Google blogging (and beyond) in 2011

With just a few hours of 2011 remaining in Mountain View, Calif., we’re taking our traditional look at the past year on the Official Google Blog, as well as Google’s presence on Google+ and Twitter.

On the blog this year, we published 471 posts (including this one)—17 more than 2010. Those posts were read by nearly 20 million people; we had 19,905,679 unique visitors between January 1 and December 31. We find a few themes in the most popular posts: Google+ was a favorite topic, as well as greater focus and simplicity across Google, and search quality. The top 10 posts are:

• 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 security for your Google account - 281,385 unique pageviews. It’s not often we can say that a post about online security 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.

Other popular posts included the announcement that Larry Page was becoming CEO, a project to help Egyptians communicate during the January protests, Google+ updates and +1 news, a keeping your information safe from phishing campaigns, patents and Android, practical steps toward greener computing, more search news and the debut of Google Wallet. We shared special doodles (from Lucy to Les Paul to the lunar eclipse, and Jules Verne to Jim Henson) and stories from unique Google users. We brought music to the cloud, Ice Cream Sandwich to your pocket, and great works of art and pieces of history to your computer screens. We worked to help those affected by disasters in Japan and elsewhere, told some history tales, and, as always, had some fun along the way.

Like many of you, we were excited to start using Google+ Pages when they launched in November. We’re now running 22 pages for Google products and teams; nearly 100,000 of you have the flagship page, +Google, in your circles. Popular posts there include photos of our L.A. office, holiday, New Year and Marie Curie doodles, the year-end Zeitgeist, Google Photography Prize and Sebastian Thrun on self-driving cars.

We’ll soon celebrate @google’s third anniversary on Twitter, and we hit the 4 million follower mark this month. Popular tweets include the Les Paul doodle, patents and Android, Motorola, Larry and Sergey remembering Steve Jobs, Google Wallet, Google+ and Wael Ghonim.

As the clock ticks toward the close of 2011, we thank our readers for following along—by feed reader, phone app or however you please—and hope you join us for the next year of Google news. Happy 2012!

Posted by Emily Wood, Google Blog Editor

Welcome 2012

Buon anno a tutti!
Happy new year everybody!

Vincent

CAROLINE BRASCH NIELSEN

Vogue | Hanneli

Oldies, but goodies... Caroline is such a beauty!
Those lips. Those cheek bones. That 3.1 Phillip Lim leopard jacket! I will forever regret not getting it when I had the chance. I mean how great does it look on Jayne?!
You can check out Caroline's full look from the 2nd image here ♥

Shuffle

Make your choice!
http://www.caraibirockers.com/ 

CASUAL LUXE

Vogue

Amber Le Bon is gorgeous!
Love the mix of the causal beanie with her luxe Chanel earrings.
To get the look, try a Bop Basics beanie, earrings from Noir Jewelry or these from Tom Binns.

5

Ferrari!

☆ TOP BLOGGER LOOKS OF THE WEEK ☆

Here's a sneak peek of my picks for top blogger looks of the week!
To see each blogger's full look + to find out who they are... head on over to FASHION SALADE!
If you have any cool personal style blogs you'd like me to check out- let me know!

xo

Vintage Travel Posters

PRINTS + PASTELS

Harper's Bazaar Russia

AMAZING + styled by none other than the lovely Natalie Joos!

To get the look (with a Céline inspired twist) make sure to check out these pieces...
☆ ASOS Blazer In Floral Print
☆ ASOS Cropped Trousers In Floral Print
☆ ASOS Pencil Skirt In Floral Print
I already ordered the jacket + pants. Can't wait for them to arrive!

STRIPE. STRIPES. STRIPED.

all the pretty birds | closet visit | urban outfitters (?)

Oh stripes how I adore thee!
Here are some of my favorite striped goodies at the moment: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Santa don't be late!

Luca Ruggeri colpisce ancora!

