Google Cloud Platform News

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  Fashionably Fitbit: New smartwatch designer accessories
  • sorangutan  

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  Fitbit launched its first designer accessory collection in 2014, infusing high fashion into technology to help with the widespread adoption of wearables. Over the years, we’ve launched a variety of collections from designers like gorjana, Kim Shui, Pendleton, PH5, Public School, Tory Burch and Vera Wang, that give you different ways to stay active, personalize your device and show off your style at the same time.

  
  

  Now, we’re pushing the boundaries between fashion and fitness even further. This fall we’re introducing two new stylish Designer Collections, plus more new Fitbit accessory choices, for Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 smartwatches. 

  Brother Vellies brings bold designs to Fitbit

  Fitbit’s latest Designer Collection features styles from Brother Vellies, a luxury accessory brand built on the ideal of uplifting artisan communities and cultures through design. The Brother Vellies collection is brought to life through a longtime partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), which creates unique opportunities for Fitbit to partner with emerging designers who blend fashion with innovation. 

  The collection takes a high-fashion twist on the iconic scrunchie, made with Horween leather. The lightweight leather bands are handcrafted with premium oils and dyes, and tanned through traditional techniques so they mold to your wrist and develop an aged patina finish over time. 

  The Brother Vellies for Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 collection is available in black and oak for $54.95 each, only on fitbit.com.

  

  Victor Glemaud’s newest collection for Fitbit celebrates inclusivity

  Fitbit has also partnered with Victor Glemaud for a second season, bringing a new collection of knit bands in an expansive variety of skin tones, giving you more ways to show off your individual style. Featuring gender-neutral elements and crafted with sustainable REPREVE recycled plastic fibers, these comfortable and versatile bands create a distinctive way for you to connect to your wellness through fashion.

  The collection introduces a metallic ombré band with shimmering flecks of varying nude shades that transition from light to dark. It also includes a metallic stripe band with a deep brown strip down the center of a dark brown backdrop with gold flecks. These new additions join Glemaud’s metallic gold/black and layered black/red accessory bands launched last year, for even more options to infuse his designs into your wearable wardrobe.

  The Victor Glemaud for Fitbit collection for Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 is now available for $39.95 each, only on fitbit.com.

  

  More colors and accessories

  Beyond these Designer Collections, we’re adding even more options to add a unique flair to your Sense and Versa 3 smartwatch style. First, Fitbit Sense is now available in sage grey/silver stainless steel, for a neutral, relaxed look for $299.95.

  And available August 25:
  
  

  • Sage grey is also joining our accessory collection as an infinity band, so anyone can bring this color to their wrist for $29.95. 

  • For those looking for comfort and convenience, we’re introducing hook & loop bands. These supersoft, plush bands will be available in charcoal and coastal blue for $34.95. 

  • We’re also introducing two vegan leather band options in sand dollar and seaglass for a refined, polished look for $49.95. 

  • Plus, we’re adding even more soft, breathable and durable silicone to our sport band lineup in blush/desert bloom and frost white/lunar white for $34.95 each.

  

  Want to learn more about Designer Collections for Fitbit? Discover additional details and showcase your unique style by purchasing Designer Collection items, other accessories, and new Fitbit Sense in sage grey.

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/fitbit/new-smartwatch-designer-accessories/
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  Why this engineer says you only need to be 80% ready
  • sorangutan  

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  When she was a student at the University of Colorado, Bhavna Chhabra was invited to be a research assistant on a project — and it ended up changing her life. “I was supposed to go back to India and get married,” says Bhavna. “I wasn’t going to pursue computer science.” But the professor who asked her to participate in the project had shown her an article about Arati Prabhakar, who’d recently been appointed the head of NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). 

  “This completely changed my mindset. She was originally from Delhi, India, my hometown, and that spoke to me. I saw myself in her. Twenty-five years later, here I am.” (Fun fact: That professor? His name is Mike Schwartz, and he’s also a Googler.) Bhavna, who’s an engineering director, is always happy to share her story — and here are three important lessons she learned.

  
  

  The most challenging times can lead to the best things. 

  In 2010, Bhavna was diagnosed with cancer. “I had no idea how I would fight this thing while continuing to show up as a mother,” she says. “I had two kids at the time, ages 6 and 8.” Bhavna tackled her frustration with the situation by giving herself the gift of trying new things. “My kids and I decided to learn to ski, climb and backpack,” she says. “We did it all!” Not only did Bhavna beat cancer, but she was promoted at the company where she worked at the time a year after her diagnosis — and her kids say it brought them closer as a family. 

  
  

  Share your passion. 

  In addition to mentoring women at Google who work all over the world, Bhavna also helps guide women in her community. “I use my megaphone in my public role as the overall manager of the Google Boulder office to reach out to women and girls at Colorado universities and high schools, participating in panels, speaking in small groups and classrooms and mentoring,” she says. Bhavna hopes that by sharing her non-traditional journey to Google, other women will consider pursuing STEM careers, too. 

  
  

  Don’t wait until you’re “ready.” 

  Something Bhavna’s learned is that there’s no such thing as the perfect time. “Just dive in when you think you are 80% ready,” she says. “And chances are, you’ll succeed.” Earlier in her career, Bhavna tried to plan things five or even 10 years in the future — but that rigid structure didn’t work. “Over time, I’ve learned to think about roles I want and be open to opportunities that arise that could help me get to that end goal.” 

  
  
  https://blog.google/inside-google/googlers/why-engineer-says-you-only-need-be-80-ready/
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  Cloud Covered: What was new in July on Google Cloud
  • sorangutan  

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  Google Cloud has stayed busy over the summer with new programs, events, tools and products making their introductions in July. Here are the most popular posts last month from the Google Cloud blog. 

  Making hiring more equitable 

  Last month we announced Google Cloud’s new Autism Career Program, designed to help the expanding cloud industry hire and support more talented people with autism. Working with the Stanford Neurodiversity Project, the program will break down common barriers for candidates with autism, and train Google Cloud managers and others involved in hiring processes. We’ll work effectively and empathetically with autistic candidates to ensure our interview processes are structured to include reasonable accommodations like extended interview time, providing questions in advance or conducting the interview in writing rather than verbally. Stanford will also provide coaching and ongoing support to our new Google Cloud team members with autism. 

  
  

  Expanding access to Google Cloud Next

  Our blog announced the opening of registration for Google Cloud Next, taking place from October 12 through 14. Our global digital conference is designed to be open and flexible, with the freedom to create your own personalized experience. Tune in for live broadcasts and keynotes about our latest launches, and learn how customers and partners use Google Cloud to meet their business challenges. Interactive, digital experiences and on-demand sessions that align with your schedule and interests will also be available, including dedicated sessions and programming for our global audiences. Next ’21 is free this year, making the experience inclusive and accessible to all. Register to get informed, be inspired and expand your expertise. 

  
  

  Connecting global customers to higher performance

  To help customers and the public sector in India and across Asia Pacific accelerate their digital transformation, we announced the opening of our new Google Cloud region in Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). This new data center joins 25 existing Google Cloud regions on our connected network, helping our customers better serve their users with faster and stronger performance for their applications. The new region will protect against service disruptions and will offer key Google Cloud products like Compute Engine, Google Kubernetes Engine, Cloud Bigtable and BigQuery. We also announced two new submarine cable systems linking the Middle East with southern Europe and Asia. The Blue and Raman Submarine Cable Systems will help Google users and customers around the globe communicate with friends, family, and business partners. 

  
  

  Securing the cloud with new solutions

  Last month we also announced a wealth of new security products and solutions that bring together the best of Google, help businesses address critical security challenges and deliver a trusted cloud:

  • Cloud IDS will help customers detect and respond to network threats. 

  • Cloud Armor Adaptive Protection uses machine learning (ML) to detect and block attacks targeting applications.

  • Chronicle will integrate with Google Cloud’s analytics platforms Looker and BigQuery to help with reporting, compliance, security-driven data science and more.

  • Autonomic Security Operations will guide businesses through the journey of protecting their assets from modern-day threats.  

  • Risk Protection Program connects our Google Cloud customers to insurers with specialized cyber security programs. 

  All these Google Cloud security solutions are designed to help businesses rethink, reshape and transform their security programs.

  
  

  Helping IKEA Retail (Ingka Group) recommend the next best purchase 

  Finally, we shared a story about how global retail giant IKEA experimented with Google Cloud Recommendations AI to deliver a more personalized shopping experience to their customers. Recommendations AI helped IKEA customers in two ways: 

  1. Customers found products that they liked and established their preferred choice among other options more quickly, reducing the number of clicks needed in their shopping journey and increasing IKEA’s clickthrough rate by 30%.

  2. Customers found attractive and complementary products that expanded purchases from a single product to an entire home furnishing solution, giving IKEA a 2% surge in average order value. 

