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Tips for learning at home with Google Earth
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I'm an aunt to eight nieces and nephews, who over the past few weeks transitioned to distance learning. I also have a sister who works in Special Education and now spends half of her time meeting directly with parents, creating strategies to modify coursework and ensuring that families have the tech to support academic progress.
It hasn't been an easy adjustment, but my family is one of the many using different tools to connect with their classrooms and stay busy.
With millions of students out of school due to COVID-19, educators are rising to the challenge of teaching remotely at an unprecedented scale and parents are putting in extra time to support their kids with productive learning sessions. Adults, too, are looking to learn new things and explore the world around them from home.
While there are many resources for distance learning for both kids and adults—such as Google’s new information hub Teach from Home and the Learn@Home YouTube channel—sometimes all you need is a quick activity that doesn’t require much prep. And one place you’re sure to find that is Google Earth.
Here are four easy ways anyone can use Google Earth as a learning tool or even simply to experience new places and adventures while staying safe at home.
Take a spin around the globe with the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button
Google Earth’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” feature recreates the feeling of spinning a globe and dropping your finger down somewhere unexpected. With a click of the “dice” button, you can learn about the world and travel to unexpected destinations.
Uncover hidden gems the world over with “I'm Feeling lucky,” a feature that takes you somewhere unexpected with the click of a button.
Measure the world
If you’ve ever wondered how far your home is from Machu Picchu or what the nautical miles between Easter Island and Hawaii are, you’re in luck. With Google Earth’s measure tool, you can easily discover the distance between locations, along paths and the area of places. Challenge yourself by changing the unit of measurement, perhaps to a smoot, and figure out how long it would take for you to walk, boogie, swim, paddle or fly to a place you love.
Use lines and shapes to check distances and estimate sizes of different features on Earth
Explore Google Earth Voyager games and imagery
How well do you know the world’s national parks? What about the sound a penguin makes? With a few clicks, you can test your knowledge on national parks, animal sounds or space exploration. You can even travel the world with Carmen Sandiego.
Join Carmen Sandiego in a globe-trotting game and learn about new places, cultures and customs
Students can also try a round of Earth Bingo or discover the ABCs using satellite imagery. Also, think about using Street View to put a digital spin on the game “I spy with my little eye” and look for objects in the online version of students’ streets and neighborhoods, or take the classic game for an artistic spin inside of a museum.

Visit Google’s education partner websites
Many of the authors of our Voyager stories have free online resources and activities that use Google Earth. Students can hone their geo-literacy skills and gain inspiration with National Geographic. A click of the “Share to Google Classroom” button will bring PBS Learning Media’s collection of World Explorers videos and lesson plans to an entire classroom.
Media4Math has developed a collection of resources that give mathematical principles real world context, such as the geometry of castles and circular structures.
Learn how triangles are incorporated into famous buildings
Once you’ve learned about shapes, move onto sound, with the Global Oneness Project curriculum that explores the linguistic diversity and vitality of indigenous languages from speakers around the world. The curriculum is a companion to the Google Earth audio collection, Celebrating Indigenous Languages.
You can find more Google Earth resources and classroom activities on the Google Earth Education website, as well as TES, a resource hub with plenty of home learning essentials. Educators looking to connect with other teachers to share ideas on using Google Earth and mapping tools in the classroom can check out the new Google Earth Education Community Forum, and continue to follow Google Earth on Twitter and Facebook.

https://www.blog.google/products/earth/tips-to-learn-at-home-with-google-earth/
Fee relief to support our news partners during COVID-19
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During times of global crisis, people rely on quality journalism to stay informed and safe. And the ads that appear alongside news coverage help fund the journalists who write breaking news stories, and keep news sites and apps running.
Many news publishers around the world use Google Ad Manager to support their digital businesses with advertising. As the coronavirus pandemic takes a toll on our global economy, theGoogle News Initiative is working to identify ways to provide immediate financial support to those news organizations around the world producing original journalism.
That’s why we’ve decided to waive ad serving fees for news publishers globally on Ad Manager for five months. Over the coming days, we’ll notify our news partners that meet the requirements about the details of the program, and what they can expect to see in their account statements.
This builds on the GNI’s Journalism Emergency Relief Fund, which is delivering aid to thousands of small and local news publishers globally, and other programs to support the industry. With these efforts, we aim to help news organizations reduce some of the cost of managing their businesses and funding important journalism during this time.

https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/supporting-business-our-news-partners-during-covid-19/
A little help getting through the day
• sorangutan

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Like many families, my husband and I have been staying-at-home for over a month, while looking after our two young kids who are out of school. Balancing two full-time jobs—running the team that builds features for Google Assistant and homeschooling my 6- and 3-year-old children—is an unexpected challenge that I know I’m not alone in navigating. In fact, search interest for “how to work from home with kids” tripled over the past month in the U.S., while search interest in “how to keep kids busy during quarantine” spiked more than 350 percent in the past day, worldwide.
My husband and I are figuring out a schedule that minimizes the chaos, enabling us to work while also cherishing time with our kids. Here are some of the things we’ve learned and how Google Assistant is helping us get through the day.
Morning
With the four of us sharing the same space all day every day, It can be especially important to carve out “me time.” Most mornings before my kids get up, I ask my Nest Hub Max, “Hey Google, show me workout videos” and I exercise along to a YouTube tutorial (here’s one I love). This solo time energizes me and sets the right tone so I can tackle the day.

I’m also restructuring my day to meet the needs of both work and family. While it might not be the case for everyone, I’m fortunate to have some flexibility in my work schedule. So instead of working a typical 9 to 5, I’ve established shifts with my husband so one of us gets uninterrupted time to focus on work, while the other helps our kids. I take the afternoon shift with my kids, so I schedule all of my work meetings in the morning. I typically hop back online after the kids are in bed so I can follow up on any urgent items and give my team guidance for the following day.

I also use ready-made Routines to trigger several actions with one single command. They’re super easy to set up and they’re the ultimate multitasking partner. For example, when I say “Hey Google, good morning,” Google Assistant turns on my kitchen lights, starts the coffee maker, reads out my calendar and plays the news. And when I want a quick update on specific topics, I ask things like, “Hey Google, what’s the latest news on coronavirus?” so I’m informed before the kids are up.

