Knowledge is power

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Grace Kwak, Google Sitemaps team</span><br /><br />We launched <a href="https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/siteoverview">Google Sitemaps</a> this past summer as a way for webmasters to give us information we could use to better crawl their sites. Since then, we've been adding to the kinds of information we give back. In our latest release, we provide even more interesting statistics that webmasters can use to improve the way their pages work with web crawlers, which will ultimately benefit their visitors.<br /><br />I think the most fun are the new "query stats" -- they show top Google search queries that return pages from a site, as well as the top search queries that led users to click on a site. We've also enhanced the crawl errors we show, like specific HTTP errors Google runs into when crawling a page.<br /><br />If you're a webmaster and you haven't used the Sitemaps program yet, you can now create a Sitemaps account and add a site to it even before you create a Sitemap. Once you verify ownership of the site, we'll show you all of these statistics and error details. You can always add a Sitemap later. Read more on the <a href="http://sitemaps.blogspot.com/2005/11/more-stats.html">Sitemaps blog</a> or just <a href="https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/login">log in</a> to get going.

Knowledge is power

Posted by Grace Kwak, Google Sitemaps team We launched Google Sitemaps this past summer as a way for webmasters to give us information we c...

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First Base

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Bindu Reddy, Product Manager</span><br /><br />Today we're excited to announce <a href="http://base.google.com/">Google Base</a>, an extension of our existing content collection efforts like web crawl, Google Sitemaps, Google Print and Google Video. Google Base enables content owners to easily make their information searchable online. Anyone, from large companies to website owners and individuals, can use it to submit their content in the form of data items. We'll host the items and make them searchable for free. There's <a href="http://base.google.com/base/about.html">more info here</a>.<br /><br />Some organizations are already using Google Base. Here are a few examples.<br /><ul><li>"Students need as much information as possible when they are searching for the right college or university. Google Base helps us reach students and parents and deliver more of the information they need when making important college decisions." - Hal Higginbotham, President, CollegeBoard.com </li></ul><ul><li>"We want to use knowledge and information about the environment to help motivate more responsible public and private action. With Google Base, we can bring the public key insights on sustainability issues – like climate change, human health, and resource consumption – and bring about change." – Amy Cassara, Senior Associate, World Resources Institute </li></ul><ul><li>"CareerBuilder.com's business model is built on providing employers with as many avenues as possible to connect with job seekers. Feeding our jobs to Google Base further extends our distribution network, providing employers with added support in marketing their open positions." - Richard Castellini, VP of Consumer Marketing, CareerBuilder.com </li></ul><ul><li>"We compile an enormous amount of valuable data on fine art and artists, and we want collectors, dealers, students and art aficionados to have easy access to this information. Google Base enables us to reach more people researching art and get them the information they need." - Brent Peich, Director of Marketing, Artnet</li></ul><ul><li>"Our mission is to make it easy for small businesses to use the web to drive in-store sales. Google Base gives us an ideal outlet to promote and distribute content about local products more broadly." - Kendall Fargo, Founder & CEO, StepUp Commerce</li></ul>Right now, there are two ways to submit data items to Google Base. Individuals and small website owners can use an interactive user interface; larger organizations and sites can use the bulk uploads option to send us content using standard XML formats.<br /><br />Rather than impose specific schemas and structures on the world, Google Base suggests attributes and item types based on popularity, which you can use to define and attach your own labels and attributes to each data item. Then searchers can find information more quickly and effectively by using these labels and attributes to refine their queries on the experimental version of Google Base search.<br /><br />This beta version of Google Base is another small step toward our goal, creating an online database of easily searchable, structured information. As always, we welcome <a href="http://base.google.com/support/bin/request.py">your feedback</a> and ideas.

First Base

Posted by Bindu Reddy, Product Manager Today we're excited to announce Google Base , an extension of our existing content collection eff...

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A man with a phone in Nantucket ...

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Matt Waddell, Google Mobile Team </span><br /><br />Underneath a cell tower nearby<br />SMS I decided to try:<br />[t to french grant a loan], [6 shekels in kroon]<br />Now a polyglot banker am I.*<br /><br />*This <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limerick_(poetry)">limerick</a> was inspired by <a href="http://www.google.com/sms/">Google SMS</a>, and its new <a href="http://www.google.com/sms/howtouse.html#more">translation and currency conversion features</a>. And if you're wondering, as I was: kroon is pronounced "krone."

