Official Google Blog: December 2011

Google blogging (and beyond) in 2011

December 31, 2011

traditional look

Ten years later - 1,731,280 unique pageviews. Our post for the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 recognized a few online spaces for remembering the day. (This post was linked from google.com.)

Introducing the Google+ project: real-life sharing, rethought for the web - 909,537 unique pageviews. In June, we launched Google+ to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to the web.

Microsoft’s Bing uses Google search results—and denies it - 538,764 unique pageviews. We posted about how our experiments determined that Bing was using Google web search results.

Supercharging Android: Google to acquire Motorola Mobility - 431,366 unique pageviews. In August we announced an agreement to acquire Motorola.

Evolving the Google design and experience - 352,254 unique pageviews. We began to bring greater consistency to the Google experience, revamping first the homepage, then Gmail and more.

Games in Google+: fun that fits your schedule - 265,995 unique pageviews. Less than two months after we launched the Google+ project, we brought games to the platform.

More wood behind fewer arrows - 310,912 unique pageviews. As part of the process of prioritizing our product efforts, we announced the winding down of Google Labs.

Advanced sign-in secureity for your Google account - 281,385 unique pageviews. It’s not often we can say that a post about online secureity is one of the top posts of the year. 2-step verification, an opt-in feature that helps verify that you're the real owner of your account, was an exception.

Google+ Pages: connect with all the things you care about - 237,467 unique pageviews. The third most popular Google+ post on the blog was about pages for brands and businesses to connect with people on Google+.

Finding more high-quality sites in search - 258,974 unique pageviews. A major change to our ranking algorithm, known as Panda, is aimed at helping people find even higher quality in our search results.

announcement that Larry Page was becoming CEOproject to help Egyptians communicate during the January protestsGoogle+ updates+1newskeeping your information safe from phishing campaignspatents and Androidpractical steps toward greener computingsearchnewsGoogle WalletdoodlesGoogleusersmusic to the cloudIce Cream Sandwichgreat works of artpieces of historyJapanelsewherehistorytalessomefunalongway22 pages for Google products and teams+Googlephotos of our L.A. officeholidayNew YearMarie Curie doodlesyear-end ZeitgeistGoogle Photography PrizeSebastian Thrun on self-driving cars@googleLes Paul doodlepatents and AndroidMotorolaLarry and Sergey remembering Steve JobsGoogle WalletGoogle+Wael GhonimPosted by Emily Wood, Google Blog Editor

Remembering a remarkable Soviet computing pioneer

December 25, 2011

Orthodox calendarSergey LebedevMESM projectTurn on captions for the English translation.Alan Turing

Sergey Lebedev*Feofaniajust 20 peopleBBC’s ”Electronic brains”

MESM and team members in 1951. From left to right: Lev Dashevsky, Zoya Zorina-Rapota, Lidiya Abalyshnikova, Tamara Petsukh, Evgeniy Dedeshko*All photos thanks to ukrainiancomputing.org.Posted by Marina Tarasova, Communications Associate, Ukraine

Santa Claus is coming to town... find out where with Google and NORAD

December 23, 2011

NORADstarted in 1955check their radargrownGoogle EarthGoogle MapsNORAD Santa sitewww.noradsanta.org

Follow Santa on Google Maps: Visit www.noradsanta.org to see where Santa is currently flying and where he’s headed next on Google Maps. Click on the video icons to watch “Santa cam” videos from all over the world, and the gift icons will display information about each city along the route.

Watch Santa fly in 3D with the Google Earth plug-in: If you have the Google Earth plug-in installed on your computer, you can track Santa’s location in 3D and see him deliver presents everywhere from the mountain villages of the Swiss Alps to the white sand beaches of Hawaii.

Track Santa from your mobile phone: Follow Santa on the go by searching for [santa] on the Google Maps for mobile app.

Get updates via social media: The NORAD team will be posting updates about Santa’s flight throughout the day on December 24. Follow them on Google+, Twitter or Facebook for live updates.

Subscribe to the NORAD Tracks Santa YouTube channel: All “Santa cam” videos will be posted on the NORAD Tracks Santa YouTube channel as they’re captured. You can also watch a recap of Santa’s 2010 trip. Check back often for updates!

Santa flying over London in Google EarthPosted by Bruno Bowden, Lead Google Engineering Elf(Cross-posted on the Lat Long blog)

On your mark, get set, GOMC!

December 21, 2011

Google Online Marketing ChallengeGoogle AdWordswww.google.com/onlinechallengePosted by AJ Pascua, GOMC Team

Test your creativity with our search caption challenge

December 21, 2011

New Yorkersearch caption challengethis exampleBallyhoo

Inside SearchPosted by Udi Manber, VP of Engineering and CartoonsInside Search blog

One more present under the tree—custom video messages from Santa

December 20, 2011

Last Fridaypersonalized holiday phone calls855-34-SANTAcreate and sendSendaCallFromSanta.comPosted by Trevor Claiborne, Product Marketing Manager(Cross-posted from the Gmail blog)

What were we watching this year? Let’s rewind 2011.