And with the lines between work and home completely blurred, I’ve realized I need to be much more intentional about my time. I ask Assistant to set reminders so I can keep track of upcoming online classes for my kids or remind my husband about our schedule.

I also make sure my kids’ homeschooling classes and activities are added as calendar appointments, so I have a clear overview of what's going on for the family that day.

Afternoon
When I’m with the kids in the afternoon, I make sure to over-communicate with my colleagues about my whereabouts. For example, I block off my calendar in the afternoon and even put an “out of office” message in my email to set expectations about my availability.

My daughter is starting to read, so one of her daily lessons is going over the alphabet. I ask Google Assistant to sing the ABCs on our Nest Mini when we review her alphabet book, so she starts understanding each letter.

As part of my son’s school assignments, he writes at least one or two pages a day. We've gotten into the habit of writing out jokes which we print and tape on our sidewalk so our neighbors can enjoy. Since he’s still learning how to spell, he’ll often ask Google Assistant for help spelling difficult words.

And is it just me, or are kids hungry all day long? To manage my (seemingly endless) grocery list, I ask my phone, “Hey Google, add pasta and cream to my shopping list.” And when I’m at the grocery store, I can quickly pull up my list without touching my phone by asking, “Hey Google, what’s on my shopping list?”

Evening
To create some separation between the workday and family time, we started a new evening ritual: dance parties. I scheduled a Custom Routine that automatically dims our living room lights and turns on a party playlist at 5:30pm each day. This also helps my kids shake out some energy, so it’s a win-win.

A few times a week before dinner, we video call the kids’ grandmas using Google Duo on our Nest Hub Max. If they don’t happen to be by their own Smart Displays to answer the call, they can easily pick up on their phones. Their grandmas live in Washington and Canada, so it’s special to connect with them regularly since we can’t see each other in person.

Around dinnertime, I try to get inventive with what I have so I can minimize grocery store trips. One of my favorite Google Assistant features is getting recipe inspiration based on what’s left in my fridge or pantry. Try asking, "Hey Google, what can I make with broccoli and cheese”—or whatever ingredients you need to use up!

Once dinner is ready, I simply say, “Hey Google, broadcast it’s dinner time” and my message is sent to all Assistant enabled speakers around our home, no need to shout.

And when it’s time to wind down for the night, we ask Assistant to tell us a story or play soothing sounds. Try it out by saying, “Hey Google, read me a bedtime story” or “Hey Google, play ocean sounds.”

Whether you need help making mundane tasks more magical (“Hey Google, help me wash my hands”) or need assistance getting a meal on the table, I hope what I’ve learned in my own home can help make your day just a bit easier.

https://www.blog.google/products/assistant/little-help-getting-through-day/
50 billion reasons Nest is saying thank you this Earth Day
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50 billion is a big number. It's hard to comprehend something that enormous. But Nest Thermostat owners have saved over 50 billion kilowatt hours of energy since we first introduced the device. In honor of Earth Day on April 22, we at Google Nest want to say thank you for helping our planet.
But again...we know: 50 billion of anything is a lot. We wanted to help give you some context about what 50 billion kilowatt hours of energy actually means.
Little things can make a big difference
All it takes are a few simple changes at home that we can all make to collectively have an impact. If you need help getting started, you can ask Google Assistant, “Hey Google, give me an Earth Day tip” for simple ways you can help do your part, like switching your monthly bills to paperless or turning off the water while brushing your teeth or doing dishes. You can also change the temperature on your Nest thermostat by just a few degrees until the leaf symbol pops up, so you know you’re saving energy.
This Earth Day we want to make it easier for even more people to save energy, so we’re offering discounts on the Nest Learning Thermostat and Nest Thermostat E starting today through April 29. It’s our small way of saying thank you.

https://www.blog.google/products/google-nest/nest-earth-day-thank-you/
How to be healthy at home
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Right now, your home could be an office, a gym, a playground or even your own personal restaurant where all of your friends (virtually) hang out. While we’re all trying to figure out how to stay well and adjust to health routines at home, search interest in “exercise” and “handwashing” have reached an all-time high. Since health and wellness are top of mind right now, here are a few resources to help you be well.

Make the most of your time at home
YouTube is encouraging the world to Stay Home #WithMe by featuring videos from creators that help you promote mental and physical wellbeing while you’re at home. Check out topics ranging from “Meditate With Me” to “Work Out With Me” and “Dance With Me.”
Staying healthy can mean breaking a sweat while exercising or sitting still and calming your mind. Google Play has created a collection of special deals and free content for “Workout & wellness” and “Mindfulness & meditation.” Google Play also has feature roundups of apps by category for when you’re at home to help you “Sleep well & find balance” and “Stay healthy & work out.”
Google Play is featuring special offers on helpful apps while you’re at home.
Also on Android TV, Google Play is adding new collections to help you find useful apps for your smart TV quickly. Starting with the “Stay mindful & fit” collection in the U.S., you can easily find apps like Peloton, which offers workouts that can be done with or without equipment, to help you get moving right in your living room. “Stay mindful and fit” will be rolling out to Google Play on Android TV devices starting this week.
New app categories for Google Play on Android TV surface useful apps for your TV.
You can also kickstart a workout by asking Google Assistant, “Hey Google, show me workout videos” and follow a YouTube tutorial on your Smart Display, like Nest Hub Max, or on your phone.