A man with a phone in Nantucket ...

Posted by Matt Waddell, Google Mobile Team Underneath a cell tower nearby SMS I decided to try: [t to french grant a loan], [6 shekels in kr...

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The circle of analytics

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Brett Crosby, Product Marketing Manager</span><br /><br />“<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analytics">Analytics</a>” is a sturdy business catchword, and of course “web analytics” has become its own buzz-phrase in recent years. The tools and services of the web analytics world give businesses precise information on what customers want, so that they can improve their online marketing and website content. These services help provide answers to questions like: Which keywords attract the most visitors? Which email campaigns create more customers? And how to design web page content that holds people’s attention?<br /><br />We think every online business can benefit from knowing the answers, so today we’re launching <a href="http://www.google.com/analytics/#utm_source=google&utm_campaign=ga-us-googleblog&utm_medium=embedded-text%20">Google Analytics</a>. The same service (which used to be called Urchin from Google) used by dozens of Fortune 500 companies is now available to every business on the web. We’ve integrated it with AdWords, it’s easier to use – and it’s free. We hope that Google Analytics will help improve the overall web – one site at a time.

The circle of analytics

Posted by Brett Crosby, Product Marketing Manager “ Analytics ” is a sturdy business catchword, and of course “web analytics” has become its...

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The breakfast business

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Josef Desimone, Executive Chef</span><br /><br />At a technology company you might think no one's around for a morning meal, but that's not so here in <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1600+amphitheatre+parkway+mountain+view+ca+94043&iwloc=A&hl=en">Mountain View</a>. The cafe I run on campus is open for breakfast from 8-9:30 a.m. five days a week. My team of 12 feeds a steady crowd of about 750 every morning -- and these folks are big on breakfast. Our record so far is making 201 (custom) omelets in 90 minutes. We blend 300 12 oz. fruit smoothies that typically disappear in an hour. Some other stats from the front lines (all of these are per-day numbers, by the way): <br /><br />- Googlers prefer Canadian bacon (45 lbs.) to chicken-apple sausage (30 lbs.)<br />- Steel-cut oatmeal (10-12 gallons) wins out over organic grits (6-8 gallons)<br />- We polish off 5 cases of fresh fruit (cantaloupe, honeydew, pineapple)<br />- Devour 160 breakfast burritos (eggs, veggies, cheese) <br />- We cook 80-100 lbs. of red bliss potatoes <br />- We use 2 gallons of egg whites (for the omelets)<br />- Googlers gulp down 9 gallons of fresh coffee every morning (just in our cafe)<br /><br />My biggest surprises: people consume 1-1/2 gallons of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kombucha">kombucha</a> tea - a little-known fermented drink - every day; and against all logic, some people ask for an omelet that's half egg whites, half regular eggs. What can I say? We aim to please.<br /><br /><p><br /><a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/tatersneggs.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/tatersneggs-794168.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/smoothies-737114.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/uploaded_images/smoothies-735846.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" /></a><br /></p>

The breakfast business

Posted by Josef Desimone, Executive Chef At a technology company you might think no one's around for a morning meal, but that's not ...

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Vint Cerf speaks out on net neutrality

