Google Stuff

Plumbing the web

Posted by Narayanan Shivakumar (Google Distinguished Entrepreneur, Director)

Today is Google Developer Day! We're hosting events for developers in ten cities around the world, as you can read about from Matt Cutts and on our Google Blog. Jonathan Simon and Maile Ohye, whom you have seen on this blog, at conferences, and in our discussion forum, are currently hanging out at the event in San Jose.

I've been at the Beijing event, where I gave a keynote about "Plumbing the Web -- APIs and Infrastructures" for 600 Chinese web developers. I talked about a couple of my favorite topics, Sitemaps and Webmaster Tools, and some of the motivations behind them. Then I talked a bit about consumer APIs and some of our backend infrastructures to support our platform.

Check out the video of my keynote on YouTube or see some of the other videos from the events around the globe.

Where is Analytics API?

I was reading Scott's blog other day he posed a very good question.  Where is the API for Google Analytics?  Google has done a great job of providing access most everything via their API's.  But not Analytics.  I know they purchased Analytics, but it's been a while.  In Google time it's been a long while.  So why isn't there an API?  Think about you create your blogger blog and add an Analytics profile as part of the process..  Only makes sense, right.  To Scott thanks for asking the obvious. 

For the rest of us, let's ask in our own Blogs "where is the Google Analytics API?'

Please Google can we have one?  We promise to use it responsibly and not leave it out in the rain.

Taking your Google Reader off-line

I have a 1+ bus ride home everyday. So when I heard I can take Google Reader off-line my curiosity was peaked. So how does this work? What is this Google Gears thing?

So clicked on the Google Gears link blindly choose the download button. Okay, so I trust Google a little to much sometimes. Gears installed and then I restarted Firefox.

Okay so now what? Then I open on up Google Reader and get little pop window asking me if I trust www.google.com? Sure I do. Click yes and lets see what happens.

A new Icon in my Google Reader menu. Pretty green isn't it? New menu item, better click on it.

Oh, look at the great Web 2.0 UI! Two thousand item, that should cover the ride home. Have to try it tonight. See what happens. I will try and report back tomorrow.

Oh Sam I Am, can I read it on the tram?

Things you can't bring with you on an airplane: Bottled water. Organic shampoo. Google Reader.

I'm happy to announce that our team has fixed one of these problems. Although we find the business of mini bottled water intriguing (and cute!), we've decided to stick to our core business: feeding your reading habit.

As of today, you can use Google Reader offline. Now you can access your favorite feeds in the Golden Gate Park, on the chinatown express, or even traveling 35,000 ft above the Atlantic.

To do this, we've used the newly released Google Gears, a browser plugin that enables offline web applications. Once you've installed Google Gears, you can download your latest 2,000 items so they're available even when you don't have an internet connection. To get started, simply click the "Offline" link in the top right of Google Reader.

A small note of warning: the current version of Google Gears is a developer release. Given this, you may notice a few kinks here and there, but we'll be working hard to iron those out over the coming months. As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions as we look to make Google Reader better every day.

Maps Street View

If you are like me and your directions have to include statements like “Turn right at the big castle”. Then I have some great news for you; and me.

Google Maps has added Street View for some locations. What a great way to see where you are going. So when am I going to be able to get those views on my Blackberry? Typical end user never satisfied. Always want more.

First exposure to Blogger

Putting this blog on Blogger was intentional. If I am writing about Google then I should use Google to do so. As Google has said they eat their own dog food . So shall I, so far tasting pretty good.

Well, back to setting up Blogger. Overall, very quick and easy. The longest part of the process was choosing a name that wasn’t already in use. With that obstacle behind me on to the template. Again very easy, though I want to tweak it;. why, because I can. Blogging for another day on that one.

For today I had three goals.

• Setup blog, done, easy
• Setup AdSense, done. Fairly easy. I had an AdSense account already and want to use that account. The option was there and it all seemed to work fine. The only issue was that an email was sent by AdSense for me verify the access. I didn’t expect that and went on a little troubleshooting adventure. Then I checked my email and found the missing link. I didn’t see any indication that I should be looking for the email. Not a big deal just would easier if I had know to check my email.
• Setup Analytics, done, easy. I have used Analytics on quite a few sites, so setting up a new website profile and inserting the tracking code was old hat. I was surprised Blogger didn’t have a point and click way to add the tracking code. Like they do for AdSense.

Over all and B+ for Blogger and my first impressions.

Thanks for reading

The Introduction

I have found that I have become a Google Junkie. I find that a large percentage of my blog entries on my primary blog are related to Google. So instead of a 12 step program I decided embrace my addition.

I will try and share my opinions on the forever changing world of Google and what I find interesting.

A little about me, I am a cooperate software developer by trade. I tinker with Google API's and other technologies. Most of these tinkering are to satisfy my curiosity.

Hope this blog grows and the readers find my insight useful. Enjoy.

Previous Reporting Delays

Dear Google Analytics users,

Last week there were some temporary delays in data processing. Please note that all data was still collected and no data was lost. Your reports should now be fully updated.

We are sorry for the inconvenience and the late notification. Please continue to check this blog whenever you require the latest updates on Google Analytics.

