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Baby steps to a new job

Posted by Gretta Cook, Software Engineer, Google Seattle In late 2004, Google opened an engineering office <a title="near Seattle" href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=720+4th+Avenue,+Kirkland,+WA&sll=47.67842,-122.195236&sspn=0.001994,0.004951&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=47.678522,-122.195649&spn=0.00942,0.021651&z=16&iwloc=addr" id="sux:">near Seattle</a>, and my son Elliott was born. I had heard great things from my friends who worked for the company down in California, and I was eager to join their ranks in this new local office. But the timing was all wrong: I wanted to spend a few years at home with my new baby. Elliott and I had lots of fun. We went to the park and the library together. We read nursery rhymes and played peek-a-boo. We baked muffins and did finger painting. We did not, however, debate the relative merits of our favorite cache replacement policies, or write and debug multithreaded C++ code. So by the time Elliott was ready to start preschool and I was ready to go back to work, I had to ask: Would I still be able to pass a Google interview, or had I forgotten all of my technical skills? If I wanted to land the job, I had to get serious: I needed to brush up on my data structures and algorithms, my coding, not to mention general interview skills. For the next few months, I hired a babysitter to come and watch Elliott one afternoon a week. I split that time between studying my college computer science textbooks and participating in online coding contests. The coding contests were particularly valuable because they forced me to work through the design and coding stages quickly, just like in an interview. The details of the standard Java and C++ libraries came back to me as I scrambled to get my contest code to run before time was up. I even asked friends to do mock interviews with me so I could get used to writing code on a whiteboard again. In the end, all of this paid off. My day of interviews went really well, and I got the job! The Seattle-area office and Elliott turned three recently; they're both thriving. I feel very fortunate to have the two of them in my life. And I'd encourage anyone -- including new moms -- who is interested in <a title="a job at Google" href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/jobs/" id="mq-x">a job at Google</a> to go for it.

Baby steps to a new job

Posted by Gretta Cook, Software Engineer, Google Seattle In late 2004, Google opened an engineering office near Seattle , and my son Elliott...

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AdWords and local markets

Posted by Brynne Zuccaro, Channel Marketing Specialist, Local Markets According to a <a href="http://searchengineland.com/071011-110013.php" id="ci77" title="WebVisible-Nielsen survey">WebVisible-Nielsen survey</a> from October 2007, 74% of people use search engines to find information when purchasing a product or service from a local business. Yet millions of businesses don’t have websites, and even those that do, don’t often engage in search marketing because they lack the time, knowledge or resources. To address this gap, our AdWords Local Markets Team has partnered with companies including Yellow Pages directories, website developers and traditional media businesses to help create search-based ad products and strategies. We recently hosted the first annual Local Markets Symposium at our Mountain View Googleplex, which brought together more than 150 current and prospective Google AdWords Authorized Reseller partners to discuss how we can bring the power of local online advertising to small and medium-sized businesses. An array of experts spoke, including Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, local advertising guru Greg Sterling, industry bloggers, a Wall Street analyst, as well as a panel of local AdWords advertisers. What became clear throughout the day is that there’s a tremendous opportunity for local merchants to grow their business through online marketing. If you’re with a company seeking to promote the adoption of search engine marketing by small and medium-sized businesses, visit <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/adwords/reseller/index.html">our Google AdWords Authorized Reseller site</a>.<div> </div><div>Update Feb 25, 2010: Fixed link to reseller site. </div>

AdWords and local markets

Posted by Brynne Zuccaro, Channel Marketing Specialist, Local Markets According to a WebVisible-Nielsen survey from October 2007, 74% of pe...