Performance at a glance
Whether you're in the middle of your at-home workout, yoga session or taking a quick jog around the block, the latest Google Fit update on iOS and Android app bring bold text and bright visuals to the design, making it easier for quick check-ins on your activity goals. You’ll also start to see tips from WHO for reducing the risk of catching or spreading infections.
Google Fit redesign makes it easier to check progress towards activity goals.
On Wear OS by Google smartwatches, we've made it easier to keep track of your at-home workouts and see how you’re doing throughout the day or week at a glance. The latest design includes visual updates to the Heart Points tile which now shows your progress toward the World Health Organization-recommended amount of physical activity. We’ve also added a new Workout tile to start tracking your go-to workouts with just one tap.
Wear OS by Google tiles bring quicker access to the best of Google Fit.
Help washing your hands
WHO recommends washing your hands for 40 seconds, which might be longer than you’re used to. Over the last month, search interest for "hand washing songs" spiked 850 percent in the U.S. To stick to 40 seconds, simply say, “Hey Google, help me wash my hands” and Google Assistant will play a song on your Smart Display, smart speaker, phone (Android and iOS) or Wear OS by Google smartwatch with speakers. If you want to skip the tunes, Google Assistant can set you up with a 40 second timer, or on Wear OS you can now add a hand-wash timer as a tile or as a shortcut on your watch face.
Get help washing your hands for 40 seconds.
These new features are all currently available, or rolling out in the coming weeks. We’re also always adding more apps and content to our collections, so stay on the lookout for more ways to stay healthy.

https://www.blog.google/products/google-fit/be-healthy-at-home/
It’s faster and easier to use Ads Data Hub
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Advertisers tell us that understanding the business impact of their marketing is more important than ever. But they also report that it’s becoming more difficult as the industry—in response to growing concerns about privacy—changes its practices around how data is collected and used. Ads Data Hub enables customized analysis of your Google ad campaigns while protecting user privacy and upholding Google’s high standards of data security.
Today, we’re providing an update on improvements to Ads Data Hub that help you analyze data more quickly and easily, better understand the way that people interact with your ads, and use insights from your data to reach the right customers. With these updates, you can tailor your measurement to your unique business needs, understand how your marketing is performing, and drive the greatest business impact.
Improvements to help you analyze your data faster and easier
Over the past year, we’ve been investing in the infrastructure that underlies Ads Data Hub to make it available to a larger number of customers and simplify the process of writing queries. Over 200 brands, agencies and measurement partners are actively using Ads Data Hub today. And usage continues to increase, with successful queries up over 145 percent in 2019 compared to 2018. But we’ve heard from customers that we need to make it faster and easier to run analysis.
In the coming weeks, we’ll add self-service account linking for Google Ads, Campaign Manager, and Display & Video 360, so you can more easily access your Google ad campaign data across multiple products in a secure, privacy-centric environment. This includes allowing you to create multi-tier account structures, which adds flexibility to how brands and agencies can configure ads data within Ads Data Hub to address unique account hierarchies and user access requirements.
Link your Google Ads, Campaign Manager, and Display & Video 360 accounts to Ads Data Hub
We’re making it easier to run analysis with a Sandbox environment, which recently rolled out to all customers. This environment includes a test dataset and can be used to experiment with data and query development, which can help make execution faster by giving you a better understanding of the types of queries you can write and insights you can get in Ads Data Hub.
We’ve also launched a new query library that gives you access to over 20 templates for the most common types of analysis run in Ads Data Hub. For example, the All events template can be used to get impressions, clicks, conversions and Active View stats for a specific account. Ads Data Hub users can also suggest new templates directly via the in-product feedback form.
- E02547721-Google-GMP-Resize-Blogpost-Screenshot-Mar20_GoogleAds_v2.png
  Query templates help you write and run queries for the most common types of analysis
- E02547721-Google-GMP-Resize-Blogpost-Screenshot-Mar20_CampaignManager_v2.png
  Query templates help you write and run queries for the most common types of analysis
- E02547721-Google-GMP-Resize-Blogpost-Screenshot-Mar20_DisplayVideo_v2.png
  Query templates help you write and run queries for the most common types of analysis
- E02547721-Google-GMP-Resize-Blogpost-Screenshot-Mar20_YoutubeReserve_v2.png
  Query templates help you write and run queries for the most common types of analysis
A frequent request we’ve heard from customers is to be able to access and analyze ad data closer to real-time. To address this, we’ve brought latency down from 24-48 hours to 6 hours for display and YouTube ads data from Google Ads, as well as for data from YouTube ads bought via Display & Video 360. That means, if an impression was served at 8am, you can query data associated with that impression from 2pm on the same day.
New ways to understand the consumer journey
Manually stitching together event-level data from Campaign Manager and Display & Video 360 to reconstruct the path to purchase is possible today in Ads Data Hub, but it can be time-consuming and difficult. That’s why we’ve introduced consumer journey paths, a set of pre-processed data that automatically join impression, click, and conversion events together if they’re part of a single journey. This will help advertisers get valuable insights about the consumer journey faster and with higher quality output than manual approaches, and is available to all Ads Data Hub customers that have Campaign Manager and Display & Video 360 data enabled in their account.
To cover more of the ways people interact with media and your brand, we’re expanding beyond computer, mobile and tablet device measurement to include TV screens. This includes coverage for connected TV and gaming consoles. These devices are becoming a bigger part of many media plans, so understanding their role in delivering value for your business is also becoming more important.
Today, Ads Data Hub includes key advertising metrics such as viewability, impressions, clicks, and conversions from display and video ads in Google Ads, Campaign Manager, and Display & Video 360. And in the coming months we’re enabling more measurement use cases by adding advanced Active View metrics for YouTube—including viewability and audibility metrics—that allow you to uncover deep insights into creative performance and user attention.
Reach the right customers with customized audience list creation
Beyond measurement, one of biggest pieces of feedback we’ve heard from customers is that they’d like to take action on the insights they uncover in Ads Data Hub, while protecting user privacy. We’ve begun a test to allow a limited group of customers to build audience lists based on clicks or conversions from Google Ads, Campaign Manager, and Display & Video 360, and use these audience lists to inform who sees display ads in Google Ads and Display & Video 360. For example, you could create an audience list in Ads Data Hub of users that have already purchased your product, then use that as an exclusion list to ensure you don’t continue to show them your ads served via Google Ads and Display & Video 360.
User privacy protections are deeply embedded across all of these features, and—as always—there’s an aggregation requirement of at least 50 users for output of any data from Ads Data Hub. Over time, we'll continue to evolve the capabilities of Ads Data Hub by providing access to additional ads datasets and developing deeper integrations across our ad platforms.

