Creating a Standard Data Layer for the Tag Management Industry
July 11th, 2013 | by Adam Singer | published in Uncategorized
July 11th, 2013 | by Adam Singer | published in Uncategorized
July 11th, 2013 | by Adam Singer | published in Uncategorized
Update: have Google Tag Manager questions? We’ll be answering them in this thread on Google+.
July 10th, 2013 | by Google Chrome Blog | published in Uncategorized
Today’s Chrome for Android stable update continues to break down the language barrier as you browse the mobile web. In addition to the built-in translation bar, we’ve added improved layout support for right-to-left languages including Arabic, Farsi and Hebrew. This update also brings fullscreen browsing to your tablet.
Furthermore, we’re rolling out an experimental data compression service over the coming days which helps you save bandwidth, load pages faster, and browse more securely on your phone and tablet. Too good to be true, you say? Au contraire. By optimizing the pages you visit, this feature can help you save on data usage and bring you a faster, more dynamic web.
We look forward to your feedback on the latest version of Chrome for Android as it rolls out in the coming days.
Posted by Dan Alcantara, Software Engineer and Professional Polyglot
July 10th, 2013 | by Stephen Kliff | published in Uncategorized
The mobile advertising industry continues to evolve at a rapid pace – as new technologies have created new ways for publishers to grow and engage with their audience, new ways for advertisers to reach their customers have also emerged. With new opportunities aplenty for both buyers and sellers, how have they engaged with each other to shape the mobile ads ecosystem?
Based on aggregate data from across our network, we took a look at the economics behind the mobile ads ecosystem in a study: The Mobile Buyer & Seller Relationship. The study looks at mobile advertising from both a buyer and seller perspective, focusing on the types of content that are driving the most mobile web and app traffic, where advertisers are focusing their budgets, and the intersection of the two.
Here are a few highlights from the research:
Check out all of the findings by downloading the full report here.
Posted by Stephen Kliff, Product Marketing Manager
July 10th, 2013 | by Stephen Kliff | published in Uncategorized
The mobile advertising industry continues to evolve at a rapid pace – as new technologies have created new ways for publishers to grow and engage with their audience, new ways for advertisers to reach their customers have also emerged. With new opportunities aplenty for both buyers and sellers, how have they engaged with each other to shape the mobile ads ecosystem?
Based on aggregate data from across our network, we took a look at the economics behind the mobile ads ecosystem in a study: The Mobile Buyer & Seller Relationship. The study looks at mobile advertising from both a buyer and seller perspective, focusing on the types of content that are driving the most mobile web and app traffic, where advertisers are focusing their budgets, and the intersection of the two.
Here are a few highlights from the research:
Check out all of the findings by downloading the full report here.
Posted by Stephen Kliff, Product Marketing Manager
July 10th, 2013 | by Adam Singer | published in Uncategorized
It’s important for businesses to stay up to date about the most recent research and insights related to their industry. Unfortunately — with so many new studies and with data being updated so often — it can difficult to keep up. To make life a bit easier, we created the Databoard for Research Insights, which allows people to explore and interact with some of Google’s recent research in a unique and immersive way.
July 10th, 2013 | by Jane Smith | published in Uncategorized
Editor’s note: Our guest blogger is Jason Bullock, Infrastructure Director at BDP International, a global transportation company with operations in 115 cities throughout the world and a network of subsidiaries in 122 countries. See what other organizations that have gone Google have to say.
Whether it’s moving a tractor to Jakarta, sending a blood pressure monitor to Milan or putting a beer in someone’s hand, at BDP International, we manage logistics for international transportation from start to finish. We run everything from documentation to shipping, making sure all the regulatory requirements are met along the way. We depend on technology to orchestrate the freight logistics and transportation globally on air, land, and sea, so we need to have an email system that’s dependable and tools that are collaborative.
In the past, we used Microsoft Exchange. Maintaining the Exchange environment was costly, and without significant investment our reliability issues would’ve continued. We needed to be able to monitor the mobile devices that connect to our systems and better predict usage patterns. We considered upgrading our on-premise Exchange environment or moving to the cloud on either Microsoft Office 365 or Google Apps for Business. The Exchange upgrade was three to four times more expensive than both cloud options and, while Office 365 offered familiar features, the pricing was not within an acceptable cost structure at the time of our evaluation. Google Apps gave us a complete set of tools for a single per-user fee, with the highest reliability and security overall. In April of this year, Google Apps Reseller Cloud Sherpas helped us move our 3,600 employees over to Google Apps.