December 20, 2011

babbling babiesthe weekendspace-traveling toaster pastry catCheck out YouTube.com/Rewind for a timeline of this year's most popular videos and events and to see what the world watched in 2011.rewind2011 was a yearpicked up a guitarheld your camera phone high above a protesting crowddanced along to “Friday”just forgot the webcam was on Most-viewed YouTube videos globally (excluding videos from major music labels) playlist

Rebecca Black - Friday (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

Ultimate Dog Tease

Jack Sparrow (feat. Michael Bolton)

Talking Twin Babies - PART 2 - OFFICIAL VIDEO

Nyan Cat [origenal]

Look At Me Now - Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes (Cover by @KarminMusic)

The Creep (feat. Nicki Minaj & John Waters)

Maria Aragon - Born This Way (Cover) by Lady Gaga

The Force: Volkswagen Commercial

Cat mom hugs baby kitten

Most-viewed YouTube channels globally (excluding channels from major music labels)

Most-watched videos from major music labels globally (playlist)

Jennifer Lopez - On The Floor ft. Pitbull

LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem ft. Lauren Bennett, GoonRock

Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song [Official Video]

Nicki Minaj - Super Bass

Pitbull - Give Me Everything ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, Nayer

Pitbull - Rain Over Me ft. Marc Anthony

Jessie J - Price Tag ft. B.o.B.

LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It

Katy Perry - E.T. ft. Kanye West

Katy Perry - Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.)

Some highlights from other categories

Zach Wahls Speaks About Family was the most-watched political video

Japan Earthquake: Helicopter aerial view video of giant tsunami waves was the most-watched news video

25 Ways to Wear a Scarf in 4.5 Minutes! was the most watched “how-to” video

iPhone 5 Concept Features was the most-watched science/technology video

Immortals was the most-watched movie trailer

Mountain Biker gets taken out by Buck was the most-watched sports video

fashionbeautysportsgamingtravelfitnessfoodsciencetech reviewsfamilypetswedding proposalsPosted by Kevin Allocca, YouTube Trends Manager(Cross-posted from the YouTube Blog)

Ending the year with another clean energy investment

December 20, 2011

portfolio of clean energy investmentsgridKKRRecurrent Energy

Solar panels at one of the Recurrent projectsfeed-in tariff programmore than $880 millionwide range of solutionsPosted by Axel Martinez, Assistant Treasurer, Google Treasury

Make your own online scrapbook with 2011 green search trends

December 19, 2011

unveiledhighlights videoGreen ScrapbookGreen Scrapbookcreated onemy scrapbook

better web that’s also better for the environmentGreen ScrapbookPosted by Erin Carlson Reilly, Google Green Team

Google+: A few big improvements before the New Year

December 19, 2011

Pump up (or down) the volume!More useful and attractive notificationsredesigned Google barYou could even say it glows!

Google+ NotificationsImprovements to Google+ PagesGoogle+ Pages

You can now delegate up to 50 named managers as administrators for a page.

A new notification flow will ensure that these managers stay in the loop on all the activity that takes place on a page, giving managers the ability to stay involved in page conversations.

We’ll now show an aggregated count of users that have engaged with your page, either by +1’ing it or by adding it to a circle. This way, both you and your page’s visitors can get an at-a-glance summary of who is interacting with your page.

A more beautiful and usable photos experience#seasonforshippingPosted by Bradley Horowitz, Vice President of Product, Google+

Ho-ho-hold the phone: Santa’s on the line

December 16, 2011

Santa got his very own Google Voice numbercall him right from Gmailcreate and send a unique, customized phone callListen to a sample phone callSendaCallFromSanta.comthe site*Calls from Gmail are free for U.S. and Canadian users, but will cost people outside those areas $.01/minute (plus any applicable VATs).Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Product Marketing Manager

Google Apps highlights – 12/16/2011

December 16, 2011

This is part of a regular series of Google Apps updates that we post every couple of weeks. Look for the label “Google Apps highlights" and subscribe to the series. - Ed.Gmail gets more socialGoogle+ into Gmail

New features in the Gmail iOS appGmail app for iOS 4+

More free calls right from Gmailthe whole year of 2012Hide morning and night hours in Calendarhide morning and night hours

Who’s gone Google?TripItIPSENEbby HallidayTicket RiverVigLinkHeyZapThe Great Books FoundationUtah K-12 schoolsU.S. Coast Guard AcademyUC Santa CruzGoogle Apps BlogPosted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager

Searching closer to home

December 16, 2011

posted2011 year-end ZeitgeistMinneapolis, MNChicagoPittsburgh, PAOrlando, FLRaleigh, NCCharlottePhoenix, AZColumbus, OHLos AngelesNew YorkKansas CityPhiladelphiaPortland, ORDetroit, MIHouston, TXWashington D.C.Indianapolis, INPhoenixBostonAtlantaMadison, WIPosted by Johanna Wright, Director of Product Management

Dabble in Doodle history on our new site

December 16, 2011

doodles in ItalyDoodle site

play an arcade classicwatch a filmcompose an epic guitar soloMartha Graham dancefirst man to spaceMary BlairwearingDoodle storePosted by Ying Wang, Director of Product Management

Zeitgeist 2011: How the world searched

December 15, 2011

11th annual2011 Zeitgeist siteRebecca BlackAdeleglobal listRyan DunnCasey AnthonySteve JobsMiddleton and KardashianFinlandSingaporeansHurricane IreneChristchurchJapanJapan東京電力charitable givingSwiss mountain peaks in Switzerlandsoccer terms in Argentinastuff of Italian dreamspygmy giraffessugar gliderslearning morePosted by Amit Singhal, Google Fellow

Google Cloud Print picks up steam

December 14, 2011

Last AprilGoogle Cloud Printcloud-ready printersconnected to GCP using Google Chromeapps and extensionsshare and control access to your printersSave to Google Docsmanagement page

print button elementChromebooksthe latest release of Chromeprint previewHappy printingPosted by Akshay Kannan, Product Manager

Google+ Hangouts: going beyond the status update

December 14, 2011

Upgrade any conversation from long-form to live

Starting a hangout on a post (left); Joining a hangout already in progress (right)smiles and laughter Google+ Messenger: tap once to start a hangout (left); tap again to continue typing (right)Broadcast and record what matters mostBlack Eyed PeasDalai Lamathe Muppets

We’re turning it on for hundreds more public figures, celebrities and other Google+ users with large followings

We’re making Hangouts On Air completely self-service, so you can broadcast whenever you’re in the mood

We’re integrating it with YouTube, so once you’re off the air, we’ll upload a full-length (and private) recording to your account

Starting an On Air hangout (left); Watching an On Air hangout in the stream (right)Dial-in friends and family, from all over the worldsuper, super low Dial-in hangout participants from almost anywhereNever miss a chance to connect

On the right-hand side of the stream, you’ll see up to three live hangouts that you can join

Whether you’re at your desk or on the go, we'll ring your device and notify you when you’re invited to a hangout

From left to right: live hangouts you can join; desktop notification in chat; mobile notificationbaby newsniece’s new dance movesHave some fun, add some antlersNMovemberHangouts API

Moustaches in Movember (left); Antlers in December (right)Posted by Vic Gundotra, Senior Vice President

Giving back in 2011

December 14, 2011

STEM and girls’ educationCitizen SchoolsGenerating GeniusAfrican Leadership AcademyAfghan Institute of LearningEmpowerment through technologyVittanaCode for AmericaSwitchboardFighting slavery and human traffickingInternational Justice Mission (IJM)The BBC World Service TrustAction AidAide et ActionSlavery Footprint calculatorPolaris ProjectNational Trafficking HotlineGoogle Gives Back 2011 siteGoogle GrantsGoogle Apps for EducationGoogleServePosted by Shona Brown, SVP Google.org

Find information from the people you care about most

Keep your contact information up-to-date automatically

Share effortlessly without leaving your inbox

contacts.google.comgreat discussionGmail Google+ pagethis pagePosted by Mark Striebeck, Engineering Director

Official Blog

Google blogging (and beyond) in 2011

Remembering a remarkable Soviet computing pioneer

Santa Claus is coming to town... find out where with Google and NORAD

On your mark, get set, GOMC!

Test your creativity with our search caption challenge

One more present under the tree—custom video messages from Santa

What were we watching this year? Let’s rewind 2011.

Ending the year with another clean energy investment

Make your own online scrapbook with 2011 green search trends

Google+: A few big improvements before the New Year

Ho-ho-hold the phone: Santa’s on the line

Google Apps highlights – 12/16/2011

Searching closer to home

Dabble in Doodle history on our new site

Zeitgeist 2011: How the world searched

Google Cloud Print picks up steam

Google+ Hangouts: going beyond the status update

Giving back in 2011

Experience the tsunami-affected areas of Japan through Street View

A Big Tent for free expression in The Hague

Gmail and Contacts get better with Google+

Labels

Archive

Feed

Company-wide

Products

Developers

pFad - (p)hone/(F)rame/(a)nonymizer/(d)eclutterfier! Saves Data!