https://www.blog.google/products/marketingplatform/360/faster-and-easier-to-use-ads-data-hub/
Google for Nonprofits adds new countries and G Suite discounts
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With the spread of coronavirus, nonprofits need access to tools to help them work remotely and raise awareness online. To serve the unique needs of the nonprofit community, the Google for Nonprofits team is expanding the program to new countries and offering discounts for nonprofits who use G Suite Business and Enterprise editions.
Reaching nonprofits in more countries
In the program’s first expansion in years, we’re bringing Google for Nonprofits to 6 new countries—Portugal, Greece, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Peru. Google for Nonprofits is now available in 57 countries, helping thousands ofeligible organizations get access to Google’s nonprofit tools and continue business operations amid COVID-19.
Nonprofits can activate G Suite for Nonprofits at no cost and collaborate online with apps like Gmail, Docs, and Calendar. In addition, advanced features of Google Meetare available to all editions of G Suite through September 30, 2020. To help organizations raise awareness online, the Ad Grants Crisis Response Program is extending Ad Grants, up to $10,000 worth of text-based Search ads at no cost, in these countries through October 2020. The YouTube Nonprofit Program and Google Earth and Maps also offer nonprofits storytelling tools to amplify their cause.
Discounting G Suite Business and Enterprise editions for nonprofits
Many nonprofits are learning how to transition their staff and programs to online-only formats, and with that comes challenges around cloud storage, security and virtual collaboration. To give nonprofits access to G Suite’s advanced features, we’re launching nonprofit discounts globally for G Suite Business ($4 per user per month, normally offered at $12) and G Suite Enterprise ($8 per user per month, normally offered at $25). As always, G Suite for Nonprofits will continue to be offered at no charge.
G Suite Business for Nonprofits offers 1 TB storage per user, access to Google Vault for data management, video conferencing for up to 150 people, along with more security and administrative options. With G Suite Enterprise for Nonprofits, organizations have all the features of G Suite Business and G Suite for Nonprofits, with the addition of email encryption, live streaming and video conferencing for up to 250 people, as well as Cloud Identity to manage users and apps.
Google for Nonprofits is on a mission to empower nonprofits with technology. See our full list of COVID-19 resources on the Google for Nonprofits website, Coronavirus Resources page. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notifications for upcoming live streams and to learn more about our products.

https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/nonprofits/new-countries-g-suite-discounts/
Find high-quality apps for kids on Google Play
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We’ve heard from parents that it’s difficult to dig through all the content that's out there for kids. Today, we’re making it easier for parents to find the good stuff, with a new Kids tab on Google Play filled with “Teacher approved” apps that are both enriching and entertaining. We decided to launch the Kids tab a bit earlier than planned because parents who have tried it out told us that it’s been helpful, especially now with their kids home from school and spending more time with screens. Because it’s early, you may not see some of your favorite apps in there just yet, but we’re adding new content as quickly as possible.
“Teacher approved” kid-friendly app content
Great content for kids can take many forms: Does it spark curiosity? Does it help your child learn? Is it just plain fun? To share the best apps for kids on the Play Store, we've teamed up with academic experts and teachers across the country, including our lead advisors, Joe Blatt (Harvard Graduate School of Education) and Dr. Sandra Calvert (Georgetown University). Apps that have been rated by teachers and meet our quality standards receive a "Teacher approved" badge.
Apps are rated on factors like age-appropriateness, quality of experience, enrichment, and delight. We include information in the app listing about why the app was rated highly to help parents determine if the app is right for their child.
How to find “Teacher approved” apps in Google Play

Whenever parents search the Play Store, they can look for the “Teacher approved” badge to quickly see which apps have been reviewed and rated highly by teachers. If you want to browse content that's been "Teacher approved", simply go to the "Kids" tab. And, if you’re a Google Play Pass subscriber, a great selection of “Teacher approved” content is available within "Apps and games for kids."
Today’s announcement wouldn’t be possible without teachers who’ve been working closely with us for the last few years to curate apps that can help kids develop, grow and have fun. We trust teachers to enrich our kids while they’re in school, and we’re grateful they’ve shared their expertise to rate the apps kids use when they’re not in school as well.

The new Kids tab with “Teacher approved” apps will roll out in the U.S. on Google Play over the next few days, and we’ll be expanding internationally in the coming months. We’d love to hear what you think as we continue to make the Play Store more helpful for parents. You can share your thoughts by opening the menu in the Play Store and tapping “Help and feedback.” And don’t forget—for parents who want to set digital ground rules for their kids, like setting time limits on the apps your child has on their device, check out our Family Link app.

https://www.blog.google/products/google-play/teacher-approved-apps/
Advice for educators learning to teach from home
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It can be difficult enough to keep dozens of students engaged in a classroom; imagine doing it from your kitchen-turned office when your students are scattered across the city, dialing in from their homes.
Educators are doing their best to take care of students who are learning remotely, but we also need to take care of educators themselves. Mette Jakobsen, Digital Learning Program Manager for schools in Aarhus, Denmark, and Stu Blackmore, Director of IT and Digital Learning at the British International School of Stockholm, have been leading their schools’ efforts to support the well-being of their educators as they juggle distance learning, and we’ve asked them to share the ideas that they’ve put in practice at their schools.
Educators are adapting their teaching to help students adjust to distance learning. How can we help educators adjust to this new world?
Mette:We need to encourage educators to reframe their expectations for themselves and their work. In Arhaus, the head of our schools has reassured educators by saying, “You don’t have to give students a thousand lessons right now. Just try to find your way… and think about the kids at home, as well as their parents.” This is an important message for educators—to be patient with themselves and make smart decisions about when and how to scale back on classwork, like avoiding assigning too much homework to students.
Now that homes are workplaces, it’s challenging for educators to know when to stop working. How can educators set boundaries?
Stu:To maintain my own sanity, I don’t work on weekends. And my school day is structured: I work a long, full day, and then I’m done. We need to say to educators, “Decide when you’ll work, and when you won’t work—and create that separation.” It’s important that they have the down time they deserve, whether it’s making time for a virtual coffee break with a fellow peer or just blocking off personal time on their calendars to recharge.
How are you supporting educators who are new to distance learning?
Mette:Typically, educators in Arhaus receive technology training through professional development workshops, or simply by visiting each other’s classrooms. Though these options are no longer available, this type of support is still important, and we are encouraging educators to create spaces online to continue sharing and learning. In Aarhus, we set up an educator-led daily Google Meet session, where anyone can drop in and ask for tech help. Our digital learning team also created awebsite (Danish only) with Google Sites for sharing tips about distance learning—such as advice for running a lesson on Google Meet.
How are educators at your school staying connected these days?
Stu:My natural inclination is to laugh in the face of adversity—it relieves the pressure of what is a very stressful time. Our librarian has started a blog where educators can submit funny stories about their experiences with distance learning, or memes and GIFs that can put smiles on faces—and ultimately remind each other that they are not alone. The librarian is even thinking of asking educators to create short “day in the life” videos for posting on the blog—with a friendly competition for the best one.
If you’re looking for more ideas to support educators during this time, check out Teach from Home, a central hub of information, tips, training and tools from across Google for Education to help educators keep teaching, even when they aren’t in the classroom.