Although we’ve only been on Apps for a few months, we are already seeing how Google Apps is helping our employees work better together. First, our compliance team is using a Google Site as an internal regulatory information hub, and our VP of Compliance uses the automatic translation feature in Gmail to communicate with our office in Mexico in seconds, without the hassle of finding a translator or leaving the original message. We moved an entire process around event planning from a paper form to a Google Form, which allows our event coordinator to collect and share all the details with the planning staff seamlessly and much faster than before. Finally, we’ve moved off of our company Blackberries onto Android and iOS smartphones with Google Apps. This allows our teams to work faster since everyone can edit and collaborate in Google Drive from anywhere, while giving our IT team better visibility into our network thanks to the mobile management console.
Moving to Google Apps helps our employees view technology as a tool, not an obstacle, and is making us a more nimble company. We can get work done from anywhere while moving around as freely as our cargo. We had talked about making this happen at BDP for a long time, but Google Apps really helped us kickstart the change.
July 10th, 2013 | by Emily Wood | published in Uncategorized
Today we’re introducing a new Google Maps app for Android smartphones and tablets, also coming soon to iPhone and iPad. It’s a new mapping experience that makes exploring the world and getting to the places that matter to you a lot faster and easier. The app is gradually rolling out globally in Google Play and will be available soon in the App Store.
The new Google Maps for mobile builds on the design we released for iPhone last December and improves on it with a few useful search and navigation features. And it’s the first dedicated app for Android tablets and iPads. We’re also retiring Latitude and are making some changes to offline and My Maps which we’ll explain in more detail below.
First, here are a few highlights that make this release stand out:
Explore: Explore is a fast and easy way to visually browse and discover new places without even typing. Simply tap the search box and you’ll see cards showing great places to eat, drink, sleep and shop.
Enhanced navigation: In addition to current traffic conditions, we’ve added two new features to help you navigate around traffic. You can now see reports of problems on the road that you can tap to see incident details. While on the road, Google Maps will also alert you if a better route becomes available and reroute you to your destination faster. This feature is available only on Android and is coming soon to iOS.
Designed for tablets: A dedicated tablet design brings all the features of this new app to Android tablets and iPads, which makes exploring the world from the comfort of your living room much more fluid, smooth and fun.
Reviews, Zagat and Offers: There’s a new 5.0 star rating system that gives you a quick read on how your friends and others rate places like restaurants, bars and cafes. For an expert’s opinion, the Zagat badge of excellence and curated lists are integrated into search results so you can quickly spot the very best places. From “Best Restaurants to meet for a drink in NYC” to “Best Restaurants in the Mission” in San Francisco, Zagat’s there to help you uncover the local gems.
And finally, Google Maps for mobile is a great way to discover valuable Offers from national brands like Macy’s, Michael’s and Toys “R” Us, labeled right on the map. All these features can make it a lot easier to navigate the world, no matter what adventure comes your way.
One important change you should know about is that Latitude and check-ins will be retired. These features will no longer be a part of the new Google Maps app, and will stop functioning in older versions by August 9. We understand some of you still want to see your friends and family on a map, which is why we’ve added location sharing and check-ins to Google+ for Android (coming soon to iOS). More details about Latitude and check-in changes can be found in our help center.
The offline maps feature for Android is also no longer available. Instead we’ve created a new way for you to access maps offline by simply entering “OK Maps” into the search box when viewing the area you want for later. Finally, My Maps functionality is not supported in this release but will return to future versions of the app. People who want to create powerful custom maps can still do so with Maps Engine Lite on desktop.
Helping you find great places is what we love to do. And as more of us use mobile phones and tablets in our daily lives, information that’s useful to you isn’t just about what you need, but also where you might find it. Today’s update is an exciting step forward for Google’s maps—one that we hope will make it faster and easier for you to explore and discover places you want to go.
Update July 16: The new Google Maps app for iPhone and iPad is now live. Visit the App Store today to download it.
Posted by Daniel Graf, Director, Google Maps
*The new Google Maps for mobile is compatible with Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean Android devices and iOS 6+ when available. Please note some of the features mentioned in this post aren’t available in all countries.