Posted by Christian Yee, Google Analytics Team

Inside AdSense now speaks Japanese

We're excited to let you know that we've just launched a 7th international AdSense blog -- Inside AdSense: AdSense 日本版 公式ブログ. There, you'll be able to read up on the latest feature launches and find answers to your AdSense questions, all in Japanese. Going forward, our Japanese support team will provide optimization advice to help you maximize your earnings, and will also feature Japanese-speaking publishers who have found success with the AdSense program.

Visit the new blog today, and don't forget to subscribe to receive posts directly via email!

Posted by the Japanese AdSense blog team

Make room for new video ad formats

This week marked the one-year anniversary of the launch of click-to-play video ads. To that end, we thought it'd be fitting to introduce three new members of our click-to-play video ads family: the 728x90 Leaderboard, the 120x600 Skyscraper, and the 160x600 Wide Skyscraper. Previously, video ads were only enabled for the 300x250 Medium Rectangle, the 336x280 Large Rectangle, the 200x200 Small Square, and the 250x250 Square.

Just like before, users will see a play button on these three ad formats when a video ad is available - this play button will appear on the right side of the Leaderboard and in the upper half of the Skyscraper formats. Once a user clicks the play button, the video ad will begin to play within the ad unit. Here's an example:



Generating earnings with videos ads in these new formats will also remain the same. If the advertiser has chosen to display the click-to-play video ad as a cost-per-thousand impression (CPM) ad, you will be paid for every valid impression of the static image, regardless of plays or clicks to the advertiser's site. If the click-to-play video ad is a cost-per-click (CPC) ad, you'll generate earnings from valid clicks to the advertiser's site rather than clicks on the play button. In either case, you and your site visitors are free to watch the video as frequently as you like. Please keep in mind that you'll need to be opted into image ads in order to receive video ads, but we aren't able to guarantee that video ads will always be available for your content.

We hope these new click-to-play video ad formats will help enhance the advertising experience for both advertisers and publishers. For advertisers, this change provides additional options and inventory for creating click-to-play video ads. At the same time, publishers will benefit from the increased competition among text, image, and video ads in these three formats; if a click-to-play video ad appears in one of your ad units, this means that it has won the auction against other ads and will generate the maximum earnings for you.

If you'd like more information about click-to-play video ads, feel free to visit our Help Center.

Posted by Sandra Tsui - AdSense Publisher Support

New GData Developer Guides - Spreadsheets and Blogger

Everywhere I go people are always saying to me, "Man, those Blogger and Spreadsheet developer guides are really cool, but I want to know how to do things in .NET and Python." Well, okay, so maybe it's not everywhere I go, but the question has come up, and we thought we should do something about it.

Today, I'm happy to announce new versions of the Blogger API developer guide and the Spreadsheets API developer guide, both in a new tabular format. We've split each language into its own section, and shown you how to do a set of common operations in Java, .NET, Python, and HTTP (because many of us like to know what goes across the wire). If you notice a similarity to recent changes we made to the Calendar developer guide, it's because this revision is part of an ongoing effort to make our documentation more useful to you, the software developer. I also took this opportunity to clear up some issues that some of you have pointed out in the old documents. So check it out! If you see anything amiss, we'll talk it over in the Spreadsheets API discussion group or the Blogger API discussion group.

Jeff Scudder - The GData Team

Come to Vermont for an Online Marketing Boot Camp.

EpikOne, a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant, and Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont have teamed up to offer an Online Marketing Boot Camp. We'll be there too, and together we will conduct seminars and training sessions on how to use Google products to optimize online marketing strategies. Attendees will learn about social media and multivariate testing, as well as configuration, implementation, and reporting techniques in Google Analytics, Website Optimizer, Google AdWords and Blogger.

This four-day Boot Camp will be held from June 11-14. Instructors include Kristoffer Ewald, Managing Partner of online consultancy The Milk, (a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant), and EpikOne staff members. Daniel Schutzsmith, Editor and Publisher of Graphic Define Magazine will be leading the social media and online visibility sessions. You'll also meet Rachel Meyers from the NYC Google Analytics team.

There will also be a special Web Analytics Wednesday reception hosted by the Web Analytics Association. We hope you join us.

Posted by Alden DeSoto, Google Analytics Team

Why we attend conferences

Posted by Adam Lasnik, Search Evangelist

I've always loved traveling. Okay, not the flights so much, especially given that I typically travel coach (yes, even for work trips). But getting to learn interesting cultural tidbits, enjoy regional cuisines, and meet new people... it all definitely makes my life richer. Even the little things -- linguistic differences ("How are you going?" in Sydney) and just walking around (pass on the left in the UK!) -- can be fascinating.

So I shouldn't be surprised when my friends tease me about my traveling as a representative of Google's Search Quality team: "Must be really rough!" However, being an active part of conferences actually isn't all glamour and relaxation.

Here's a glimpse of the reality:

• Sometimes (though thankfully rarely) I get metaphorically used as a human punching bag.
• There's no pause button on my corp and personal e-mail accounts. Days at conferences = LOTS of email to catch up on!
• And on a related note, what's with the no-wifi nonsense?! I have Verizon broadband [sic] for my laptop now, but still... ack!
  
