Adieu to Google Answers

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Andrew Fikes and Lexi Baugher, Software Engineers</span><br /><br />Google is a company fueled by innovation, which to us means trying lots of new things all the time -- and sometimes it means reconsidering our goals for a product. Later this week, we will stop accepting new questions in <a href="http://answers.google.com/answers/">Google Answers</a>, the very first project we worked on here. The project started with a rough idea from Larry Page, and a small 4-person team turned it into reality in less than 4 months. For two new grads, it was a crash course in building a scalable product, responding to customer requests, and discovering what questions are on people's minds.<br /><br />Google Answers taught us exactly <a href="http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=6021">how many tyrannosaurs are in a gallon of gasoline</a>, <a href="http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=265489">why flies survive a good microwaving</a>, and <a href="http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=242795">why you really shouldn't drink water emitted by your air conditioner</a>. Even closer to home, we learned one afternoon that <a href="http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=408127">our building might be on fire</a>.<br /><br />The people who participated in Google Answers -- more than 800 of them over the years -- are a passionate group committed to helping people find the information they need, and we applaud them for sharing their incredible knowledge with everyone who wrote in.<br /><br />If you have a chance, we encourage you to browse through the questions posted over the last 4+ years. Although we won't be accepting any new questions, the existing Qs and As are available. We'll stop accepting new Answers to questions by the end of the year.<br /><br />Google Answers was a great experiment which provided us with a lot of material for developing future products to serve our users. We'll continue to look for new ways to improve the search experience and to connect people to the information they want.

Adieu to Google Answers

Posted by Andrew Fikes and Lexi Baugher, Software Engineers Google is a company fueled by innovation, which to us means trying lots of new t...

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Audio captchas when visual images are unusable

<span class="byline-author">Posted by T.V. Raman, Research Scientist</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">From time to time, our own <a href="http://emacspeak.sourceforge.net/raman/">T.V. Raman</a> shares his tips on how to use Google from his perspective as a technologist who cannot see -- tips that sighted people, among others, may also find useful. - Ed.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captcha">Wikipedia defines 'captcha'</a> as an acronym for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart" -- a word which is trademarked by Carnegie Mellon University. Most web users think of captchas as those hard to read distorted letters or images that one often is confronted by when websites attempt to verify that they're indeed talking to a live human. Google Accounts support captchas. Of course, bloggers (no matter which platform they use) can also use them to prevent comment spam.<br /><br />Captchas were never intended to be purely visual -- however, most initial implementations used fuzzy images, and in attempting to lock out automated agents also inadvertently locked out people unable to see the image. As an alternative to these, this past spring <a title="Google Services that require verification began to provide an audio alternative" href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=google+audio+captcha&btnG=Search">Google Services that require verification began to provide an audio alternative</a> -- people have the option of listening to a sequence of spoken digits that they then type into a form field to verify to the web application that there is indeed a live human at the other end. <br /><br />To keep the audio captcha as challenging as the visual captcha when confronted by automated agents, we add some distortion to the spoken digits, and we're still experimenting with different distortion techniques to ease the burden on the genuine human user while locking out automated agents. <a href="http://www.google.com/support/bin/request.py">We welcome feedback</a> on the effectiveness of these techniques from you (we automatically collect feedback from those evil automated agents pretending to be human) :-). <br /><br />You can easily spot the availability of audio captchas by the presence of the well-recognized "wheelchair" icon for accessibility --- the image is tagged with appropriate <u>alt</u> text to help blind users. Incidentally you don’t have to be visually impaired to use the audio captcha; if you are in a situation where you find it hard to view the visual captcha -- either because you're at a non-graphical display, or because the specific visual challenge we offered you turned out to be unusable in a given situation, feel free to give the audio captcha a try. We've worked hard to ensure that the audio captchas work on different hardware/software combinations, and you do not need any special hardware (or software) other than a sound card to be able to use them.

Audio captchas when visual images are unusable

Posted by T.V. Raman, Research Scientist From time to time, our own T.V. Raman shares his tips on how to use Google from his perspective as...