  Along the way, Google Cloud was there to support IKEA’s testing. With their strong business results, IKEA continues to explore more places in the customer journey to use the options provided by Recommendations AI, which now powers most of IKEA’s site recommendations.

  That’s a wrap for July. Stay tuned to the Google Cloud blog for all things cloud.
  
  https://blog.google/products/google-cloud/cloud-covered-what-was-new-july-google-cloud-2021/
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  In person, virtual or hybrid: helpful tools for back to school
  • sorangutan  

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  As a former director at the largest school district in the United States, I’ve witnessed the challenges of preparing for the back-to-school season. It can be daunting to equip your districts, educators, students and families with the educational resources they need to go back to school with confidence. 

  We recently sat down with a group of school administrators from around the world to get a sense of what they’re thinking about when using digital tools to overcome challenges for back to school in 2021. Although the term “going back to school” looks different across different schools, states and countries, here are a few of the top things administrators are thinking about to help guide you when going back to the classroom, regardless of whether you’ll be in-person, virtual or a hybrid of the two. To find more tips for how to use Google tools this upcoming school year, check out our Back to School Guide for school leaders.

  Tools to enhance teaching and learning

  Ruth Yeh, a teacher and technology advisor at Taipei First Girls High School, said she’s thinking a lot about how different it continues to be “to conduct classes the way we used to, and making sure all students are given the attention they need to learn and grow.” Ruth said that using Google tools, educators have been able to connect with students in real time using Google Meet, or do daily check-ins on mood with Google Forms or Google Classroom. Nothing can replace being in person – but tech tools can help bridge the gap in the meantime.

  We’ve seen educators using Jamboard to have class brainstorms and discussions (all within a Google Meet!), where students can share ideas by writing and adding images in real time on a digital whiteboard. And for checking for understanding, Google Forms make conducting and grading quizzes easier – and can also be used for student check-ins. Educators are using Forms now to reach out to students with an emotional-health questionnaire and ask simple questions about how they are feeling… and then can set up time to talk to them afterwards.

  Supporting students and families beyond the classroom 

  “Parents and guardians are trying to help their kids with their schoolwork, but sometimes don’t understand the tools and devices,” says Femi Aina, Executive Director of IT at Atlanta Public Schools. The biggest issue: They had trouble finding Meet links for their children’s virtual classes. Atlanta Public School teachers and principals resolved this problem by providing the support and resources guardians needed to understand how to use Google Classroom and other Google for Education tools, including the Tech Toolkit for Families and Guardians video series.

  Providing students and families with supplemental resources beyond the classroom curriculum can help them understand how they can use Google for Education tools to support their education. Guardians can learn how to support their children’s education through Google resources like Google Families, Guardian’s Guides to Google for Education Tools and this information on setting up Classroom email summaries for guardians. For more support resources, check out our Help Center.

  Google’s commitment to data privacy and security

  Chin Song, Director of Technology at Milpitas Unified, told us that he’s planning on updating policies in Google Admin Console to ensure a safe learning environment, like the new age-based access setting, and making sure all of the district’s Chromebooks are updated to the latest operating system. And Ron Caroll, Manager of Instructional Technology at Chicago Public Schools, said in addition to customizing policies to protect students’ online learning experiences, it’s equally important to bring parents and guardians along during the process. 

  To inform guardians about their children’s use of Google Workspace for Education tools and how these tools protect their security online, Chicago Public Schools is planning on sharing information to help them learn more about Google’s privacy and security policies, like these frequently asked questions.

  By customizing settings and updating policies, schools can support safer learning experiences for students through Google Admin console. Leverage resources to help inform families about security and privacy like the Safer Learning with Google for Education Guide, Google’s security commitments, our Be Internet Awesome Family Guide and our Guardian’s Guide to Privacy and Security. 

  
  

  Stay up-to-date with your Google for Education products 

  Mark Garrison, Chief Academic & Innovation Officer at Breck School, said his previous team typically spent summers focused on Chromebook deployment, helping schools set up and manage their devices. And Chin Song said his district has a secretary that logs every single Chromebook in a consolidated spreadsheet when deploying devices, to keep inventory management efficient. This year, they’re focusing on not only getting devices ready for in school learning, but also preparing them to go home, too.

  Setting up and deploying Chromebooks ahead of the back-to-school season can help the return to the classroom be more seamless. For tips on how to set up new user accounts or pre-installing apps and extensions, check out the Chrome Device deployment guide for step-by-step instructions and this guide for sending Chromebooks home. 

  Regardless of how your school setup will look this year, our team is working to make digital tools easier and more helpful for everyone. For more best practices on heading back to school with Google for Education tools, check out Teaching Resources and our Google for Education Back-to-School Guide.
  
  https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/guide-back-to-school-2021/
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  Work profile delivers security and privacy for Trimble
  • sorangutan  

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  Editor’s note:Today’s post is from Frej Krook, Collaboration Community Manager for Employee Tools at Trimble. The California-based company builds specialized hardware, software and services for customers in the agriculture, construction, geospatial, transportation and logistics industries to help them better capture data in the field and improve efficiency and outcomes.  

  Keeping a global business like Trimble connected is no small amount of work. Our hybrid teams create solutions for a wide range of industries — helping farmers achieve better outcomes through data analysis, offering hardware for geospatial mapping and improving transportation efficiency.

  Android Enterprise is one of our keys to keeping everyone connected securely, combining strong security controls with the flexibility to get anyone the apps they need. It simplifies how we manage and protect the thousands of Android devices on our network. The vast majority of these devices are employees’ personal phones enrolled with the work profile; our data and apps are securely managed, while our teams have privacy over their personal data and flexibility to disconnect.
  
  

  The ideal BYOD solution

  We’ve long believed in the value of a “bring your own device” policy. When employees tell our IT team that they want to use their Android phone for work, you should see the big smiles on our faces. Enrolling a personal device with a work profile enables us to set up and manage the device with the settings we need, and the employee gets to keep using a phone they’re familiar with. Devices with the work profile are quick and easy to set up, with minimal impact to support time.

  From engineering to sales, marketing and field service, Android devices are key to our global team. Along with the Workspace apps they use to collaborate with every day, we push out our catalogue of more than 50 Trimble apps our teams count on to build client software solutions, test hardware in the field and help clients keep track of their logistics.
  
  

  Secure and flexible device management

  The work profile transforms our employees' personal phones into secure work devices while giving them the freedom to keep using them in a personal capacity. By managing the work profile through Google advanced endpoint management, we only control the apps and data in the work profile and don’t touch employees’ personal apps and data. Our IT team can enforce consistent policies across work profile apps that help prevent data loss.

  Employees get better balance by having the ability to pause the work profile when they wish to disconnect.  We also like that if an employee leaves Trimble or loses a phone, we can wipe the work profile with a few clicks in the Admin console. Any Trimble data is securely wiped, and the employee doesn’t have to have their entire phone erased and start from scratch if they leave the company. 

  The work profile gives a clear division between work and personal apps, which makes our security teams happy. By allowing users to access work apps on their personal devices, Trimble sees significant cost savings by not having to give each employee a phone just for work.

  Another major component to our flexible work success is Chrome Enterprise. With Chrome OS, our IT team has secure, fast devices that work in the cloud while also providing the flexibility to access legacy tools through Parallels Desktop. No matter where we are working, we have devices that are simple to manage with the apps we need.
  
  

  Building Android solutions

  Trimble also builds rugged Android smartphones to offer customers hardware that is well suited to demanding, outdoor environments. The Trimble TDC600 and Nomad 5 enable data collection and connectivity through devices that can withstand all-day use in the field.

  With Android, the devices can work seamlessly with our portfolio of applications and provide customers the flexibility to take advantage of the broad app ecosystem of the Google Play Store.
  
  

  Navigating return-to-office with Android Enterprise

  Android Enterprise will play a major role as we transition back to the office. With many of our employees choosing a mix of working from home and in the office, staying connected through their Android devices will be an essential lifeline to their work.

  We see Android Enterprise as the ideal device management solution for Trimble. Employees get a better user experience, and we spend less time on support. We believe Android Enterprise will continue to play a central role in our device strategy to give our teams the flexibility they want in how they work and to achieve better balance with their personal time.

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/android-enterprise/trimble-customer-story/
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  Kick off the school year with Google Assistant and Search
  • sorangutan  

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  Wherever your kids will be learning from this year, one thing is undeniable: The school year is fast-approaching. Over the past two years, my family's adopted a few new routines — some that will stick, and others we'll need to adjust. Here's how I'm using Google Assistant and the latest educational Search features to help keep my family on track and connected — while still making time for some fun.