https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/advice-for-supporting-educators/
A Global Journalism Emergency Relief Fund for local news
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Local news is a vital resource for keeping people and communities connected in the best of times. Today, it plays an even greater function in reporting on local lockdowns or shelter at home orders, school and park closures, and data about how COVID-19 is affecting daily life.
But that role is being challenged as the news industry deals with job cuts, furloughs and cutbacks as a result of the economic downturn prompted by COVID-19. The Google News Initiative wants to help by launching a Journalism Emergency Relief Fund to deliver urgent aid to thousands of small, medium and local news publishers globally. The funding is open to news organizations producing original news for local communities during this time of crisis, and will range from the low thousands of dollars for small hyper-local newsrooms to low tens of thousands for larger newsrooms, with variations per region.
Starting today, publishers everywhere can apply for funds via a simple application form. We’ve made this as streamlined as possible to ensure we get help to eligible publishers all over the world. Applications will close on Wednesday April 29, 2020 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. At the end of the process, we’ll announce who has received funding and how publishers are spending the money.
Additionally, we recognize that covering the coronavirus pandemic can take its toll on reporters on the front line. That’s why Google.org is giving $1 million collectively to the International Center for Journalists, which plans to provide immediate resources to support reporters globally, and the Columbia Journalism School'sDart Center for Journalism and Trauma which is helping journalists exposed to traumatic events experienced during the crisis.
Today’s news builds on other efforts we’ve made to support the industry and connect people to quality information at this time of need. We believe it is important to do what we can to alleviate the financial pressures on newsrooms, and will continue to look at other ways to help with more to announce soon.

https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/global-journalism-emergency-relief-fund-local-news/
On World Art Day, try out this activity for the whole family
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We could all use a little inspiration these days. For World Art Day Google Arts & Culture is launching Family Fun with Arts & Culture, a new collection to bring your family new ways to learn about art, animals, science, space, books and music. You can discover what's inside a black hole, hang out with a Jurassic giant in virtual reality in virtual reality, or even practice some Harry Potter magic. And for our little ones, why not follow a pesky penguin through virtual tours of museum galleries?
Thanks to the help of our partners, we’re also making new treasures and stories accessible on Google Arts & Culture. 35 cultural institutions including the Atassi Foundation (UAE), Museum of Contemporary Art in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Palazzo Monti(Italy), the Yale Center for British Art (USA) have brought online more than 100 diverse online exhibitions with over 18,000 new artworks, artifacts and stories. The Nakamura Keith Haring Collection in Japan is the only museum in the world to exclusively feature the artworks of Keith Haring. Explore over 50 of his pieces of art—including the bright yellow angel spreading its great wings—digitized in ultra high definition.
- Artwork Keith Haring The Angel.png
  One of Keith Haring’s signature characters, "The Angel". Explore it in finest detail thanks to the Art Camera.
- Kiyoharu Art Colony Street View.png
  "Kiyoharu Art Colony" is a safe haven for artists to awaken their artistic spirit and share their creativity with the world. Explore it on Street View.
- Edo, Antonia Showering at Palazzo monti.gif
  Explore the works of iconic women artists of the Palazzo Monti.
- Exhibit page what is art therapy.png
  Bangkok Art and Culture Centre contributes an exhibit about the prospects of Art Therapy.
- Portrait of Friedericke Maria Beer by Klimt.png
  Go on an in-painting tour of Gustav Klimt’s colorful masterpiece, “Portrait of Friedericke Maria Beer” at Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
- Artwork at Museo Dolores Olmedo.gif
  Museo Dolores Olmedoshares how this famous Mexican muralist copied other artistic styles before finding his own.
- Artwork at ciputra artpreneur .png
  Ciputra Artpreneurshares a story of passion, intimacy, and heartbreak in this colorful in-painting tour.
If you’re looking for more, check out this list of ways to have fun with Arts and Culture at home, and for more armchair cultural travel, explore the wonders of Italy, France, Spain and the UK.
Keep discovering on Google Arts & Culture, or download our free app for iOS or Android.

https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/arts-culture/world-art-day-try-out-activity-whole-family/
How local journalists can map COVID-19 cases
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The Coronavirus outbreak is a fast-moving story for any newsroom to cover, particularly for local reporters trying to help their readers make sense of what’s happening in their area. And for those local reporters wanting to show their readers where cases are, the options for an embeddable local coronavirus map are limited and time-consuming.

So Stanford University’s Big Local News and Pitch Interactive—with support from the Google News Initiative—created theCOVID-19 Case Mapper to make it possible for local journalists to easily embed up-to-date Coronavirus map visualizations on their sites for readers.

COVID-19 Case Mapper project, which shows cases mapped against population
This is the first project of a recently-announced partnership to launch a global data resource for reporters working on COVID-19. In partnership with the Google News Initiative, the JSK Journalism Fellowships at Stanford University and the Big Local News group will aggregate data from around the world and help journalists tell data-driven stories that showcase local information.

Unlike other coronavirus case maps, the Case Mapper project allows local reporters to embed a map of their area or even the national case map. The map shows cases in relation to population—it’s colored by numbers of cases per 100,000 people, and shows you the severity of outbreak by the number of people in each region, making it easier to compare where you live to the country as a whole.

Map of cases in one county in Pennsylvania, compared to cases state-wide
The data is from the New York Times’ recently-published open COVID-19 county dataset and the first version of the map, launched today, will be U.S.-onlyk, with a global edition to come soon. Any newsroom or website can easily embed each version of the map, helping journalists bring this global story to their local readers.

https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/how-local-journalists-can-map-covid-19-cases/
Video creation is fast, easy and free with YouTube Video Builder
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Given the current environment, many businesses are shifting how they're communicating and interacting with their customers and are turning to videos to make and maintain connections.