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Update: Global Warming Speakout

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Jen Mazzon, Google Docs & Spreadsheets Team</span><br /><br />Hundreds of students from more than 20 countries recently brainstormed ideas on combating climate change -- and they did it online using <a href="https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=writely&passive=true&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fdocs.google.com%2F&amp;amp;amp;amp;ltmpl=WR_tmp_2_lfty&nui=1&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-gwss&utm_medium=gwss" target="blank_">Google Docs & Spreadsheets</a>. The kids had a blast coming up with solutions to address climate change, and we had a blast reading through their ideas and selecting the <a href="http://www.google.com/educators/globalwarmingideas" target="blank_" title="top 50">top 50</a> to feature on the <a href="http://www.google.com/educators">Google Educators</a> site. Then to top it off we took out out a full-page ad in today's edition of <span style="font-style: italic;">USA Today</span> so the kids' great ideas would get noticed! Global collaboration has never been more fun and, when it comes to global warming, more necessary.<br /><br />Pick up a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">USA Today</span> to see the full-page ad that credits the 80+ participating schools or <a href="http://www.google.com/educators/globalwarmingideas">click here to read all the "top 50" ideas</a>. You'll definitely find an idea that you can act on.

Update: Global Warming Speakout

Posted by Jen Mazzon, Google Docs & Spreadsheets Team Hundreds of students from more than 20 countries recently brainstormed ideas on co...

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Happy Cyber Monday

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Tom Oliveri, Google Checkout team</span><br /><br />You've heard of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when it seems everyone in the U.S. crowds into the malls to get an early start on the annual holiday shopping frenzy. But have you heard of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Monday">Cyber Monday</a>, the first workday after the long weekend -- in other words, today -- when we all sit down at our desks and start surfing our way to those perfect gifts?<br /><br />According to <a href="http://www.google.com/press/annc/checkout_holiday.html">a poll we recently commissioned</a> from Harris Interactive, 40 percent of employed U.S. adults say they plan to do at least some of their online holiday shopping from work this year. So we aim to make all that pointing and clicking as fast, safe, and easy as possible. Shopping with <a href="http://checkout.google.com/buyer/tour.html">Google Checkout</a> means using one user name, password and account to make purchases from <a href="http://www.google.com/checkout/m.html">thousands of merchants</a>. It means <a href="http://checkout.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=41201&query=fraud+protection&topic=&type=">serious protection</a> from online fraud. And this holiday season it also means a nice bonus for your gift-buying budget; as a small holiday gift to all Checkout shoppers, you'll receive $10 off purchases of $30 or more, or $20 off purchases of $50 or more, depending on the merchant.<br /><br />And just in time for the holidays, we're also happy to announce a growing number of merchants who recently added Checkout to their sites, including Toys R Us, Babies R Us, Golfsmith, Linens 'n Things, PetCo, and J&R Music and Computer World.<br /><br />So settle in, log on, answer a few work-related emails (so you won't feel too guilty), and jumpstart your shopping season with Checkout. Learn more about Google Checkout holiday offers <a href="http://checkout.google.com/holiday">here</a>.

Happy Cyber Monday

Posted by Tom Oliveri, Google Checkout team You've heard of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving when it seems everyone in the U.S. ...

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So Cal without cars?

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Stephanie Hannon, Product Manager Transit</span> <br /><br />My previous trips to Southern California have required cars and involved a lot of traffic on the 405. Next time, however, I'll be using Google Transit to plan bus trips with Burbank Bus and the Orange County Transportation Authority. While they can't make the traffic disappear, I can relax as I travel between my <a href="http://google.com/transit?f=q&hl=en&time=&date=&ttype=&q=Huntington+Beach,+CA+to+Laguna+Beach,+CA+1:00pm+&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1">favorite beaches</a> or maybe <a href="http://google.com/transit?f=q&hl=en&time=&date=&ttype=&q=2500+N+Hollywood+Way,+Burbank,+CA+to+275+E+Olive+Ave,+Burbank,+CA++9am&ie=UTF8&z=14&om=1<br />">from Bob Hope Airport to beautiful downtown Burbank</a>.<br /><br />The interest in <a href="http://code.google.com/transit/spec/transit_feed_specification.htm">open sharing and standards</a> for transit data is growing. If you'd like your city to be a part of Google Transit, email us at <a href="mailto:labs-transit_content@google.com">labs-transit_content@google.com</a>.