  
  

  Make mornings more fun

  I already use Family Bell on my smart speakers and smart displays to help us stay on top of our routines throughout the day, with bells that remind me when it's time for family dinner or to water the plants. In several weeks, Family Bell will be available to ring on mobile devices, making it even easier to set up and use throughout your day. Also coming soon, Family Bell will offer new, customizable bells that will initiate a checklist on your Nest Hub. I’ve been testing this feature and it’s been a great way to remind my kids what they need to do before heading out the door for school in a fun way— things like making their beds, getting dressed and brushing their teeth. When a task is completed, my kids enjoy the fun, on-screen celebratory animations and sounds that appear. I’m also planning to make a checklist for bedtime since it’s been working so well!

  To start my own day, I’ll use a new feature coming soon that will automatically start my morning routine, check the weather and play the news, once I dismiss my morning alarm. To set this up, I’ll simply add "dismiss an alarm" as the start to my morning Routine.

  
  

  Feeling close to my kids, even when we’re not together

  For the first time in a long time, my kids won't be home with me all day. I made sure my family group was set up so I could have peace of mind knowing where everyone is during the day. I can say "Hey Google, where's my family?" to make sure they made it to school safely or are still at soccer practice. I can also send messages to the group throughout the day with Family Broadcast. When I head back to the office later this year and I’m running a bit late, I'll be able to say “Hey Google, tell my family: I’m leaving in five!” to send a message to our personal and home devices so they know I’m on my way home.

  
  

  Keep the learning going at home

  I always carve out time for story hour with my kids. For Harry Potter fans, Assistant will soon have new stories from Pottermore Publishing that you can access from a smart display or Android device. Just say “Hey Google, tell me a Fantastic Beasts Story” to enjoy the magic of the Wizarding World beasts. Discover a world map of beasts and wander the globe while you listen to audiobook highlights.

  

  Having grown up in various countries, it’s important to me that my kids have access to all kinds of stories. I'm thrilled that we've partnered with The English Schoolhouse, an award-winning, Black woman-owned publishing house, to bring more diverse teaching tools and stories to Assistant in the coming weeks. Soon you’ll be able to say, “Hey Google, tell me a ‘Tallulah the Tooth Fairy CEO’ story” — or “Hey Google, tell me an ‘Elijah Everett, Kid Principal’ story.” I’ll even play one of my favorite guessing games with the kids by saying “Hey Google, talk to Guess the Drawing for Kids” on my Nest Hub. 

  
  

  Discover more fun stories by asking, “Hey Google, tell me a story” or find other fun family activities by saying “Hey Google, teach my family something new.” (With a parent's permission, children under 13, or the applicable age in their country, can have a personalized Google Assistant experience, powered by Family Link.) 

  
  While my own young kids aren’t quite ready for advanced math, chemistry and physics, older learners can use different Search tools to understand complex concepts — Search’s new interactive periodic table is a great example. Using a phone or computer, these Augmented Reality and 3D models help anyone quickly visualize an atom. Zoom in and see the electrons orbiting the nucleus and the protons and neutrons that make it up.

  I can even brush up on my own Spanish with the “Live Translation” Assistant button in Search on my phone when I need to remember a specific word or phrase. 

  
  

  Hopefully this school year goes smoother than the last, but it’s a tough transition every year. These new tools can help make the switch to the school year an easy one for the whole family.

  
  

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/assistant/kick-school-year-google-assistant-and-search/
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  5 things to try with Wear OS on the Samsung Galaxy Watch4
  • sorangutan  

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  For over a decade, Samsung and Google have worked together to push mobile technology forward across smartphones, tablets and foldables. We both want to bring users the best experiences possible, and as partners, we love a challenge. And now, we’re ready to take our collaboration to the next level with smartwatches. 

  
  

  Smartwatches are the next step in mobile computing and we’re truly excited about the future of wearables. Today at Unpacked, Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy Watch4 with Wear OS Powered by Samsung. It’s the first smartwatch running on our unified platform.

  
  

  We’re taking what we’ve learned from Wear OS and Tizen to jointly build what smartwatch users need. Compared to previous Wear OS smartwatches, the Galaxy Watch4 features a 2.5x shorter set up experience, up to 40 hours of battery life, optimized performance with app launch times 30 percent faster than before and access to a huge ecosystem of apps and services.

  
  

  And there are more ways to get more done from your wrist with Wear OS. We’re introducing more capabilities and a fresh new look based on Material You design language for Google Maps, Messages by Google and Google Pay apps as well as launching a YouTube Music app. There are also new apps and Tiles coming to Wear OS for quicker access to your favorites. Let’s get into the details:
  
  

  1. Navigate with Google Maps on your wrist

  The Google Maps app on Wear OS will get you to your destination as efficiently as possible, whether you’re walking, cycling or driving. Turn-by-turn directions sent from phone to watch will help you to arrive on time. The watch app also syncs with Google Maps on your phone, and will show the home and work addresses you’ve added for easy access, as well as recent searches so you can start navigating where you want to go quickly.

  2. Stay connected with Messages by Google

  With the updated Messages by Google app, you can receive messages on the go and easily reply directly from your watch without needing to take out your phone. The Messages app on your watch syncs with your phone, so your conversations stay up to date. If you’re in the United States, South Korea or Japan, you can download Messages on your Galaxy Watch4 from Google Play. For all other supported countries, Messages will already be available on your smartwatch.
  

  

  3. Pay in more countries with Google Pay

  Easy contactless payment from your wrist has always been a part of Wear OS. We’re now expanding support for Google Pay to 16 new countries including Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine and United Arab Emirates, with more to come. You’ll also see the app’s revamped design so credit cards stored in your wallet are larger and easier to swipe through. 

  To use Google Pay on your Galaxy Watch4, download the app in Google Play on your smartwatch. Once Google Pay is added to your smartwatch, you’ll be able to see it alongside your other apps.
  

  

  4. Download and listen to your favorite tunes with YouTube Music

  YouTube Music Premium subscribers will enjoy access to more than 80 million songs and thousands of playlists on the new YouTube Music app on Wear OS. This standalone app is the first smartwatch app from YouTube Music that allows YouTube Music Premium subscribers to download music for ad-free offline listening, even without your phone nearby. The app also comes with the Smart Downloads feature, which refreshes the songs you’ve downloaded to your watch whenever it’s charging and connected to WiFi. You can even use tailored playlists for the perfect soundtrack, whatever you’re doing. 

  YouTube Music will be available for download to your Galaxy Watch4 from Google Play.

  

  5. Discover new Google Play apps and Tiles

  At Google I/O, we shared that we’ve been working with developers to bring richer, immersive apps to Wear OS. We also made updates to Google Play for Wear OS so it’s easier to discover and download apps. Now we’re introducing new experiences from your favorite apps to your smartwatch, including Calm, Komoot, MyFitnessPal, Period Tracker, Sleep Cycle, Spotify, Strava and many more.

  
  

  

  Many of these apps will also launch new third-party Tiles, so there’s a quick way to access the information and actions you care about most.

  This will all be available on your Galaxy Watch4 and Galaxy Watch4 Classic, available for pre-order in select markets today and in retail starting August 27. And for current Wear OS users, you’ll see some of these updates begin to roll out starting today.

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/wear-os/galaxy-watch4/
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  Best Trends forever: 15 years of Google Trends
  • sorangutan  

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  What were you doing in 2006? Maybe you were going through your emo phase. Maybe you were loving low rise jeans. Maybe you were mourning Pluto’s (temporary) demotion from planet to dwarf planet.

  Maybe you were checking out these trends — and plenty of others — on Google Trends, which went live in the summer of 2006. Though the tool’s data goes back to 2004, it became available two years later. This summer, Google Trends turns 15, so we thought it would be the perfect time to look back on trends of yesteryear and compare what people were searching for back in 2006 to today. 

  

  Happy birthday, Google Trends! Here’s to many more years of curiosity. 

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/search/best-trends-forever-15-years-google-trends/
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  Catching up on 15 years of Google Trends
  • sorangutan  

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  When we initially launched an experimental version of Trends 15 years ago, we pointed out ways people could use  data to look at things like ice cream flavor popularity  and singing competition contestants, or how much people searched for certain politicians. Since then, Google Trends has become an important resource for journalists, researchers, scholars, brands — and anyone else who wants to use it. 

  I’ve been working on Google Trends for almost five years as a Data Editor. I wanted to catch up with Yossi Matias, VP of Engineering and Research, who led the team that launched Trends. I took some time to talk about those early days with Yossi, as well as where we see Trends heading.

  

  How it started; how it's going.

  Simon: Where did the idea for Google Trends come from? 

  Yossi:Google Trends was initially an experimental tool in Google Labs designed to help us understand trends on Google Search. For the first time, we were able to leverage this aggregated data to better understand what people were interested in and what they were looking for when they came to Search. We realized how useful it would be to launch Google Trends as a full product providing insights into what people are searching for in the aggregate and make it available to everyone. 

  This was one of the first projects for the newly established Google site in Israel, and our team worked closely with other teams across Google. Our focus was on large scale data analytics, so it was exciting to build something that shared our insights with the world.

  

  The Trends team in Tel Aviv  in August 2008.

