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Search privacy and Personalized Search

Posted by Jane Horvath, Senior Privacy Counsel Online privacy isn’t always an easy thing to understand—or to explain. When I recently joined the company, I was happy to learn that Google was continuing with the effort to make our privacy practices (and your choices) even clearer and more accessible. We are using YouTube to post videos that explain how, when, and why we collect information about searches, and how you can protect your privacy while using our search engine. If you watched the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLgJYBRzUXY">first privacy video</a>, you <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/google-search-privacy-plain-and-simple.html">learned</a> about some of the information we collect (IP addresses, cookies, and search queries) and how we use this information to improve your search experience as well as prevent against fraud and other abuses. We appreciated all of the feedback we got in response to the first video. In response to your requests for more detailed information, in our second video we're offering a closer look at personalization and the privacy tools available when you choose to personalize your search. Personalization has been an area that raises concerns about privacy, and we want you to understand how we personalize search results while protecting your privacy. As the video explains, search algorithms that are designed to take your personal preferences into account, including the things you search for and the sites you visit, have better odds of delivering useful results for you. So if you’ve been checking out sites about the Louvre and you search for [Paris], you’re more likely to get results about the French capital than the celebrity heiress. The privacy tools we’ve designed — such as “pause” and “remove” buttons — help put you in control of personalization. So sit back, take a look, and then <a href="http://www.google.com/support/bin/request.py?form_type=user&stage=fm&user_type=user&contact_type=privacy&hl=en">tell us</a> what you think about this video (and the earlier one too). We look forward to hearing from you. <object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/UsUBnPRtTbI"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/UsUBnPRtTbI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object>

Search privacy and Personalized Search

Posted by Jane Horvath, Senior Privacy Counsel Online privacy isn’t always an easy thing to understand—or to explain. When I recently joined...