Colours

Honda CB400

NEW YEAR'S

1. Rebecca Taylor Cable Knit Sweater
2. Elizabeth and James Kenzie Glasses
3. DANNIJO For Vena Cava Naomi Necklace
4. 3.1 Phillip Lim Draped Pocket Trousers with Cummerbund
5. Felix Rey Decade Minaudiere
6. Deborah Lippmann Nail Polish in Stormy Weather
7. Dara Ettinger Nadia Square Ring
8. Rebecca Minkoff Jaunt Crisscross Pumps

For more holiday look inspiration, check out this outfit collage ♥

We wish you a Merry Xmas!

A SIMPLE KIND OF COOL

ELLE France

I've had my eye on those Adidas sneakers for awhile now, but in dark red... Ok, I've actually wanted them since I was 10 + read R.L. Stine's The Babysitter IV lol. I always loved the look on the cover + would totally wear it today. Kinda reminds me of a T by Alexander Wang look.

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

It’s that time of year again! The stockings are hung by the chimney with care and Google and NORAD are ready to answer the question of “where?”

NORAD’s tradition of tracking Santa on Christmas Eve started in 1955, when a Sears and Roebuck ad promoting the Talk-to-Santa hotline inadvertently sent callers to CONAD (NORAD’s predecessor) commander-in-chief’s operations hotline. After recovering from the surprise that the call was not from the Pentagon or the White House but instead a little boy inquiring if the commander was Santa Claus, Colonel Harry Shoup asked his team to check their radar for signs of Santa’s sleigh and a tradition was born.

The Santa tracking tradition has grown over the years and today it’s also possible to track Santa using Google Earth and Google Maps on the NORAD Santa site, and on your mobile phone as well. Starting tomorrow (Saturday, December 24) at 2:00 a.m. EST, visit www.noradsanta.org to follow Santa’s journey from the North Pole to homes all over the globe. This year there are many ways to keep tabs on Santa’s sleigh, no matter how quickly it moves:

• 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 Earth

NORAD Tracks Santa is a special project near and dear to all of us involved. I started working on the program seven years ago and it’s been a thrill to watch it grow over the years. Recently, I was given the opportunity to speak at TEDActive about the origins of NORAD Tracks Santa and how Google has brought this to life in Google Earth.



I’d like to thank all of Santa’s “elves” that helped out across Google and NORAD far and wide. Happy Holidays!

Posted by Bruno Bowden, Lead Google Engineering Elf

(Cross-posted on the Lat Long blog)

Sailor spirit

Navigare, muoversi, viaggiare...

CaraibiRockers - made with rock n' roll attitude

TWO WAYS: MIROSLAVA DUMA

Buro247 | Spletnik

Miroslava is such a doll! I adore both looks- her pants are perfect!
Check these for something similar + for more of Miroslava's looks clicky here ♥

ps- How cute does Natasha Goldenberg look with Miroslava there?! She's pregnant + has been dressing AMAZING! You can see more of my fav looks from Natasha >> here!

Rockers

NAVY + DENIM

Guerreisms| StreetFSN

Throw on a navy shirt or jacket, denim, some chunky metal jewelry + you're set!

Here are some goodies to get the look...
· MiH Oversize Shirt
· ASOS Ridged Double Gold Cuffs
· Jules Smith Surf Bangles
· Current/Elliott The Perfect Denim Shirt
· CC SKYE Metal Screw Bracelet
· Equipment Signature Blouse
· Nixon The Optique Watch

On your mark, get set, GOMC!

Professor registration for the 2012 Google Online Marketing Challenge (GOMC) is now open.
GOMC is a global online marketing competition open to professors and their students in any higher education institution. Professors sign up for the contest and then serve as guides and mentors to their student participants throughout the competition. Over the course of three weeks, student teams are tasked with developing and running a successful online advertising campaign for real businesses or nonprofit organizations using Google AdWords. In the process, they sharpen their advertising, consulting and data analysis skills. (Note: student registration will open on January 31, 2012 and students can only enter if their professors have signed up already and must sign up under their own professors).

