tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41625260144226398382024-03-13T21:21:58.934-07:00dicamasterIAhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11159748199171464115noreply@blogger.comBlogger294125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-79605278213994935452017-11-04T12:29:00.000-07:002017-11-04T12:29:10.184-07:00Your Google companion awaits you this bulan pahalaToday, more than a billion people around the world begin observing the holy month of Ramadan, fasting from dawn to sunset, gathering with families and loved ones for meals, laughs and stories. <br /> <br /> Growing up, the best part about bulan puasa was eating way too much lentil soup with my family and catching up on the latest pecahan of our favorite series, "Bab Al-Hara." Today, living more than 1900 miles away from my family, I rely on technology to get close with them during Ramadan. Whether it’s sharing moments on Hangouts, my sister sending me pictures of the iftar spread of the day, or receiving an avalanche of recipes from my mother for me to save and try out, technology helps us stay connected and celebrate bulan puasa together even when away. <br /> <br /> In fact, technology helps more than 200 million Muslims living away from their families connect and share moments with loved ones. People look to Maps to navigate traffic and make it home from work for Iftar, unduh Google Play apps to plan their day around the sunset and sunrise, and look up bulan puasa opening hours of their favorite local shops and restaurants.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pS5oSiEDAXE/VYHySevw7sI/AAAAAAAAQh0/-SBShGlTJdE/s1600/RamadanGif.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pS5oSiEDAXE/VYHySevw7sI/AAAAAAAAQh0/-SBShGlTJdE/s640/RamadanGif.gif" width="640" /></a></div>To help you get the most out of Ramadan, we've launched <a href="https://ramadan.withgoogle.com/#/">My bulan puasa Companion (g.co/Ramadan)</a>, which gives you customized and locally relevant information, tips, and other content highlighting the richness of what the web can offer during bulan puasa around you. You can find out the sunset time in your location and plan your day accordingly, check out the traffic in your area, navigate to the closest charity Iftar, find and share recipes, and enjoy bulan puasa content on YouTube ranging from drama series and comedy sketches and health tips to stay fit during the 30 days of fasting.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w1-mOEpIyRw/VYHxwewpRsI/AAAAAAAAQhs/dhECewUib2U/s1600/Google_Play_Ramadan_framed.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w1-mOEpIyRw/VYHxwewpRsI/AAAAAAAAQhs/dhECewUib2U/s400/Google_Play_Ramadan_framed.png" width="237" /></a></div>Depending on your location, <a href="https://www.google.com/landing/now/#howtogetit">Google Now</a> will show you a range of relevant cards with popular YouTube videos, latest bulan puasa news and information, and <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/promotion_300181f_ramadan2015_app_all">recommendations for apps</a> that alert you to wake up for Suhur, enable you to design greeting cards for bulan puasa to share with the family, find Halal restaurants around you, and countdown to Iftar time. <br /> <br /> With My bulan puasa Companion, we hope we can help you take care of the little things, so you can focus on the big things. bulan puasa Kareem! <br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Zain Kamal Masri, Associate Product Marketing Manager, Middle East and North Africa</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-34883841158943315362017-11-04T09:29:00.000-07:002017-11-04T09:29:05.689-07:00Join our global Pride celebration: #AndProudPride is one of the world’s greatest celebrations of diversity, one that we’re excited to support every year. For 2015, we’re doing something a little different: we’ve created an online parade, #AndProud, so that people from around the world can celebrate Pride together. <br /> <div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dXf3cAhoqQE" width="560"></iframe><br /> </div>To join the global parade, visit <a href="http://www.androidify.com/pride">Androidify</a>, where you can create your own Android character with a fun new Pride wardrobe. During the weekend of June 27-28 your character will party side-by-side with others from around the world in the online parade.<br /> <br /> But the celebration doesn’t end there. While the virtual parade happens online, thousands of Googlers will hit the streets of San Francisco, London and New York to show their support in those citywide Pride festivals. Some of the best #AndProud characters will appear on big screens as part of Google’s pride floats in all three cities.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PlnuTxJ3ASA/VYMA8NilsVI/AAAAAAAAQiM/JF-JkOvTwH8/s1600/AndProud%2BKey%2BVisual.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="339" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PlnuTxJ3ASA/VYMA8NilsVI/AAAAAAAAQiM/JF-JkOvTwH8/s640/AndProud%2BKey%2BVisual.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>From left to right, Sam Smith, Tom Daley and Jessie J celebrating the #AndProud parade</i></div><br /> In addition to #AndProud and our floats in SF, London and NYC, we’re celebrating Pride in our offices around the <a href=" ">products</a>. We’re excited to be able to extend the celebration and give people around the world a new way to share their Pride.<br /> <br /> Hope to see you at the parade!<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-veRo8wieSCA/VYMA8LG3TSI/AAAAAAAAQiI/sWIZdy9LegU/s1600/pasted%2Bimage%2B0.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-about-featured border="0" height="195" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-veRo8wieSCA/VYMA8LG3TSI/AAAAAAAAQiI/sWIZdy9LegU/s320/pasted%2Bimage%2B0.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Eddie Kalletta and Rich Terry, #AndProud parade marchers</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-13063542272326792472017-11-04T06:29:00.000-07:002017-11-04T06:29:08.951-07:00Through the Google lens: Search trends June 12-18The shooting in Charleston, S.C., was the top topic in search this week. Here’s a look at what people were searching for after the tragedy, plus a glimpse into what else was on searchers’ minds this week.<br /> <br /> <b>Tragedy in the south</b><br /> On Wednesday night, a gunman shot and killed nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, a historic black church in Charleston, S.C. The suspect, Dylann Roof, was arrested Thursday morning, and charged today with nine counts of murder. As people tried to make sense of the story, many turned to the web, leading searches for “<a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Charleston+Shooting&std=20150617&pn=p1#a=20150617-Charleston+Shooting">Charleston shooting</a>” to climb to more than 5 million. Top questions in the early morning after the shooting include “What was the motive of the hate crime shooting in Charleston?” Many were also interested in the <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Confederate+flag&std=20150618&pn=p1#a=20150618-Confederate+flag">Confederate flag</a>, which still flies above the S.C. Capitol building; interest in the flag spiked 20X in the past week in the U.S. as people asked questions like “What does the Confederate flag stand for?”<br /> <br /> <b>Presidential politics</b><br /> We’re still well more than a year away from the 2016 election but the presidential race is already crowded, and getting more so. This week two new candidates joined the fray: <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Jeb+Bush&std=20150614&pn=p1#a=20150614-Jeb+Bush">Jeb Bush</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Donald+Trump&std=20150616&pn=p1#a=20150616-Donald+Trump">Donald Trump</a> both announced they plan to run, bringing the total number of Republican candidates to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/2016-presidential-candidates.html">a cool dozen</a>. Though Bush was the most searched candidate in more than 25 states after his announcement, it didn’t last long. Following Trump’s announcement Tuesday, he became the most searched Republican Presidential candidate in every state in the U.S. Top questions on the newest candidates include “Is Jeb Bush related to George Bush?” (that would be a “yes”) and “What is Donald Trump’s net worth?” (he says more than $8 billion; the numbers are <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/17/415003043/the-problem-with-donald-trumps-one-page-summary-on-his-wealth">disputed</a>).<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rqEqEOQli-o/VYShetDkfzI/AAAAAAAAQjE/6bppRB7pkYQ/s1600/DonaldTrumpQs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rqEqEOQli-o/VYShetDkfzI/AAAAAAAAQjE/6bppRB7pkYQ/s500/DonaldTrumpQs.png" width="500" /></a></div><b>Must-see TV</b><br /> This week was big for sports, with Google’s own hometown team <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Golden+State+Warriors&std=20150616&pn=p1#a=20150616-Golden+State+Warriors">Golden State Warriors</a> beating the Cleveland Cavaliers to win their first NBA Championship title since 1975. The Warriors were at the top of the search charts on Tuesday with more than 2 million searches. Meanwhile, in hockey, the <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Chicago+Blackhawks&std=20150615&pn=p1#a=20150615-Chicago+Blackhawks">Chicago Blackhawks</a> edged out the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the Stanley Cup for the second time in three seasons. Winning never gets old, though: interest in Blackhawks apparel spiked 8X in Chicago between June 9-16, and there were more than 20,000+ searches for the <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Blackhawks+Parade+Route&std=20150618&pn=p1#a=20150618-Blackhawks+Parade+Route">Blackhawks parade route</a>, which took place Thursday with more than 2 million attendees. <br /> <br /> Hockey and basketball not your game? Then perhaps you were one of the 8 million people watching the fifth-season finale of HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” (Spoilers for the show follow.) The show was the subject of <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Game+of+Thrones&std=20150614&pn=p1#a=20150614-Game+of+Thrones">2 million searches</a> on Sunday night, as people watched with baited breath to find out what gruesome ends the show had in store for their favorite characters <i>this</i> season. One of the top questions about the show was simply “Who died on ‘Game of Thrones’?”, while others expressed their disbelief by asking “Is Jon Snow dead?” and “Is Stannis dead?” There were also more than 200K searches for <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Lena+Headey&std=20150614&pn=p1#a=20150614-Lena+Headey">Lena Headley</a>, who plays Cersei Lannister, and another 20K later in the week for <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Rebecca+Van+Cleave&std=20150618&pn=p1#a=20150618-Rebecca+Van+Cleave">Rebecca Van Cleave</a>, Headley’s body double for a scene where Cersei is forced to walk naked through the streets. Finally, there was a lot of interest in <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Arya+Stark&std=20150614&pn=p1#a=20150614-Arya+Stark">Arya Stark</a>, one of few surviving Stark children, whose path on the show has also been one of the strangest.<br /> <br /> <b>Tip of the week</b><br /> This weekend marks the first official day of summer, and that means BBQ season. If you’re watching what you eat, Google can help you figure out what to choose at the picnic table. Just ask Google to “compare coleslaw and potato salad” or “compare burgers and pulled pork.” <br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Emily Wood, Managing Editor, who searched this week for [jurassic world showtimes] <br /> </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-68144129653686638602017-11-04T03:29:00.000-07:002017-11-04T03:29:01.227-07:00Introducing the News LabIt’s hard to think of a more important source of information in the world than quality journalism. At its best, news communicates truth to power, keeps societies free and open, and leads to more informed decision-making by people and leaders. In the past decade, better technology and an open Internet have led to a revolution in how news is created, distributed, and consumed. And given Google’s <a href="http://www.google.com/about/company/">mission</a> to ensure quality information is accessible and useful everywhere, we want to help ensure that innovation in news leads to a more informed, more democratic world.<br /> <br /> That’s why we’ve created the <a href="https://newslab.withgoogle.com/">News Lab</a>, a new effort at Google to empower innovation at the intersection of technology and media. Our mission is to collaborate with journalists and entrepreneurs to help build the future of media. And we’re tackling this in three ways: though ensuring our tools are made available to journalists around the world (and that newsrooms know how to use them); by getting helpful Google data sets in the hands of journalists everywhere; and through programs designed to build on some of the biggest opportunities that exist in the media industry today.<br /> <div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WcjU3b4rDNk" width="560"></iframe><br /> </div><b>Tools for better reporting </b><br /> From Maps to YouTube to Fusion Tables to Earth to Search, we offer many tools that newsrooms can use in their reporting and storytelling. Now, journalists around the world can access tutorials on these products created specifically for newsrooms, at <a href="http://g.co/newslab">g.co/newslab</a>. We’ll post short written and video tutorials and case studies that highlight best practices from top newsrooms around the world. As Google develops new products that help journalists, we’ll update these resources regularly. You can also get updates by following us on <a href="https://twitter.com/googlenewslab">Twitter</a> and <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/1/+GoogleNewsLab/posts">Google+</a>, and by subscribing to our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/newslabatgoogle">YouTube</a> channel.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CFej_o_oRGc/VYeeYmiu1NI/AAAAAAAAQjg/g7hqaDgywxQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-06-19%2Bat%2B8.23.44%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CFej_o_oRGc/VYeeYmiu1NI/AAAAAAAAQjg/g7hqaDgywxQ/s550/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-06-19%2Bat%2B8.23.44%2BAM.png" width="550" /></a></div><b>Data for more insightful storytelling</b><br /> There’s a revolution in data journalism happening in newsrooms today, as more data sets and more tools for analysis are allowing journalists to create insights that were never before possible. To help journalists use our data to offer a unique window to the world, last week we <a href=" ">announced</a> an update to our Google Trends platform. The new <a href=" ">three projects</a>—<a href="https://medium.com/@FirstDraft">First Draft</a>, the <a href="http://lab.witness.org/">WITNESS Media Lab</a>, and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOaMIPk5GtosYNi32liVbRg">YouTube Newswire</a>—each of which aims to make YouTube and other open platforms more useful places for first-hand news content from citizen reporters around the world.