  Simon: Do you remember what launching it was like? What were the reactions like? 

  Yossi: Since the full public launch of Google Trends was  one of the first led by the Israel team — it felt like it really set a tone for what we would go on to do. I just remember it was exciting to be a part of this huge opportunity for learning and sharing about what people were interested in at large and small scales. I also remember being excited to see how Google Trends could be used to identify trends early — before they were huge, or how it could be used to predict what could happen as a result of something like a health outbreak or economic event. 

  Simon: How have you seen this tool change? Were there any updates that stick out to you?

  Yossi:As Google Search has evolved, so has Google Trends, starting with daily trends and the ability to organize data into categories. We’ve also added more languages,  better visualizations and expanded trends to include new ways of searching, such as Image Search and videos. 

  When Search started adapting to the semantic meaning of queries with our Knowledge Graph, Google Trends also brought entities to the tool so that Trends better reflects what people are interested in, regardless of the exact wording they used when searching. And as Search became fresher and more real-time, so did Trends — gaining insights on what’s trending “right now,” from sporting events to natural disasters.  Google Trends often reflect real-world phenomena in real-time and it’s become a basis for “nowcasting,” or predicting the present, for trends in economics, health and social sciences. Since its inception, we’ve seen Google Trends inform numerous papers across many research disciplines.

  Yossi: One thing I’m interested to hear from you is how you think journalists and researchers can best use Google Trends?

  Simon:The great thing about Trends is it’s the only tool out there that can give you both a real-time sense of what people actually care about as well as a view of how those trends have shifted over time. We’ve seen journalists use Trends to generate stories and to see what people want to know about the news to really compliment existing coverage.

  Yossi: I have to imagine working on Trends in 2020 was an unusual experience…

  Simon: It was an unforgettable year— but also one where Trends really felt like it helped us understand  the complex emotions and events we all went through. Health searches showed exactly what people were worried about as a result of the pandemic. And we also experienced the most-searched U.S. election in Google history, plus huge demonstrations around racial equity, which also showed up in Search. There was anxiety and insecurity around unemployment — which was searched at an all-time high. At the same time, we saw these really human searches around how to make things or how to help others.

  Yossi: Why do you still like working on Trends? What does it tell us about the world?

  Simon: It’s such a unique tool. It’s the world’s largest free-to-use dataset of its kind; it’s incredibly honest and reveals what people as a group really care about. There’s nothing like it.

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/search/catching-15-years-google-trends/
• 

  15 tips for getting the most out of Google Trends
  • sorangutan  

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  To celebrate Google Trends’s 15th anniversary, we took a look at what questions about it have…well, trended. “How to use Google Trends?” and “how does Google Trends work?” were among the most-searched. So we decided to answer them with these 15 tips to help you get the most out of the tool and uncover interesting insights. 

  
  1. Data by date: Google Trends can tell you what people were searching for at any date from 2004 to a few minutes ago. It’s also based on two datasets: historic (2004-three days ago) and real-time (past week). Real-time is more granular, right down to minute-by-minute.
  
  2. Trending versus top-searched:Trending (or rising) searches are those that are accelerating the fastest, while top-searched, or “most-searched,” are the most-searched queries in a specific time frame. Trending searches are useful for seeing how things have changed.
  
  3. Choose topics when you can:When you start on Google Trends, you get the option to either search for a “term” or “topic.” We recommend choosing “topic” when possible. Topics are language agnostic and account for spelling variations (and mistakes!), as well as multiple names for the same thing.
  
  4. Compare big places to small: How do you compare searches for the same thing in two different locations? Well, Google Trends normalizes Search data to make comparisons between terms easier. Search results are normalized to the time and location of a query. This means that Search results by geography are comparable, so you can see that the metro area most  searching for brunch this year is a tie between Charleston, South Carolina and Miami, Florida. Whereas the top metro area searching for breakfast is Panama City, Florida.
  
  

  5. Today’s trends: For a number of countries around the world, you can see what is trending each day. It’s also where you will get a sense of the volume of searches.

  6. Find out what’s trending right now: Real-time search trends are great for seeing what’s happening in the moment and in the context of news coverage. 

  

  7. Always compare:If you want to understand the scale of a trend, use relative comparisons to gauge popularity. Weather is one of my favorite topicsto use as a point of reference. It is one of the largest and most consistently searched for topics everyday.

  

  8. See how different places search for the same thing: This is one of my favorite hidden features of Trends. You can compare up to five topics or search terms, and for each one, you can specify the geography. For example, you can see how searches for COVID-19 varied in different countries around the world over the past 12 months.

  9. Trends can help us visualize common interests: Google Trends is truly a human-centric dataset. We search for what we are interested in. Even if those interests may feel obscure at times, you’re likely not alone in wanting more information on a given topic. Google Trends helps us visualize and explore our dreams, dogs and cats and even how to fix a toilet. 

  10. Trends are not polls: Google Trends is not a tool for creating scientific polls and shouldn’t be confused with polling data. It merely reflects the search interest in particular topics during a specified duration of time. 

  11. …But they can tell you a lot:The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) uses Trends to track GDP each week, in between its quarterly releases, to get a more granular view of what’s happening to the world’s economy.

  12. Autocomplete is not the same as Trends data:Autocomplete tries to predict what you're typing so you can get to what you're looking for faster. But because it's a predictive feature, we don't want to surprise people with predictions. So even though you can search for whatever you want, we have policies for what can appear in Autocomplete. Trends, on the other hand, is a tool where you can look up search interest in any query. Because you're typing it in and asking to see the results, we'll show you available Trends data for almost any query.
  
  13. See what’s Trending near you:Another interesting feature on Trends in the U.S. is the ability to see what’s been trending in a metro area without even putting in a search term. You can see what was trending over the past month, or even year. For example, here’s what wastrending in San Francisco over the past month.

  

  14. Download your data: Just click on the download button next to each chart. For a bigger dataset, check out this new daily trending searches dataset from the Google BigQuery team.

  15. And remember: Have fun with Google Trends!Around 15% of queries on Google Search each day have never been seen before. It’s a great way to peek behind the curtain at the constantly changing interests of people around the world.

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/search/15-tips-getting-most-out-google-trends/
• 

  How local news in Italy is using News Showcase
  • sorangutan  

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  Editor’s note: This is part of our ongoing series featuring local publishers from around the world using Google News Showcase, our new product and licensing program for publishers, showing  how we are supporting both their editorial and business goals. Read the first of our series, which comes from ADIRA in Argentina. 

  When the other founders and I looked to launch Citynews in Italy 11 years ago, there wasn’t a huge supply of local news online. We knew we wanted to have more local news available for citizens all over the country, to cover everything from local government to politics, schools, transportation and health. These are the stories that make an impact on people’s day-to-day lives. So after we tried a few different iterations and models, we launched Citynews in 2010.  

  Now, after just over a decade, our company is a local news leader in Italy, publishing 50 metropolitan online newspapers everywhere, from Milan to Florence to Rome, plus the national newspaper Today.it. Our team of over 250 journalists produces news that reaches 32.6 million unique users monthly and theCitynews team produces more than 1,300 articles per day. That’s more than 50 stories an hour! 

  To fuel our growth we took a data-driven approach to journalism, building our news stories on data from Google Analytics to identify topics that are of real interest to our readers. The data differs from city to city and our news article content adapts to that. Now we’re using Google News Showcase to further this growth and better engage our readers on both Google News and Discover.
  
  One example of a story that touched the hearts and minds of everyone in the country was the birth of Tommaso, the first baby to be born at the Martini hospital in Turin when the maternity ward finally reopened after closing for COVID-19. This was a wonderful example of the kind of local story that resonates with a larger national audience, all of whom have gone through the difficulties of the past 18 months of the pandemic. Our local paper Torino Today covered the story and our editors produced it for Google News Showcase.

  

  Examples of News Showcase panels on Citynews publications Firenze Today, Roma Today, and Milano Today. 

  One of the biggest challenges that comes with the scale of our organization is ensuring that we’re able to curate stories and highlight essential information for our local audiences. Readers are constantly inundated with news and stories can move quickly, making it difficult for people to stay on top of the latest developments. Our team of experienced editors and journalists use Google News Showcase to highlight the most important news articles of the day for our readers at scale. Not every story can be told in the same way, and it’s convenient that News Showcase gives our editors a variety of options on how to tell impactful stories, making it simple to link to additional articles to offer helpful context, provide a timeline of events and more. 

  Having the flexibility to tell news stories in a number of different ways and to choose which stories to highlight with News Showcase helps our editors present work in the best manner possible for such a dynamic environment, bringing editorial judgment to the fore for our readers. Our editors make multiple updates and changes each day to News Showcase panels, helping us amplify important stories as news changes. And we really like how the product lets us add in our unique branding, from our logo to our colors and font, to make our brands really known to new readers and enable them to easily recognize our news moving forward. 