After running their online advertising campaign for three weeks, students summarize their experiences in campaign reports, which they submit online. Based on the performance of the campaigns and the quality of the reports, Googlers on the GOMC team and a panel of independent academics select the winning teams.

The global winners and their professor will receive a trip to Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. The regional winners (and their professor) will win a trip to local Google offices, and the social impact award winners will be able to make donations to nonprofit organizations that were part of the GOMC competition.

Last year’s challenge had 50,000 participants representing 100 countries, and this year we expect even more. For more information, visit www.google.com/onlinechallenge. Professors, here is a chance to help your students sharpen their marketing skills and make a global impact!

Posted by AJ Pascua, GOMC Team

Test your creativity with our search caption challenge

Our main goal at Google Search is to bring you the most relevant and useful results as quickly as possible. But, we are aware that often that is only part of your task or journey. Sometimes, you need more than simple results. You might want to learn, to discover, to be entertained or get insights.

Insights can happen when you least expect them. To improve their chances, it's good to try other things, or do things differently once in awhile. As a lifelong fan and connoisseur of New Yorker style cartoons, I always believed in the power of humor not just to entertain but to enlighten. I have tried to connect humor to everything I do (although, I have to admit, not always successfully). The best cartoonists possess great insights, which they illustrate in a clever package that we can consume in seconds and yet remember for years.

With all of this in mind, today we’re connecting Google search and cartoons through a search caption challenge. Cartoon caption contests have a long history dating back at least to the 1930s, as can be seen in this example I found from Ballyhoo magazine. For our modern version, we worked with artists like Matthew Diffee, Emily Flake, Christoph Niemann, Danny Shanahan and Jim Woodring, who created cartoons that place characters in unusual, interesting and funny situations—all with a common twist. In each cartoon, one of the characters is doing a Google search. We've left it to you to imagine what they'd be searching for at that moment, and left the caption blank for you to fill in with your answer.

To participate, go to Inside Search and submit your idea. Your caption will appear on the site, and you can share it with friends via a unique link. You can also vote on your favorite submissions and the most popular will rise to the top.

We hope this game helps you think in a way you wouldn't otherwise, and maybe get some insights. Or just have fun.

Posted by Udi Manber, VP of Engineering and Cartoons

(Cross-posted on the Inside Search blog)

Black Mustang

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

Last Friday Santa opened up the Ho Ho Hotline and teamed up with Gmail to send personalized holiday phone calls to anyone you know who has been nice (or naughty, for that matter) in the U.S. or Canada. In just a few days Santa has made hundreds of thousands of calls to your friends, family and loved ones, and received many a message from you at his Google Voice number (855-34-SANTA).

Santa has one more surprise in store. Starting today, anyone in the world can create and send a personalized cartoon video message (in English only) from Santa to anyone you know, anywhere in the world, and share them through email and Google+. Watch our sample video below and create your own at SendaCallFromSanta.com.



The Gmail team wishes you a happy holiday!

Posted by Trevor Claiborne, Product Marketing Manager

(Cross-posted from the Gmail blog)

METAL ARMOR

Giuseppe Zanotti

As you guys know, I've been crushing on metal cap toes...
Now how AMAZE are these metal heel cap beauties?! Scoop them up here!

ps- GZ also has these metal heel cap kitten heels. Too cute!

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

One hundred years into the future, when our great-grandkids look back to what was capturing the world’s imagination on YouTube in 2011, what will they make of us? Will they still be delighted by babbling babies? Will they still be “so excited” about the weekend? And will they be any closer to understanding the mystery of the space-traveling toaster pastry cat?


Check 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.

Today, we rewind through the videos and channels that absorbed our collective global attention this year. To compile these lists, we looked at global view counts of popular videos uploaded throughout this year, and, in some instances, we aggregated views across multiple versions of the same video. 2011 was a year of amazing new channels and new stars being discovered, awesome creativity, and of course, Rebecca Black. It was also a year of powerful news stories playing out on YouTube, as people witnessed and documented uprisings and natural disasters, touching personal moments and moments of protest.