So Cal without cars?

Posted by Stephanie Hannon, Product Manager Transit My previous trips to Southern California have required cars and involved a lot of traff...

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A new way to browse books

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Nathan Naze, Software Engineer</span><br /><br />As a kid, I was a bit of a fixture at my <a href="http://www.mcmillanlibrary.org/">hometown library</a>. My mom and I would visit frequently and the librarians knew me by name. It's only fitting that now, decades later, I work as an engineer for <a href="http://books.google.com/">Google Book Search</a>, Google's project to make the world's books searchable, just like the web.<br /><br />My latest assignment has been to help develop a better way to browse our digitized books on a computer screen. I've always had an interest in cutting-edge <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_application">web applications</a> — existing Google products such as <a href="http://gmail.google.com/">Gmail</a>, <a href="http://maps.google.com/">Google Maps</a>, and <a href="http://docs.google.com/">Google Docs & Spreadsheets</a> make heavy use of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JavaScript">JavaScript</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_HTML">DHTML</a> to create full-featured applications in a web browser that you can use without having to download and install anything.<br /><br />In an effort to make online book reading easier, we've given our product the same treatment. I'm tremendously excited to announce the first fruits of these efforts. Here's a quick tour of some of the changes:<br /><ul><li><strong>Zoom in on text and images.</strong> Here's <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=HARVARD:32044020180790&id=7X-I9105PAkC&pg=PA109#PRA2-PA109,M1">a cool full-page sketch of a ship</a> from an 1898 book on <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=HARVARD:32044020180790&id=7X-I9105PAkC">steam navigation</a>. Looking for something less dated? Perhaps this <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1564969584&id=F68COamQRH0C&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&sig=8k-utjCZ5wwUmWMPlMLIaDjJ4Ig#PPA25,M1">colorful page of a room</a> from <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1564969584&id=F68COamQRH0C">a book on interior design</a>. Want a better look? You can now zoom in and out — just click on the <img alt="zoom in" border="0" height="14" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2855/3883/1600/plus.gif" style="padding: 0px; border: 0px" width="14"/> and <img alt="zoom out" border="0" height="14" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2855/3883/1600/minus.gif" style="padding: 0px; border: 0px" width="14"/> buttons. Play with it until you find a size you like.</li><br /><li><strong>One book, one web page.</strong> No more reloads! In one-page mode (just click the <img alt="one page" border="0" height="14" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2855/3883/1600/onepage.gif" style="padding: 0px; border: 0px" width="9"/> button), pages appear one below the other, like a scroll of paper. For <a href="http://books.google.com/googlebooks/screenshots.html#fullview">full-view</a> books, there's also a two-page mode (<img alt="two page button" border="0" height="14" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2855/3883/1600/twopage2.gif" style="padding: 0px; border: 0px" width="19"/>) in which pages appear side by side, just like in a physical book (perfect for <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN9064503125&id=NkST-eA7uicC&pg=RA12-PA110&lpg=RA12-PA110&sig=oP4PLDRpPGpbo6jBg1qpzOoksjc#PPA51,M2">two-page images</a>). In both modes, you'll be able to use <img alt="previous page button" border="0" height="19" src="http://books.google.com/googlebooks/page_nav_previous.gif" style="padding: 0px; border: 0px" width="19"/> and <img alt="next page button" border="0" height="19" src="http://books.google.com/googlebooks/page_nav_next.gif" style="padding: 0px; border: 0px" width="19"/> to turn pages.</li><br /><li><strong>Scroll, scroll, scroll your book…</strong> using the scrollbar or your mouse wheel, or by dragging (in most browsers, you'll see a <img alt="hand" border="0" height="16" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2855/3883/1600/hand2.gif" style="padding: 0px; border: 0px" width="17"/>). You can also use the keyboard (try the spacebar, page up, page down, and the arrow keys). Or you can click on a link in the table of contents or your search results to jump right to that page (like <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC01581436&id=EM6nHWWQ3TIC&pg=PP10">this photo</a> from the 1906 book <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC01581436&id=EM6nHWWQ3TIC"><em>Geronimo's Story of His Life</em></a>).</li><br /><li><strong>This page was made for reading.</strong> We've tried to tidy up the clutter to leave as much room as possible for what's important — the book. We've put all the information about the book in a scrollable side menu. Still not enough room? You can put the screen in fullscreen mode with <img alt="fullscreen button" border="0" height="15" src="http://books.google.com/googlebooks/images/fullscreen.gif" style="padding: 0px; border: 0px" width="17"/>, so you can use the whole window for browsing. Try it with a nice illustrated book of <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=NYPL:33433068198005&id=MPDMpD2w_2gC&pg=PA65#PPP18,M2">Celtic fairy tales</a> or, for some lighter reading, <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN3540212663&id=5FZBS0JH9lkC&pg=PP1&lpg=PP1&ots=uNqKSoMhkt&&sig=MjS0J55JV4LYrKN7z_RvUf-sEx4#PPA49,M1">electromagnetic wave theory</a>.</li><br /><li><strong>More on this (and other) books.</strong> Find other books that interest you. Just click on "About this book" to find more books related to the book you're reading. If the book <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0823022455&id=tfCrMXWglc4C"><em>How to Draw Comic Book Heroes and Villains</em></a> interests you, you'll probably like <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN1893905039&id=H3Zv6DN7eRIC&printsec=frontcover"><em>Comic Book Artist Collection, Vol. 1</em></a>. We also revised our "About this book" page to provide better information for in-copyright books, from which you can just see short snippets or a limited preview.</li><br /><li><strong>Explore citations and references.</strong> You can also find other books that refer to your book of interest. If scholarly works from <a href="http://scholar.google.com/">Google Scholar</a> have references to the book, you'll see them too. As an example, see what other works have referred to <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=STANFORD36105005745802&id=GKHm6R_SBQwC">Aristotle's works</a> or the 1922 book <a href="http://books.google.com/books?vid=HARVARD32044009968827"><em>All About Coffee</em></a>.</li></ul> So check out the new <a href="http://books.google.com/">Google Book Search</a>. We hope it'll help you find new (and old) books that interest you. Try it out, and <a href="http://services.google.com/feedback/book_search">let us know what you think</a>.