<br /> <br /> The News Lab is a global effort, with teams in the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany to start—and we’re also powering the training and research arm of Google’s <a href="http://www.digitalnewsinitiative.com/">Digital News Initiative</a> in Europe. <br /> <br /> Google has created many technologies and platforms that have engaged the media industry. As both the media landscape and technology continue to evolve, we believe we can create a more informed world if technologists and journalists work together—and we’re excited to be part of the effort.<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Steve Grove, Director, News Lab</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-9899124306809463612017-11-04T00:29:00.000-07:002017-11-04T00:29:06.424-07:00Building even better communities with the Google Impact Challenge: Bay AreaWhat if low-income kids had the same opportunity for jobs in the tech sector as students from the best computer science departments? What could that mean for their futures, or the future of their communities?<br /> <br /> That’s the question asked by Oakland-based Hack the Hood, whose mission is to inspire Bay Area kids to pursue careers in technology. Hack the Hood trains young people by hiring them to build websites for small businesses in their communities. After applying for the Google Impact Challenge last spring, Hack the Hood went to work with $500,000 in Google.org funding and nearly 100 Googler volunteers. In the past year they’ve expanded their programs in SF, Oakland and Richmond to reach six times as many young people.<br /> <br /> Last year we awarded $5 million to help “hometown hero” organizations like Hack the Hood make a greater impact. Today we’re announcing the <a href="https://impactchallenge.withgoogle.com/bayarea2015">2015 Challenge</a>, and issuing an open call for nonprofits who are asking big “what ifs” about how they can improve their communities and put innovative solutions to work in the Bay Area.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://plus.google.com/b/116899029375914044550/photos/+google/albums/6163581780456160161" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="359" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_p2Q9qorgYs/VYlwOE8ro8I/AAAAAAAAQj4/tG26WGoQd1s/s640/BlogPost_v2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <i><a href="https://plus.google.com/b/116899029375914044550/photos/+google/albums/6163581780456160161">Click to find out more about last year's finalists</a></i></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> The Bay Area region has always been defined by the people who live here: people who question the status quo to help move our communities forward. From Harvey Milk’s fight for LGBT rights to Alice Waters’ movement for sustainable food to the technological advances of Silicon Valley, the Bay Area has long been at the forefront of positive social change.<br /> <br /> We saw this passion in the 1,000+ nonprofit proposals we received for the 2014 Impact Challenge, and we see it in the 25 finalists. We see it in <a href="http://ceoworks.org/">C.E.O.</a>, which is training formerly incarcerated people to reenter the workforce; in <a href="http://www.lavamae.org/">Lava Mae</a>’s commitment to bringing showers with dignity to the homeless; and in <a href="http://missionassetfund.org/">Mission Asset Fund</a>’s providing low-income people with zero-interest loans. We see it in our neighbors who are striving for a better Bay Area for all.<br /> <br /> As this is our home, and thousands of Googlers live and work here, we want to work together towards an even better Bay Area. The Google Impact Challenge will be accepting proposals from nonprofits through Thursday July 23, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. PDT. To learn more or to nominate a nonprofit visit <a href="http://g.co/bayareachallenge">g.co/bayareachallenge</a>.<br /> <br /> <b><i>Update October 21: </i></b>826 Valencia, Bayview/Hunters Point Community Legal, City Year, The Hidden Genius Project, Kiva and the Reset Foundation received the top votes in the 2015 Impact Challenge: Bay Area. You can learn more about these organizations on our <a href="https://impactchallenge.withgoogle.com/bayarea2015">website</a>. <br /> <br /> Amazingly, after more than 400,000 votes—an increase of more than 2X from last year—we had a virtual tie for fourth place. So six organizations, instead of four, will each receive $500,000. Overall that means the total amount funded has increased to $5.5 million.<br /> <br /> Congratulations to all of the nonprofits that participated in the Challenge and work every day to make the Bay Area better for everyone. And thanks to everyone who voted!<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Jacquelline Fuller, Director, Google.org</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-4546299393735394622017-11-03T21:29:00.000-07:002017-11-03T21:29:09.585-07:00Music for everything you doNeed some music right now to make whatever you’re doing better? Even if you’re not already a <a href="http://play.google.com/music?pcampaignid=MKT-DR-na-us-all-OO-oth-mu-Woodstock-Jun2315-1-ogb">Google Play Music</a> subscriber, we’ve got you covered. Google Play Music now has a free, ad-supported version in the U.S., giving you a new way to find just the right music—and giving artists another way to earn revenue. In less time than it takes you to read this sentence, you could be exercising with <a href="https://play.google.com/music/r/m/Le6qmtseiajsn4ievw7ca7edyzq?t=Drop-a-Beat_Workout&pcampaignid=https://play.google.com/music/r/m/Le6qmtseiajsn4ievw7ca7edyzq?t=Drop-a-Beat_Workout&pcampaignid=MKT-DR-na-us-all-OO-oth-mu-Woodstock-Jun2315-1-ogb">Drop-a-Beat Workout</a>, cooling off with <a href="https://play.google.com/music/r/m/Ljv5blejibdzgeuz3ykxvj6lstq?t=Poolside_Chic&MKT-DR-na-us-all-OO-oth-mu-Woodstock-Jun2315-1-ogb">Poolside Chic</a>, or spending quality time with <a href="https://play.google.com/music/r/m/Lcbjmu5ttcxh2xpn3iqhyfq6lxq?t=Songs_to_Raise_Your_Kids_To&pcampaignid=MKT-DR-na-us-all-OO-oth-mu-Woodstock-Jun2315-1-ogb">Songs To Raise Your Kids To</a>.<br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PfnxgN_hztg" width="560"></iframe><br /> At any moment in your day, Google Play Music has whatever you need music for—from working, to working out, to working it on the dance floor—and gives you curated radio stations to make whatever you’re doing better. Our team of music experts, including the <a href=" ">folks who created Songza</a>, crafts each station song by song so you don’t have to. If you’re looking for something specific, you can browse our curated stations by genre, mood, decade or activity, or you can search for your favorite artist, album or song to instantly create a station of similar music.<br /> <br /> We hope you’ll enjoy it so much that you’ll consider <a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?signup=1&pcampaignid=MKT-DR-na-us-all-OO-oth-mu-Woodstock-Jun2315-1-ogb">subscribing to Google Play Music</a> to play without ads, take your music offline, create your own playlists, and listen to any of the 30 million songs in our library on any device and as much as you’d like. You’ll also get ad-free, offline and background features for music videos on YouTube. And with or without a subscription, you can store and play up to 50,000 songs from your own collection for free. <br /> <br /> To help you get started, check out the top 10 most popular activities on Google Play Music, each of which offers several radio stations to choose from based on what you like:<br /> <br /> <ol> <li><a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?#/situations/Nfntvi7bkdoahkelnzhkcfbssta">Brand New Music</a></li> <li><a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?#/situations/Noo6txgmvk4g6w2nkibtw73tava">Driving</a></li> <li><a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?#/situations/Nx4irkig4433fxk2lznnjy2s2rq">Working Out</a></li> <li><a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?#/situations/Ns5an4xuue6qx5qiracklpsov6e">Boosting Your Energy</a></li> <li><a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?#/situations/Nyw5krlsrrgdwrvbg43jtgdskoe">Having Friends Over</a></li> <li><a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?#/situations/Nwd4j2bj5rwcq5ldk2leibt3omq">Having Fun at Work</a></li> <li><a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?#/situations/Nrklpcyfewwrmodvtds5qlfp5ve">Entering Beast Mode</a></li> <li><a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?#/situations/Nvebcyehu27pe5cfvft4lzhb3fe">Waking Up Happy</a></li> <li><a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?#/situations/Nngxoshsi6rtt6d3prvqktcth34">Unwinding</a></li> <li><a href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?#/situations/N6odh6iqzl267xwen3thwhr6nm4">Bedtime</a></li> </ol> <br /> The new free, ad-supported version of Google Play Music is launching first in the U.S. It’s available on the <a href="http://music.google.com/">web</a> today, and is rolling out this week to <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.music&hl=en">Android</a> and <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-play-music/id691797987?mt=8">iOS</a>. And while you’re checking it all out, we’ll be catching up on our <a href="https://play.google.com/music/r/m/Lj7guwddznce3uza7ox5w5ahruy?t=Blogged_50">Blogged 50</a>.<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Elias Roman, Product Manager</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-54479366056671608042017-11-03T18:29:00.000-07:002017-11-03T18:29:05.229-07:00Vertical Street View of the world’s most iconic rock wall: Yosemite’s El Capitan<i>Today we’re launching our first-ever vertical Street View collection, giving you the opportunity to <a href="http://www.google.com/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetview/treks/yosemite/">climb 3,000 feet up the world’s most famous rock wall: Yosemite’s El Capitan</a>. To bring you this new imagery, we partnered with legendary climbers Lynn Hill, Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell. Read more about the project from Tommy Caldwell, who completed the world’s hardest climb in Yosemite in January of 2015.</i> -Ed.<br /> <br /> “That is awesome. I definitely have to be a part of that.” <br /> <br /> Maybe it was the sheer exhaustion from being in the middle of a <a href=" ">19-day climb of the Dawn Wall</a>, but when the guys at Google Maps and <a href="http://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm">Yosemite National Park</a> asked if I wanted to help them with their <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729095,-119.636477,3a,90y,54.5h,46.62t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sChhPgowc3CkAAAQqZe0Geg!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">first-ever vertical Street View collection of El Capitan in Yosemite</a>, I didn’t hesitate. Yosemite has been such an important part of my life that telling the story of El Capitan through Street View was right up my alley—especially when it meant working with the Google engineers to figure out some abstrak challenges. <br /> <div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bEpMR86wxeQ" width="560"></iframe><br /> </div>Climbing is all about flirting with the impossible and pushing the boundaries of what you think you can be done. Capturing <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.730029,-119.636392,3a,75y,240.76h,1t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sgskNYa2g8_sAAAQqZe0Ggw!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">Street View imagery 3,000 feet up El Capitan</a> proved to be an extension of that, especially when you take a camera meant for the inside of a restaurant and mount it thousands of feet up the world’s most iconic rock wall.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SwrpsLi1CjU/VYo3nKJ6W3I/AAAAAAAAQkM/9Z_jQxjolBQ/s1600/Alex%2BKing%2BSwing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-about-featured border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SwrpsLi1CjU/VYo3nKJ6W3I/AAAAAAAAQkM/9Z_jQxjolBQ/s550/Alex%2BKing%2BSwing.JPG" width="550" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Brett Lowell and Corey Rich capturing Street View of <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729336,-119.636618,3a,75y,104.02h,132.37t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sRbZ6uEPR_DQAAAQqZe0Gfg!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">Alex Honnold on the King Swing</a></i></div><br /> Doing anything thousands of feet high on a sheer granite face is complicated, but everyone up there had spent years of their lives on a rope and knew exactly what they were doing. After some testing, we used <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDB2WLDyzFM&feature=youtu.be">our tried-and-true climbing gear</a> like <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring-loaded_camming_device">cams</a> and ropes to make sure the camera wouldn’t fall to the ground in the middle of our Street View collection. <br /> <br /> Once we figured out how to keep the camera on El Cap, we created two sets of vertical Street View. First, we collected Street View of legendary Yosemite climbers—and my good friends—<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.728711,-119.636904,3a,75y,342.19h,131.67t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sxrW6iYoctHwAAAQqZe0Gdg!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">Lynn Hill</a> and <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729288,-119.636576,3a,75y,121.5h,32.06t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s2wYgAlodqW4AAAQqZe0GfQ!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">Alex Honnold</a> in iconic spots up the sheer vertical face.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_pQLNw3tI2M/VYo7H4cSuFI/AAAAAAAAQlM/JviBc64AOSs/s1600/08_EL-CAP-TOWERFINAL_GIF_v3_3mb%2B%25281%2529.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_pQLNw3tI2M/VYo7H4cSuFI/AAAAAAAAQlM/JviBc64AOSs/s1600/08_EL-CAP-TOWERFINAL_GIF_v3_3mb%2B%25281%2529.gif" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729095,-119.636477,3a,75y,60.43h,54.63t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sChhPgowc3CkAAAQqZe0Geg!