In total, there were more than 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) playbacks on YouTube this year (yep, count ‘em, 12 zeroes). That’s about 140 views for every person on the earth. More than twice as many stars as in the Milky Way. And if I had a penny for every … OK, you get my drift, it’s a big number.

So to all of you who picked up a guitar and sang a love song, held your camera phone high above a protesting crowd, danced along to “Friday” or just forgot the webcam was on, thank you. You make YouTube what it is, and we can’t wait to hear your stories next year.

Without further ado, your most-viewed videos of 2011.

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

1. Rebecca Black - Friday (OFFICIAL VIDEO)
2. Ultimate Dog Tease
3. Jack Sparrow (feat. Michael Bolton)
4. Talking Twin Babies - PART 2 - OFFICIAL VIDEO
5. Nyan Cat [original]
6. Look At Me Now - Chris Brown ft. Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes (Cover by @KarminMusic)
7. The Creep (feat. Nicki Minaj & John Waters)
8. Maria Aragon - Born This Way (Cover) by Lady Gaga
9. The Force: Volkswagen Commercial
10. Cat mom hugs baby kitten

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

1. machinima
2. IGNentertainment
3. RayWilliamJohnson
4. expertvillage
5. BlueXephos
6. smosh
7. realannoyingorange
8. roosterteeth
9. thelonelyisland
10. barelypolitical

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

1. Jennifer Lopez - On The Floor ft. Pitbull
2. LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem ft. Lauren Bennett, GoonRock
3. Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song [Official Video]
4. Nicki Minaj - Super Bass
5. Pitbull - Give Me Everything ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack, Nayer
6. Pitbull - Rain Over Me ft. Marc Anthony
7. Jessie J - Price Tag ft. B.o.B.
8. LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It
9. Katy Perry - E.T. ft. Kanye West
10. 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

You can also check out the most-viewed videos of the year in fashion, beauty, sports, gaming, travel, fitness, food, science, tech reviews, family, pets and wedding proposals.

Posted by Kevin Allocca, YouTube Trends Manager

(Cross-posted from the YouTube Blog)

Ending the year with another clean energy investment

We’ve made a new $94 million investment in a portfolio of four solar photovoltaic (PV) projects being built by Recurrent Energy near Sacramento, California. This brings our portfolio of clean energy investments to more than $915 million. We’ve already committed to providing funding this year to help more than 10,000 homeowners install solar PV panels on their rooftops. But this investment represents our first investment in the U.S. in larger scale solar PV power plants that generate energy for the grid—instead of on individual rooftops. These projects have a total capacity of 88 MW, equivalent to the electricity consumed by more than 13,000 homes.

We’re investing alongside global investment firm KKR and Recurrent Energy, a leading solar developer. Google will provide a $94 million equity investment and SunTap Energy, a new venture formed today by KKR to invest in solar projects in the U.S., will provide the remaining equity.

We’re joining KKR on their first renewable energy investment in the U.S. We believe investing in the renewable energy sector makes business sense and hope clean energy projects continue to attract new sources of capital to help the world move towards a more sustainable energy future.

Solar panels at one of the Recurrent projects

The energy produced by these projects is already contracted for 20 years with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD). SMUD recently created a feed-in tariff program (FIT) to help green the grid for Sacramento-area residents. We’re excited that these projects are the first to be built under the program.

We’ve had a busy year at Google. Since January, we’ve invested more than $880 million in clean energy projects. We believe the world needs a wide range of solutions—from wind, to transmission, to solar PV and concentrated solar—and we look forward to new opportunities next year to further expand our portfolio of clean energy investments.

Posted by Axel Martinez, Assistant Treasurer, Google Treasury

Evel Knievel

TEXTURED

Damernas Värld

Make your own online scrapbook with 2011 green search trends

Last week we unveiled this year’s Zeitgeist, including the fastest rising searches in 2011. Those of us on the Google Green team were pleased that the search trends include several popular searches related to the environment (as you can see from the highlights video). So we created the Green Scrapbook to help you explore these green trends, choose your favorites, and reveal videos and surprising facts about them. As you click around, you create your very own collection of what green meant to you this year, which you can personalize with your name and share with your friends.