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Front row for First in the Nation

Posted by Ginny Hunt, Google Election Program Tonight when Iowans gather in living rooms and high school gyms to take the first step in selecting our U.S. Presidential nominees, Google and YouTube will give you a front row seat. We're working together with local Iowan media organizations and political parties to bring you real time results and citizen-generated videos from the caucuses –- an up-close and personal perspective in the process to elect the next President. Iowa caucus goers and out-of-state political pundits alike can upload videos of the Iowa Caucus to YouTube, giving you a direct view into this vibrant political scene. These Iowa Caucus videos can be found at the <a title="YouTube Channel" href="http://www.youtube.com/iowacaucuses" id="ukk-">Des Moines Register's YouTube Channel</a> and span a variety of perspectives from predictions and personal reflections to interviews and candidate analysis. And starting tonight (approx. 8-10 pm CST), you can use <a title="Google Maps" href="http://maps.google.com/#source=ogbiowa" id="m1xq">Google Maps</a> to view real-time caucus results by county. The political parties in Iowa will be working with us to publish these results to our <a title="Iowa Caucus map" href="http://maps.google.com/maps/mpl?moduleurl=http:%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fmapfiles%2Fmapplets%2Fiowacaucus%2Fiowacaucus.xml&ie=UTF8&ll=42.0656,-93.6914&spn=5.040111,5.493164&z=7&om=1" id="sy2j">Iowa Caucus map</a> as soon as they come in, so that everyone can access results online when Iowans finish caucusing. To stay on top of campaign coverage, check out the <a title="Google News Election" href="http://news.google.com/news?topic=el&promo_msg=el" id="fcl0">Google News Election</a> section, where you can also find the <a title="Election 2008 Google gadget" href="http://www.google.com/webmasters/igoogle/election.html#utm_source=en-zz-jan3blogpost&utm_medium=zz&utm_content=jan3blogpost&utm_campaign=en" id="se73">Election 2008 Google gadget</a> for a one-stop shop to follow the campaign trail.

Front row for First in the Nation

Posted by Ginny Hunt, Google Election Program Tonight when Iowans gather in living rooms and high school gyms to take the first step in sele...

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This year of Google blogging