For businesses who don’t have resources to create videos from scratch, Video Builder can help. It’s a free beta tool that animates static assets—images, text and logos—with music from our library. You can choose from a variety of layouts based on your message and goals, customize colors and font and quickly generate a short YouTube video (6 seconds or 15 seconds).

Because businesses of all sizes are strapped for time and resources and in-person video shoots are no longer practical in many countries, we are accelerating the next stage of Video Builder availability. With this tool, any business who needs a video can create one that helps connect with their customers and keep them informed—whether through an advertising campaign, website or email.

You may be surprised by what you can create from your laptop in a few short minutes. To see how it works, watch this video or read this guide.
Mock of a Video Builder layout
Mock of a Video Builder layout
Different businesses have different creative needs. A restaurant may want to communicate changing hours or promotions, while a supermarket may highlight new services like curbside pickup. For brands or agencies with existing video resources, Video Builder can help bring agility and experimentation to the creation process by generating supplemental, lightweight videos. For smaller businesses and those with less creative experience, it can provide an efficient, low-resource way to create videos, perhaps even for the first time.
Havenly, an online platform offering affordable interior design services, has been using Video Builder to support their team’s video creation needs. "Video is an integral part of our media strategy because our business demands visual context,” says Stang Gappa, Senior Manager of Growth. “Historically, video development has been a slow and labor intensive process. With Video Builder, our small team is able to spin out high quality creative with increased velocity. Given the current situation, where many of us are sheltering in place, free tools like this can help us continue to keep in touch with our customers.”

If you’re interested in trying the Video Builder beta, sign up for access here. We’ll process requests as soon as we are able given tool capacity and email you once your access is granted. If you have a Google team, please request access through them.

Through tools, insights and resources, we are committed to helping you navigate change and uncertainty.

https://www.blog.google/products/ads/youtube-video-builder/
Now that we’re at home, bring the great artists to you
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Long before video conferencing moved from the boardroom to the family room, art was our common link to each other. It crossed space, time and culture as the purest expression of the human story. Just as we turn the pages of written history to discover what happened; the search for art is the pursuit of what inspires us, what challenges us, and how for thousands of years we’ve discovered a bit of ourselves in each other.
Ten years ago that journey required traveling the world. Now, the treasures of history are a little closer to home. Google Arts & Culture puts the stories and knowledge of over 2,000 cultural institutions from 80 countries in your home. It immerses you in a world of culture through augmented reality, virtual reality, Street View and AI.
New tools recently added to the Google Arts & Culture app allow you to bring the world’s culture into your home, whether you’d like to hang a virtual Van Gogh in your kitchen or experience a classical concert in Beijing's Forbidden City on your couch.
Open up the Google Arts & Culture app and try the following features to get started on your journey:
1. Art Transfer is a new feature that lets you transform your photo or selfie using the style characteristics of works by renowned artists such as Frida Kahlo, Leonardo da Vinci or Yayoi Kusama.
2. Which artists were inspired by your favorite colors? With Art Palette, you can select your favorite colors and generate art featuring colors you love, or upload a photo of your living room and get some home decor inspiration for the color palette of your home.
3. With Art Projector you can place actual-size artworks in augmented reality right in front of you, wherever you are. Why not place your favorite masterpieces in your kitchen, office or backyard?
4. Step into a blockbuster exhibition which could never happen in real life. Our latest Pocket Gallery uses Augmented Reality to open a curated virtual space, allowing you to meet Vermeer and see all his artworks for the first time, or step back 36,000 years into some of the oldest cave paintings left behind by our ancestors in the Chauvet Caves.
5. Experience culture in “360-degree video” and encounter a Jurassic giant, explore a Space Shuttle or discover the majestic valley temples of Bagan. Visit via your screen or with a Google Cardboard.
6. With Street View you can choose your own path to discover cultural institutions, wonders of the world and places such as the Palace of Versailles, the Taj Mahal or the International Space Station.
Each of these interactive tools is designed to help bring the treasures of human culture to everyone; but they’re also a way to continue the long journey of human expression—and breathe new life into the old masters. We know where the great artists took human expression in their time--they, as much as anyone, would be interested in seeing where you can take it in ours.

https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/arts-culture/at-home-bring-the-great-artists-to-you/
Apple and Google partner on COVID-19 contact tracing technology
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Across the world, governments and health authorities are working together to find solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic, to protect people and get society back up and running. Software developers are contributing by crafting technical tools to help combat the virus and save lives. In this spirit of collaboration, Google and Apple are announcing a joint effort to enable the use of Bluetooth technology to help governments and health agencies reduce the spread of the virus, with user privacy and security central to the design.
Since COVID-19 can be transmitted through close proximity to affected individuals, public health organizations have identified contact tracing as a valuable tool to help contain its spread. A number of leading public health authorities, universities, and NGOs around the world have been doing important work to develop opt-in contact tracing technology. To further this cause, Apple and Google will be launching a comprehensive solution that includes application programming interfaces (APIs) and operating system-level technology to assist in enabling contact tracing. Given the urgent need, the plan is to implement this solution in two steps while maintaining strong protections around user privacy.
First, in May, both companies will release APIs that enable interoperability between Android and iOS devices using apps from public health authorities. These official apps will be available for users to download via their respective app stores.
Second, in the coming months, Apple and Google will work to enable a broader Bluetooth-based contact tracing platform by building this functionality into the underlying platforms. This is a more robust solution than an API and would allow more individuals to participate, if they choose to opt in, as well as enable interaction with a broader ecosystem of apps and government health authorities. Privacy, transparency, and consent are of utmost importance in this effort, and we look forward to building this functionality in consultation with interested stakeholders. We will openly publish information about our work for others to analyze.
All of us at Apple and Google believe there has never been a more important moment to work together to solve one of the world’s most pressing problems. Through close cooperation and collaboration with developers, governments and public health providers, we hope to harness the power of technology to help countries around the world slow the spread of COVID-19 and accelerate the return of everyday life.