July 10th, 2013 | by Lat Long | published in Uncategorized
Today we’re introducing a new Google Maps app for Android smartphones and tablets, also coming soon to iPhone and iPad. It’s a new mapping experience that makes exploring the world and getting to the places that matter to you a lot faster and easier. The app is gradually rolling out globally in Google Play and will be available soon in the App Store.
The new Google Maps for mobile builds on the design we released for iPhone last December and improves on it with a few useful search and navigation features. And it’s the first dedicated app for Android tablets and iPads. We’re also retiring Latitude and are making some changes to offline and My Maps which we’ll explain in more detail below.
First, here are a few highlights that make this release stand out:
Explore: Explore is a fast and easy way to visually browse and discover new places without even typing. Simply tap the search box and you’ll see cards showing great places to eat, drink, sleep and shop.
Enhanced navigation: In addition to current traffic conditions, we’ve added two new features to help you navigate around traffic. You can now see reports of problems on the road that you can tap to see incident details. While on the road, Google Maps will also alert you if a better route becomes available and reroute you to your destination faster. This feature is available only on Android and is coming soon to iOS.
Designed for tablets: A dedicated tablet design brings all the features of this new app to Android tablets and iPads, which makes exploring the world from the comfort of your living room much more fluid, smooth and fun.
Reviews, Zagat and Offers: There’s a new 5.0 star rating system that gives you a quick read on how your friends and others rate places like restaurants, bars and cafes. For an expert’s opinion, the Zagat badge of excellence and curated lists are integrated into search results so you can quickly spot the very best places. From “Best Restaurants to meet for a drink in NYC” to “Best Restaurants in the Mission” in San Francisco, Zagat’s there to help you uncover the local gems.
And finally, Google Maps for mobile is a great way to discover valuable Offers from national brands like Macy’s, Michael’s and Toys “R” Us, labeled right on the map. All these features can make it a lot easier to navigate the world, no matter what adventure comes your way.
One important change you should know about is that Latitude and check-ins are no longer part of the new Google Maps app, and will be retired from older versions on August 9. We understand some of you still want to see your friends and family on a map, which is why we’ve added location sharing and check-ins to Google+ for Android (coming soon to iOS). More details about Latitude and check-in changes can be found in our help center.
The offline maps feature for Android is also no longer available. Instead we’ve created a new way for you to access maps offline by simply entering “OK Maps” into the search box when viewing the area you want for later. Finally, My Maps functionality is not supported in this release but will return to future versions of the app. People who want to create powerful custom maps can still do so with Maps Engine Lite on desktop.
Helping you find great places is what we love to do. And as more of us use mobile phones and tablets in our daily lives, information that’s useful to you isn’t just about what you need, but also where you might find it. Today’s update is an exciting step forward for Google’s maps—one that we hope will make it faster and easier for you to explore and discover places you want to go.
Posted by Daniel Graf, Director, Google Maps
*The new Google Maps for mobile is compatible with Ice Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean Android devices and iOS 6+ when available. Please note some of the features mentioned in this post aren’t available in all countries.
July 9th, 2013 | by Emily Wood | published in Uncategorized
Getting together for meals and laughs, telling stories, and simply spending time with loved ones—this is what holidays mean to many of us.
This year, as families around the world celebrate Ramadan, we have some tips on how you can more easily keep in touch and share moments with the people you care about.
Check out our new page for Ramadan 2013 for suggestions on how to catch up with friends and family no matter where you are, drop in to live cook-along Hangouts with celebrity chefs from around Southeast Asia, easily discover and watch videos on YouTube, and find the best commute routes that will get you home in time to share a meal with loved ones.
You can also experience the atmosphere of Al-Masjid Al-Haram by tuning in to the live stream from the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia on the Saudi Ministry of Culture and Information’s YouTube channel, also available directly on our new page.
And if you’d like to see how people around the world are celebrating Ramadan, search for #breakingfast on Google+ to see the latest stream of posts and photos. You can also send through your own special moments: Simply share your favorite photo or post on Google+ and tag your post with #breakingfast.
Posted by Hadi Raad, Head of Marketing, Emerging Arabia
July 9th, 2013 | by Jane Smith | published in Uncategorized
(Cross-posted on the Gmail Blog)
For those of you who have taken the plunge and are using desktop Hangouts in Gmail, Google+, and the Chrome extension, we’ve heard loud and clear that you miss the ability to make calls from Gmail, so today, we’re happy to announce it’s back – and better than before! Even better: calls to the US and Canada are now free from all countries where Hangouts calling is available. And international rates remain super, super low.
