Google Data » Vanessa Schneider

Google Data » Vanessa Schneider https://googledata.org Everything Google: News, Products, Services, Content, Culture Mon, 13 Apr 2015 21:51:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1 Tropical Storm Isaac: Crisis Response map for projected path and preparedness information https://googledata.org/google-earth/tropical-storm-isaac-crisis-response-map-for-projected-path-and-preparedness-information/ https://googledata.org/google-earth/tropical-storm-isaac-crisis-response-map-for-projected-path-and-preparedness-information/#comments Mon, 27 Aug 2012 23:20:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=5ada7af6ed062935eb46f8c411020886

(Cross-posted on the Google.org Blog.)

Update 9/3/2012: We've just added NOAA’s post-Isaac imagery of New Orleans, Slidell and more to the Hurricane Isaac map.

Tropical Storm Isaac is expected to make landfall as early as Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, and the path of the storm continues to update — with current projections toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. The Google Crisis Response team, working with the Red Cross, the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and various government and NGO partners, have assembled a Tropical Storm Isaac map to track the storm’s progress and provide updated emergency information to those in need:

On the map you can find emergency preparedness information, including:

Isaac’s current location and projected path, courtesy of the NOAA-National Hurricane Center
Weather updates and data, including radar and cloud imagery from weather.com and the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
Evacuation information and routes
Shelter and recovery centers locations
Storm-related YouTube videos, including many curated by Storyful

We’ll be updating this map with more information as it becomes available. We hope you find the tools and information useful.

Posted by Raquel Romano, Software Engineer, Google Crisis Response]]> https://googledata.org/google-earth/tropical-storm-isaac-crisis-response-map-for-projected-path-and-preparedness-information/feed/ 0 Welcome customers into your business on Google https://googledata.org/uncategorized/welcome-customers-into-your-business-on-google/ https://googledata.org/uncategorized/welcome-customers-into-your-business-on-google/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:18:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=5d39db45a4e780464894ee8ce28081ec
(Cross-posted on the Small Business Blog.)

When we initially announced the Business Photos pilot program, we wanted to give business owners an easy way to get customers in the door online using interactive, high-quality, 360-degree images of places on Google Maps and on Google Search results. With thousands of businesses under our belt — from salons to gift shops — we’ve been hearing the same question again and again from both business owners and photographers alike: How can I participate?

Well, with the overwhelming success of the first pilot, we’ve decided to unveil a complementary initiative that will help us reach more interested business owners, more quickly: Trusted Photographers.

View Larger Map

Click and drag to view the inside of Spice Market, New York City.

It’s simple. Visit our new website and search for a Google Trusted Photographer in your area. Either email or call a photographer in your area to schedule a time and agree on a price that you will pay the photographer for a photoshoot of your business. This self-serve model makes for easier scheduling and quicker turnaround, while also supporting the local photographers in your community. During the hour it should take for the shoot, you can collaborate with the photographer about how best to display and capture your business. When finished, the photographer will upload the images to Google, and shortly thereafter, you’ll see 360-degree panoramic views of your business on Google.com, Google Maps and on your Google Places listing.

See how Business Photos has helped Toy Joy of Austin, Texas.

Trusted Photographers are available in 14 U.S. cities, as well as in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and France. Don’t see a photographer in your area? Let us know, as that will help us determine where more Trusted Photographers are needed.

Posted by Gadi Royz, Product Manager, Google Maps]]> https://googledata.org/uncategorized/welcome-customers-into-your-business-on-google/feed/ 0 Looking for stores in a shopping mall or doctors in a hospital? https://googledata.org/google-maps/looking-for-stores-in-a-shopping-mall-or-doctors-in-a-hospital/ https://googledata.org/google-maps/looking-for-stores-in-a-shopping-mall-or-doctors-in-a-hospital/#comments Tue, 06 Dec 2011 15:00:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=5414004e2f4021afb0807be39efec57c
As the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear, being a well-informed and efficient shopper is more important than ever. That’s why we’re excited to introduce a new feature in Google Maps that can help you find places that are located within or are part of larger buildings, such as malls, office buildings, and hospitals.