People have already started creating and sharing their Green Scrapbook. For example, Adam created one showcasing a video of a tapir (Belize’s endangered “mountain cow”) and highlighting what an LED light is. I created my scrapbook, too, where I could tell people about the microorganisms that light up Puerto Rico’s famous “bioluminescent bay.” I also let people know that if I could win an eco-friendly car, I’d choose a Tesla (there’s still time to get me one for Christmas!).

Once you complete your own scrapbook, you can share it on Google+ or anywhere you’d like by grabbing the unique URL to your scrapbook with the “get URL” link at the top right.

We’re working hard to create a better web that’s also better for the environment. We hope the Green Scrapbook sparks conversation and gets people thinking about all the ways they can make greener choices in their lives—whether it’s about the merits of rooftop [solar energy], or prompting people to think about [garbage islands] and then reach for a [reusable water bottle].

Posted by Erin Carlson Reilly, Google Green Team

EASY CLASSIC

a love is blind

I am absolutely SMITTEN with this look! So simple, yet so classic + cool.
It makes me want to throw out all the fuss from my closet + just stick to the basics.
To get the look, check out this shirt, this cropped denim + these heels.

Google+: A few big improvements before the New Year

Today we’re pleased to announce a goodie basket full of Google+ features and functionality for you to unpack and enjoy over the holidays. Some of these were on nearly everyone’s wishlist... and some we hope will be welcome surprises. These features will be rolling out over the next couple of days, and we hope you’ll find them useful this holiday season and beyond.

Pump up (or down) the volume!
Sometimes important posts you wouldn’t want to miss from close friends or family can get lost amongst posts from others who post dozens of times a day. We’re adding fine-grained controls that will enable you to “graphic-equalize” and fine-tune your stream. When viewing the stream for a particular circle, you’ll now see a slider at the top that lets you adjust how posts from that circle should be blended into the main stream. That way you’ll never miss a post from that special someone, and you can tweak these settings to form your own “perfect stream.”



More useful and attractive notifications
One of the most useful and valuable features of the redesigned Google bar is the red notifications indicator. (You could even say it glows!) You know when you have tasty social content to consume, but the notifications themselves have been a little cryptic, often requiring you to navigate to the content itself to understand what happened. We now have easy-to-read “sneak previews” that immediately present what’s new and why you might care. We’ve polished these notifications up and made a few other meaningful improvements too, including the ability to see the +1’s and shares your posts have received since you last checked.

Google+ Notifications

Improvements to Google+ Pages
Google+ Pages have already provided brands and businesses a new means of connecting to and deeply engaging with consumers. In the weeks since launching pages, we’ve been listening to your feedback and we’re pleased to make some of the most oft-requested features available.

• 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
Finally, we’re making a bevy of improvements to the Google+ Photos experience, just in time for the holiday photo-sharing season. Viewing a photo in Lightbox has been completely redesigned with improved navigation, enhanced comment legibility and better overall utility. This design makes the photo the hero, letting the content itself shine through. And we’re introducing a completely new photo-tagging experience that’s both fun and fluid, and lets you quickly focus on the people in your photos.



We hope that you enjoy these improvements and continue to provide us feedback. It’s been an incredible year for us on the Google+ team. While this indeed has been a #seasonforshipping, Google+ users know that we believe that shipping is always in season! We’ve been busy making some resolutions for 2012, and we think you’re going to love them.

Posted by Bradley Horowitz, Vice President of Product, Google+

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and happy 2012!

☆ TOP BLOGGER LOOKS OF THE WEEK ☆

My picks for this week's top blogger looks are now up! This is just a sneak peek!
To see each blogger's full look + to find out who they are... head on over to FASHION SALADE!
If you have any cool personal style blogs you'd like me to check out- let me know!

xo

CURRENT INSPIRATION

Harper's Bazaar | Jakob Solgren | 3.1 Phillip Lim

Amaze x 3.
★ Charlotte Gainsbourg + Lykke Li are perfection!
★ I'll forever be OBSESSED with Tom Dixon's copper globe pendants.
★ Love the 3.1 Phillip Lim pre-fall 2012 collection. How cool is the clear pashli satchel?!