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656"><i>Lynn Hill, Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell camp out 1,140 feet up El Capitan</i></a></div><br /> Lynn Hill’s ascent of El Capitan changed the paradigm of climbing, and she had an extraordinary effect on my climbing career. I’ll never forget when she became the first person, man or woman, to free-climb (using only her hands and feet) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nose_(El_Capitan)">“The Nose”</a> back in 1993. Now, you can see her navigate these epic moves— like climbing sideways on tiny holds of the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729014,-119.636547,3a,75y,113.35h,40.09t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sCg1Rcf8h2wIAAAQqZe0GeQ!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">Jardine Traverse</a>, inventing a “Houdini” maneuver on the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729964,-119.636383,3a,90y,43.69h,1t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sCw5RUbnMQJMAAAQqZe0Ggg!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">Changing Corners</a> and traversing under the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729847,-119.636377,3a,90y,252.17h,86.76t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1shE9PFK4uiU0AAAQqZe0Gfw!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">Great Roof</a>.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oUpzhiJcG8s/VYo5DwevzfI/AAAAAAAAQk4/aquT_yzAiLU/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-06-23%2Bat%2B9.15.36%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oUpzhiJcG8s/VYo5DwevzfI/AAAAAAAAQk4/aquT_yzAiLU/s550/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-06-23%2Bat%2B9.15.36%2BAM.png" width="550" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729014,-119.636547,3a,75y,101.25h,46.82t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sCg1Rcf8h2wIAAAQqZe0GeQ!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">Lynn’s epic ascent up El Cap is now in Street View</a></i></div><br /> Any story of El Capitan had to include my good friend Alex Honnold. He holds the speed record for climbing the Nose at 2 hours and 23 minutes - most people take 3-5 days. His unwavering confidence in himself is contagious; when I’m with him, I feel like the mountain has shrunk to half its size. As you make your way around Yosemite in Street View, you’ll see Alex doing what he does best: chimneying up the “<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729235,-119.63652,3a,75y,77.38h,89.45t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1smA_o-n74Vh8AAAQqZe0GfA!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">Texas Flake,</a>” racing up the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.730077,-119.636387,3a,90y,278.65h,55.76t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sMAndSgN2PIUAAAQqZe0GhA!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">bolt ladder</a>, or getting dinner ready in the <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.724248,-119.635349,3a,90y,164.55h,79.6t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sTyBITgDyDkIAAAQqZe0Gcw!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">solar-powered van</a> he calls home. <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sryG4_D6Ufw/VYo-wl4-orI/AAAAAAAAQlg/wpaYsNlwEyY/s1600/25MB_Texas%2BFlake.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sryG4_D6Ufw/VYo-wl4-orI/AAAAAAAAQlg/wpaYsNlwEyY/s1600/25MB_Texas%2BFlake.gif" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729235,-119.63652,3a,75y,265.85h,83.09t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1smA_o-n74Vh8AAAQqZe0GfA!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656"><i>Just a normal day on on the Texas Flake for Alex Honnold</i></a></div><br /> You’ll also see a glimpse of <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729232,-119.635752,3a,75y,278.29h,94.17t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sy0rbkep4RBcAAAQqZe0GiQ!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">yours truly on the Dawn Wall</a>. I spent some of my rest days during my January climb of the Dawn Wall testing out the Street View technology the Google team had sent me that month. El Cap is an intimidating environment for experimentation, but years of setting ropes proved pretty helpful in figuring out <a href="https://youtu.be/BDB2WLDyzFM">how to get the equipment rigged and ready to collect Street View</a>.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KgIXyTjmP3k/VYo5DpmGStI/AAAAAAAAQkw/B_lj53hQM8s/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-06-23%2Bat%2B9.14.04%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KgIXyTjmP3k/VYo5DpmGStI/AAAAAAAAQkw/B_lj53hQM8s/s550/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-06-23%2Bat%2B9.14.04%2BAM.png" width="550" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729232,-119.635752,3a,75y,278.29h,94.17t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sy0rbkep4RBcAAAQqZe0GiQ!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">Tommy Caldwell climbing the sheer face of the Dawn Wall</a></i></div><br /> Then, we really put Alex to work to collect the second set of Street View: the entire vertical route of “The Nose” on El Capitan. One of the few people that could do this efficiently and quickly, Alex took the camera and pretty much ran 3,000 feet up with photographer partner Brett Lowell. Now, anyone can get the beta (climbing speak for insider advice) before they <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729695,-119.63677,3a,75y,294.42h,12.65t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1seWxBfFZek38AAAQo8ByvQw!2e0!3e2!7i12000!8i6000">climb the entire route</a>. <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n1lUvhjBrkY/VYo3q4DpCGI/AAAAAAAAQkc/nF1Gl_lqWyU/s1600/SV-Flyup_GIF_v3_3mb.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n1lUvhjBrkY/VYo3q4DpCGI/AAAAAAAAQkc/nF1Gl_lqWyU/s1600/SV-Flyup_GIF_v3_3mb.gif" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729695,-119.63677,3a,75y,294.42h,12.65t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1seWxBfFZek38AAAQo8ByvQw!2e0!3e2!7i12000!8i6000">Alex Honnold and Brett Lowell climbed 3,000 feet to get the entire route in Google Maps</a></i></div><br /> Lynn, Alex and I also helped create <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetview/treks/yosemite/">a new Yosemite Treks page</a>, where you can take a tour up El Cap and learn more about climbing, from what a “hand jam” is to why we wear such tiny shoes. And as a father, I’m excited kids will learn more about Yosemite when Google brings students to the park through NatureBridge later this year as a part of this project. Plus, its pretty awesome that students who can’t make it to Yosemite yet will be able to go on a virtual reality field trip to the Park with <a href="http://g.co/expeditions">Google Expeditions</a>.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DVfuOhEByxE/VYo-AEOmHBI/AAAAAAAAQlY/8RdHkW7m2dc/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-06-23%2Bat%2B10.17.38%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DVfuOhEByxE/VYo-AEOmHBI/AAAAAAAAQlY/8RdHkW7m2dc/s550/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-06-23%2Bat%2B10.17.38%2BPM.png" width="550" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="http://www.google.com/maps/about/behind-the-scenes/streetview/treks/yosemite/#lynn-racking-at-base">Hear the legendary Lynn Hill explain describe the gear she uses as she starts up El Cap</a></i></div><br /> Yosemite’s driven so much of my life that I’m excited to be able to share it with the world through my eyes. These 360-degree panoramic images are the closest thing I’ve ever witnessed to actually being thousands of feet up a vertical rock face—better than any video or photo. But my hope is that this new imagery will inspire you to get out there and see Yosemite for yourself… whether you travel up a rock wall or just down the trail.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VsH0MQVzldo/VYo3m9bkxWI/AAAAAAAAQkQ/b7526HKN4aI/s1600/09_El-Cap-Tower-Morning_GIF_v3_3mb.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VsH0MQVzldo/VYo3m9bkxWI/AAAAAAAAQkQ/b7526HKN4aI/s1600/09_El-Cap-Tower-Morning_GIF_v3_3mb.gif" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@37.729138,-119.636442,3a,75y,59.45h,64.33t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1snB2ePQbufC0AAAQqZe0Gew!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656">Tommy Caldwell, Lynn Hill, and Alex Honnold hanging out in Yosemite</a></i></div><br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Tommy Caldwell</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-59889713144234647292017-11-03T15:29:00.000-07:002017-11-03T15:29:00.159-07:00A power plant for the Internet: our newest data center in AlabamaEvery time you check your Gmail, search on Google for a nearby restaurant, or watch a YouTube video, a server whirs to life in one of our data centers. Data centers are the engines of the Internet, bringing the power of the web to millions of people around the world. And as millions more people come online, our data centers are growing, too.<br /> <br /> We’ve recently expanded our data centers in <a href=" ">Singapore</a> and <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&u=http://www.bloovi.be/nieuws/detail/google-datacenter-draagt-900-miljoen-bij-aan-belgische-economie&sandbox=0&usg=ALkJrhgVEf9bQ8sswO_XIBC3j5uIfCoOnQ">Belgium</a>. And today we’re announcing <a href="http://google.com/jacksoncounty">a new data center</a> in Alabama—our 14th site globally.<br /> <br /> This time, we’re doing something we’ve never done before: we’ll be building on the grounds of the <a href="http://www.tva.com/sites/widowscreek.htm">Widows Creek coal power plant</a> in Jackson County, which has been scheduled for shutdown. Data centers need a lot of infrastructure to run 24/7, and there’s a lot of potential in redeveloping large industrial sites like former coal power plants. Decades of investment shouldn’t go to waste just because a site has closed; we can repurpose existing electric and other infrastructure to make sure our data centers are reliably serving our users around the world.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2pxy0kA2_ds/VYrhuspl1yI/AAAAAAAAQm4/8FBix3zWsoI/s1600/AL%2Bphoto%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-about-featured border="0" height="445" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2pxy0kA2_ds/VYrhuspl1yI/AAAAAAAAQm4/8FBix3zWsoI/s640/AL%2Bphoto%2B1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>At Widows Creek, we can use the plants’ many electric transmission lines to bring in lots of renewable energy to power our new data center. Thanks to an arrangement with Tennessee Valley Authority, our electric utility, we’ll be able to scout new renewable energy projects and work with TVA to bring the power onto their electrical grid. Ultimately, this contributes to our goal of being powered by 100% renewable energy.<br /> <br /> In 2010, we were one of the first companies outside of the utility industry to <a href=" ">buy large amounts of renewable energy</a>. Since then, we’ve become the largest corporate renewable energy purchaser in the world (in fact we’ve bought the equivalent of over <a href="http://www.greenbiz.com/article/beyond-google-and-apple-whats-holding-corporate-renewables-back">1.5 percent of the installed wind power capacity in the U.S.</a>). We're glad to see this ekspresi dominan is <a href="http://www.rmi.org/Content/Files/2015_04_13_BNEF_Presentation_by_Herve_Touati.pdf">catching on</a> among other companies.<br /> <br /> Of course, the cleanest energy is the energy you don’t use. Our Alabama data center will incorporate our state-of-the-art energy efficiency technologies. We’ve built our own <a href=" ">machine learning</a> to squeeze more out of every watt of power we consume. Compared to five years ago, we now get 3.5 times the computing power out of the same amount of energy.<br /> <br /> Since the 1960s, Widows Creek has generated power for the region—now the site will be used to power Internet services and bring information to people around the world. We expect to begin construction early next year and look forward to bringing a Google data center to Alabama.<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Patrick Gammons, Senior Manager, Data Center Energy and Location Strategy</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-87027743440215957112017-11-03T12:29:00.000-07:002017-11-03T12:29:13.706-07:00Through the Google lens: Search trends June 19-25From eagerly-awaited U.S. Supreme Court rulings, to the ongoing debate over the Confederate flag, here’s a look at some of the topics that got people searching this week.<br /> <br /> <b>#LoveWins</b><br /> Whether the query was “<a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Marriage+Equality&std=20150626&pn=p1#a=20150626-Marriage+Equality">marriage equality</a>,” “<a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=14th+Amendment&std=20150626&pn=p1#a=20150626-14th+Amendment">fourteenth amendment</a>,” or “love wins,” searches related to today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that same-sex couples nationwide have a right to marry are <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/story/US_cu_PjmPKE4BAAD_kM_en">spiking</a>, with more than 2 million searches for the term “gay marriage” alone. Interest goes beyond the U.S., with “What countries allow same-sex marriage?” and “where is gay marriage legal?” among the top questions.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z_b-X7hzp8E/VY3TJXMAoCI/AAAAAAAAQoE/z3QX1eWVqR4/s1600/LGBT.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z_b-X7hzp8E/VY3TJXMAoCI/AAAAAAAAQoE/z3QX1eWVqR4/s640/LGBT.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /> While today’s “<a href=" ">thunderbolt</a>” ruling is capturing most of the attention around SCOTUS, searches for the court have in fact been big all week. Yesterday, news that the Court had upheld a key portion of the <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/story/US_cu_fMiTKE4BAAChYM_en">Affordable Care Act</a> was met with a 200,000+ search spike, and renewed questions like “How does Obamacare work?” and “Why do Republicans dislike Obamacare?” <br /> <br /> <b>Confederate flag</b><br /> We noted last week that searches related to the <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Confederate+flag&std=20150622&pn=p1#a=20150622-Confederate+flag">Confederate flag</a> increased sharply following the tragic shooting in Charleston, S.C.; and this week, interest in the flag reached an all-time high. Searches were most concentrated in <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=confederate%20flag&geo=US&date=now%207-d&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT%2B7">South Carolina</a>, where Governor Nikki Haley has called for the flag’s removal from the state Capitol, followed by Alabama, where Governor Robert Bentley ordered the flag’s removal from the Capitol grounds. But searches have been popular throughout the South as people ask questions like “Is the confederate flag racist” and “How many states fly the Confederate flag?” As companies pulled Confederate flag merchandise from their sites and stores, the search terms “confederate for sale” spiked <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=confederate%20flag&geo=US&date=now%207-d&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT%2B7">more than 1,000 percent</a>.