A new way to browse books

Posted by Nathan Naze, Software Engineer As a kid, I was a bit of a fixture at my hometown library . My mom and I would visit frequently and...

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And now, Google News sitemaps

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Nathan Stoll, Product Manager, Google News</span><br /><br />As the product manager for Google News, I meet with news editors and managers around the world. Wherever I go, one thing publishers tell me consistently is that they want greater control and visibility into the process by which their content gets included in Google News. It's been a longtime goal of ours to offer flexibility to publishers as we help them grow their online publications, so I’m pleased to tell you that we're adding Google News support within <a href="https://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/siteoverview">Google webmaster tools</a>.<br /><br />Now, English-language publishers who are currently included in Google News will be able to use their existing feeds -- or define a more advanced Sitemap of their current news articles -- to tell us exactly which articles they'd like us to crawl. While they've always been able to use technical solutions such as <a href="http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=40360">robots.txt</a> to govern which portions of their sites Google crawls and indexes, this will give publishers more granular tools to tell our crawlers exactly what should be included. <br /><br />We also want to provide content owners more visibility into which articles are ultimately included in Google News, so we're now offering error reports specific to Google News. These error reports will explain any problems we experienced crawling or extracting news articles from a publisher's site. Although we try to make our crawl and analysis as comprehensive as possible, there are always a small number of sites and articles that we're not able to correctly analyze and include. We hope these new tools will help publishers resolve such issues.<br /><br />Webmaster tools also offer publishers detailed information on the <a href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2006/09/fresher-query-stats.html">types of queries</a> that lead visitors to various pages on a website, which can be helpful for understanding user information needs and access patterns.<br /><br />We plan to extend webmaster tools for Google News to additional languages soon.<br /><br />There's more information about the new tools on our <a href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2006/11/introducing-sitemaps-for-google-news.html">Webmaster Central blog</a>. We hope you find these new tools helpful, and look forward to your <a title="feedback" href="http://www.google.com/support/news_pub/bin/request.py">feedback</a>.

And now, Google News sitemaps

Posted by Nathan Stoll, Product Manager, Google News As the product manager for Google News, I meet with news editors and managers around th...

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