  News Showcase also allows us to foster a direct relationship with our readers where they can follow our stories and hopefully become eventual subscribers of our news organizations, helping us to build more sustainable connections with readers. 

  News Showcase is an important milestone for the online news ecosystem in that it further supports the economic value of journalistic work. We are looking forward to exploring new ways to use the product to help our readers and partnering with Google on future feature updates. This relationship only strengthens and grows Citynews’ journalism and future. 

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/news/how-local-news-italy-using-news-showcase/
• 

  What’s new with automated bidding in Display & Video 360
  • sorangutan  

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  Automated bidding in Display & Video 360 helps advertisers improve performance by adjusting bids in real time to achieve the results they care about. Using Google’s advanced machine learning, it evaluates and tailors your bids for every auction to help predict the likelihood of a conversion.

  Today we’re introducing improvements to the automated bidding solutions in Display & Video 360. First, we’re introducing a new interface where you can set Custom Bidding multipliers without writing any code. Second, we’re adding support for pay for viewable impressions to outcome based buying. Lastly, we’re introducing a new report to give you more insights into how automated bidding places bids to hit your goals.

  Simplified setup for Custom Bidding

  Custom Bidding is an automated bidding strategy that allows you to assign values to different events, such as a conversion or a purchase. Marketers told us that Custom Bidding delivers great results because it helps tailor their bidding to their unique goals, but we also learned that they can’t always use it because they might lack the technical resources to build the required scripts. In addition to uploading a custom script, you now have the option to select Floodlight activities and assign them the value you want in an easy-to-use interface. For example, you can assign a higher value to high-value purchases, so that your ads are tuned to specifically increase revenue instead of driving more transactions. In the future, you will also be able to use Analytics 360 goals in the same way.

  

  Choose goal builder to assign values to different Floodlight activities and use them for Custom Bidding.

  Outcome based buying for branding campaigns

  Up until now, outcome based buying only supported performance campaigns by allowing marketers to pay per click for campaigns that use target cost per acquisition (CPA) or maximize conversions strategies. To make better use of your branding budgets, we’ve introduced pay per viewable impressions (as measured by Active View) for your display and video campaigns. This allows you to optimize for maximize active view. So you’ll reduce budget waste and achieve better performance by only paying for impressions that are viewable instead of each impression.

  Learn how automated bidding works for your campaigns

  We’ve heard that you’d like to learn more about how the automated bidding algorithm places your bids. We’re introducing a new report, Bidding Insights, that will give you more visibility into how automated bidding is working. First, you will be able to monitor what the average cost-per-thousand impression (CPM) bid is based on the likelihood of an impression to lead to a conversion or a click. This way you’ll see that automated bidding is increasing your bids for impressions that generate better returns for you.

  In addition, Bidding Insights will show you how many impressions you won based on their likelihood to lead to the outcome you selected for automated bidding. Bidding insights will become available after seven days of activity and after there is sufficient data to provide meaningful insights in all campaigns that are using automated bidding.

  

  Access Bidding insights at the IO level where the bidding strategy is displayed

  These new bidding features allow you to quickly adapt to consumer behavior by giving you more flexibility and customization for your bidding strategies across both brand and performance campaigns.

  This post closes our Display & Video 360 product announcements series covering new features to support your business recovery and growth. Stay tuned for additional updates on Campaign Manager 360 soon.

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/marketingplatform/360/whats-new-with-automated-bidding-in-display-video-360/
• 

  Giving kids and teens a safer experience online
  • sorangutan  

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  We're committed to building products that are secure by default, private by design, and that put people in control. And while our policies don’t allow kids under 13 to create a standard Google account, we’ve worked hard to design enriching product experiences specifically for them, teens, and families. Through Family Link, we allow parents to set up supervised accounts for their children, set screen time limits, and more. Our Be Internet Awesome digital literacy program helps kids learn how to be safe and engaged digital citizens; and our dedicated YouTube Kids app, Kids Space andteacher approved apps in Play offer experiences that are customized for younger audiences.

  Technology has helped kids and teens during the pandemic stay in school through lockdowns and maintain connections with family and friends. As kids and teens spend more time online, parents, educators, child safety and privacy experts, and policy makers are rightly concerned about how to keep them safe. We engage with these groups regularly, and share these concerns.

  Some countries are implementing regulations in this area, and as we comply with these regulations, we’re looking at ways to develop consistent product experiences and user controls for kids and teens globally. Today, we’re announcing a variety of new policies and updates:

  
  

  Giving minors more control over their digital footprint

  While we already provide a range of removal options for people using Google Search, children are at particular risk when it comes to controlling their imagery on the internet. In the coming weeks, we’ll introduce a new policy that enables anyone under the age of 18, or their parent or guardian, to request the removal of their images from Google Image results. Of course, removing an image from Search doesn’t remove it from the web, but we believe this change will help give young people more control of their images online.
  

  
  

  Tailoring product experiences for kids and teens

  Some of our most popular products help kids and teens explore their interests, learn more about the world, and connect with friends. We’re committed to constantly making these experiences safer for them. That’s why in the coming weeks and months we're going to make a number of changes to Google Accounts for people under 18:
  

  • YouTube: We’re going to change the default upload setting to the most private option available for teens ages 13-17. In addition, we’ll more prominently surface digital wellbeing features, and provide safeguards and education about commercial content. Learn more about these changes here.
  • Search:We have a range of systems, tools, and policies that are designed to help people discover content from across the web while not surprising them with mature content they haven’t searched for. One of the protections we offer is SafeSearch, which helps filter out explicit results when enabled and is already on by default for all signed-in users under 13 who have accounts managed by Family Link. In the coming months, we’ll turn SafeSearch on for existing users under 18 and make this the default setting for teens setting up new accounts.
    
  • Assistant:We’re always working to prevent mature content from surfacing during a child’s experience with Google Assistant on shared devices, and in the coming months we’ll be introducing new default protections. For example, we will apply our SafeSearch technology to the web browser on smart displays.
    
  • Location History: Location History is a Google account setting that helps make our products more useful. It's already off by default for all accounts, and children with supervised accounts don’t have the option of turning Location History on. Taking this a step further, we’ll soon extend this to users under the age of 18 globally, meaning that Location History will remain off (without the option to turn it on).
    
  • Play:Building on efforts like content ratings, and our "Teacher-approved apps" for quality kids content, we're launching a new safety section that will let parents know which apps follow our Families policies. Apps will be required to disclose how they use the data they collect in greater detail, making it easier for parents to decide if the app is right for their child before they download it.
    
  • Google Workspace for Education: As we recently announced, we’re making it much easier for administrators to tailor experiences for their users based on age (such as restricting student activity on YouTube). And to make web browsing safer, K-12 institutions will have SafeSearch technology enabled by default, while switching to Guest Mode and Incognito Mode for web browsing will be turned off by default.
    

  New advertising changes

  We’ll be expanding safeguards to prevent age-sensitive ad categories from being shown to teens, and we will block ad targeting based on the age, gender, or interests of people under 18. We’ll start rolling out these updates across our products globally over the coming months. Our goal is to ensure we’re providing additional protections and delivering age-appropriate experiences for ads on Google.
  

  
  

  New digital wellbeing tools

  In Family Link, parents can set screen time limits and reminders for their kids’ supervised devices. And, on Assistant-enabled smart devices, we give parents control through Digital Wellbeing tools available in the Google Home app. In the coming months, we’ll roll out new Digital Wellbeing filters that allow people to block news, podcasts, and access to webpages on Assistant-enabled smart devices.

  On YouTube, we’ll turn on take a break and bedtime reminders and turn off autoplay for users under 18. And, on YouTube Kids we’ll add an autoplay option and turn it off by default to empower parents to make the right choice for their families.

  
  

  Improving how we communicate our data practices to kids and teens

  Data plays an important role in making our products functional and helpful. It’s our job to make it easy for kids and teens to understand what data is being collected, why, and how it is used. Based on research, we’re developing engaging, easy-to-understand materials for young people and their parents to help them better understand our data practices. These resources will begin to roll out globally in the coming months.

  

  Transparency Resources: The Family Link Privacy Guide for Children and Teens and the Teen Privacy Guide

  
  

  Ongoing work and engagement

  We regularly engage with kids and teens, parents, governments, industry leaders, and experts in the fields of privacy, child safety, wellbeing and education to design better, safer products for kids and teens. Having an accurate age for a user can be an important element in providing experiences tailored to their needs. Yet, knowing the accurate age of our users across multiple products and surfaces, while at the same time respecting their privacy and ensuring that our services remain accessible, is a complex challenge. It will require input from regulators, lawmakers, industry bodies, technology providers, and others to address it – and to ensure that we all build a safer internet for kids.
  