Posted by Karen Wickre, Google Blog team It's that time again, the end of a year - time to tote up Google's blogging activity for the last 365 days. First, a few bits of data about this particular blog: <ul><li>Number of posts this year: 300</li><li>New product announcements: 15 (not counting our <a title="April 1 product" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/April%201" id="arw6">April 1 release</a>)</li><li>News about upgrades and additions to products: 87</li><li>Announcing products in more languages and countries: 30</li><li>Acquisitions: 12</li><li>Unique visitors: 6,738,830 (for 8,655,830 visits)</li><li>Languages: 511 (preferred language configured on computers)</li><li>Top non-Google referrers: Yahoo, Digg, Slashdot, Fark</li></ul>Beyond these basics, this year saw many more posts on privacy (9), <a title="accessibility" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/accessibility" id="q2e_">accessibility</a> (10), and <a title="energy and the environment" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/environment" id="w10l">energy and the environment</a> (11). We blogged a good deal about Google's <a title="people and culture" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/googlers%20and%20culture" id="r7nx">people and culture</a>, our various offices around the world, and the pastimes and passions of Googlers (26, including 2 <a title="recipes" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/recipe" id="v-ic">recipes</a>). We talked about <a title="healthcare issues" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/healthcare" id="ecq0">healthcare issues</a> that challenge consumers (5). There were competitions including Google Code Jam and events for developers, educators and others (29). Through YouTube, there has been much <a title="political activity" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/search/label/politics" id="eutf">political activity</a> (7) in the U.S. as well as in <a title="Australia" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/australias-election-map-redrawn.html" id="olp8">Australia</a>. The posts that elicited the most reaction in terms of views and linkbacks include: - the much-discussed <a title=""Gphone"" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/wheres-my-gphone.html" id="pii.">"Gphone"</a> news - our thinking about the upcoming <a title="FCC spectrum auction" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/whos-going-to-win-spectrum-auction.html#links" id="q8w:">FCC spectrum auction</a> - what the <a title="OpenSocial APIs" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/opensocial-makes-web-better.html#links" id="tpxx">OpenSocial APIs</a> could mean - how a <a title="black screen" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/08/is-black-new-green.html#links" id="dj35">black screen</a> might not save energy - announcing the <a title="Knol test project" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/encouraging-people-to-contribute.html" id="m0x8">Knol test project</a> - building <a title="your own Google homepage" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/12/build-your-own-google-homepage.html" id="c6w-">your own Google homepage</a> Of course, there's more than business to write about. We celebrated <a title="National Gorilla Suit Day" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/office-of-apes.html" id="yir4">National Gorilla Suit Day</a>, <a title="kerfuffle over the Valentine's Day doodle" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/strawberries-are-red-stems-are-green.html" id="m.xv">deconstructed the Valentine's Day doodle</a>, and then <a title="a snake went missing" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/snakes-in-plain-old-office-building.html" id="clv.">a snake went missing</a>. As for the Google family of blogs, there's been lots of growth this year: 42 new ones launched, for a total to 83 active company blogs. Increasingly, Googlers want to quickly and regularly convey product news and updates to various constituents, and blogs are a great way to do that. Among the most popular of this newest crop are the <a title="Gmail blog" href="http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/" id="fn2q">Gmail blog </a>(nearly 1.5 million unique visitors), the Orkut blogs (in <a title="English" href="http://en.blog.orkut.com/" id="ecs7">English</a> - 3.5 million uniques; and <a title="Portuguese" href="http://blog.orkut.com/" id="dm6w">Portuguese</a> - 8.8 million), and <a title="Google Lat Long" href="http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/" id="q5yh">Google Lat Long</a>, with 824,000 unique visitors, which covers everything geographical. In