More information and technical specs
https://www.blog.google/inside-google/company-announcements/apple-and-google-partner-covid-19-contact-tracing-technology/
Knead some baking inspiration? We’ve got you covered
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Baking is intimidating. With all its numbers and measurements and exactness, it can be an unforgiving pursuit. And while I know these efforts end in a delicious treat, I’ve always remained wary of any activities that can be described as “chemistry.”
But within the past few weeks of increased time spent at home, I’ve found myself searching the back of the pantry for flour and collecting my half-full bags of sugar. Turns out, I’m not alone: We took a look at Google Trends and found that Search interest in Bread has reached an all-time high in the U.S.
Obviously, though, there are many types of bread, so I considered my options. Search interest in Banana Bread reached an all-time high this month in the U.S, as did searches for “focaccia recipe." The latter of the two happens to be trending on YouTube as well: All things sourdough—from starters to common mistakes—are currently enjoying the spotlight.
If that doesn't inspire you to break out the measuring cups, check out this list of the most-searched bread recipes from Google Trends over the past month in the U.S.
1. Banana bread recipe
2. Sourdough recipe
3. Beer bread recipe
4. French bread recipe
5. Garlic bread recipe
As a first time bread baker, I decided that it would be best to choose a recipe based on a different description: easy. Coincidentally (or not) enough, over the past year, search interest in “easy recipes” was highest the week of March 29 in the U.S. The instructions for no-yeast bread (searches for “yeastless bread” recipes increased more than 4,600 percent this month) seemed simple enough. Less than an hour later, I had an imperfectly shaped, but still delicious loaf of bread.
And what goes better with bread (or rather, toasted bread) than coffee? Search interest in "whipped coffee recipe"—which is usually served cold and looks like a dreamy, marshmallow-like cloud—reached an all-time high in the U.S. In fact, “how to make whipped coffee” increased more than 4,200 percentthis month. Here are the top regions searching for "whipped coffee" over the past month.

I’ll report back when I come down from the combo caffeine-sugar rush. (Take a look at the recipe and...I think you’ll understand.)

https://www.blog.google/products/search/baking-bread-trends/
Connecting people to virtual care options
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To prevent the spread of COVID-19, many healthcare providers are reducing or stopping in-person visits for a variety of patient needs, from the treatment of chronic conditions to mental health services to evaluating cough and cold symptoms. Yet, people need a way to continue getting medical care from the comfort and safety of their own homes. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we’ve seen interest in virtual care and telehealth rise dramatically. Health consultations over the phone or by video conference not only help alleviate strain on doctors’ offices and emergency rooms but are also recommended as an important way to protect patients and staff against COVID-19.
To help individuals and health care providers connect, we’re focused on providing individuals with access to high-quality and authoritative information and supporting them throughout their health journey. Over the coming week, we’re beginning to roll out two new features in Search and Maps that make it easier for people to connect to virtual healthcare options, whether it’s to a doctor’s office down the street, the hospital across town, or a national telehealth platform.
Local healthcare providers, now virtual
Healthcare providers like hospitals, doctors, and mental health professionals can now enter a virtual care offering in their Business Profile, so that people searching for their local provider, for instance, might see a “get online care” link on Search and Maps. Clicking this link will take people to that provider’s virtual care website where they can find more information, and in many cases, schedule a virtual healthcare visit with a provider.
The pandemic has affected many healthcare providers’ operating hours and walk-in visit policies. To help communicate changes that might affect someone’s visit, we’re automatically surfacing a link directly to health providers’ COVID-19 information page on Search and Maps, and we've assembled best practices on how healthcare providers can update their websites and provide COVID-19 information on Google My Business.
With health providers limiting in-person visits due to COVID-19, we’re making it easier for people to discover virtual care options.
Find virtual healthcare, anywhere, anytime
Beginning as a pilot in the U.S., we’ll also begin showing widely-available virtual care platforms directly on Search so people can more easily access virtual visits. For example, when people search for “immediate care”, we’ll be able to also present available virtual care options and related information such as the out-of-pocket price charged for a visit (for those without insurance) and an easy way for people to directly connect with the virtual care platform. The visit between the patient and provider will take place on the healthcare provider’s platform of choice.
For healthcare providers, helping you keep up with demand
In addition to helping healthcare providers with information about how to keep their online business information up-to-date, Google Cloud is supporting providers with technology infrastructure and solutions to assist with care delivery and operations. This includes helping doctors support patients remotely with HIPAA-compliant G Suite products (including using Google Meet for telehealth or virtual visits),deploying virtual agents to field questions related to COVID-19, and helping with capacity-planning and demand forecasting of key medical supplies to better manage their supply chains.
The global COVID-19 pandemic and the response to prevent its spread has changed the way individuals access and connect to health care. Across our products, we’ll continue to ensure that healthcare providers have the tools to connect with patients, and that anyone can access the information and care they need to stay healthy.

