skiing all the way to the North Pole from his tropical vacation
To join in the flurry of preparations for Christmas Eve, visit the Village every day through December 24. You'll have the chance to join the elves as they catapult presents and
race with reindeer
—and you'll be able to send holiday wishes to friends and family from Santa himself. The elves make a little more progress each day, so be sure to stop by the Village to see the latest.
Come back to Santa's Village every day to see the newest games and scenes
Meanwhile, a team of Google engineers are working hard to track Santa’s sleigh with the most advanced maps and holiday technology available. On December 24, grab some cookies and apple cider and settle down in front of your computer, phone or TV to follow the big guy across the globe with our Santa Tracker. See where Santa’s going, the number of presents he’s delivered, and what he’s thinking throughout the evening.
Keep up the holiday cheer across all of your screens. Once the elves approve, we’ll launch the Google Santa Tracker app for Android in mid-December. Use your phone for on-the-go flight practice with the elves or cozy up near the fireplace with your tablet to follow Santa around the world as he delivers presents Christmas Eve. If you have Chromecast, cast from the Santa Tracker Android app to explore the Village or track his route right from your TV. Or, worried you’ll forget the big day? Download the
Chrome extension
to count down to Santa’s takeoff while browsing the web for holiday gifts.
Help the elves get ready across all your devices
Download the Chrome extension for easy Santa tracking from your browser
Be sure to come back to Santa’s Village each day to find new ways to celebrate—and from all of us at Google, happy holidays!
Posted by Sandy Russell, Elf Creative Director
(Cross-posted from the
Lat Long Blog
)
Give back with the first-ever donatable Hangout-a-thon on Google+
December 2, 2013
As the holidays approach and our calendars become full, it can be hard to find time to give back to the causes you care about most. Tomorrow, on
Giving Tuesday
—an annual one-day event that encourages people to make donations to their favorite charities—we’re making it easier for you to connect with a worthy cause through the first-ever “Hangout-a-thon” on Google+.
Starting at 9 a.m. EST tomorrow on the Giving Tuesday
Google+ page
, you can join nonprofit organizations working to improve clean water access, eliminate bullying, and provide disaster relief in the Philippines. Learn more about their work, ask questions and connect directly to the people they’re helping. Celebrities such as Jennifer Garner, Chris Daughtry and Sophia Bush will stop by to join in on the fun, and you can also donate to the charity of your choice while watching the Hangout.
Here’s a preview of what you can do:
Connect with people engaging in relief efforts on the ground in the Philippines through Save the Children and UNICEF
Join conversations with the founders of Warby Parker and TOMS about gifts that give back, moderated by our partner Mashable
Get inspired during a morning yoga tutorial with the Africa Yoga Project in Kenya
Hear how the Malala Fund is working to promote education as a peace-building tool in developing nations
Participate in a quick coding lesson from Code.org, Girls Who Code and Code2040 and learn what you can do to support digital literacy
We hope you’ll participate by
watching the Hangout-a-thon
, donating to a cause you care about and posting about the event with #givingtuesday on Google+. And to keep the giving going throughout the holiday season, download
One Today
, our Android app that lets you donate to a different nonprofit every day.
Posted by Ramya Raghavan, Head of Politics and Causes for Google+
Solve for X: Help us work towards a radically better future
November 22, 2013
If we’re going to solve some of the world’s biggest problems, we need more people and teams to take on "moonshots"—audacious projects that create
10x improvement, not 10 percent
. Part of that involves encouraging and
celebrating
the audacity of the
attempt
. So last week we partnered with Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer to run a special session of
Solve for X
on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to discuss and debate audacious science and
technology moonshots
that could transform the world.
Neil Gershenfeld holding up a "Pop FabLab" with Nadya Peek as an example of how 21st century manufacturing won’t just happen in large factories, but out of portable briefcases like this one.
Solve for X is a community of individuals and organizations that work together to accelerate progress on moonshots—and what better group of people to work with than those already thinking about our country’s future? As Susan Molinari, our VP of public policy and government affairs, said at the event: "Policymakers are trying to solve big, intractable problems—and so are engineers. Engineers are tackling challenges that have no answers to date, and so are our policymakers.”
The D.C. event brought together a group of exceptional technologists, entrepreneurs, polymaths-at-large,
AAAS fellows
, Members of Congress and their staff. Pioneers in their respective fields proposed moonshots in manufacturing, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, and access to natural resources:
Neil Gershenfeld and Nadya Peek from the
MIT Center for Bits and Atoms
proposed setting up FabLabs to bring manufacturing back to America—and in a way appropriate to the 21st century
Theresa Condor from
NanoSatisfi
proposed an inexpensive way to give all students direct access to personal satellites to conduct their own science experiments and to transform adoption of STEM
Chris Lewicki from
Planetary Resources
proposed mining asteroids for natural resources
Majority Leader Eric Cantor (above) said in his opening remarks: “We work in a world of problems, that frankly, any given day somebody could tell you we’ve got a solution for—it’s just about summoning the will to try and actually accomplish it.”
Following the moonshot proposals, we broke into small groups to brainstorm resources, technology and people that could help make the ideas better and happen faster. At Solve for X, brainstorming means two-thirds "yes and"—creating stepping stones to build on an idea—and one-third "yes but—providing critical feedback on blind spots or suggesting alternate implementations.
Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer told us: “You have a psychology of creation. A psychology of ‘what can we imagine?’ And then make it be reality. And that of course is the kind of thinking we need.”
Solve for X co-creators Astro Teller and Megan Smith closed out the event reminding us that moonshots can come from anywhere—people of all ages and places, companies, academia, government, inspired experts, enthusiastic newcomers, even accidental discoveries. So join our 160 moonshot pioneers by
submitting
your own moonshot video, and contribute to our conversations on
Google+
and
Twitter
—we'd love to hear from you.
Posted by Puneet Ahira, Moonshot Evangelist and Project Lead, Solve for X
Check off your holiday gift list with Google Shopping
November 21, 2013
Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and if you’re like us, you still have loads of stuff to buy on your expanding holiday gift list. If you can’t imagine braving the crowds to get everything picked and purchased, don’t worry: our elves have made some improvements to
Google Shopping
in time for the holidays.
Find the hottest toys and get inspired with our holiday shortlists
We’ve curated holiday shortlists for top gift categories including
Hot Toys
,
Electronics
,
Google & Android Gadgets
,
Gifts for the Home
,
Gifts for Her
and
Gifts for Him
. For those of you looking for something to delight the kids in your life, here are some of the top trending toy searches on Google Shopping this month:
Rainbow Loom
Minecraft Legos
Monster High Sets
Doc McStuffins Playsets
Nerf Rebelle Heartbreaker Bow Blaster
And for those of us wanting to relive our childhoods, we’re also seeing many nostalgic toys making a comeback this year:
My Little Pony
Barbie Dreamhouse
Furby
Ninja Turtles
Easy-Bake Oven
Browse more quickly and easily
A new
shopping experience
on desktop, tablet and mobile makes it easier than ever to browse and hone in on items you want to buy, whether it’s a
camera
, a
ski jacket
or an
ice cream maker
. Click on a product to preview details like sizes, colors and description, and find out if it’s available at a nearby local store. If you see an item that’s almost perfect but not quite, click to view “visually similar” items.
Make your shortlist and check it twice
Shortlists help you keep track of products that catch your eye, compare them at a glance, and share ideas with friends and family. Your shortlist now also stays with you at the top of each page while you browse Google Shopping, so you can keep track of items as you go.
Check out the product from all angles
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine what an item actually looks like from the online picture. Now, for many items on Google Shopping, you can see a 360° view of the products. These interactive images bring you the in-store feeling of holding and touching a product.
Once you’ve got something for everyone on your shopping list, we encourage you to buy something for yourself. You’ve earned it.
Posted by Karen Corby, Senior Product Manager, Google Shopping
Bringing hobbits, dwarves and dragons to screens everywhere
November 20, 2013
You don’t need to be besties with a Wizard to share an adventure in Middle-earth—just point your favorite browser to
goo.gl/TheHobbit
on your laptop, phone or tablet to check out “
Journey through Middle-earth
,” the latest
Chrome Experiment
.
Inspired by the upcoming motion picture "
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
,” “Journey through Middle-earth” brings the locations and characters from the movie trilogy to life with a mix of modern web technologies. It was developed by North Kingdom in collaboration with Warner Bros. Pictures, New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures.
Your adventure
starts
on a beautiful, interactive map of Middle-earth. Zoom in to explore Trollshaw Forest, Rivendell and Dol Guldur (with more locations to come in the next few weeks). Click on each one to learn its history and meet the characters who inhabit it, or dive further to test your wits on a unique survival challenge.
The immersive 3D graphics in “Journey through Middle-earth” were built with CSS3 and WebGL, which you might recognize from
previous Chrome Experiments
. But “Journey through Middle-earth” is the first Chrome Experiment designed to bring this beautiful, 3D experience to mobile, thanks to
support for WebGL in Chrome for Android
on devices with high-end graphics cards.
The rich audio effects and sound manipulation are delivered through the Web Audio API, which is
now supported
on both Chrome for Android and Chrome for iPhone and iPad. Although WebGL isn’t supported on iOS, Chrome users can still experience most of “Journey through Middle-earth” on their iPhones and iPads. We can’t wait to see what sort of rich experiences developers will build as modern web technologies become available on more types of devices.
Circle
+Google Chrome
to stay updated as more Middle-earth locations get released in the coming weeks. You can also check out the
Chromium Blog
and read the team’s
technical case study
if you feel like geeking out a bit more.
Adventure is
a click away
. Just watch out for the trolls!
Posted by
Posted by Christos Apartoglou, Product Marketing Manager & Part-time Dragon-slayer
Labels
accessibility
41
acquisition
26
ads
131
Africa
19
Android
59
apps
419
April 1
4
Asia
39
books + book search
48
commerce
12
computing history
7
crisis response
33
culture
12
developers
120
diversity
35
doodles
68
education and research
144
entrepreneurs at Google
14
Europe
46
faster web
16
free expression
61
google.org
73
googleplus
50
googlers and culture
202
green
102
Latin America
18
maps and earth
194
mobile
125
online safety
19
open source
19
photos
39
policy and issues
139
politics
71
privacy
66
recruiting and hiring
32
scholarships
31
search
505
search quality
24
search trends
118
security
36
small business
31
user experience and usability
41
youtube and video
140
Archive
2016
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2011
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2009
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2008
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2007
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2006
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2005
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2004
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Feed
Google
on
Follow @google
Follow
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.
Follow