• Attending conferences requires an enormous amount of extra time overall. I stubbornly seem to create presentations fresh for each conference, I collaborate with other Googler speakers on their presentations (and vice versa), and I end up with a ton of additional (valuable but time-intense) work from info I glean at the conferences. Based on this and the e-mail reason noted above, I've noticed that each day of conference = five days of combined prep + analysis + implementation.

But here's why I still really like going to conferences:

• I learn a bunch from other speakers. When folks from other search engines or various experts speak, I often think -- hey, that's useful information, or that's a particularly thoughtful way of explaining stuff. I'm still pretty new to the conference-speaking circuit, so every bit I soak up helps!
  
• SEO and webmaster folks are typically rather fun people. :-)
  
• Though I don't always make time for this, it's certainly neat getting to spend some time exploring various cities. Okay, so San Jose doesn't count (it's right next to Google), but I can't wait to check out Toronto (and, likely via a few personal days beforehand, Montreal).
• I learn a great deal from webmasters I chat with. I'm able to go back to my colleagues here and say - hey, this is how our algorithm changes or our guidelines are being perceived, these are challenges we didn't anticipate from our tools, and so on. And it's not just about search; I've gotten thoughtful earfuls about Gmail, Calendar, and practically everything else about Google, and I do my best to relay this feedback to my colleagues in other departments.
• Lastly, seeing someone in person provides a very helpful new perspective on what they're meaning to communicate online. It's easy to misread text on a page, especially when there's no immediate opportunity to follow up with questions. But in person, issues get cleared up on both sides, and that's good for everyone.

Thankfully, it's not just me who's presenting to and chatting with webmasters from Google -- I'd be exhausted, and you'd get quite bored of me. As you can see from the list below, our conference-going is genuinely a team effort: Through this month and June, you'll find Google Search Quality and Webmaster Central folks present at these conferences:

• Jianfei Zhu (Senior Software Engineer): Get a Lesson from Spamming

• Matt Cutts (Software Engineer): You&A, Personalized Search and Penalty Box
  
• Vanessa Fox (Product Manager, Webmaster Central): Duplicate Content

* * *

We look forward to seeing many of you in person! But even if you can't or don't want to go to one of the conferences we attend, we welcome your questions, comments, or even just a friendly introduction in our Webmaster Help Group.

Take care, and enjoy your summer, wherever your online or offline travels may take you!

You now have access to the new Google Analytics!

In "Welcome to the New Google Analytics", Justin from EpikOne provides an in-depth overview of how to use sticky URL’s, custom dashboards, and the date range selector.

Want to know how to get started off on the right foot with the new Google Analytics? Check out Avinash Kaushik's blog post.

Erik Dafforn's gives a wrap-up in "New Google Analytics: Built for Search Marketers" on ClickZ.

Adam Ostrow takes a detailed look at setting goals, local conversion data, and more in "27 Features That Make Google Analytics Best of Breed."

Speaking for all of us on the Google Analytics team, enjoy!

Posted by Brett Crosby, Sr. Manager, Google Analytics

Taking advantage of universal search

Posted by Vanessa Fox

Yesterday, at Searchology, we unveiled exciting changes in our search results. With universal search, we've begun blending results from more than just the web in order to provide the most relevant and useful results possible. In addition to web pages, for instance, the search results may include video, news, images, maps, and books. Over time, we'll continue to enhance this blending so that searchers can get the exact information they need right from the search results.

This is great news for the searcher, but what does it mean for you, the webmaster? It's great news for you as well. Many people do their searches from web search and aren't aware of our many other tools to search for images, news, videos, maps, and books. Since more of those results may now be returned in web search, if you have content that is returned in these others searches, more potential visitors may see your results.

Want to make sure you're taking full advantage of universal search? Here are some tips:

Google News results
If your site includes news content, you can, submit your site for inclusion in Google News. Once your site is included, you can let us know about your latest articles by submitting a News Sitemap. (Note News Sitemaps are currently available for English sites only.)

News Archive results
If you have historical news content (available for free or by subscription), you can submit it for inclusion in News Archive Search.

Image results
If your site includes images, you can opt-in to enhanced Image search in webmaster tools, which will enable us to gather additional metadata about your images using our Image Labeler. This helps us return your images for the most relevant queries. Also ensure that you are fully taking advantage of the images on your site.

Local results
If your site is for a business in a particular geographic location, you can provide information to us using our Local Business Center. By providing this information, you can help us provide the best, locally relevant results to searchers both in web search and on Google Maps.

Video results
If you have video content, you can host it on Google Video, YouTube, or a number of other video hosting providers. If the video is a relevant result for the query, searchers can play the video directly from the search results page (for Google Video and YouTube) or can view a thumbnail of the video then click over to the player for other hosting providers. You can easily upload videos to Google Video or to YouTube.

Our goal with universal search is to provide most relevant and useful results, so for those of you who want to connect to visitors via search, our best advice remains the same: create valuable, unique content that is exactly what searchers are looking for.