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It's all about today

Posted by Niv Efron and Eyal Molad, Google Trends Engineers, Tel-Aviv A lot of us love video games, and everyone here has their favorite from the latest generation of consoles. We have a game room in our building that happens to have all three of the latest systems: Artem loves Microsoft's Xbox 360, Niv can't part with Sony's Playstation 3, and Corey is hopelessly addicted to the Nintendo Wii. After some serious work organizing the world's information, we like to kick back with a round of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_Sports" id="l6v5" title="Wii Tennis">Wii Tennis</a> or a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioshock" id="nfh7" title="trip to Rapture">trip to Rapture</a>. The problem is that there's only one TV in the game room, and of course only one system can be played at a time. In true Googley fashion, we look to data to decide which console gets first dibs. For that, we used <a href="http://trends.google.com/" id="xco2" title="Google Trends">Google Trends,</a> which lets us see what the world is searching for. Take, for example, a <a href="http://www.google.com/trends?q=xbox360+%7C+%28xbox+360%29%2C+%28playstation+3%29+%7C+ps3%2C+wii&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0" id="hr_e" title="comparison">comparison</a> across the systems: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqCmoZQvBf3oxplC7YAACS28t50scJVZJnBvkobcFvv5dSOAZXq_h8Qs_vvrlHgndbcqTNNBFXhU_hFMKZmgtpVqoKqlOKzeHTw5OSgtGNsTa9W-sz279NldgpdkNShcUrp5qYSAzauPh/s1600-h/TRENDSchart1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113027671428689970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqCmoZQvBf3oxplC7YAACS28t50scJVZJnBvkobcFvv5dSOAZXq_h8Qs_vvrlHgndbcqTNNBFXhU_hFMKZmgtpVqoKqlOKzeHTw5OSgtGNsTa9W-sz279NldgpdkNShcUrp5qYSAzauPh/s320/TRENDSchart1.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /></a> Looks like a pretty tight race. Let's take a closer look at <a href="http://www.google.com/trends?q=xbox360+%7C+%28xbox+360%29%2C+%28playstation+3%29+%7C+ps3%2C+wii&ctab=0&geo=all&date=2007&sort=0" id="pvor" title="2007">2007</a>. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGuLJKZfmJ8K3Kg_fpKBO1xqlM30XbgYKrIHaP7R7LVt9uHrvrg_rZLFlMasaG5FQuQVUQ36AJ6rBYypfz8atVOOFEECau-oII0w2ihosYmarqrRhAO9L-3EWnneuPatHIHqmbvEa93SD/s1600-h/TRENDSchart2.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113027817457578050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMGuLJKZfmJ8K3Kg_fpKBO1xqlM30XbgYKrIHaP7R7LVt9uHrvrg_rZLFlMasaG5FQuQVUQ36AJ6rBYypfz8atVOOFEECau-oII0w2ihosYmarqrRhAO9L-3EWnneuPatHIHqmbvEa93SD/s320/TRENDSchart2.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /></a> Wow, they're definitely neck and neck (and neck) -- the top console could change anytime. Fortunately, Google Trends is now updated every day with the latest information. (Until now, Trends was only updated once a month.) Now we can follow the console race (or any other topic) every 24 hours, whether it's <a href="http://www.google.com/trends?q=the+office%2C+heroes&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0" id="f0lv" title="The Office versus Heroes">The Office vs Heroes</a> or the candidates for the <a href="http://blog.njection.com/blogs/blog/archive/2007/09/08/can-google-trends-predict-the-2008-election.aspx" id="s368" title="outcome of the next presidential election">next presidential election</a>. In addition to daily updates, we've also created an iGoogle gadget and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_feed" id="n:dq" title="feed">feed</a> for Hot Trends. If you have ever wanted to know what the Internet was thinking right now, Hot Trends can tell you just that. Hot Trends shows you what the fastest rising search queries are on Google. Now you can keep track of Hot Trends three ways: by visiting the site, <a href="http://www.google.com/ig/adde?moduleurl=http://www.google.com/ig/modules/hottrends.xml" id="za3y" title="add the gadget to your homepage">adding the gadget to your homepage</a>, or subscribing to the feed by adding the <a href="http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends/atom/hourly" id="hhc2" title="feed URL">feed URL</a> to <a href="http://fusion.google.com/add?feedurl=http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends/atom/hourly" id="mznj" title="Google Reader">Google Reader</a> or your favorite feed reader. We'd love to hear about any interesting trends you've discovered. Please send them to us at <a href="mailto:cooltrends@google.com" id="at5d" title="cooltrends@google.com">cooltrends@google.com</a>. We'll feature the best ones in a future post.

It's all about today

Posted by Niv Efron and Eyal Molad, Google Trends Engineers, Tel-Aviv A lot of us love video games, and everyone here has their favorite fro...

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Pour on the pedal power

Posted by Dan Reicher, Google.org You may already know that we're working to reduce our impact on the environment in a number of ways. We opt for locally-grown food whenever possible in all of our cafes. We've covered our roofs with solar panels. We offer a rebate on our employees' fuel-efficient car purchases. When it comes to getting people to the office, we offer round-trip shuttle service to our Bay Area Googlers, as well as incentives for creative commuting, from walking to biking and even to kayaking (depending, of course, on where the office is). Over at <a href="http://www.google.org/">Google.org</a>, the <a href="http://www.google.org/recharge/">RechargeIT project</a> is <a href="http://www.google.org/recharge/dashboard">collecting data</a> on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in an effort to accelerate commercial adoption of the cars as well as vehicle to grid technology. To the same end, we just issued a $10 million request for investment proposals to encourage companies and individuals to develop sustainable transportation solutions. And now, we encourage all of you to get your wheels spinning to offset climate change. Google has teamed up with <a href="http://www.specializedbikes.com/">Specialized</a> and <a href="http://www.goodbysilverstein.com/main_site/main.html">Goodby Silverstein & Partners</a> on the <a href="http://www.innovate-or-die.com/">Innovate or Die Pedal-Powered Machine Challenge</a>, to give you problem-solvers a chance to show us with a YouTube <a href="http://www.youtube.com/group/innovateordie">video</a> how you harness pedal power in innovative ways. In January, you could win $5,000 in cash and Specialized Globe bikes to keep up your commitment. We're doing our bit to support new solutions. Are you feeling inspired?