https://www.blog.google/technology/health/virtual-care-covid-19/
New Meet features to improve distance learning
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Our team has been so inspired by the remarkable work of educators and school leaders around the world, who continue to adapt as schools shift to remote learning. Today, 120 million students and educators are using G Suite for Education worldwide to create, collaborate and communicate despite school closures. With this increase in usage, one consistent theme we’ve heard is that educators are looking for ways to continue teaching and collaborating in a virtual environment that is safe and secure. We’re sharing some ways we’re making Google Meet, a core service of G Suite for Education, work even betterfor schools.
Extension of access to premium Google Meet features
In order to support ongoing institutional needs, we've extended access to premium Meet features at no cost for all G Suite for Education and G Suite Enterprise for Education users until September 30, 2020. This means you can have meetings for up to 250 participants per call, live streams for up to 100,000 viewers within your domain, and record meetings and save them to Google Drive.
Better together: Using Google Meet inside Classroom
More than 100 million students and educators worldwide are now using Classroom. To make it easier to have classes remotely, we’re integrating Classroom and Meet, putting both tools in one place.
Educators can create a unique Meet link for each class, which is displayed on the Classroom Stream and Classwork pages. The link acts as a dedicated meeting space for each class, making it easy for both teachers and students to join.
The Meet links created by the Classroom integration are nicknamed meetings. For education users, participants can’t rejoin nicknamed meetings once the final participant has left, unless they have meeting creation privileges to start a new meeting. This means if the instructor is the last person to leave a nicknamed meeting, students can’t join again until an instructor restarts the nicknamed meeting.
To use this integration, school administrators need to turn on Meet for their domain. Administrators can grant meeting creationprivileges to individuals or groups, and we recommend that you assign creation privileges to the organizational units (OUs) that contain your faculty and staff members, which means that students will only be able to join meetings created by faculty or staff.
How Google Meet keeps your video conferences protected
With Meet, institutions can take advantage of the same secure-by-design infrastructure, built-in protection, and global network that Google uses to secure your information. Meet includes protections to safeguard student and educator privacy, including:
- Meet adheres to IETF security standards for Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) and Secure Real-time Transport Protocol (SRTP).
- In Meet, all data is encrypted in transit by default between the client and Google for video meetings on a web browser, on the Android and iOS apps, and in meeting rooms with Google meeting room hardware.
- Each Meeting ID is 10 characters long, with 25 characters in the set, so it’s difficult to make an unauthorized attempt to join the meeting by guessing the ID.
- To limit the attack surface and eliminate the need to push out frequent security patches, Meet works entirely in your browser. This means we do not require or ask for any plugins or software to be installed if you use Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge. On mobile, we recommend that you install the Meet app.
- Supporting compliance requirements around regulations including COPPA, FERPA, GDPR, and HIPAA.
For tips and best practices for admins on securely deploying Meet to your education domain, visit the Meet security and privacy for education page.
New Google Meet features to help educators keep meetings safe
We're rolling out additional features today to all G Suite for Education and G Suite Enterprise for Education users to give educators control over their meetings, making them more secure:
- Only meeting creators and calendar owners can mute or remove other participants. This ensures that instructors can't be removed or muted by student participants.
- Only meeting creators and calendar owners can approve requests to join made by participants outside of the school’s domain. This means that students can’t allow external participants to join via video and that external participants can’t join before the instructor.
- Meeting participants can’t rejoin nicknamed meetings once the final participant has left. This means if the instructor is the last person to leave a nicknamed meeting, students can’t join again until an instructor restarts the nicknamed meeting.
For educators wanting to learn more about Meet and how to use it with their students, we recommend checking out Teach From Home, a hub for distance learning resources.

https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/education/meet-for-edu/
A new keyboard for typing braille on Android
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Over 150 years ago, the invention of braille was revolutionary in making reading and writing accessible to blind people. Today, braille displays make typing accessible on most phones and computers through a physical braille keyboard. But it can be time-consuming to connect an external device each time you want to type something quickly on your phone.

TalkBack braille keyboard is a new virtual braille keyboard integrated directly into Android. It’s a fast, convenient way to type on your phone without any additional hardware, whether you’re posting on social media, responding to a text, or writing a brief email. As part of our mission to make the world’s information universally accessible, we hope this keyboard can broadly expand braille literacy and exposure among blind and low vision people.
Caption: A built-in braille keyboard for Android phones

Our team collaborated with braille developers and users throughout the development of this feature, so it’ll be familiar to anyone who has typed using braille before. It uses a standard 6-key layout and each key represents one of 6 braille dots which, when tapped, make any letter or symbol. To type an “A” you would press dot 1 and to type a “B,” dots 1 and 2 together.
Caption: Type braille wherever you want—in an email, a text message, a doc, or social media
The keyboard can be used anywhere you would normally type and allows you to delete letters and words, add lines, and submit text. You can turn the keyboard on and off as simply as switching between international keyboards. (Note: TalkBack gestures are not supported when the keyboard is on.)

To use the braille keyboard, turn on TalkBack in the Accessibility section within Settings, and follow these instructions to set it up. Once you set up the keyboard, use three fingers to swipe up on your screen and try practicing with the gestures tutorial.

Talkback braille keyboard is rolling out to Android devices running version 5.0 or later, starting today. It works across all apps on your Android device, supports braille grade 1 and grade 2 and is available initially in English.

https://www.blog.google/products/android/braille-keyboard/
News Brief: March Updates from the Google News Initiative
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The world is searching for information, and journalists are performing vital work to keep their communities informed. As we reflect on the past month, we celebrate and continue to support that work.

Supporting journalists with resources to cover coronavirus (COVID-19)

We committed $6.5 million to help combat coronavirus misinformation around the globe. This funding will be used to support fact-checkers and nonprofits, increase their access to primary sources of information, and more.

The Google News Initiative Training Center has been updated with online resources— including data journalism and verification tools in 16 languages—to support journalists. Our global team of Teaching Fellows will be delivering virtual workshops in 10 languages.

Creating new revenue opportunities for news organizations

In February, the GNI Subscriptions Lab program expanded to help European publishers strengthen digital subscriptions and grow reader revenue. This month, 8 European publishers were selected to participant in the 9 month program: Independent (UK), RP Online (DE), La Croix (FR), Gazeta Wyborcza (PL), El Mundo (ES), Mittmedia (SE), Denník N (SK) and Kurier (AT). At the end of this year, the program will develop a playbook to share best practices for improving digital subscription performance with the news industry.

We partnered with Vox Media to launch Concert Local, a new advertising marketplace that helps national brands reach the audiences of trusted local news publishers. As we work toward identifying and building sustainable business models for local news organizations, this product creates new revenue opportunities to help fund high-quality journalism in local communities.

Supporting publishers in Asia Pacific

A new publisher section on the Asia Pacific Think with Google site, shares lessons from five news organizations. You can read interviews from news industry experts in the region, including The Asahi Shimbun from Japan and The Star from Malaysia. Other organizations, including Singapore Press Holdings, shared insights about digital transformation.

Together with Echos and Splice, we worked with seven media and news companies across Asia Pacific to tackle business challenges with creative solutions. The learnings from this program informed a Google News Initiative Design Accelerator playbook, so that any media organization can apply design thinking to their business.

Helping newsrooms reach a new generation of news viewers

In partnership with Poynter, Vidspark is helping local publishers use video to reach a younger audience with their journalism. Ahsante Bean, who leads Vidspark, shares tips for media organizations looking to create content that is important, engaging, and relatable.

We are working on other efforts to support journalists around the world, and look forward to sharing more soon. For more updates, follow along at the Google News Initiative blog and @GoogleNewsInit on social.

https://www.blog.google/outreach-initiatives/google-news-initiative/news-brief-march-updates-google-news-initiative/