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G8IxUWwcPss/VY3TZvZSbeI/AAAAAAAAQoM/a9OtdWTTm6c/s1600/ConfederateFlagSpike.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G8IxUWwcPss/VY3TZvZSbeI/AAAAAAAAQoM/a9OtdWTTm6c/s640/ConfederateFlagSpike.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <b>Rising stars</b><br /> Thursday’s 2015 N.B.A. Draft also attracted <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=NBA+Draft&std=20150625&pn=p1#a=20150625-NBA+Draft">more than 2 million searches</a> this week and half of the top 20 searches yesterday, with queries for first pick <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=%2Fm%2F0pb65ks">Karl-Anthony Towns</a> spiking more than 1,000 percent. Looks like Minnesota Timberwolves fans had done their research ahead of the selection; Towns was the <a href="https://twitter.com/GoogleTrends/status/614217438960467968">most-searched prospect in the state</a> ahead of the draft. Other breakout names of the week included actor <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Tom+Holland&std=20150622&pn=p1#a=20150622-Tom+Holland">Tom Holland</a>, who saw 500,000+ searches after he was cast as Spider-Man for the next film in the Marvel franchise. Holland’s home country of the U.K. topped the list of countries looking for details, but Spidey searches from people in the Philippines to the Netherlands show the global popularity of this character, even two years before the movie’s <a href="http://variety.com/interstitial/">2017 release</a>. <br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Abbi Tatton, who searched this week for [how do you pronounce Obergefell] </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-7802388194740465182017-11-03T09:29:00.000-07:002017-11-03T09:29:09.693-07:00Google Earth turns 10 todayWhen Google Earth was <a href=" ">first introduced</a> 10 years ago, it immediately stole my heart. Beyond the freedom to fly anywhere in the world, I was captivated by the ability to paint and visualize geographic data on this incredible global canvas.<br /> <br /> Drawn to datasets backed by <a href="https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/pages/casualties.xhtml">real</a> <a href="http://www.missingkids.com/search">human</a> <a href="http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/military/japanese-internment.html">stories</a>, I started making my own maps with <a href="https://developers.google.com/kml/documentation/kml_tut">KML</a> a few weeks after Earth’s release in 2005. For my master’s degree, I used Google Earth to build a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTsDmg2ye6c">virtual representation</a> of a high-tech biological <a href="http://nrs.ucop.edu/research/special_projects/SP2-Embedded-Sensing.htm">research reserve</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vint_Cerf">Vint Cerf</a> saw my work, which eventually led to a job on the <a href="http://www.google.com/earth/outreach/index.html">Google Earth Outreach</a> team, turning my passion for telling stories with maps into a career.<br /> <br /> 2005 was the beginning of Google Earth’s evolution, as well. In August of that year, <a href=" ">new coral reefs</a>, journey to the <a href=" ">Moon</a> and into <a href=" ">deep space</a>, find <a href=" ">long-lost parents</a>, <a href=" ">clear landmines</a> and <a href=" ">much more</a>.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QxFkxImFRE4/VZFl0tc5e2I/AAAAAAAAQpc/qeJntQaFdAI/s1600/141868main_gulfport_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QxFkxImFRE4/VZFl0tc5e2I/AAAAAAAAQpc/qeJntQaFdAI/s640/141868main_gulfport_lg.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Google Earth images of Gulfport, Mississippi's shoreline before and after Hurricane Katrina</i></div><br /> The ability to empower groups as diverse as <a href="http://www.googlelittrips.com/GoogleLit/Home.html">school children</a> and <a href="http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/?eocn=topnav&eoci=features">NASA scientists</a> to learn more about the world is what I love about Google Earth. It has the potential to make the planet a far more connected place, if you take the time to explore, discover and share what you learn. So to celebrate how far Google Earth has come and our leap into the next 10 years, we’ve created a few new ways to help you better see places from around (and above) the world.<br /> <br /> <b>Voyager</b><br /> The world is a big place, and it can be hard to know where to begin your virtual journey. Now you can jump straight to the newest and most interesting imagery around the globe with a new layer, Voyager, available in desktop versions of Google Earth.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1gLxYvmlUxQ/VZFkIDX7JYI/AAAAAAAAQpA/fIuk0RnJ9-s/s1600/voyager.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1gLxYvmlUxQ/VZFkIDX7JYI/AAAAAAAAQpA/fIuk0RnJ9-s/s640/voyager.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Different imagery types in Voyager are shown by color</i></div><br /> In this first edition of <i>Voyager</i>, you’ll find five sections to explore:<br /> <ul><li><b>Street View:</b> highlights from Street View, including the Taj Mahal and the Grand Canyon</li> <li><b>Earth View: </b>striking landscapes around the globe as seen from space (more below)</li> <li><b>3D cities: </b>a showcase of cities and towns available in photorealistic 3D (<a href="https://support.google.com/earth/answer/176674">don’t forget to tilt!</a>)</li> <li><b>Satellite imagery updates:</b> a map of our most recently published satellite imagery</li> <li><b>Highlight tour:</b> with thousands of <i>Voyager</i> locations to choose from, take a quick tour of a few to whet your appetite</li> </ul><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ltvN59FLqsM/VZFkJXt5xII/AAAAAAAAQpI/65Amg_gMXIk/s1600/Gompa.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="359" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ltvN59FLqsM/VZFkJXt5xII/AAAAAAAAQpI/65Amg_gMXIk/s640/Gompa.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The Kemgon Gompa—available in the Street View layer—is a Buddhist monastery in Lukla, Nepal</i></div><br /> <b>Earth View</b><br /> Looking at our planet from above is not only a reminder of how interdependent our human and natural ecosystems are—it also lays bare the Earth’s staggering and often surreal beauty.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JiNRwcKJDoI/VZFkD3o_3lI/AAAAAAAAQoo/I52PUNHFr8E/s1600/Google-Chrome-Extension-Store-01-Plain.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JiNRwcKJDoI/VZFkD3o_3lI/AAAAAAAAQoo/I52PUNHFr8E/s640/Google-Chrome-Extension-Store-01-Plain.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The Hammar Marshes of Iran are an uncharacteristic yet beautiful wetland feature in the otherwise arid climate</i></div><br /> Earth View is library of some of the most striking and enigmatic landscapes available in Google Earth. It started as a 20 percent project last year by a few Googlers who enjoyed scouring satellite imagery for these gems. These images soon made their way onto Android phones, Chromecast and Chromebooks as a distinctive kind of wallpaper.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yEVrufQsJHE/VZFkD1wWojI/AAAAAAAAQos/ZBhUecwcgRM/s1600/Google-Chrome-Extension-Store-03-Sharing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-about-featured border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yEVrufQsJHE/VZFkD1wWojI/AAAAAAAAQos/ZBhUecwcgRM/s640/Google-Chrome-Extension-Store-03-Sharing.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Islands surrounding Cuba seen in the Earth View <a href="http://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/earth-view-from-google-ma/bhloflhklmhfpedakmangadcdofhnnoh">Chrome Extension</a></i></div><br /> For Earth's 10th birthday, we're expanding the Earth View collection to 1,500 landscapes from every continent and ocean and making it accessible to even more people. The new imagery is available with an updated version of our <a href="http://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/earth-view-from-google-ma/bhloflhklmhfpedakmangadcdofhnnoh">Chrome extension</a> and a new <a href="http://earthview.withgoogle.com/">web gallery</a>. Unduh high-resolution wallpapers for your mobile and desktop devices, or better yet, print them up for your walls!<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l66khoqeN2c/VZFkKAztPyI/AAAAAAAAQpM/Tq6mZXaduZ4/s1600/Image6-Australia.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l66khoqeN2c/VZFkKAztPyI/AAAAAAAAQpM/Tq6mZXaduZ4/s640/Image6-Australia.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The coastline near Ningaloo, Australia in the new Earth View <a href="https://earthview.withgoogle.com/ningaloo-australia-2430">web gallery</a></i></div><br /> Thank you for the last 10 years exploring your world with Google Earth. We hope <i>Voyager</i> and <i>Earth View</i> will unlock a new perspective on our planet. We look forward to seeing what the next decade brings! <br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Sean Askay, Engineering Manager, Google Earth</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-91099497754127714462017-11-03T06:29:00.000-07:002017-11-03T06:29:08.900-07:00Through the Google lens: Search trends July 3-9This week people had the goal of searching for isu on the U.S. victory in the Women’s World Cup, as well as a hat trick of technical difficulties at three major organizations. Let’s kick off the trending topics on Google this week:<br /> <br /> <b>Victory for the U.S. women</b><br /> The U.S. Women’s National team claimed a 5-2 victory over Japan in the simpulan of the World Cup this week, and took home a slew of searches along with their trophy. In fact, U.S. search interest in the simpulan match surpassed interest in Game 6 of this year’s NBA Finals! Keeper <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Hope+Solo&std=20150705&pn=p1#a=20150705-Hope+Solo">Hope Solo</a> and forward <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Alex+Morgan&std=20150705&pn=p1#a=20150705-Alex+Morgan">Alex Morgan</a> topped the trends charts on Sunday with more than 1 million and 500,000+ searches, respectively. But people were also interested in <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=carli%20lloyd&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT%2B7">midfielder Carli Lloyd</a>, who scored a hat trick in the final, including one goal from midfield that sent searches for “carli lloyd goal” spiking more than 1,000 percent. The team was honored with a <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=ticker+tape+parade&std=20150710&pn=p1#a=20150710-ticker+tape+parade">ticker-tape parade</a> in New York City today. <br /> <br /> <b>Ground to a halt</b><br /> Wednesday, a slew of technical issues caused trouble across the U.S., starting with United Airlines. A network outage grounded planes for more than an hour, affecting <a href=" ">almost 5,000 flights</a>, and frustrated travelers turned to Google to learn more, making the airline the top searched term on Wednesday with <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=United+Airlines&std=20150708&pn=p1#a=20150708-United+Airlines">more than 1 million searches</a>. Meanwhile, trading was suspended for hours at the New York Stock Exchange after a software glitch. Top questions during the outage included “How many times has the NYSE closed?” and “When was the last time the NYSE suspended trading?” Completing the triumvirate of tech troubles, the Wall Street Journal’s website crashed this week as well. The (sort of?) good news is that the three incidents seem to be unrelated to each other—or to hackers.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RBWWKID6XTw/VaBTxlheKnI/AAAAAAAAQqA/NtRWSqNezpY/s1600/NYSE.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RBWWKID6XTw/VaBTxlheKnI/AAAAAAAAQqA/NtRWSqNezpY/s550/NYSE.png" width="550" /></a></div>From plane delays to train delays: In the U.K. Thursday, a strike by London Underground workers caused the first complete shutdown of the Tube in over a decade. As Londoners trudged home or crowded into buses, searchers asked “How much do tube drivers earn?” The strike was over a failed agreement about pay and a new “night Tube” service scheduled to start running in September.<br /> <br /> <b>Comic-Con</b><br /> The annual Comic-Con International started yesterday, bringing comic, superhero and sci-fi fans together in San Diego, Calif. for a long weekend of panels, events and other celebrations of all things (proud) nerd. The top Comic-Con topics this week include “Doctor Who” and the new “Black Ops III: Zombies” video game, but there are <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2015/7/8/8910817/sdcc-2015-dates-event-schedule">movie trailers and TV show previews</a> to appeal to even the least geeky among us. A new clip from the simpulan installment in the “Hunger Games” movie franchise drew <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Mockingjay+Part+2&std=20150708&pn=p1#a=20150708-Mockingjay+Part+2">50,000+ searches</a>, while the new trailer for the live-action <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Goosebumps+Movie&std=20150708&pn=p1#a=20150708-Goosebumps+Movie">“Goosebumps” movie</a> coming next year has already garnered <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cn716jv61s">more than 6 million views</a> on YouTube. <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oKU1tbS02AY/VaBTxZmRIvI/AAAAAAAAQp8/StPB9id6NXw/s1600/ComicCon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oKU1tbS02AY/VaBTxZmRIvI/AAAAAAAAQp8/StPB9id6NXw/s550/ComicCon.png" width="550" /></a></div><span class="byline-author">Posted by Emily Wood, Managing Editor, who searched for [flights from sf to rome]</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-5849109285958883602017-11-03T03:29:00.000-07:002017-11-03T03:29:12.001-07:00Dive into Ocean Week at Camp Google<i>Today is the start of Camp Google—an online summer camp built to spark and satisfy kids’ curiosities, with four weeks of live adventures for students ages 7-10. This post comes to us from Sylvia Earle, marine biologist and Explorer-in-Residence at National Geographic and the host of the first week of Camp Google. Tune in to Sylvia’s <a href="https://camp.withgoogle.com/?utm_source=googleblog&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=google">live event at 12 p.m. PT</a> today</i>. -Ed.