Pour on the pedal power

Posted by Dan Reicher, Google.org You may already know that we're working to reduce our impact on the environment in a number of ways. ...

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iGoogle tackles the Rugby World Cup

Posted by Thomas Gayno, Associate Product Marketing Manager, France Salut! You may have heard by now that France (relieved after our <a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/home/fixtures/round=100/match=10091/analysis.html#france+regain+their+momentum">recent win over Namibia</a>) is currently hosting the sixth <a href="http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/">Rugby World Cup</a>, which is a gathering of the best rugby teams from around the world competing for the coveted Ellis Cup. <a href="http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/1336.html">You </a><a href="http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/1336.html" title="For you Yanks">Yanks</a><a href="http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/1336.html"> should imagine</a> the Super Bowl, but held only once every four years, with 20 teams from around the globe -- and without padding or helmets! Four years ago, when England won the last Rugby World Cup, we French Rooster fans began planning for the next global matchup. Meanwhile, our French superstar Sébastien Chabal -- otherwise known as The French Beast, The Anesthetist, Attila or the Caveman -- has grown longer hair, a longer beard and bigger muscles. And he's back for this year's World Cup! To help track The French Beast's team's (or any other team's) progress towards victory, we created an <a href="http://www.google.com/ig">iGoogle</a> tab complete with a variety of gadgets that puts you in the middle of the action. The tab features live scores, group standings, a map of the venues, fan videos from YouTube, and a fun "make some noise" gadget that lets you cheer on your favorite team. With the iGoogle Rugby World Cup tab, you can experience the action in an entirely new way. Even if you've never used iGoogle before, you can add the tab <a href="http://www.google.com/ig/sharetab?source=rbus&atr=Rugby%202007&n_32=url%3Dhttp%253A//www.google.com/ig/modules/Rugby2007live.xml%26row%3D1%26sect%3D1&n_32=url%3Dhttp%253A//www.google.com/ig/modules/Rugby2007foghorn.xml%26row%3D1%26sect%3D2&n_32=url%3Dhttp%253A//www.google.com/ig/modules/Rugby2007maps.xml%26row%3D1%26sect%3D3&n_32=url%3Dhttp%253A//www.google.com/ig/modules/Rugby2007results.xml%26row%3D2%26sect%3D1&n_32=url%3Dhttp%253A//www.google.com/ig/modules/Rugby2007youtube.xml%26row%3D2%26sect%3D2" id="ev25" title="clicking here">here</a>. Alternatively, type [<a href="http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&q=rugby&btnG=Google+Search" id="n9lh">rugby</a>] into the Google search box and click on "add to my Google page." In line with the international aspect of this sporting event, this tab is available in the following countries: USA, Canada, Portugal, Ireland, UK (Wales, Scotland and England), Romania, Georgia, Namibia, South Africa, Japan, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, France, Italy and Argentina. Whether you're a fan of Sébastian Chabal, Dan Carter or Stirling Mortlock, use the iGoogle Rugby tab to keep track of the action. And if these names don't mean anything to you, tune into the Rugby World Cup and they soon will!

iGoogle tackles the Rugby World Cup

Posted by Thomas Gayno, Associate Product Marketing Manager, France Salut! You may have heard by now that France (relieved after our recent ...