addition, readers can now turn to new product blogs including those for <a title="Google Finance" href="http://googlefinanceblog.blogspot.com/" id="mij.">Google Finance</a>, <a title="Google News" href="http://googlenewsblog.blogspot.com/" id="ogeg">Google News</a>, and <a title="Mobile" href="http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/" id="yiu4">Mobile</a>. Reflecting keen interest in activity outside the U.S., the YouTube blog had the greatest number of comments for its <a title="June post" href="http://www.youtube.com/blog?entry=ktewBXNbyTw" id="ftjw">June post</a> about the fact that YouTube is available in 9 more countries, followed by the August post <a title="announcing InVideo ads" href="http://www.youtube.com/blog?entry=rQpNsTzbgqM" id="wbkt">announcing InVideo ads</a>. On the ads side: there are now 6 more non-English blogs for AdSense publishers (<a title="French" href="http://adsense-fr.blogspot.com/" id="zsf6">French</a>, <a title="Turkish" href="http://adsense-tr.blogspot.com/" id="o_ss">Turkish</a>, <a title="Japanese" href="http://adsense-ja.blogspot.com/" id="obdv">Japanese</a>, <a title="Korean" href="http://adsense-ko.blogspot.com/" id="a8.y">Korean</a>, <a title="Italian" href="http://it-adsense.blogspot.com/" id="q-m0">Italian</a>, <a title="Chinese" href="http://adsense.googlechinablog.com/" id="s1wm">Chinese</a>). The AdWords team opened blogs for <a title="Brasil" href="http://adwords-br.blogspot.com/" id="bost">Brasil</a> and the <a title="Netherlands" href="http://adwords-nl.blogspot.com/" id="hjnp">Netherlands</a>, Japan now has <a title="its own Analytics blog" href="http://analytics-ja.blogspot.com/" id="m0ma">its own Analytics blog</a>, and there are now <a title="German" href="http://googlewebmastercentral-de.blogspot.com/" id="ya-8">German</a> and <a title="Chinese" href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/" id="v6nl">Chinese</a> versions of the popular <a title="Webmaster Central" href="http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/" id="xksc">Webmaster Central</a>. (The most popular ads-related blog is the one for <a title="Analytics blog" href="http://analytics.blogspot.com/" id="s-b.">Analytics</a>, with nearly half a million unique visitors, followed by closely <a title="Inside AdSense" href="http://adsense.blogspot.com/" id="n7.u">Inside AdSense</a> and then <a title="Inside AdWords" href="http://adwords.blogspot.com/" id="nase">Inside AdWords</a>.) To keep current and share their work, developers got a raft of new blogs, too, including those focused on APIs for <a title="YouTube" href="http://apiblog.youtube.com/" id="c7oj">YouTube</a>, <a title="Checkout" href="http://googlecheckoutapi.blogspot.com/" id="x3qt">Checkout</a>, <a title="Gears" href="http://gearsblog.blogspot.com/" id="nxwq">Gears</a>, <a title="Mashup" href="http://googlemashupeditor.blogspot.com/" id="eo80">Mashup</a>, and <a title="Gadgets" href="http://googlegadgetsapi.blogspot.com/" id="rdpp">Gadgets</a>. Needless to say, there are now also blogs for <a title="Android" href="http://android-developers.blogspot.com/" id="q9s:">Android</a> and <a title="OpenSocial" href="http://opensocialapis.blogspot.com/" id="bwub">OpenSocial</a>. Two new country blogs, for the <a title="Czech Republic" href="http://google-cz.blogspot.com/" id="s:og">Czech Republic</a> and <a title="Australia" href="http://google-au.blogspot.com/" id="k.4.">Australia</a>, went public, to talk about all things Google in their regions. Yet more readers congregated around the new <a title="Public Policy" href="http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/" id="kj:o">Public Policy</a> and <a title="Google.org" href="http://blog.google.org/" id="zawg">Google.org</a> blogs, as well as one dedicated to <a title="online security" href="http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/" id="utt.">online security</a> and malware. Despite all this activity, and the fact that a growing number of companies also host corporate blogs, the <a title="Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki" href="http://www.socialtext.net/bizblogs/index.cgi" id="zdsn">Fortune 500 Business Blogging Wiki</a> (a collaborative project begun by Wired Magazine and SocialText) indicates that even today, just 46 of the Fortune 500 companies (about 9%), have active public blogs produced by company employees that focus on the company and its products. Let's hope in 2008 that number goes up. We think such blogs can serve users, journalists, critics, investors, and fans more effectively and directly than more traditional approaches. Apparently, so do 41,395,926 people around the world - the number of visitors to all of our blogs this year.