<br /> <br /> The ocean first got my attention during a family visit to a New Jersey beach when I was three years old—a wave knocked me over! At age 12, a move to the Florida coast made the ocean my backyard, and I loved the abundance of life there—every day I encountered new creatures like starfish, sponges, horseshoe crabs, seaweed, and a wondrous array of small fish that I’d never seen before. I knew from then on that when I grew up I would be a scientist so I could keep exploring, no matter what.<br /> <br /> Now I get to share my love for the ocean with a new generation of adventurers as part of Camp Google, a new online camp for curious kids, starting. During each of the four weeks of Camp Google, kids 7-10 can explore different subjects by joining live adventures—from the depths of the Atlantic to the top of one of the world’s most active volcanoes—and doing fun science projects. Today at 12 p.m. PT, National Geographic diver Erika Bergman and I will take kids on the first adventure—a <a href="http://camp.withgoogle.com/?utm_source=googleblog&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=google">live dive</a> in the Atlantic Ocean. We’ll head to the northernmost part of Florida Reef Tract, the most extensive living coral reef system in North America. Whether it be the Hammerhead Reef or shipwrecks like the Jay Scutti, it will be exciting to see what we’ll find down there!<br /> <br /> After the dive, kids can get hands-on with a range of activities to help them understand the science behind what they’ve seen underwater. The activities are designed by the Google engineers who map the oceans with Google Earth, and can be done with simple household supplies. For example, we’ll <a href="https://camp.withgoogle.com/activities/week1/why-do-some-things-float?utm_source=googleblog&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=google">learn about buoyancy</a> and how things float in the ocean in an experiment with eggs, water and salt, and we’ll explore how dolphins use sounds to see underwater by <a href="https://camp.withgoogle.com/activities/week1/how-do-dolphins-see-underwater?utm_source=googleblog&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=google">building a sonar system</a>. As kids complete these projects, they’ll earn camp badges to celebrate the new skills they learned, like conquering echolocation (not bad for summer vacation!). The activities are designed for kids to do on their own, in groups with their friends, or with their families. <br /> <br /> Following Ocean Week, kids can jump into Space Week with a NASA astronaut and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/Vsauce">VSauce</a> where they will help cook up space food and learn how astronauts eat in space. After that, they’ll head to Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park with a National Park Ranger and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/1veritasium">Derek Muller</a> to learn more about how volcanoes form. And camp ends in style with Music Week, where kids can jam alongside <a href="http://zendaya.com/">Zendaya</a> to learn about why music makes us want to bust a move. We hosts can't wait to explore with you this summer, wherever you might be!<br /> <div style="text-align: center;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m8oMm_q1bpk" width="560"></iframe><br /></div> The ocean is vast and a lot of it is unexplored—every time I dive into the ocean there’s the possibility of finding something new. I’m excited to share this spirit of discovery with kids everywhere this summer. I hope through our dive and the rest of Camp Google, we can inspire kids to continue asking questions... and get out there to find answers. <br /> <br /> <b><i>Update</i> July 15:</b> We heard that some of you weren't able to see the live stream—sorry about the rocky waters. But you can now catch the video at <a href="http://goo.gl/7pJJUv">http://goo.gl/7pJJUv</a>. After you've heard from Sylvia and Erika, you can learn a bit more about buoyancy and try to <a href="https://camp.withgoogle.com/activities/week1/why-do-some-things-float">make things float yourself</a>!<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Sylvia Earle, your first host of Camp Google</span><br /> <br /> <i>(Cross-posted on the <a href="https://googleforeducation.blogspot.com/">Google for Education Blog</a>)</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-18547511314981710022017-11-03T00:29:00.000-07:002017-11-03T00:29:10.807-07:00Through the Google lens: Search trends July 10-16It’s Friday, which means it’s time for a good, old-fashioned Search trends round up. Read on to see what the world wanted to know this week.<br /> <br /> <b>To Pluto and Beyond</b><br /> It may have lost its planetary title, but Pluto officially became the most distant solid object to be visited by spacecraft as NASA’s New Horizons successfully completed its “flyby” this week. The mission to explore the dwarf giant took a mere nine years and 3 billion miles of space travel and has already returned some truly incredible high-resolution images of Pluto and its moons, including the <a href="https://instagram.com/p/5HTXKMoaFL/?taken-by=nasa">most epic vacation Instagram</a> of all time. <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Pluto&std=20150713&pn=p1#a=20150713-Pluto">Searches for news</a> about the mission <a href="about:blank">topped 5 million</a>, plus another 100,000+ searches for photos.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1T_mFoaE1JU/VamNiGVzNkI/AAAAAAAAQr4/RoPPmmeobzM/s1600/PlutoQs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1T_mFoaE1JU/VamNiGVzNkI/AAAAAAAAQr4/RoPPmmeobzM/s640/PlutoQs.png" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /> </div><br /> <b>Oh baby</b><br /> In other historic and out of this world news, <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Louis+Tomlinson&std=20150714&pn=p1#a=20150714-Louis+Tomlinson">Louis Tomlinson</a> is the first member of One Direction to announce he’s going to be a dad. While this was likely upsetting news for many 1D fans, it didn’t stop the searches--Louis racked up <a href="about:blank">more than 500,000</a> of them this week. And, we’ve all got Jimmy Fallon to thank for this week’s <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Ring+Avulsion&std=20150713&pn=p1#a=20150713-Ring+Avulsion">most disgusting search trend</a>, a truly horrifying finger injury called <a href="about:blank">ring avulsion</a>. Fallon, who was sporting a bandaged hand from behind "The Tonight Show" desk, explained that he had surgery following a freak accident involving a kitchen counter and his wedding ring. Searchers took to Google to find out more and with search interest in images of ring avulsion up 50x over the last week, we’re willing to bet at least a few of them probably wish they hadn’t. <br /> <br /> <b>Awards season...again</b><br /> Nominations for the <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/story/US_cu_hDfikk4BAAAoJM_en">2015 Emmy Awards</a> were announced this week, inspiring more than 200,000 searches. Gone but definitely not forgotten "Parks and Recreation" was the most searched Emmy nominee for a comedy series, though <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Amy+Schumer&std=20150715&pn=p1#a=20150715-Amy+Schumer">Amy Schumer</a> (whose new movie "Trainwreck" opens today) edged out Amy Poehler as the most searched lead actress in a comedy. In a potential preview of the 2016 Emmy Awards, <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Rachel+McAdams&std=20150716&pn=p1#a=20150716-Rachel+McAdams">Rachel McAdams</a>, who co-stars in the new season of HBO’s "True Detective," was searched more than 50,000 times this week.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-smoTTKNYOZg/VamOPqTbDoI/AAAAAAAAQsA/Q22rdBmDqOs/s1600/EmmyAwards.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-smoTTKNYOZg/VamOPqTbDoI/AAAAAAAAQsA/Q22rdBmDqOs/s640/EmmyAwards.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /> <br /> It was a good week all around, and to play us out, we recommend <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Wilco&std=20150716&pn=p1#a=20150716-Wilco #googlehot">Wilco’s new album</a>, Star Wars. The surprise, free-to-download release this week resulted in more than <a href="about:blank">50,000 searches</a>--and a lot of excited Tweedy fans.<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Megan Slack, who searched this week for [ring avulsion].</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-15113839423435392802017-11-02T21:29:00.000-07:002017-11-02T21:29:04.589-07:00Neon prescription... or rather, New transcription for Google VoiceYou may have been there before...open your voicemail transcriptions in Google Voice to find that at times they aren’t completely intelligible. Or, they are humorously intelligible. Either way, they might not have been the message the caller meant to leave you.<br /> <br /> So, we asked users if they would kindly share some of their voicemails for research and system improvements. Thanks to those who participated, we are happy to announce an improved voicemail system in Google Voice and Project Fi that delivers more accurate transcriptions. Using a (deep breath) <i>long short-term memory deep recurrent neural network</i> (whew!), we cut our transcription errors by 49%.<br /> <br /> To start receiving improved voicemail transcriptions, you don't need to do a thing -- just continue to use Google Voice as you have been. For those not using Google Voice but want to give it a try, sign up for a <a href="https://support.google.com/voice/answer/115061?hl=en">Google Voice</a> (or <a href="https://support.google.com/voice/answer/115127?hl=en">Google Voice Lite</a>) account <a href="https://www.google.com/voice/">here</a>, it’s quick and easy to get started.<br /> <br /> Many thanks to the Google Voice users who shared their voicemails, they really helped us make the product better. While this is a big improvement, it is just the beginning and with your input, we will continue improving voicemail transcriptions over time. We hope you enjoy it and look forward to hearing what you link—er, think!<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Zander Danko, Software Engineer</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-16932126842149113372017-11-02T18:29:00.000-07:002017-11-02T18:29:01.447-07:00Five ways we’re celebrating the Special Olympics and #ADA25<i>"Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt." -Special Olympics Athlete Oath</i><br /> <br /> Standing in Soldier Field in Chicago, 47 years ago, Eunice Shriver kicked off the first Special Olympics in history--1,000 people with intellectual disabilities from the U.S. and Canada competed in track & field, swimming and diving. Even though it was a small inaugural event, its historical impact--giving a platform to the civil rights struggles of people with disabilities that were so often overlooked-- was massive. The Games were meant to give children with cognitive disabilities, in Eunice’s words, “the chance to play, the chance to compete and the chance to grow.” <br /> <br /> Ambitious, inclusive thinking like Eunice’s is contagious, and has inspired us to support this year’s Special Olympics World Games as part of the <a href=" "> $20 million in Google.org grants.</a> This weekend, to mark the Games as well as the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, landmark legislation that advanced the civil rights of people with disabilities when it was signed into law in 1990, we’re honoring the community in the following ways:<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-49coD9OaXOw/VbJnusYbxmI/AAAAAAAAQtY/kMj2EXxkMOM/s1600/special_olympics15-hp.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-about-featured alt="Google Doodle featuring a track and athletes inspired by the Special Olympics" border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-49coD9OaXOw/VbJnusYbxmI/AAAAAAAAQtY/kMj2EXxkMOM/s1600/special_olympics15-hp.gif" title="Google Doodle: Special Olympics World Games" /></a></div><br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><b>Google Doodle. </b>We’ve created a homepage Doodle that shows a track inspired by the Special Olympics World Games’ "<a href="http://www.la2015.org/amplify/circle-of-inclusion-campaign">circle of inclusion</a>,” featuring athletes of all backgrounds. In the spirit of getting moving, since we've heard from users that they love seeing doodles on the go, we're now starting to make them easier to see and share on our mobile search results in addition to desktop and the Google app.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oTL2VA4-EYo/VbJnun_bT-I/AAAAAAAAQtc/_DrCiCgEPTE/s1600/Screenshot%2B2015-07-23%2Bat%2B12.34.20%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Special Olympics World Games Los Angeles 2015 logo" border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oTL2VA4-EYo/VbJnun_bT-I/AAAAAAAAQtc/_DrCiCgEPTE/s1600/Screenshot%2B2015-07-23%2Bat%2B12.34.20%2BPM.png" title="Special Olympics World Games Los Angeles 2015" /></a></div><br /> <b>Special Olympics World Games. </b>Over the next nine days, the Special Olympics World Games will draw more than half a million spectators to cheer on 7,000 athletes from 177 countries in events from judo to powerlifting to kayaking and more. We’re powering the World Games’ social media nerve center, contributing as a financial supporter and are packing more than 300 Googlers into the stands.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KRTnTsyv5T8/VbJoW2wj3dI/AAAAAAAAQtg/EFmpODDbMBo/s1600/CHEERFOR_SOCIAL_MOVINGGIF_sm.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Supporters hold signs to cheer on athletes" border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KRTnTsyv5T8/VbJoW2wj3dI/AAAAAAAAQtg/EFmpODDbMBo/s320/CHEERFOR_SOCIAL_MOVINGGIF_sm.gif" title="Cheer on an athlete at the games" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <b>Cheer an athlete.</b> If you’re in Los Angeles, come visit us from July 25 until August 2 at the World Games Festival Space at USC’s Alumni Park to support the athletes. For those who can’t make it in person, you can visit <a href="http://g.co/WorldGames2015">g.co/WorldGames2015</a> to send a cheer to the athletes. Every day during the competition, we’ll decorate the dorm walls of the athletes with your cheers to encourage them to “be brave in the attempt.”<br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n8D3XYpWnqg/VbJ4MPYNuCI/AAAAAAAAQtw/uXQJbiJNT30/s1600/ADA_GOOGLE_0283.