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Google Reader goes multilingual

Posted by Kevin Systrom, Product Marketing Manager I've been traveling a bunch in the past few days, and the one thing I've noticed is the variety of newspapers you're offered on every flight in Europe. In London, where I am now, my hotel has between 10 and 15 newspapers in the lobby from around the world in different languages. So I started thinking about how news plays an increasingly important role across the world. Of course, blogs have also become an international phenomenon. They're not constrained by language or nationality — in fact, blogs have become an important way to bring rise to independent reporters and writers. And there are more and more people who wish to read blogs in other languages. Up until now, our blog and news site service, Google Reader, was only available in English. As of today, it supports these languages: French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, English (UK), Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), Japanese, and Korean. With this announcement (you might enjoy <a href="http://googlereader.blogspot.com/2007/09/breaking-up-isnt-hard-to-do.html">this take</a> from the Reader blog), I'm also happy to tell you that we're removing the "Labs" label from Google Reader. It's a small textual change, but we believe it solidifies our commitment to make reading blogs and news sites easier than ever. So try <a href="http://www.google.com/reader">Google Reader</a> and get all your blogs and news sites in one place. Update: Added Dutch, which is now live.

Google Reader goes multilingual

Posted by Kevin Systrom, Product Marketing Manager I've been traveling a bunch in the past few days, and the one thing I've noticed ...

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Our feature presentation

Posted by Attila Bodis, Software Engineer In April we announced that we were working to <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/were-expecting.html">bring presentations to Google Docs</a>. (Astute readers may recall learning about this <a href="http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2007/02/google-presently.html">even earlier</a>, which caused a bit of excitement around here.) And today we're unveiling the new Google Docs presentations feature and invite you to try it at <a href="http://docs.google.com/">documents.google.com</a>. Maybe more than any other type of document, presentations are created to be shared. But assembling slide decks by emailing them around is as frustrating as it is time-consuming. The new presentations feature of Google Docs helps you to easily organize, share, present, and collaborate on presentations, using only a web browser. Starting today, presentations -- whether imported from existing files or created using the new slide editor -- are listed alongside documents and spreadsheets in the Google Docs document list. They can be edited, shared, and published using the familiar Google Docs interface, with several collaborators working on a slide deck simultaneously, in real time. When it's time to present, participants can simply click a link to follow along as the presenter takes the audience through the slideshow. Participants are connected through Google Talk and can chat about the presentation as they're watching. Not wanting anyone to feel left out, we've made the presentation feature available in 25 languages; <a href="http://www.google.com/a/">Google Apps</a> customers can also access it as part of Google Docs. We hope the millions of people who already create and share documents and spreadsheets will find presentations a welcome addition to the Google Docs family, and we can't wait to add even more features and enhancements. If you're new to Google Docs, watch this video to learn more about creating and collaborating on documents (and now presentations!). <object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value=" http://www.youtube.com/v/eRqUE6IHTEA"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/eRqUE6IHTEA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Our feature presentation

Posted by Attila Bodis, Software Engineer In April we announced that we were working to bring presentations to Google Docs . (Astute readers...

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Australia readies itself for a Google election

Posted by Julian Sonego and Rob Shilkin, Google Australia Looking from down under, the long U.S. election cycle ensures that there is no shortage of political headlines generated more than a year out from the actual Presidential election. Many of you may not realise that Australia is also readying itself to enter campaign mode. A federal election is anticipated to be held before the end of the year. You can be sure as the Australian parties get out on the hustings, babies will be kissed, doors knocked and hands vigorously shook -- but this election campaign is already a lot different to others, with digital media playing a new and important role. Today, in Sydney, we announced the launch of a <a href="http://www.google.com.au/election2007">Google Australia election website</a>, so that Australian voters can have an intimate look at the parties, candidates and election issues, all in one Google location. These services, spanning Search, Maps, News, video, Earth, Trends, and iGoogle, enable voters to organise, find and share Australian election information more easily than ever. We created a <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/auelection">Picasa Web Album </a>to showcase all the elements, and we're pleased to offer these world-first tools that were developed in our Australian office. Here's hoping Australians will find them useful and even fun. It's our view that democracy on the web works -- and the web can work for democracy. <object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/07yLauixFkM"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/07yLauixFkM" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></embed></object>

Australia readies itself for a Google election

Posted by Julian Sonego and Rob Shilkin, Google Australia Looking from down under, the long U.S. election cycle ensures that there is no sh...

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