When appropriate, the name of the overarching location will be added to the listings that appear in Google Maps, just beneath a place’s address. For example, you can now easily tell that the Disney Store near you isn’t a standalone store, but rather, located at the Hillsdale Shopping Center. Similarly, you can more easily see that a specific doctor’s office is at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, or that the restaurant you’re looking for is actually in the same structure as a local hotel.

Labels for the shopping malls where a store is located

If you click on the name of the overarching location - in this case, Hillsdale Shopping Center - you’ll see a detailed list of all the businesses or professionals at that particular location. Up to 20 listings are provided, and clicking the “More at...” link will give you the complete list.

List of stores and restaurants located at the shopping mall

This feature is available starting today for a variety of U.S. locations and venue types, and we hope to expand it to more categories and countries over time.

Happy holiday shopping!

Posted by Sean Wonjoon Choi, Product Manager]]> https://googledata.org/google-maps/looking-for-stores-in-a-shopping-mall-or-doctors-in-a-hospital/feed/ 0 Getting to know you https://googledata.org/google-maps/getting-to-know-you-2/ https://googledata.org/google-maps/getting-to-know-you-2/#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:05:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=bc7450932ff2fd33d556477fc48892d9
But to make sure our posts are interesting and valuable to you, our readers, we thought it’d be useful to ask what you’d like to read, watch and share. Whether you're a user, developer or journalist, we want to know more about who you are and what you’d like to see from us. To collect your feedback, we’ve set up an anonymous form with a few questions — you can find it here.

We’ll leave the form open for the next few days. Thanks in advance to those of you who take a few minutes to respond!

Posted by Brian Hendricks, Google Maps marketing]]> https://googledata.org/google-maps/getting-to-know-you-2/feed/ 0 Get news, learn tips and join Hangouts on the Google Maps Google+ page https://googledata.org/google-maps/get-news-learn-tips-and-join-hangouts-on-the-google-maps-google-page/ https://googledata.org/google-maps/get-news-learn-tips-and-join-hangouts-on-the-google-maps-google-page/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 18:05:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=8f652ec310df6da9f1647bc14b877732
Just a few moments ago, the Google+ team introduced Pages to help you better get to know your favorite brands, businesses and organizations. But the exciting news doesn’t end there! Today, we’d like to welcome all fans of Google Maps to join us on Google+ by adding our new page to your circles.

Here’s just some of the stuff you’ll find when you follow us on Google+:

Product news and announcements. Stay up to date and share with friends.
Hangouts with the Maps team. Bring your questions!
User spotlights. We want to showcase you, our awesome community members.
#GMapsTrivia. Put your geo skills to the test for bragging rights.
Pro tips. Tricks from Googlers and fellow users so you can get the most out of Maps.

This page is a place for you to connect with our team and other Maps fans, discuss ideas and share feedback, and learn a new thing or two about our product. So say hello in the comments on our page, and we’ll see you soon in a Hangout!

Posted by Vanessa Schneider, Google Maps and Places community manager, and Brian Hendricks, Google Maps marketing

]]> https://googledata.org/google-maps/get-news-learn-tips-and-join-hangouts-on-the-google-maps-google-page/feed/ 0 A new way to get information about real-world places https://googledata.org/uncategorized/a-new-way-to-get-information-about-real-world-places/ https://googledata.org/uncategorized/a-new-way-to-get-information-about-real-world-places/#comments Tue, 01 Nov 2011 23:43:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=34b7890e5317280aa640a6420bdda5ef
(Cross-posted on the Inside Search blog.)

I love eating out with my friends and trying new places, but one of the most difficult questions you can ask me is "Where do you want to eat?" Today, we’re making a few improvements to Google search that will make it a lot easier and faster to answer this question. For example, I mentioned to a friend that I’ll be visiting Boston, and he suggested that I check out a barbecue place called Redbones BBQ in Davis Square. Since I don't know that restaurant, I do a quick search for [redbones bbq] to see if it’s a place I’d like.