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="content: 'about-featured'; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Portrait installation on the stairs at the National Portrait Gallery" border="0" data-about-featured="true" height="425" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n8D3XYpWnqg/VbJ4MPYNuCI/AAAAAAAAQtw/uXQJbiJNT30/s640/ADA_GOOGLE_0283.jpg" title="National Portrait Gallery installation" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portraits, like these at the National Portrait Gallery featuring leaders Judy Heumann and Ed Roberts, who have campaigned tirelessly for the rights of people with disabilities and Tatyana McFadden, who inspires athletes today, will decorate Washington, D.C. this weekend. See the <a href="https://plus.google.com/photos/116899029375914044550/albums/6175125974793276033?authkey=CJ21_P_P6fGGKQ">photo gallery</a></td></tr> </tbody></table><b>Painting the town. </b> In Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, we’re marking the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. From men and women like Judy Heumann and Ed Roberts, who campaigned tirelessly for the rights of people with disabilities, to President George H.W. Bush, who signed the ADA into law in 1990, we’re telling the stories of 10 great leaders who have fought -- and continue to fight -- for equal rights of people living with disabilities. We’ve installed massive portraits on the stairs of historic landmarks around the nation’s capital and in L.A.’s Grand Park.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CNm48ru-tKA" width="560"></iframe><br /> </td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Audio description available <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrM5hZX0hNc">here</a></td></tr> </tbody></table><b>Telling stories. </b>We’re featuring the little-known history of a number of unsung heroes of the ADA movement at <a href="http://g.co/ADA">g.co/ADA</a>. While people with disabilities benefit from their hard-won battles with every curb cut street corner and closed-caption film, their names are not widely known. We’d like to change that.<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Jacquelline Fuller, Director Google.org</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-91385796626365740352017-11-02T15:29:00.000-07:002017-11-02T15:29:04.922-07:00Through the Google lens: Search trends July 17-24Anyone up for a look back at the last week on Google Search? We are! Read on to find out what the world was looking for this week. <br /> <br /> <b>Bad Blood</b><br /> Phew, where to start with this one. Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj had a spat over VMA nominations (Taylor was<a href="https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=video%20of%20the%20year%202015"> nominated for Video of the Year</a>; Nicki was not), worked through it and made up -- all on Twitter. It was a good lesson in the art of the<a href="https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=subtweet"> subtweet</a>, as well as the “sincere apology after responding to a subtweet that wasn’t directly about you” tweet. <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Nicki+Minaj&std=20150721&pn=p1#a=20150721-Nicki+Minaj">Searches about the incident</a> topped 500,000.<br /> <br /> But Minaj v. Swift wasn’t the only music-related drama to make the list of Trending Searches. Meek Mill, hip hop artist and Nicki Minaj’s significant other, <a href="http://time.com/3967466/meek-mill-drake/">started a Twitter rant</a> of his own, alleging that rapper Drake doesn’t write his own material and inspiring more than<a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Meek+Mill&std=20150721&pn=p1#a=20150721-Meek+Mill"> a million searches</a>. The two artists haven’t settled up yet, so stay tuned for more on that front.<br /> <br /> Last but not least, country stars Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert are calling it quits after four years of marriage and guess what — they both<a href="http://tasteofcountry.com/blake-shelton-miranda-lambert-tweet-to-one-another-after-divorce/"> had stuff to say</a> about it on Twitter. More than <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Blake+Shelton&std=20150720&pn=p1#a=20150720-Blake+S">1 million searchers</a> took to Google to find out more.<br /> <br /> <b>But wait, there’s more</b><br /> It was the week of the sequel. (The weequel?) James Bond is back -- the trailer for the upcoming “Spectre” was released this week, which got more than 100,000 people searching for the movie. And nearly as surprising as the idea of a shark-filled angin puting-beliung itself, the Sharknado is back. “Sharknado 3” -- featuring 90s all-stars Tara Reid and Ian Ziering -- aired on Wednesday night and pulled in a <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Sharknado+3&date=now+7-d&geo=US">cool 500,000 searches</a>.<br /> <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div> <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6666666666667px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img alt="CKicx4HUMAAvQ9I.png" height="300px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/OQwCDpbv5rSEqbKRKC6k69vy21o2ODl3udShAe7CPAeunfpjMBATHzhY6a4ij-NF7cKgq2RnGmJNJy1I7Lb16Bp1-oFQrP9ukz0aZBBCkRlzzgDwygdJhY8thKYJc8ALw-mhc-8" style="-webkit-transform: rotate(0rad); border: none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="600px;" /></span></div> </div> <b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /> </b> Speaking of all-stars (and also of the 90s) remember the days when an NBA superstar could star in a wide-release film with his Looney Tunes pals? Well, it’s happening again. This time, it’s not Michael Jordan, but Lebron James who inked a deal with Warner Bros. The company announced the partnership on Wednesday, <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Space+Jam+2&date=now+7-d&geo=US">leading to 200,000 searches</a>. Reports suggest that while Michael Jordan will be replaced, Bugs Bunny will play himself, though there has been speculation about a case of cartoon patellar tendonitis he’s been coping with quietly for years.<br /> <br /> Posted by Megan Slack, who searched this week for [public pools in San Francisco].Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-46150145874938359432017-11-02T12:29:00.000-07:002017-11-02T12:29:04.049-07:00Rising to the climate challengeIn less than five months, policymakers from around the world will gather in Paris to finalize a new global agreement on combating climate change. Already, many governments are putting forth ambitious emissions reduction goals. And companies are taking action, too, by reducing their own footprints and investing in clean energy.<br /> <br /> <div>Reaching a strong deal in Paris is an absolute and urgent necessity. The data is clear and the science is beyond dispute: a warming planet poses enormous threats to society. <br /> <br /> Public health experts recently <a href="http://press.thelancet.com/Climate2Commission.pdf">warned </a>that climate change threatens to “undermine the last half century of gains in development and global health,” through forces like extreme weather, drought, malnutrition, and disease. The U.S. government has asserted that climate change poses “immediate risks to U.S. national security,” as increased natural disasters and humanitarian crises fuel instability and violence. And many studies have revealed that critical infrastructure, like electricity and water, is vulnerable to rising sea levels and intensifying storms.</div><div><br /> Climate change is one of the most significant global challenges of our time. Rising to that challenge involves a complex mix of policy, technology, and international cooperation. This won’t be easy, but Google is committed to doing its part.<br /> <br /> Google has been carbon neutral since 2007. Our data centers, the physical infrastructure behind web services used by billions of people, now get 3.5 times the computing power out of the same amount of electricity, as compared to five years ago. We are also the <a href="https://www.sustainablepurchasing.org/summit15/wp-content/uploads/sites/8/2015/06/Summit_2015_Presentation_Slides_Touati_Herve_SPLC-Summit_2015.pdf">biggest</a> corporate purchaser of renewable power on the planet. Just today at the White House, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whitehouse.gov%2Fthe-press-office%2F2015%2F07%2F27%2Ffact-sheet-white-house-launches-american-business-act-climate-pledge&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGojwY7JSNOgW4qZA0CVVhAU-dDXA">we pledged to triple those purchases</a> over the next decade. In addition, we're a major climate-minded investor, so far committing more than $2 billion to clean energy projects, from America’s largest wind farm to Africa’s largest solar power plant. </div><div><br /> We're serious about environmental sustainability not because it’s trendy, but because it’s core to our values and also makes good business sense. After all, the cheapest energy is the energy you don’t use in the first place. And in many places clean power is cost-competitive with conventional power.<br /> <br /> We’re making progress, but averting catastrophic climate change will require significant investment and bold innovations. Google and our private-sector peers are ready to lead. But something fundamental is required: clear policy. The global business community needs certainty to bring climate solutions to scale. We need the world’s political leaders to confirm that investments in clean energy are sound, and that the laws and policies meant to enable such investment will be designed for the long term and rooted in what science tells us needs to be done.<br /> <br /> It’s encouraging to see the world’s major economies set ambitious climate targets, but it’s time to get a strong international climate agreement on the books. This December in Paris, it’s imperative that policymakers reach a deal that moves us toward a zero-carbon economy. That’s the kind of future that we’re committed to helping build, and that future generations deserve. <br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-65428412403728055622017-11-02T09:29:00.000-07:002017-11-02T09:29:12.523-07:00Everything in its right placeWhen we launched Google+, we set out to help people discover, share and connect across Google like they do in real life. While we got certain things right, we made a few choices that, in hindsight, we’ve needed to rethink. So over the next few months, we’re going to be making some important changes. Here’s more about what you can expect:<br /> <br /> <b>A more focused Google+ experience</b><br /> Google+ is quickly becoming a place where people engage around their shared interests, with the content and people who inspire them. In line with that focus, we’re continuing to add new features like <a href="https://plus.google.com/+DmitryShapiro/posts/B4M3R6aMkEf?e=-RedirectToSandbox">Google+ Collections</a>, where you can share and enjoy posts organized by the topics you care about. At the same time, we’ll also move some features that aren’t essential to an interest-based social experience out of Google+. For example, many elements of Google+ Photos have been moved into the new Google Photos app, and we’re well underway putting location sharing into Hangouts and other apps, where it really belongs. We think changes like these will lead to a more focused, more useful, more engaging Google+.<br /> <br /> <b>Using Google without a Google+ profile</b><br /> People have told us that accessing all of their Google stuff with one account makes life a whole lot easier. But we’ve also heard that it doesn’t make sense for your Google+ profile to be your identity in all the other Google products you use.<br /> <br /> So in the coming months, a Google Account will be all you’ll need to share content, communicate with contacts, create a YouTube channel and more, all across Google. YouTube will be one of the first products to make this change, and you can learn more <a href=" ">on their blog</a>. As always, your underlying Google Account won’t be searchable or followable, unlike public Google+ profiles. And for people who already created Google+ profiles but don’t plan to use Google+ itself, we’ll offer better options for managing and removing those public profiles.<br /> <br /> You’ll see these changes roll out in stages over several months. While they won’t happen overnight, they’re right for Google’s users—both the people who are on Google+ every single day, and the people who aren’t.<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Bradley Horowitz, VP of Streams, Photos, and Sharing </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-4035241901649144792017-11-02T06:29:00.000-07:002017-11-02T06:29:07.749-07:00See the world in your language with Google TranslateThe <a href="http://translate.google.com/about/intl/en_ALL/#">Google Translate app</a> already lets you instantly visually translate printed text in seven languages. Just open the app, click on the camera, and point it at the text you need to translate—a street sign, ingredient list, instruction manual, dials on a washing machine. You'll see the text transform live on your screen into the other language. No Internet connection or cell phone data needed. <br /> <br /> Today, we’re updating the Google Translate app again—expanding instant visual translation to 20 more languages (for a total of 27!), and making real-time voice translations a lot faster and smoother—so even more people can experience the world in their language.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q9zhVLOurAg/VbjNguxP5aI/AAAAAAAAQuM/Xdd5lRFip8I/s1600/hindi_indonesian_ukrainian_portuguese.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q9zhVLOurAg/VbjNguxP5aI/AAAAAAAAQuM/Xdd5lRFip8I/s640/hindi_indonesian_ukrainian_portuguese.gif" width="640" /></a></div><b>Instantly translate printed text in 27 languages</b><br /> <br /> We <a href=" ">started out</a> with seven languages—English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish—and today we're adding 20 more. You can now translate to and from English and Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Filipino, Finnish, Hungarian, Indonesian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak, Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian. You can also do one-way translations from English to Hindi and Thai. (Or, try snapping a pic of the text you’d like translated—we have a total of 37 languages in camera mode.)<br /> <br /> To try out the new languages, go to the Google Translate app, set “English” along with the language you’d like to translate, and click the camera button; you'll be prompted to unduh a small ( ,2 MB) language pack for each. <br /> <br /> Ready to see all of these languages in action?