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

Last year, Santa got his very own Google Voice number, and people around the U.S. received a special personalized holiday phone call from Santa Claus.

This year, Santa wants you to reach out to him (after all, reindeer are only so-so conversationalists). If you or your family members have a special request for Santa, you can call him right from Gmail* and leave him a message at his Google Voice number: 855-34-SANTA. Santa won't be able to return messages himself—it’s a busy time of year for him—but he's promised to keep us up to date on happenings in the North Pole day by day.

You also can create and send a unique, customized phone call from Santa to anyone you know, from your nieces and nephews to old college friends, over the phone (to U.S. numbers only). Listen to a sample phone call, and send a message of your own from SendaCallFromSanta.com.

Of course, Santa is never one to fall behind the technological times (word on the street is that Rudolph’s nose was recently upgraded to an energy-efficient LED). So while the red suit may never go out of style, this year Santa has come up with an extra special way to spread the holiday cheer. But you’ll have to wait until it’s closer to Christmas to find out what it is. So no peeking—but keep checking the site!

Happy Holidays from your friends at Gmail.

*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

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.

The elves got an early jump on the holidays this year by leaving us some surprises in Google Apps over the last few weeks. Sharing from Gmail got a whole lot easier, and Google Calendar can make better use of precious screen space. We also have 10 new Google Apps customer stories to share from the tens of thousands that have gone Google in recent weeks.

Gmail gets more social
Last week we sprinkled a touch of Google+ into Gmail, making it easier to connect and share with people from your inbox. You can add people to circles right from an email thread through Gmail’s people widget, share photo attachments with friends and family on Google+ without leaving Gmail, and view a filtered version of your inbox only showing messages from people in your circles. We also improved Gmail’s address book by incorporating contact information shared by your friends, family and colleagues in their Google+ profiles.

New features in the Gmail iOS app
Just yesterday we added several new improvements to the Gmail app for iOS 4+. Now you can set up a custom email signature for mobile messages, manage your vacation responder, and view nested labels from your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. We also added scribbles, a fun way to spice up messages by adding a quick hand-drawn sketch. You can create scribbles using a range of colors, brush sizes, lines, erasers and spray paints from your touchscreen device.

More free calls right from Gmail
Last year we introduced free domestic calling in Gmail within the U.S. and Canada, and we’re extending this free service for the whole year of 2012. We’re happy to help you keep in touch with those special people in your life, for free.

Hide morning and night hours in Calendar
If you don’t often have appointments early in the morning or late at night, a new trick in Google Calendar might be useful. Now you can hide morning and night hours, leaving more screen real estate for the times of day when most of your events take place. Give it a try in Calendar Labs.

Who’s gone Google?
Businesses and schools are switching to Google Apps in droves these days. From tiny startups to large enterprises and nonprofits to college campuses, we love hearing the inspiring stories that our customers share. Here’s a new batch of stories for your reading pleasure: TripIt, IPSEN, Ebby Halliday, Ticket River, VigLink, HeyZap, The Great Books Foundation, Utah K-12 schools, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and UC Santa Cruz. Welcome one and all!

For more details and the latest news, check out the Google Apps Blog, and keep an eye out for this series here after the holidays. We launched more than 150 improvements to Google Apps in 2011, and we have a ton more in store for 2012!

Posted by Jeremy Milo, Google Apps Marketing Manager

Searching closer to home

Yesterday, my colleague, Amit Singhal, posted about the global trends revealed in our 2011 year-end Zeitgeist. In addition to looking broadly at topics from more than 40 countries around the world, the site included the most popular local terms from more than 30 major cities in the United States. Looking at these lists, I was surprised to see that, from city to city, almost all the terms across all the lists were related to local news, education, civic services or entertainment and activities. I wanted to take a minute to take a deeper dive into these specific local trends that you won’t see published in Zeitgeist.