Today’s launch also improves the desktop calling experience in a number of ways. For example: you can add multiple phone numbers and video participants to the same call; and you can play sound effects (like applause or laughter) with the Google Effects app.
To make a call from Hangouts, just look for the new phone icon in Gmail, or for the new “Call a phone” menu item in Google+ and the Chrome extension. And of course: if you haven’t yet tried Hangouts in Gmail, you can always click your profile photo in the chat list and select “Try the new Hangouts.”
Making calls from Hangouts is rolling out over the next couple of days. As we’ve said before: Hangouts is designed to be the future of Google Voice, and making and receiving calls is just the beginning. So stay tuned for future updates.
July 9th, 2013 | by The Gmail Team | published in Uncategorized
Posted by Alex Wiesen, Senior Software Engineer
For those of you who have taken the plunge and are using desktop Hangouts in Gmail, Google+, and the Chrome extension, we’ve heard loud and clear that you miss the ability to make calls from Gmail, so today, we’re happy to announce it’s back – and better than before! Even better: calls to the US and Canada are now free from all countries where Hangouts calling is available. And international rates remain super, super low.
Today’s launch also improves the desktop calling experience in a number of ways. For example: you can add multiple phone numbers and video participants to the same call; and you can play sound effects (like applause or laughter) with the Google Effects app.
To make a call from Hangouts, just look for the new phone icon in Gmail, or for the new “Call a phone” menu item in Google+ and the Chrome extension. And of course: if you haven’t yet tried Hangouts in Gmail, you can always click your profile photo in the chat list and select “Try the new Hangouts.”
Making calls from Hangouts is rolling out over the next couple of days. As we’ve said before: Hangouts is designed to be the future of Google Voice, and making and receiving calls is just the beginning. So stay tuned for future updates.
July 9th, 2013 | by Stephen Kliff | published in Uncategorized
It’s important for businesses to stay up to date about the most recent research and insights related to their industry. Unfortunately — with so many new studies and with data being updated so often — it can difficult to keep up. To make life a bit easier, we created the Databoard for Research Insights, which allows people to explore and interact with some of Google’s recent research in a unique and immersive way.
The Databoard is our response to three big challenges facing the vast majority of research released today.
The databoard is currently home to four research studies including The New Multi-screen World, Mobile In-store shopper research, Mobile search moments, and more. New studies will be added frequently so be sure to check back often. To get started exploring the Databoard and creating your own infographic visit google.com/think/databoard.
Posted by Adam Grunewald, Product Marketing Manager
July 9th, 2013 | by Adam Singer | published in Google Analytics
Over the past year we’ve added many new features to Google Analytics. Today we are releasing all of this data in the Core Reporting API!
We’re most excited about the ability to query for custom dimensions and metrics using the API.
Developers can use custom dimensions to send unique IDs into Google Analytics, and then use the core reporting API to retrieve these IDs along with other Google Analytics data.
For example, your content management system can pass a content ID as a custom dimension using the Google Analytics tracking code. Developers can then use the API to get a list of the most popular content by ID and display the list of most popular content on their website.
We’ve added more mobile dimensions and metrics, including those found in the Mobile App Analytics reports:
Some examples of questions this new data can answer are:
If you are sending Google Analytics multiple currencies, you now have the ability to access the local currency of the transactions with this new data:
We also added new time based dimensions to simplify working with reporting data:
Sample queries:
Finally, we’ve added two new traffic source dimensions, including one to return the full URL of the referral.
Sample query: the top 10 referrers based on visits (using full referrer).
For a complete list of the new data, take a look at the Core Reporting API changelog.
For all the data definitions, check the Core Reporting API Dimensions and Metrics explorer.
As always, you can check out this new data directly within our Query Explorer tool.
We’re very excited to release this data and thrilled to see what developers build next!
Posted by Srinivasan Kannan & Pete Frisella, Google Analytics API Team
July 9th, 2013 | by Android Developers | published in Uncategorized
Posted by Reto Meier, Android Developer Relations Tech Lead
The 2013 mid-year Android Developer Survey is now open!
Last year more than 5,000 of you shared your Android Development experiences and challenges with us, and your responses directly influ…