  
  
  https://blog.google/technology/families/giving-kids-and-teens-safer-experience-online/
• 

  Discover and Support Local Bookstores with Google Maps
  • sorangutan  

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  Today is National Book Lovers’ Day in the U.S. Since we’ll take any excuse to celebrate our love of the written word, we’ve pulled together top U.S. trends from Search and Maps for our fellow bibliophiles out there, along with tips to hunt down local bookstores that are worth, well, bookmarking. 🔖

  Page-turning book trends 

  • Searching with more than the Dewey Decimal system: So far this year we’ve seen millions of book-related searches on Google Maps — with searches peaking on July 11 when they were up 111% from the same day in 2020. Beach reads anyone?
  • Sweet escape: This year, we’ve been looking to books to transport us to another time, place and world. The top five genres on Google Search for "Best ... books” have included fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, historical fiction and fiction so far in 2021. Meanwhile, others are looking to make this world a little better with “love,” “life,” and “mental health” among the top Google searches for “Books about…” in 2021.
  • Heroes and villains: Who says comics books don’t count? More than 40 states have at least one comic book store among their top ten searched bookstores. Florida leads the pack, with eight comic book stores in its top ten most-searched bookstores on Google Maps.

  Give it up for local bookstores 

  Now that you have some literary inspiration for your next read, here’s some tips to track down and support independent bookstores near you. And don’t worry, if you’re wondering where you are going to store and display your latest novels — you’re not alone. In January, search interest for “bookcase” hit an all time high. Here’s tips to keep those home libraries growing while showing some local bookstore love.

  1. Discover bookstores near you and save to lists for a future visit. Only halfway through your most recent read, but itching to discover a spot to buy your next one? Use the Explore tab on the Google Maps app to search for bookstores near you. Scroll through the list of local favorites to find information like reviews, hours, location, and even if a bookstore is black-owned or LGBTQ friendly via the attributes on their Business Profile. Once you find a place you love, tap the Save button to add it to an existing list or start a new one for future you.
  2. Follow others on Google Maps for their recommendations.Want to stay in the loop on the newest local bookstores on the block or which book shop has the best used book selection? You can follow bookstore lovers or Local Guides with a literary lean on Google Maps to easily find their recent reviews, recommendations, or photos right in your Updates tab. To follow public profiles simply tap the “follow” button on someone’s profile and get updated when they post reviews or photos. To get you started here’s recommendations from Local Guides on both coasts. If you're in New York City, Local Guides love Book Culture; and for those in Los Angeles some recommend The Book Jewel.
  3. Show love for local bookstores. Leave reviews, add photos, update hours or other missing details about your favorite book stores so other bookworms can discover and learn about the spots you love.

  
  
  https://blog.google/products/maps/national-book-lovers-day-google-maps-trends-tips/
• 

  Inspired by her ancestors, artist Ryhia Dank creates Pixel wallpapers
  • sorangutan  

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  We respect and honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past and present. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and commit to building a brighter future together. 

  At Google, we have a vision of empowerment and equitable opportunity for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and commit to building Reconciliation through Google’s technology, platforms and people.

  Today is the United Nations International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. In acknowledgement of the day and as a reflection of Indigenous Peoples contributions to our world, Google is launching a collection of new wallpapers on Pixel devices. These wallpapers were designed by Ryhia Dank – a Gudanji and Wakaja woman from Garranjini in the Northern Territory, Australia – whose paintings tell stories and pay respects to her heritage. 

  Pixel’s Curated Culture collection of wallpapers celebrate different cultural moments throughout the year, and this collection includes colorful images that represent Ryhia’s story and land. We sat down with Ryhia to hear how her Country and ancestors inspire her work. 

  • Regenerate Wallpaper on Pixel 5

    "Burning off on country sees a contrast of red earth, black trees and green growth.” Painted by nardurna, Gudanji, NT Australia

  • Waterways Wallpaper on Pixel 5

    “Country has its fill of water, rivers and creeks are flowing creating new pathways.” Painted by nardurna, Gudanji, NT Australia

  • Elements Wallpaper on Pixel 5

    “This piece reflects People, Kangaroo Tracks, Water, Fire and Earth. All coexisting.” Painted by nardurna, Gudanji, NT Australia

  Ryhia, tell us a bit about yourself and where you’re from. 

  I am from Garranjini (Barkly Tablelands, Northern Territory, Australia) and my Kujiga is connected to Marrambarna songline. I am a Gudanji and Wakaja woman. 

  
  

  So much of your artwork and the Pixel wallpapers you created are focused on the elements and the earth. What are you finding inspiration in now with the world around you? 

  I find it very interesting the way the environment comes and goes into favor and the disjoint between human bodies and the earth body. As a Black woman, my body is as entangled with my Country as it is possible to be and it is also that entwined relationship that inspires me. If we think about the amazing body which is the earth, that body is the first one which we should always hold sacred. Once we damage that body, the damage to our human body is tenfold. I am inspired by the earth body — the whole of the earth body and not just my backyard. My Country inspires the grounding and informs my knowledge and acts of recording my storywork.

  
  

  You call your painting “storywork.” What stories inspired you to create these wallpapers?

  My ancestors didn't make art. They produced images and icons which told stories and taught us who and how we are. There is an important shift in aesthetics in the understanding that my images are storywork. My images act in the same way that an alphabet does — they hold secret and not-so-secret knowledge.

  What wallpaper is on your phone? 

  My current wallpaper is actually a collection of stickers I sell; they’re a part of a campaign I started to raise awareness of fracking on my Traditional land, something that directly impacts my Country. 

  
  

  However, if I were to choose one of my Pixel artworks as a wallpaper, I would have Waterways. This one reminds me of fishing with my Mimi as a child on Country, a memory I treasure. 

  
  Check out more of Ryhia’s work and try out the latest Curated Culture wallpapers on your Pixel today.
  
  https://blog.google/products/pixel/artist-ryhia-dank-creates-pixel-wallpapers/
• 

  How Olympians at Google handle hurdles at work
  • sorangutan  

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  ^{Clockwise, from top left: Kate Johnson, 2004 Olympics; Timothy Goebel, 2002 Olympics; Aleksandra Jarmolińska, 2020-2021 Olympics; Natalie Dell O’Brien, 2012 Olympics; Petri Kokko, 1994 Olympics; Matt Brittin, 1988 Olympics}

  
  

  Professional athletes are resilience experts. They’re constantly pushing their minds and bodies to new limits, all while staying motivated to reach their goals and tackle new challenges. If you don’t believe me, ask Matt Brittin. Matt is Google’s President of EMEA Business and Operations — as well as a former Olympian. Matt competed in the 1988 Olympics on the U.K. men’s rowing team, and he’s tapped into what got him to that stage in this last year. “We’re in a state of long term uncertainty and building resilience takes knowing yourself well and takes time,” he says. “It’s all about how you manage your energy and approach the unknown.”

  As this year’s games come to a close, we asked Matt and several of other former Olympian Googlers to share how their experiences helped them in the workplace. 
  
  

  Petri Kokko - Country Sales Director of Brands, former Olympic figure skater

  “Giving your maximum doesn't help you achieve optimal results, but working optimally will help you achieve your maximum effort,” says Petri, who represented Finland in figure skating at the 1992 and 1994 Olympics. “And often people, especially motivated people, think that the more they work the more they achieve and that's not the case. We’re not trying to achieve our best tomorrow, we’re trying to develop ourselves over the years.” 

  Petri falls back on his training to find a healthy work-life balance. He builds variation into his calendar, making sure some days and weeks are lighter, so he doesn’t burn out and can give his best over the long term. As an Olympic athlete, Petri learned the value of rest and recovery to avoid injuries and to deal with stress. At Google, mental health and wellbeing are highly valued, and these resources were expanded over the last year. 

  Aleksandra Jarmolińska - Cloud Software Engineer, former Olympic sports shooter

  Calling Aleksandra a “former” Olympian is nearly a misnomer — she just competed in this year’s games in Tokyo, as well as back in 2016. “I interviewed for my role at Google during the same month that I qualified for the Tokyo Games,” she says. Fresh off her competition, she says  an important lesson she’s learned in her athletic career that translates to work is to keep trying. “This may be a bit of a cliche, but I always appreciated Samuel Beckett’s philosophy of: ‘Try. Fail. Persist. Fail better.’”

  In sports shooting, she explains, you can’t necessarily succeed with athleticism, you need to step back, clear your head and adapt. “This applies to lots of things — programming included,” Aleksandra says. “I cannot count the times I’ve started from scratch on some feature I worked on.”

  Related Article

  An Olympian-turned-Googler trains the next generation of figure skaters

  Timothy Goebel won the bronze in figure skating before heading to Google. Now, he’s using his Olympic expertise for a great cause.

  Read Article

  Timothy Goebel - Marketing Mix Modeling Partner Manager, former Olympic figure skater

  “It’s important to adapt instead of just giving up when things are challenging,” says Timothy, who won a bronze medal in figure skating for the U.S. in 2002.  “It’s about finding small wins, like effectively communicating with stakeholders and finding the humanity in each other. At the end of the day, we’re all teammates!” A strong, supportive community is just as important as the training itself, he says. 