<br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/06olHmcJjS0" width="560"></iframe><br /> <br /> And how exactly did we get so many new languages running on a device with no data connection? It’s all about convolutional neural networks (whew)—geek out on that over on our <a href=" ">Research blog</a>.<br /> <br /> <b>Have a natural, smoother conversation—even with a slower mobile network</b><br /> In many emerging markets, slow mobile networks can make it challenging to access many online tools - so if you live in an area with unreliable mobile networks, our other update today is for you. In addition to instant visual translation, we’ve also improved our voice conversation mode (enabling real-time translation of conversations across 32 languages), so it’s even faster and more natural on slow networks.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O3T-kZ9My1s/VbjOugGSWmI/AAAAAAAAQuU/zMUN-0PZw6I/s1600/Conversation%2BMode%2BGIF%2B%25281%2529.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O3T-kZ9My1s/VbjOugGSWmI/AAAAAAAAQuU/zMUN-0PZw6I/s640/Conversation%2BMode%2BGIF%2B%25281%2529.gif" width="640" /></a></div>These updates are coming to both Android and iOS, rolling out over the next few days.<br /> <b id="docs-internal-guid-60716a5b-d9e5-2961-72b7-82b8aa9a9f6f" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /> </b> <b>Translate Community helps us get better every day</b><br /> On top of today’s updates, we’re also continuously working to improve the quality of the translations themselves and to add new languages. A year ago this week, we launched <a href=" ">we've been updating our translations</a> for over 90 language pairs, and plan to update many more as our community grows.<br /> <br /> We’ve still got lots of work to do: more than half of the content on the Internet is in English, but only around 20% of the world’s population speaks English. Today’s updates knock down a few more language barriers, helping you communicate better and get the information you need.<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Barak Turovsky, Product Lead, Google Translate</span><br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-10116126945447654062017-11-02T03:29:00.000-07:002017-11-02T03:29:09.330-07:00Through the Google Lens: Search Trends July 31 - August 7Has it been a week or what? It most definitely has, which means it’s time to kick back, relax and read on as we dig into Google’s <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/hottrends">trending searches list</a> to find out what the world wanted to learn more about this week. <br /> <br /> <b>The Grand Old Party</b><br /> With 10 candidates on stage for the prime-time event, Thursday night’s <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/story/US_cu_pMFd-k4BAAC3uM_en">Republican presidential debate</a> debate did seem quite a bit like a party. An estimated <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/republican-debate-shatters-fox-news-rating-record-24-million-watched-n406121">24 million people</a> tuned in to watch the broadcast on the Fox News Channel (a record for the network, and cable TV, it turns out), and searches for “Republican debate” <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Republican+Debate&std=20150805&pn=p1#a=20150805-Republican+Debate">topped 5 million</a>. <br /> <br /> <br /> Not surprisingly, the candidates themselves generated some serious search action. Donald Trump claimed the “most searched” position in the <a href="https://twitter.com/GoogleTrends/status/629490415180210176">days before and hours after</a> the event, and held on to the spot for nearly all of the debate itself, save a few appearances from Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina and Lindsey Graham.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xyd8pf8QUwQ/VcVO5F07_sI/AAAAAAAAQvQ/_yrp8xDAPhI/s1600/GOPall.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xyd8pf8QUwQ/VcVO5F07_sI/AAAAAAAAQvQ/_yrp8xDAPhI/s1600/GOPall.gif" /></a></div>See a full-size version of this incredible data viz <a href="http://googletrends.github.io/iframe-scaffolder/#/view?urls=All%20candidates%7Chttp:%2F%2Fgoogletrends.github.io%2FGOPDebate1%2FFullCandidates.html,Main%20debate%7Chttp:%2F%2Fgoogletrends.github.io%2FGOPDebate1%2FMainDebateCandidates.html,Issues%7Chttp:%2F%2Fgoogletrends.github.io%2FGOPDebate1%2FMainDebateIssues.html,Early%20debate%7Chttp:%2F%2Fgoogletrends.github.io%2FGOPDebate1%2FEarlyDebateCandidates.html&layout=narrative&theme=default&title=Early%20GOP%20debate:%20%20who%20was%20top%20searched%3F&description=Changing%20ranks%20of%20Republican%20candidates%20in%20the%20debate%20on%20Google%20search">here</a>. You can also explore the most searched issues during the debate as well -- education, taxes and abortion all took turns in the top spot.<br /> <br /> <b>Jon-Voyage</b><br /> All good things come to an end, and this week the world <a href="https://www.google.com/trends/story/US_cu_BTmo_04BAADjRM_en">said goodbye to Jon Stewart</a> -- at least as host of The Daily Show. Airing just moments after a debate that was ripe for Stewart’s particular brand of editorializing, Thursday night’s show was his last. Searches for the (now former) host <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Jon+Stewart&std=20150806&pn=p1#a=20150806-Jon+Stewart">topped 500,000</a> this week. <br /> <div><br /> <a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YPxw4nid2WU/VcVPUY6NDxI/AAAAAAAAQvc/anFQCtiNBrE/s1600/JonStewart.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YPxw4nid2WU/VcVPUY6NDxI/AAAAAAAAQvc/anFQCtiNBrE/s640/JonStewart.png" width="640" /></a></div>Check out another cool data viz -- this one on search interest in Jon Stewart across the United States -- <a href="https://googledataorg.cartodb.com/u/googledata/viz/ad51240a-3ade-11e5-b67c-42010a149c0c/embed_map">right here.</a><br /> <br /> <b>The Doctor is in</b><br /> Artist turned producer turned mogul Dr. Dre gave us all a gift this week -- his first new album in 16 years. Compton -- which Dre is <a href="http://www.npr.org/2015/08/07/430332000/after-16-years-dr-dre-returns-with-compton">calling his grand finale </a>-- is self-reflective and grand in all the best ways, and dripping with appearances and collaborations from generations of other artists. It also brought in an impressive <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Dr+Dre+Compton&std=20150806&pn=p1#a=20150806-Dr+Dre+Compton">200,000 searches</a>. <br /> <br /> <b>Makeups and breakups</b><br /> Continuing what seems like a very common theme this summer, the week’s trending searches had no shortage of celebrity couple gossip. Jennifer Aniston, who pulled off a surprise backyard wedding to Justin Theroux, made the list with <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Jennifer+Aniston&std=20150806&pn=p1#a=20150806-Jennifer+Aniston">200,000+ searches</a>. The world panicked (and <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Will+Smith&std=20150803&pn=p1#a=20150803-Will+Smith">searched 100,000+</a> times) following news that Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith were divorcing -- news that turned out not to be true at all, according to the couple. <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Reba+McEntire&std=20150803&pn=p1#a=20150803-Reba+McEntire">Reba McEntire</a>, however, is definitely separating from her husband (100,000+ searches for that news), as are <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Gwen+Stefani&std=20150803&pn=p1#a=20150803-Gwen+Stefani">Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale</a> (200,000+ searches) -- and there’s no doubt about that one, either.<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Megan Slack, who searched this week for [japanese candy delivery]</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-43936588706044745492017-11-02T00:29:00.000-07:002017-11-02T00:29:07.383-07:00Google Hangouts: now simpler, faster, more beautifulThe best conversations just flow: you barely have to think about what to say. With Hangouts, we want to help you stay in the moment, no matter what device you’re using or how you’re getting your voice across, from texting to talking to video. So we’ve been hard at work on big improvements to make Hangouts faster, simpler, and easier on the eyes. <br /> <br /> Today, we’re releasing Google Hangouts 4.0 for Android, with a fresh new look, improved speed, and features that make it even easier to reach people the way you want to reach them.<br /> <div><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xm_tTYivk4A/Vci2JWo1miI/AAAAAAAAQvw/ojNgcy4cekU/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-08-10%2Bat%2B7.32.54%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-about-featured="" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Xm_tTYivk4A/Vci2JWo1miI/AAAAAAAAQvw/ojNgcy4cekU/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2015-08-10%2Bat%2B7.32.54%2BAM.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New ways to compose, attach and use your watch make Hangouts simpler than ever</td></tr> </tbody></table>Here's what’s new:</div><div><ul><li><b>Hangouts is sleeker.</b> Now updated with <a href="https://www.google.com/design/spec/material-design/introduction.html">material design</a>, Hangouts has a new look and feel: items respond to your touch in more intuitive ways and transitions between tasks are more fluid. </li> <li><b>Hangouts is simpler.</b> The new Compose button makes it easier for you to start a new group or conversation. Our streamlined contacts list helps you find the right person quickly. And attachments have been revamped and simplified, so sharing—of emoji, GIFs, your location, even multiple photos at once—is a snap. </li> <li><b>Hangouts is faster. </b>Whether you’re sending a quick message or video chatting with family, you don’t want hold-ups. We’ve been obsessively fixing bugs and speeding up message delivery to make Hangouts faster and more reliable. Bonus: less battery consumption.</li> </ul><b><br /> </b> <b>And more…</b><br /> Make <a href="https://www.google.com/voice/b/0/rates?hl=en&p=hangout">affordable</a> calls from the <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.hangoutsdialer&hl=en">Hangouts Dialer</a>, now with Outbound Caller ID (so your friends won’t get any more calls from the great “Unknown”). Receive and reply to group MMS messages in Hangouts using Google Voice. Use Hangouts on Android Wear when you really have an eye on the time (just say, “Ok Google, send a Hangouts message,” into your watch). And if you’re not around but want friends to know what’s on your mind? Custom status messages are back. <br /> <br /> The new Hangouts starts rolling out to Android users today and will be available in the Play Store (iOS users recently got many of the same updates). We hope you enjoy the new look and feel. And we look forward to keeping the conversation flowing!<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Amit Fulay, Product Manager, Communications</span></div><br /> <p data-about-pullquote>With Hangouts, we want to help you stay in the moment, no matter what device you’re using or how you’re getting your voice across, from texting to talking to video.</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-88855438561010883302017-11-01T21:29:00.000-07:002017-11-01T21:29:00.220-07:00G is for GoogleAs Sergey and I wrote in the original founders letter 11 years ago, “Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one.” As part of that, we also said that you could expect us to make “smaller bets in areas that might seem very speculative or even strange when compared to our current businesses.” From the start, we’ve always strived to do more, and to do important and meaningful things with the resources we have. <br /> <br /> We did a lot of things that seemed crazy at the time. Many of those crazy things now have over a billion users, like Google Maps, YouTube, Chrome, and Android. And we haven’t stopped there. We are still trying to do things other people think are crazy but we are super excited about.<br /> <br /> We’ve long believed that over time companies tend to get comfortable doing the same thing, just making incremental changes. But in the technology industry, where revolutionary ideas drive the next big growth areas, you need to be a bit uncomfortable to stay relevant.<br /> <br /> Our company is operating well today, but we think we can make it cleaner and more accountable. So we are creating a new company, called <a href="http://abc.xyz/">Alphabet</a> (<a href="https://abc.xyz/">http://abc.xyz)</a>. I am really excited to be running Alphabet as CEO with help from my capable partner, Sergey, as President.<br /> <br /> What is Alphabet? Alphabet is mostly a collection of companies. The largest of which, of course, is Google. This newer Google is a bit slimmed down, with the companies that are pretty far afield of our main Internet products contained in Alphabet instead. What do we mean by far afield? Good examples are our health efforts: Life Sciences (that works on the glucose-sensing contact lens), and <a href="http://www.calicolabs.com/">Calico</a> (focused on longevity). Fundamentally, we believe this allows us more management scale, as we can run things independently that aren’t very related. Alphabet is about businesses prospering through strong leaders and independence. In general, our model is to have a strong CEO who runs each business, with Sergey and me in service to them as needed. We will rigorously handle capital allocation and work to make sure each business is executing well. We'll also make sure we have a great CEO for each business, and we’ll determine their compensation. In addition, with this new structure we plan to implement segment reporting for our Q4 results, where Google financials will be provided separately than those for the rest of Alphabet businesses as a whole.<br /> <br /> This new structure will allow us to keep tremendous focus on the extraordinary opportunities we have inside of Google. A key part of this is Sundar Pichai. Sundar has been saying the things I would have said (and sometimes better!) for quite some time now, and I’ve been tremendously enjoying our work together. He has really stepped up since October of last year, when he took on product and engineering responsibility for our Internet businesses. Sergey and I have been super excited about his progress and dedication to the company. And it is clear to us and our board that it is time for Sundar to be CEO of Google. I feel very fortunate to have someone as talented as he is to run the slightly slimmed down Google and this frees up time for me to continue to scale our aspirations. I have been spending quite a bit of time with Sundar, helping him and the company in any way I can, and I will of course continue to do that. Google itself is also making all sorts of new products, and I know Sundar will always be focused on innovation -- continuing to stretch boundaries. I know he deeply cares that we can continue to make big strides on our core mission to organize the world's information. Recent launches like Google Photos and Google Now using machine learning are amazing progress. Google also has some services that are run with their own identity, like YouTube. Susan is doing a great job as CEO, running a strong brand and driving incredible growth.