In nearly every single U.S. city we looked at, the top ten local terms showed that people were using Google to find local news stations and learn more about educational organizations. Searches for school districts, universities and local libraries made the list in ten states, from the Hennepin County Library in Minneapolis, MN to the Chicago Public Library in Illinois. Pittsburgh, PA was the most media-hungry city in Zeitgeist this year, with all of their top 5 terms related to local news stations, while in New York City and Houston, TX, no news sources made the top ten lists.

The data also showed some interesting regional differences within single states as well. Orlando, FL was a leading city in terms of education, with related terms making up 40% of the list. But in Miami, less than 250 miles away, no education-related terms made the list. While local TV station WRAL came in at the top of the list in Raleigh, NC, people three hours away in Charlotte bumped the station to their #3 spot, behind the local Charlotte Observer, which came in at #1.

People in many U.S. cities were also using Google to connect with civic services, from the Maricopa County Assessor in Phoenix, AZ to the Cuyahoga County Auditor in Columbus, OH. We also saw many terms related to public transit and traffic, which was of particular interest to residents of Los Angeles, who put SigAlert, the California Highway Patrol’s traffic report site, as the #1 most popular local term. The city most concerned with getting out and about, though, was New York, where the top four search terms were all related to transportation, be it by subway, train or car.

With national unemployment in the United States above 9% for most of the year, there was a strong interest in unemployment and finding jobs locally. The term unemployment came up on lists in Kansas City, Philadelphia and Portland, OR, and in total more than ten of the 31 cities we looked at had a term related to unemployment or job-seeking on their list. In Detroit, MI and Houston, TX, the only two cities where two unemployment-related terms made the top ten, Google searchers were also taking initiative, looking at job posting sites like the Michigan Talent Bank or classifieds like Greensheets to try and find their next job online.

The local lists didn’t just reflect hard times. Nearly every city had a mall, fair, amusement park, sports team or other fun activity or destination in the top ten (the only holdout was Washington D.C.). Indianapolis, IN and Phoenix both had their respective lotteries in the number three spot—looks like lots of people there were feeling lucky! Across the country, Americans also looked for ways to relax, from restaurant week in Boston to the Lenox mall in Atlanta and Summerfest in Madison, WI.

The searches people make are a fantastic pulse on what is happening around the world and close to home. We pay attention to what you’re looking for so we can come up with new and better ways to help you find it, no matter where you’re searching from.

Posted by Johanna Wright, Director of Product Management

Dabble in Doodle history on our new site

Have you ever seen a doodle you loved, but when you went to see it again it was gone? Ever curious about what doodles in Italy look like, or how your favorite holiday has been celebrated each year? Or wanted to get a behind-the-scenes scoop on the recent Les Paul doodle, and maybe share it with your friends on Google+? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then take a look at our revamped Doodle site.

Since our very first one in 1998, doodles have been our way to share with you the things we love or are excited about. In the past few years we’ve started to create doodles that people can not only look at but also play with. Our first interactive one featured a clickable slideshow of Halloween candy in 2009 and since then we’ve invited people to insert a coin to play an arcade classic, watch a film, and even compose an epic guitar solo, all on the Google homepage.

We’ve always thought it was a little sad that doodles are only available on the homepage for a day. Since we’re firm believers in having too much of a good thing, we set up a gallery of all our previous doodles a while ago. Now on the new site, you can browse, watch or play with over 1000 doodles. Enjoy front-row tickets to a Martha Graham dance, send the first man to space or learn more about why one doodler decided to “cartoonize” Mary Blair.

You can even start wearing doodles, or hanging them on your wall, since the new site includes a link to our new Doodle store featuring all kinds of doodle swag. Happy doodlin’!

Posted by Ying Wang, Director of Product Management

TAKE A LOOK!

Ehi Santa, take a look you too!
You will find a lot of great gifts to make really happy a lot of bad boys : )
http://www.caraibirockers.com/ -  made with rock n' roll attitude.