  
  

  Natalie Dell O’Brien - Head of Industry for U.S. Financial Services, former Olympic rower

  “We see Olympians as individuals, but you might not realize there’s a village of people they put into their orbit to support them,” says Nataile, who won the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the quadruple rowing event for the United States. 

  Like Petri, Natalie recalls her Olympic training schedule when tackling business planning, breaking things down into “digestible training blocks” and communicating smaller milestones with her team. But Natalie says her support system was  equally important to her professional athletic career and she continues to build a similar network at Google.  

  “Some of the smartest decisions and biggest leaps in performance I made in my rowing career were made possible because I leaned on others for help,” Natalie said. “ And any time I’m up against a challenge at work, I remember that even Olympic athletes have ‘phone a friend’ moments. Vulnerability can lead to better performance.”

  10:25

  Kate Johnson - Marketing Director of Partnerships, Content & Sports Media, former Olympic rower

  Kate, an American rower who won silver in 2004, joined Google during the pandemic, and it was challenging to virtually learn the culture and team dynamics. But she relied on the resiliency and prioritizing powers she’d honed as an athlete. 

  “In rowing, there’s a tipping point where the harder you try to get out of a performance slump, the worse you perform. It’s a tricky balance,” Kate says. “When I'm in a rut like this, the solution isn’t to try harder. Instead, in these moments, it's more important to go for a hike, or go for a run, clear your mind, whatever…then come back with a different mindset.” 

  Kate said she feels grateful to work at a company that prioritizes the overall health of its employees, which became increasingly important when Kate was diagnosed with breast cancer in May of this year. Kate makes use of Google's flexible leave offerings to manage her health, while communicating with her stakeholders to set expectations in a time when she needs to focus on her personal health and wellbeing. As Kate puts it, “remember that our personal worth is not tied to performance.” 

  
  
  https://blog.google/inside-google/googlers/how-olympians-google-handle-hurdles-work/
• 

  A Matter of Impact: July updates from Google.org
  • sorangutan  

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  Unlike other forms of funding, philanthropy is in a position to take risky, long-term bets on solutions to society’s biggest challenges. Government funding generally needs to show taxpayers that money is going to proven solutions, and private investors tend to operate on short timelines and have to make financial returns. That’s why some call philanthropy “society’s risk capital’; it can put impact first and be patient about the results. 

  Google has a big appetite for risky bets, or, as we call them, “moonshots.” This approach has led to some of our biggest successes — from search to self-driving cars to translation. And, of course, some failures along the way. We’ve tried to take the same approach at Google.org,  looking for places where we can direct risk capital toward big problems, often by helping organizations capture the potential of new technologies like artificial intelligence.  

  Through our Google.org Impact Challenges, for example, we invite social innovators of any size to give us their best ideas for transformative impact and we make sizable contributions of time and money to help them grow. Some of these bets have gone on to become the largest and fastest-growing nonprofit organizations in the world, like Give Directly, Khan Academy, and Equal Justice Initiative. And some have even failed. But through the success and failures, we’ve learned a lot:

  
  

  • There’s a place for risk and a place for sure bets: In our early days nearly everything we funded was in this category of risk capital, which made it tough to have steady, reliable impact or manage multi-year programs. We’ve shifted to a portfolio approach, carving out space for true risk capital and supporting immediate needs such as housing, food, and clean water. 
    

  • Bet on the team and roll with the punches:Even good ideas fail, but a strong team will roll with the punches and continue iterating to find success. By establishing shared outcome goals in partnership with amazing people, we’ve been able to achieve great results — even when the initial idea foundered.
    

  • Invest in what you know:For us, that expertise often involves technology, which is why so many of our best examples have technology at their core.

  • Give adequate and flexible resources:Too often projects fail because they’re under-funded or funders too constrained in their use of money to make changes when a project takes an unexpected turn. Multi-year, general operating support is generally the right move with risky bets, and we aim to be generous in our support of both time and resources. 

  For a perspective from the other side, read on for how some of our Google Impact Challenge grantees were able to have outsized impact after we bet on them at ‘risky’ stages of their development. 

  In case you missed it 

  Speaking of Impact Challenges, we recently unveiled the 13 grantee organizations for the Google.org Impact Challenge Central and Eastern Europe. Funding recipients include a group working to create opportunities for people who are Deaf or hearing impaired, an organization running science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics (STEAM) courses for children in foster care, and a team creating coding courses for LGBTQ+ people in Lithuania.
  

  Hear from one of our grantees: TalkingPoints

  

  Heejae Lim, Founder and CEO of TalkingPoints.
  

  Heejae Lim is the Founder and CEO of TalkingPoints, an AI-powered multilingual platform that helps teachers and families stay connected via text message and an easy-to-use-mobile app. TalkingPoints received a $1.5 million Google AI Impact Challenge grant and support from Google.org Fellows in 2019 to help grow.  The support came at just the right time. Due to COVID-19, school closures and distance learning rapidly accelerated demand for TalkingPoints. They went from serving 500,000 teachers, families and students to the more than three million people they reach today.

  
  

  “As an edtech nonprofit, TalkingPoints draws on research-based practices and invests in high-impact initiatives that may require a lot of resources and time. For example, maintaining high-quality, two-way translation in 100+ languages requires a significant and sustained level of investment. With support from the Google.org Impact Challenge and a team of Google.org Fellows, TalkingPoints has made strides in our ability to leverage AI technologies to support effective communication and stronger family-school partnerships among multilingual communities across the country. Just last year, we achieved 100 million messages exchanged on TalkingPoints, and the messages translated represented 99.8% of languages other than English spoken in the U.S. Now, we’re growing to help tens of millions of teachers and families successfully eliminate common barriers to supporting children's learning including language, time and more. We would not be able to achieve this level of reach and success without partners like Google.org taking the risk to invest.”

  A few words with a Google.org Fellow: Open Food Facts
  

  

  Mélanie Gancel, a Google.org Fellow with Open Food Facts.
  

  Mélanie Gancel is a product marketing manager at Google who participated in a Google.org Fellowship with Open Food Facts, a food product database that lists ingredients, allergens, nutritional composition, and all of the information on food labels. 

  “I was born and raised in Paris in an urban environment, but have always felt a deep attachment to nature and desire to protect the environment. I’m always on the lookout for ways to align my job as a Product Marketing Manager on the Search team to work that will help people make more sustainable choices. So when I heard about the Google.org Fellowship with Open Food Facts, a recent grantee from the Google.org Impact Challenge on Climate, I was immediately on board. During my time with Open Food Facts, I’ve learned uncertainty around food choices is one of the main barriers to living more sustainably and that food accounts for more than a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. We’re helping them build an app that will give consumers a simple food eco-score to understand the environmental footprint of grocery store goods and make informed choices about how purchases affect the sustainability of the world around us.”

  
  
  https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-org/matter-impact-july-updates-googleorg/
• 

  Ask a Techspert: How do you build a chatbot?
  • sorangutan  

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  Chatbots have become a normal part of daily life, from that helpful customer service pop-up on a website to the voice-controlled system in your home. As a conversational AI engineer at Google, Lee Boonstra knows everything about chatbots. When the pandemic started, many of the conferences she spoke at were canceled, which gave Lee the time to put her knowledge into book form. She started writing while she was pregnant, and now, along with her daughter Rebel, she has this book: The Definitive Guide to Conversational AI With Dialogflow and Google Cloud. 

  
  

  Lee, who lives and works in Amsterdam, is donating the proceeds of her royalties to Stichting Meer dan Gewenst, a nonprofit organization that helps people in the LGBTQ+ community who want to have children. The charity is close to her heart; as an LGBTQ+ parent herself, she wants others like her to have a chance at the joy she feels with her daughter. 

  
  

  The book itself is for anyone interested in using chatbots, from developers to project managers and CEOs. Here she speaks to The Keyword about the art (and science) behind building a chatbot. 

  
  

  What exactly is a chatbot?

  A chatbot is a piece of software designed to simulate online conversations with people. Many people know chatbots as a chat window that appears when you open a website, but there are more forms — for instance, there are chatbots that answer questions via social media, and the voice of the Google Assistant is a chatbot. Chatbots have been around since the early computing days, but computers, they’ve only recently become more mainstream. That has everything to do with machine learning and natural language understanding. 

  Old-school chatbots required you to formulate your sentences carefully. If you said things differently, the chatbot wouldn't know how to answer. If you made a spelling mistake, the bot would run amok! But there are many different ways to say something. A chatbot built with natural language understanding can understand a specific piece of text and then retrieve a specific answer to your question. It doesn't matter if you spell it wrong or say things differently. 