When I do, I see the same familiar search results page but I notice that there's now a new panel to the right of the results -- where previously only a map appeared -- with much more information than before. I see two images with pegman, the Street View mascot, below the map so I click on the first one. This instantly takes me to an immersive 360-degree interior view of the restaurant, as if I were virtually teleported to Redbones.

I pan around and see that it's a cool colorful restaurant with a nice, comfy feel. What's more, when I go back to the search results panel and click on the second image, I’m able to look around the outside of the restaurant and get a sense for the neighborhood via the familiar Street View experience. I’m beginning to really like this place! Further down the panel, I see the price range indicating it won’t be too expensive and an “at a glance” summary that tells me Redbones has great beer and pulled pork sandwiches -- and menu links if I want to see more. Thanks to this helpful information right on the search results page, I’ve quickly been able to make my decision: I’m going to Redbones for a pulled pork sandwich.

Even if I’m not looking for a particular place by name, I can learn about places and quickly decide which ones are right for me. If I want to find a bar near Redbones for a few drinks after dinner, I can just search for [bars davis square] and get a familiar list of results. Only now, scanning the list and comparing places is easier than ever, since the instant preview feature will show the same detailed information about the various bars when I hover over the “>>” symbol to the right of each result. After just a few seconds perusing the additional local information for different places, I know that Joshua Tree has a great beer selection and that the Orleans has live music but is a bit farther away.

This new type of layout may appear on the search results page for a range of real-world places -- restaurants, hotels, local businesses, landmarks, museums and more. Of course, the local information that appears will vary depending on what’s available online. So the next time you plan your visit to the New England Aquarium or Fenway Park, you might be able to check out their opening hours, get directions, and find the nearest transit stops, all from a simple Google search.

In the coming weeks, you’ll start seeing the improved local search experience in more than 40 languages. Give it a try and start discovering new local favorites, near and far!

Posted by Jim Müller, Tech Lead]]> https://googledata.org/uncategorized/a-new-way-to-get-information-about-real-world-places/feed/ 0 Driving directions, biking directions … and now, carving directions! https://googledata.org/uncategorized/driving-directions-biking-directions-%e2%80%a6-and-now-carving-directions/ https://googledata.org/uncategorized/driving-directions-biking-directions-%e2%80%a6-and-now-carving-directions/#comments Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:41:00 +0000 https://googledata.org/?guid=a3d5d2ae3f99369b7df45062cabaca79
We just couldn’t resist combining two of our favorite pastimes: pumpkin carving and geeking out about Maps. Behold: Pumpkin carving sheets to show off your Maps, Earth and SketchUp pride. Just click this link, hit print, and follow the how-to instructions.

Think you got skills? Let’s see ’em! We want to build a photo gallery of your finest work. Just send a photo of your Maps pumpkin our way on Google+ or Twitter using the hashtag #gmapspumpkin. Bonus points — and infinite bragging rights — for anyone who can pull off that Pegman.

Posted by Vanessa Schneider, Maps and Places community manager]]> https://googledata.org/uncategorized/driving-directions-biking-directions-%e2%80%a6-and-now-carving-directions/feed/ 0 Let Your Hotpot Friends Help You Search on Google Maps https://googledata.org/google-earth/let-your-hotpot-friends-help-you-search-on-google-maps/ https://googledata.org/google-earth/let-your-hotpot-friends-help-you-search-on-google-maps/#comments Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:37:00 +0000
Most of us know lots of friends, each with very different areas of expertise when it comes to places to recommend. With the recent launch of Hotpot, we made it easy for you to see your friends’ ratings and reviews listed right inside search results.

While this is really helpful, and we’ve had a lot of fun with it, we often found ourselves wanting to see all recommendations by a particular friend for a particular search. Problem solved, thanks to a simple new feature we cooked up.

Say I’m searching on Google Maps for “italian restaurants” in New York. I’d probably trust my buddy Octavian’s recommendations over Bernhard’s (who is more of a hamburger guy, really). Now all I have to do, to see Octavian’s entire list of Italian restaurant recommendations in the city, is click on his name when he pops up in my initial search; this filters my search results to only those he’s rated and shows them on the map. It’s like I’m seeing the world, through Octavian’s eyes.