<br /> <br /> Sergey and I are seriously in the business of starting new things. Alphabet will also include our X lab, which incubates new efforts like Wing, our drone delivery effort<a href="http://hooli.xyz/" style="text-decoration: none;">.</a> We are also stoked about growing our investment arms, Ventures and Capital, as part of this new structure.<br /> <br /> Alphabet Inc. will replace Google Inc. as the publicly-traded entity and all shares of Google will automatically convert into the same number of shares of Alphabet, with all of the same rights. Google will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet. Our two classes of shares will continue to trade on Nasdaq as GOOGL and GOOG. <br /> <br /> For Sergey and me this is a very exciting new chapter in the life of Google -- the birth of Alphabet. We liked the name Alphabet because it means a collection of letters that represent language, one of humanity's most important innovations, and is the core of how we index with Google search! We also like that it means alpha-bet (Alpha is investment return above benchmark), which we strive for! I should add that we are not intending for this to be a big consumer brand with related products--the whole point is that Alphabet companies should have independence and develop their own brands.<br /> <br /> We are excited about…<br /> <ul><li>Getting more ambitious things done. </li> <li>Taking the long-term view. </li> <li>Empowering great entrepreneurs and companies to flourish. </li> <li>Investing at the scale of the opportunities and resources we see. </li> <li>Improving the transparency and oversight of what we’re doing. </li> <li>Making Google even better through greater focus. </li> <li>And hopefully...as a result of all this, improving the lives of as many people as we can.</li> </ul>What could be better? No wonder we are excited to get to work with everyone in the Alphabet family. Don’t worry, we’re still getting used to the name too!<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Larry Page, CEO</span><br /> <p data-about-pullquote>Alphabet is mostly a collection of companies. The largest of which, of course, is Google. </p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-16931066548638279812017-11-01T18:29:00.000-07:002017-11-01T18:29:02.794-07:00Through the Google Lens: Search Trends August 8-14It’s Friday, which means it’s time for an A-through-Z of the week’s Google Search trends (see what I did there?)<br /> <br /> <b>Per-see … what is it?</b><br /> As the skies lit up with the Perseid Meteor shower this week, there were more than a <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends">million Google searches</a> around the topic from people on the hunt for shooting stars. Along with questions on how to pronounce it (that would be something in the region of “<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/perseid-meteor-shower-when-is-it-how-do-i-photograph-it-and-how-do-you-even-pronounce-perseid-10452405.html">percy-id</a>”), people were asking where to watch and how to photograph the summer show, with <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/perseids.cfm">NASA</a> promising up to a hundred meteors an hour if you got up early enough. These meteors streak through the Earth’s atmosphere for our viewing pleasure every year -- check out the annual <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=perseid&cmpt=q&tz=Etc%2FGMT%2B7">spike in Google searches</a> over the last decade for a record of when we spotted them. <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1fuWputUij8/Vc5CWtOreEI/AAAAAAAAQwM/FTcEERuM83Q/s1600/PerseidQs.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1fuWputUij8/Vc5CWtOreEI/AAAAAAAAQwM/FTcEERuM83Q/s640/PerseidQs.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <b>Headlines from China </b><br /> Shocking images of destruction continue to come out of China’s northern port city of Tianjin after a massive chemical explosion Wednesday. This eye-witness <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO1q3HwB0y0">video</a> posted on YouTube by Daniel Van Duren -- who says he was watching for shooting stars when the explosions happened -- has more than 60,000 views in 24 hours. With news outlets reporting that smoke is still rising from the industrial area where the blasts occurred, the <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends">million Google searches</a> about Tianjin are focused on the “who, what, where, when, why” of the disaster.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4Brp4zh6cOA/Vc5CqAxe0eI/AAAAAAAAQwc/GALJnorz40M/s1600/CMTblrwWsAUHHbu.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4Brp4zh6cOA/Vc5CqAxe0eI/AAAAAAAAQwc/GALJnorz40M/s640/CMTblrwWsAUHHbu.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /> This was the second time news from China appeared in the world’s <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends">Hot Trends</a> this week. China’s surprise decision to devalue its currency prompted an additional 50,000 searches Tuesday.<br /> <br /> <b>Because there’s apparently a day for everything</b><br /> It was an awesome week for left-handed middle children everywhere. Wednesday was National Middle Child Day, where the top rising search on Google was for <a href=" ">this meme</a>, which pretty much sums it up. Then Thursday was Left Handers Day, prompting a spike of more than <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends#">100,000 Google searches</a>. Looking at the top questions asked on Google around this important day for southpaws, you all wanted to know how many people in general are left-handed, and how many US presidents in particular (hard to confirm, but the White House <a href="https://twitter.com/WhiteHouse/status/632016339285078016">tweeted</a> that President Obama is one of them). Which brings us, naturally, to the next burning question on people’s minds: “Is Donald Trump left-handed?” File that one under “August.”<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gScARqgpPAI/Vc5CqPf-t_I/AAAAAAAAQwg/g0y56K7PJAo/s1600/CMTbyjrWoAAdWH4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gScARqgpPAI/Vc5CqPf-t_I/AAAAAAAAQwg/g0y56K7PJAo/s640/CMTbyjrWoAAdWH4.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Abbi Tatton, who searched this week for [left-handed kangaroos].</span><br /> <br /> <p data-about-pullquote>It’s time for an A-through-Z of the week’s Google Search trends (see what I did there?).</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-76739959992384445612017-11-01T15:29:00.000-07:002017-11-01T15:29:06.252-07:00Meet OnHub: a new router for a new way to Wi-FiUgh...not again. You get home at the end of the day, and sit down to stream a new movie or upload vacation photos — and your Wi-Fi slows to a crawl or just stops working. Instead of relaxing in front of the screen or sharing those photos with friends, you spend it unplugging and re-plugging cords, trying to decipher blinking lights, or contemplating a call to customer support. <br /> <br /> While we count on Wi-Fi more than ever to be entertained, productive, and stay connected, we’re streaming and sharing in new ways our old routers were never built to handle. So today, with our partner TP-LINK, we’re launching <a href="http://on.google.com/hub">OnHub</a>, a different kind of router for a new way to Wi-Fi. Instead of headaches and spotty connections, OnHub gives you Wi-Fi that’s fast, secure, and easy to use. <br /> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HNnfHP7VDP8" width="560"></iframe><br /> <br /> <b>Designed for the Home</b><br /> Many of us keep our router on the floor and out of sight, where it doesn’t work as well. We replaced unruly cords and blinking lights with internal antennas and subtle, useful lighting, so you’ll be happy placing OnHub out in the open, where your router performs its best. <br /> <br /> <b>Starts Fast, Stays Fast</b><br /> During setup, OnHub searches the airwaves and selects the best channel for the fastest connection. A unique antenna design and smart software keep working in the background, automatically adjusting OnHub to avoid interference and keep your network at peak performance. You can even prioritize a device, so that your most important activity — like streaming your favorite show — gets the fastest speed.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hLBLNJS-Rrg/VdNL2FTbRuI/AAAAAAAAQxM/PP_ebhj1jrA/s1600/onhub%2Bblog.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-about-featured="" height="313" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hLBLNJS-Rrg/VdNL2FTbRuI/AAAAAAAAQxM/PP_ebhj1jrA/s640/onhub%2Bblog.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /> <b>A simple mobile app</b><br /> OnHub makes it simple to set up and manage your Wi-Fi, all from the Google On app, available on Android or iOS. The Google On app tells you how much bandwidth your devices are using, lets you run a network check, and if there’s an issue with your Wi-Fi, the app offers suggestions to help. And, instead of lost passwords and sticky notes, it even reveals your password with a single tap and lets you text or email it to friends. <br /> <br /> <b>Just gets better</b><br /> OnHub automatically updates with new features and the latest security upgrades, without interrupting your connection. In the future, OnHub can support smart devices that you bring into your home, whether they use Bluetooth® Smart Ready, Weave, or 802.15.4. We also plan to design new OnHub devices with other hardware partners in the future. Stay tuned for news from our second partner, ASUS, later this year. <br /> <br /> Starting today, OnHub is available for pre-order for $199.99 from <a href="https://on.google.com/hub/#buy">online retailers</a> in the U.S. including the Google Store, Amazon, and Walmart.com. It will be available for sale in retail stores in the U.S. and in Canada in the coming weeks. <br /> <br /> At the end of the day, we want our Wi-Fi to just work, so that we can do all the things we love to do online. Here’s to Wi-Fi with the reliability, speed, and security you want at home, without the frustrations you don’t. <br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Trond Wuellner, Group Product Manager</span></div><br /> <br /> <div data-about-pullquote="">Instead of headaches and spotty connections, OnHub gives you Wi-Fi that’s fast, secure, and easy to use.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4162526014422639838.post-79700918242936461122017-11-01T12:29:00.000-07:002017-11-01T12:29:11.867-07:00Through the Google lens: Search Trends August 14-20Inspirational women. A surreal theme park. And a third-party candidate we can all get behind. This week had a little of everything—read on for a look at the top topics on Google Search.<br /> <br /> <b>Top tabs</b><br /> Lieutenant Shaye Haver and Lieutenant Katolik Griest are the first women to break a major gender barrier and graduate from the rigorous Army Ranger School this week. The course is known for its <a href=" ">not-too-shabby 9 percent</a> against Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in North Carolina—Nuts was a trending topic on Twitter and he’s surpassed Clinton in search interest, too.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ul97BcMOyZQ/VdeLD5bWbhI/AAAAAAAAQzE/rC9sjTl5_YY/s1600/ClintonVsDeezNuts.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ul97BcMOyZQ/VdeLD5bWbhI/AAAAAAAAQzE/rC9sjTl5_YY/s500/ClintonVsDeezNuts.png" width="500" /></a></div><b>Cheater, beware</b><br /> The cheating site Ashley Madison was a top trending term this week, after hackers stole user account and payment information and posted the data online. There were more than 1 million searches for [<a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Ashley+Madison&std=20150818&pn=p1#a=20150818-Ashley+Madison">Ashley Madison</a>] on Tuesday, with more than half a million for [<a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Ashley+Madison+List&std=20150819&pn=p1#a=20150819-Ashley+Madison+List">Ashley Madison List</a>] as people tried to find out whether someone they knew had a profile. But questions about the hacking were myriad, and sometimes innocent. Many wanted to know “who is Ashley Madison?” (spoiler: not a real person) while others asked “What is the dark web?” in an effort to find out more about the anonymous and hidden network where the data was released. <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b8vIKLK_Jss/VdeLDyqIbyI/AAAAAAAAQzI/0RmXxuN1Zr0/s1600/AshleyMadison.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b8vIKLK_Jss/VdeLDyqIbyI/AAAAAAAAQzI/0RmXxuN1Zr0/s500/AshleyMadison.png" width="500" /></a></div><b>Be careful what you wish for</b><br /> A new tourist attraction in the U.K. is already living up to its name. “Dismaland,” an art exhibit by the elusive Banksy, and "the U.K.'s most disappointing new visitor attraction,” features a <a href="http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/08/dismaland/">derelict castle with a dirty moat</a>, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/20/arts/banksy-dismaland-art-exhibition/">gloomy park attendants</a>, and bizarre works by <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/21/433476889/banksys-dismaland-living-up-to-its-name-with-ticket-debacle">50+ artists</a>. After being shrouded in secrecy, the “bemusement park” debuted this week to the tune of <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?stt=Dismaland&std=20150820&pn=p1#a=20150820-Dismaland">200,000+ searches</a>, and today search interest in Dismaland surpassed that of Disneyland’s. (One of searchers’ top questions: “What does Disney say about Dismaland?”) Unfortunately (or, appropriately, depending on your viewpoint), the park has also had its fair share of troubles already. As its website <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-34014623">crashed</a> under the weight of 6 million hits, and hundreds of people lined up outside the resort, many are wondering whether they’re on their way to see a conceptual art work, or already a part of one.<br /> <br /> <span class="byline-author">Posted by Emily Wood, Managing Editor, who searched this week for [best restaurants bon appetit]</span><br /> <br /> <div data-about-pullquote="">Inspirational women. A surreal theme park. And a third-party candidate we can all get behind.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0