  
  

  What benefits can the use of chatbots offer companies?
  A chatbot works quickly, knows (almost) everything and is available 24/7. That basically makes it the ideal customer service representative. The customer no longer has to wait, the company saves money and the employees experience less stress. As a customer, you get a chatbot on the phone that listens to your question and can answer like a human thanks to speech technology. This way, most customers already receive the answers they need. If the chatbot doesn’t know the answer, it can transfer them to an employee. The customer will not be prompted for information again, as the agent will see that the chat history and system fields are already filled.

  
  

  Companies are finding more and more ways to use chatbots. For example, since the advent of artificial intelligence, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has been handling twice as many questions from customers via social media. And technical developer Doop built a Google Assistant Action in the Netherlands in collaboration with AVROTROS, specifically for the Eurovision Song Contest. Anyone who asks for information about the Eurovision Song Contest will hear a chatbot with the voice of presenter Cornald Maas talk about the show. 

  
  

  How do you build a chatbot?
  You can build a chatbot using the Dialogflow tool and other services on the Google Cloud platform. Dialogflow is a tool in your web browser that allows you to build chatbots by entering examples. For example, if you already have a FAQ section on your website, that's a good start. With Dialogflow you can edit the content of that Q&A and then train the chatbot to find answers to questions that customers often ask. Dialogflow learns from all the conversation examples so that it can provide answers.

  
  

  But just like building a website, you probably need more resources, such as a place to host your chatbot and a database to store your data. You may also want to use additional machine learning models so that your chatbot can do things like detect the content of a PDF or the sentiment of a text. Google Cloud has more than 200 products available for this. It's just like playing with blocks: by stacking all these resources on top of each other, you build a product and you improve the experience, for yourself and for the customer.

  
  

  Do you have any tips for getting started?
  First things first: Start building the chatbot as soon as possible. Many people dread this, because they think it's hugely complex, but it’s better to just get going. You will need to keep track of the conversations and keep an eye on the statistics; what do customers ask and what do they expect? Building a chatbot is an ongoing project. The longer a chatbot lasts, the more data is collected and the smarter and faster it becomes. 

  
  

  In addition, don't build a chatbot just for one specific channel. What you don't want is to have to build a chatbot for another channel next year and replicate the work. In a large company, teams often want to build a chatbot, but different chat channels are important to different departments. As a company you want to be present on all of those channels, whether that’s the website, on social media, via telephone or on Whatsapp. Build an integrated bot so there’s no duplication of work and maintenance is much easier. 

  
  

  How do chatbots make life easier for people?
  Many of the frustrations that you experience with traditional customer services, such as limited opening hours for contact by phone, waiting times and incomprehensible menus, can be removed with chatbots. People do find it important to know whether they are interacting with a human being or a chatbot, but, interestingly, a chatbot is more likely to be forgiven for making a mistake than a human. People might also have a specific preference for human interaction or a chatbot when discussing more sensitive topics like medical or financial issues, either because they want to have personal, human contact or they would rather not discuss a topic with a human being because they don’t feel comfortable doing so. Chatbots are getting better and better at understanding and interacting, and can be very helpful for interactions about these topics as well. 

  
  
  https://blog.google/inside-google/googlers/ask-techspert-how-do-you-build-chatbot/
• 

  When it comes to activism, creativity and focus count
  • sorangutan  

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  Editor’s note: This the third in a four-part series of interviews between expert panelists for the Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls.Today’s interviewer, Kate Garvey, is the co-founder of Project Everyone, which aims to make progress in achieving the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. 

  
  

  Amika George is a 21-year-old activist who, after learning about the lack of awareness around period poverty, started a movement in the UK that turned into a tidal wave of change. She went on to write a book about the lessons she learned from that experience…all before graduating from university.  

  Her commitment to this issue made her the perfect fit to be an expert panelist for the Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls. Along with 27 other incredible women, Amika and I have the honor of helping select the grantees — nonprofits and social enterprises that are leading the way to a better future for women and girls — who will be announced later this year.

  
  

  Until then, here’s my conversation with Amika George.

  
  

  What drove you to become an activist? 

  At first I didn’t identify as an activist because I didn’t know what it meant and it felt like a loaded term. But the issue of period poverty — when people who menstruate can’t afford period products — made me think more critically about activism. I started Free Periods in 2017 after learning about girls in the UK who miss a week of school every month as a result of period poverty. I was shocked and upset by the reality of it.

  
  

  Free Periods began online as a petition and branched out to organizing protests and events. Our efforts led to a legal case that required schools to provide free menstrual products. Now we can confidently say that every student in England can get the products they need.

  
  

  What is one lesson about activism that you would pass on?

  For many marginalized people, or even people who aren’t old enough to vote, activism is how you can have an impact in a productive way. For young people, the issues we’re most scared of — structural racism, the climate crisis, widening gender inequality — aren’t always prioritized or reported on. You need your own way to have an impact and shape our future.

  Related Article

  Why Shakira says there’s no limit to what girls can do

  Shakira takes a beat to talk to us about her philanthropic work and her involvement in the Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls.

  Read Article

  What’s next for you?

  My generation is realizing that it’s more productive and effective when you focus on one thing. I often get asked, “What about the climate crisis, is that what you’re going to focus on next? Are you going to address poverty as a whole?” But no one individual can end poverty or the climate crisis. You can choose one small thing, find your niche and focus on that. And frameworks like the UN’s Global Goals are useful — they’re the roadmap to a better world. You can take the one thing you’re working on and see how it links to one of the Goals.

  
  

  There must have been low moments or moments when things went wrong. What advice do you have to deal withthat?

  I learned too late that you can’t do things on your own. There wasn’t a huge amount of public discussion about period poverty before Free Periods, and it gave me a platform to reach people. But I was still only 17. 

  
  

  There’s a whole chapter in my book on mental health and how it wasn’t sustainable for me to carry the movement on my own. It’s difficult not to take things personally, but when you have a community you can find strength when everyone is working hard and committed to the cause. 

  
  

  Any final words of wisdom for the grantees of the Impact Challenge, and those fighting for women’s economic empowerment?

  Be creative, especially right now. In lockdown, our lives changed in a drastic way and we had to think differently. We couldn’t have protests or speak face to face, and we continue that creativity going forward. Creativity is an essential part of activism.

  
  
  https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-org/interview-amika-george/
• 

  How companies are using .new shortcuts
  • sorangutan  

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  It’s been a year since we introduced .new as a domain extension to help businesses build memorable shortcuts to their products. And since then, people from all walks of life have been using these shortcuts to get things done. We recently checked in with three teams that started using .new early on — Adobe, Glitch and Google Workspace — to see if their customers are enjoying the shortcuts they created.
  

  
  

  Adobe

  Adobe launched 14 .new shortcuts to help their users create, convert, compress, sign and design elements within their apps. In this video, you’ll see why pdf.new is a convenient way for anyone to find their favorite Acrobat tools on the fly:
  

  10:25

  Why Adobe launched pdf.new and other shortcuts

  Ashu Mittal, product manager at Adobe, explains why her team launched .new shortcuts for Adobe Acrobat.

  Glitch

  Glitch makes it possible for anyone to build a web app right in their browser and instantly publish their application. Reception for glitch.new has been enthusiastic, with more than 8,000 apps already created through their shortcut. They also received positive community feedback, which led them to add new features, including the ability to remix any of their starter apps:10:25

  How glitch.new helped Glitch reduce time to deployment

  Jenn Schiffer, Director of Community at Glitch, sharing how the glitch.new shortcut has been positively received and how community feedback has led to new features.

  Google Workspace 

  The Workspace shortcuts (docs.new, sheets.new, slides.new, and more) were the original inspiration for launching .new. Since October 2018, we’ve seen over 30 million docs created with the docs.new and doc.new shortcuts alone:
  

  
  

  10:25

  How Google Workspace’s .new shortcuts used social media to gain popularity

  Jaime Schember, social media lead for Google Workspace, shares how launching their .new shortcuts in a social-first moment led to their most popular organic tweet of all time.

  What’s one thing the Adobe, Glitch and Workspace .new shortcuts have in common? They’re helpful in the classroom, for both students and teachers. So as we head into fall, here’s a roundup of some of our favorite shortcuts to help with back-to-school season:

  1. Quizlet.new makes it easy to learn any subject with study tools like flash cards, practice tests and explanations proven to help with learning.

  2. Kahoot.new allows you to easily create and host educational games on any topic.

  3. Slides.new makes it easy to create a presentation for that big school project.

  4. Fundraiser.new lets you design and sell custom apparel for your next school fundraiser.

  Any company or organization can register its own .new domain. Get inspired at whats.new/shortcuts.
  

  Related Article

  Do something new with whats.new

  More than 200 .new domains are now live, providing shortcuts to common tasks within apps like Medium, Asana, and GitHub.

  Read Article

  
  
  https://blog.google/outreach-initiatives/entrepreneurs/how-companies-are-using-new-shortcuts/