Getting a hand from a friend is even more helpful when I’m on the go. So now I can do the same thing in Google Maps for mobile on Android; clicking on Octavian’s name in my search results filters to show only his recommendations.

Add your friends (at least those with good taste) on Hotpot and encourage them to rate so you can explore their recommendations when you search on Google Maps.

Posted by Daniel Yehuda, Hotpot Engineer]]> https://googledata.org/google-earth/let-your-hotpot-friends-help-you-search-on-google-maps/feed/ 0 Now available: Google Places with Hotpot for iPhone https://googledata.org/google-earth/now-available-google-places-with-hotpot-for-iphone/ https://googledata.org/google-earth/now-available-google-places-with-hotpot-for-iphone/#comments Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:10:00 +0000
We recently released Google Places with Hotpot in Google Maps for Android, and starting now, you can have that same great experience as an iPhone app. We realize the importance of finding places you’ll love while you’re out and about, no matter what mobile device you use. And Places with Hotpot not only helps you find places near where you are, it gives you the best places to go for you by personalizing your search results.

In case you aren’t familiar with Google Places, it lets you quickly search for places nearby and personalizes the results based on places you’ve rated. We get you started with a few popular search categories, but you can also tailor the list by adding your own favorite searches. This makes it fast and easy to find the best places for you with little fuss.

Use a default search category, save your own, or rate the nearest place quickly.

It can be pretty rewarding to discover a new place you love, but we also realize that there are some experiences you just can’t wait to share. So Places makes it super simple to rate a place with your iPhone while you’re there. Just fire up the app and hit “Rate now.” It will use your location to guess your current place and let you post a Hotpot review right from your phone. But it’s not just about getting to say what you think—the more you rate places, the more you’re sharing about your tastes and the more we can give you personally tailored recommendations.

Give your star rating and add optional details or a review so Hotpot knows your taste.

If you want to make things even tastier, just visit google.com/hotpot from your desktop computer. Here you can add friends to the mix and quickly rate all the places you already know. Once you’ve added friends, you’ll find your results seasoned not just with reviews from around the web and recommendations based on your own personal taste, but also with your friends’ opinions too.

Once you start rating and add friends, Places can give you personalized recommendations.

Get the Places app on your iPhone now by searching for Google Places in the App Store or going here.

This first version of Places is available for all iOS devices in English only. However, expect more features and improvements to roll out soon, including localization in many new languages. We’re hard at work to make Places with Hotpot more and more delicious.

Posted by Greg Blevins, Software Engineer, Google Hotpot team]]> https://googledata.org/google-earth/now-available-google-places-with-hotpot-for-iphone/feed/ 0 Discover New Places From Your Hotpot Friends on Google Maps https://googledata.org/google-earth/discover-new-places-from-your-hotpot-friends-on-google-maps/ https://googledata.org/google-earth/discover-new-places-from-your-hotpot-friends-on-google-maps/#comments Tue, 11 Jan 2011 23:55:00 +0000
(Cross-posted from the Hotpot Blog.)

When you need a great restaurant, hotel or pub, who do you turn to first for a recommendation? Your friends. We wanted to recreate that valuable exchange with Hotpot, our local recommendation engine from Google Places, which allows you to add friends whose opinions you trust and see their place recommendations right in your search results.

Because we find adding friends on Hotpot so valuable to the experience, today we’re excited to announce a new feature that makes it easy to stay up to date with the latest place recommendations from your Hotpot friends.

If you’re a Hotpot user, when you visit Google Maps on your desktop computer, you’ll now see a stream listing the most recent rating and review activity of your Hotpot friends.

Here’s what Maps looks like for me:

Keep in mind this feature is in beta mode, which means we’ll be building it out over time, making it even easier for you to keep track of your friends’ activities.

Visit Google Maps right now to discover that great new restaurant or bar you should check out this weekend. And be sure to thank the Hotpot friend who recommended it!

Posted by Octavian "Vivi" Costache, Hotpot Engineer]]> https://googledata.org/google-earth/discover-new-places-from-your-hotpot-friends-on-google-maps/feed/ 0