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Alan Davidson, Washington Policy Counsel, DC office</span><br /><br />Congress is holding a hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, November 8th, on "network neutrality" and a big new telecommunications bill affecting the Internet. Vint Cerf, our net neutrality guru, was unable to testify because of a <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/11/standing-on-shoulders-of-this-giant.html">little awards ceremony</a> at the White House (congratulations, Vint!), but here is his letter to the Hill outlining our concerns. Microsoft will be testifying for our side, demonstrating that inside the Beltway, we agree on a lot. <br /><br />You can follow the <a href="http://energycommerce.house.gov/108/Hearings/11092005hearing1706/hearing.htm">proceedings here</a> -- and we hope you do. This bill could fundamentally alter the fabulously successful end-to-end Internet. <br /><br /><br />November 8, 2005<br /><br />The Honorable Joe Barton <br />Chairman <br />Committee on Energy and Commerce <br />U.S. House of Representatives <br />Washington, D.C. 20515 <br /><br />The Honorable John D. Dingell<br />Ranking Member <br />Committee on Energy and Commerce <br />U.S. House of Representatives <br />Washington, D.C. 20515<br /><br />Dear Chairman Barton and Ranking Member Dingell, <br /> <br />I appreciate the inquiries by your staff about my availability to appear before the Committee and to share Google’s views about draft telecommunications legislation and the issues related to "network neutrality." These are matters of great importance to the Internet and Google welcomes the Committee’s hard work and attention. The hearing unfortunately conflicts with another obligation, and I am sorry I will not be able to attend. (Along with my colleague Robert Kahn, I am honored to be receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Wednesday at the White House for our work in creating the Internet protocol TCP/IP.)<br /> <br />Despite my inability to participate in the planned hearing in person, I hope that you will accept some brief observations about this legislation.<br /> <br />The remarkable social impact and economic success of the Internet is in many ways directly attributable to the architectural characteristics that were part of its design. The Internet was designed with no gatekeepers over new content or services. The Internet is based on a layered, end-to-end model that allows people at each level of the network to innovate free of any central control. By placing intelligence at the edges rather than control in the middle of the network, the Internet has created a platform for innovation. This has led to an explosion of offerings – from VOIP to 802.11x wi-fi to blogging – that might never have evolved had central control of the network been required by design.<br /><br />My fear is that, as written, this bill would do great damage to the Internet as we know it. Enshrining a rule that broadly permits network operators to discriminate in favor of certain kinds of services and to potentially interfere with others would place broadband operators in control of online activity. Allowing broadband providers to segment their IP offerings and reserve huge amounts of bandwidth for their own services will not give consumers the broadband Internet our country and economy need. Many people will have little or no choice among broadband operators for the foreseeable future, implying that such operators will have the power to exercise a great deal of control over any applications placed on the network.<br /><br />As we move to a broadband environment and eliminate century-old non-discrimination requirements, a lightweight but enforceable neutrality rule is needed to ensure that the Internet continues to thrive. Telephone companies cannot tell consumers who they can call; network operators should not dictate what people can do online.<br /><br />I am confident that we can build a broadband system that allows users to decide what websites they want to see and what applications they want to use – and that also guarantees high quality service and network security. That network model has and can continue to provide economic benefits to innovators and consumers -- and to the broadband operators who will reap the rewards for providing access to such a valued network.<br /><br />We appreciate the efforts in your current draft to create at least a starting point for net neutrality principles. Google looks forward to working with you and your staff to draft a bill that will maintain the revolutionary potential of the broadband Internet. <br /><br />Thank you for your attention and for your efforts on these important issues. <br /><br />Sincerely, <br /><br />Vinton Cerf<br />Chief Internet Evangelist<br />Google Inc.

Vint Cerf speaks out on net neutrality

Posted by Alan Davidson, Washington Policy Counsel, DC office Congress is holding a hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, November 8th, on "netw...

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Search and replace

<span class="byline-author">Posted by David Bercovich, Product Marketing Manager, Google Enterprise Team</span><br /><br />We’re hearing a fair number of stories from customers using our enterprise search products about how pleased their users are when they replace another search engine with a <a href="http://www.google.com/enterprise/gsa/index.html">Google Search Appliance</a> or a <a href="http://www.google.com/enterprise/mini/index.html">Google Mini</a>. Customers like <a href="http://www.google.com/enterprise/gsa/national_semiconductor.html">National Semiconductor</a>, which saw search volume increase by 8-10x, and the <a href="http://www.google.com/enterprise/gsa/national_park_service.html">National Park Service</a>, where website complaints declined by a factor of 20.<br /><br />These good results have inspired us to launch a search replacement program: any company that replaces their legacy search engine with a Google Search Appliance will receive a free Google Mini. Read more at <a href="http://www.google.com/switch">www.google.com/switch</a>.

Search and replace

Posted by David Bercovich, Product Marketing Manager, Google Enterprise Team We’re hearing a fair number of stories from customers using our...

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