This year of Google blogging

Posted by Karen Wickre, Google Blog team It's that time again, the end of a year - time to tote up Google's blogging activity for th...

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Google: the chainmail version

Posted by TJ Riley, Data Center Technician From time to time we highlight the non-work interests and pastimes of individual Googlers. - Ed. I have been working with chainmail, and metal working in general, for nearly 5 years now. I picked it up when I started college. My first major in college was history, and I was going to focus on the Middle Ages because of my fascination with the medieval period. After I changed majors to Computer Science, my hobby remained medievalism. I have apprenticed under a blacksmith and learned some general metal working techniques. But I could not build my own forge then, so I turned to chainmail, which is a "cold" metal craft. Now I can take a bag of rings with me anywhere I go, and any time I have free time, I can work on whatever my current project is. The crafting of chainmail is a relatively inexpensive hobby -- for the cost of a single videogame I can have enough chainmail supplies to last me months. The best part is that is requires very little thought most of the time, so you can multitask; watch TV, or movies, or even browse the web while working on chainmail. A while back I was wanting to try my hand a chainmail inlay, but I did not have a design in mind. Most people make a chainmail shirt that has some dragon, or rampant lion design on it. I wanted to make something more unique. After a few weeks of thinking about this, I realized that I could use the Google logo. I started construction in late April 2007, my plan was to only work on it while on my lunch break, or other downtimes. But I soon realized it would take me years at that pace. And the opening of our new office area was going to happen later in the summer. So I began to work on it whenever I was not actually doing my job. I spent around 4 to 5 hours a day every weekday weaving the banner. Four months later, I had a completed banner, which now hangs in our office. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMKtlwlmueO6ZoOOv8lTblVUKNDqiB5u85GpTKgkwmKM0uXOWyHzGr4f0RoTdGA35NIdQ_00hz7I-N2I_f03g36BkwlU0warPBpnX3GQ4G0m2d19UYwHKPLKXUX_jZgh0Rye5S79YDQ7F3/s1600-h/Chainmail_wall.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5149166152257951218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMKtlwlmueO6ZoOOv8lTblVUKNDqiB5u85GpTKgkwmKM0uXOWyHzGr4f0RoTdGA35NIdQ_00hz7I-N2I_f03g36BkwlU0warPBpnX3GQ4G0m2d19UYwHKPLKXUX_jZgh0Rye5S79YDQ7F3/s320/Chainmail_wall.JPG" style="cursor: pointer;" /></a> For the numbers-minded, here are some details: <ul><li>The entire project is exactly 25,829 rings.</li><li>Dimensions: 67 units by 44 units (c. 66" x 27")</li><li>Rings: 1/4" 16-gauge aluminum; the silver is bright aluminum and the inlay uses colored anodized aluminum. </li><li>The entire thing is the traditional 4 in 1 pattern turned 90 degrees.</li></ul>

Google: the chainmail version

Posted by TJ Riley, Data Center Technician From time to time we highlight the non-work interests and pastimes of individual Googlers. - Ed. ...

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The year in YouTube politics

Posted by Steve Grove, Head of YouTube News and Politics <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=bfZ_gXCHaMw">Candidates caught singing on camera</a>. <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=nQi7PaYKqTU">Dorm-room presidential interviews</a>. A martial arts master<a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=EjYv2YW6azE"> endorsing</a> a presidential candidate. Citizen-created campaign <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo">commercials</a>. And <a href="http://youtube.com/republicandebate">two presidential primary debates</a>. 2007 was quite a year for YouTube Politics. At this time last year, YouTube had developed a reputation as a place where <a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=r90z0PMnKwI">"gotcha!" videos</a> posted by citizens were changing the political landscape. Some even called the 2006 U.S. midterm elections "the YouTube election" after several candidates were caught on camera saying things they probably shouldn't have. But in 2007, that changed. Seizing the YouTube opportunity, presidential candidates came rushing to the platform themselves, setting up official campaign channels on our <a href="http://youtube.com/youchoose">You Choose '08</a> platform. Seven of the 16 presidential candidates even announced their candidacies on YouTube. Candidates and voters now speak to each other through video. At their best, campaigns use YouTube not as a shrunken TV screen through which to distribute their soundbites, but as a window through which to have a dialogue with the American people. YouTube's leveling effect is this: anyone can upload a video with their political message, and the best content rises to the top through community view counts, rankings, linkages, and embeds. Any voter with a video camera and access to the Internet has the opportunity to be seen and heard. Our two presidential debates with CNN highlighted this phenomenon. Eight thousand video questions were submitted for the two record-setting debates, which opened up a traditionally closed event to the rest of the world via YouTube. Time was, you had to be in New Hampshire, Iowa, or Florida to get access to candidates at a debate. With questions coming directly from voters via video, our YouTube debates helped to break down some of the geographical barriers that have so sharply defined American politics in the past. <object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JEmulj-6tgQ&rel=1"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JEmulj-6tgQ&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object> So what's ahead in 2008? Things are only going to get more exciting. As Congressional and Senate races heat up, you'll see more and more candidates coming to YouTube. And as the presidential races narrows down to two candidates, YouTube will be a critical battlefront in the general election. With voters, candidates, issue groups, media companies, trade associations, lobbyists and activists all interacting on the same level platform, 2008 promises to be a true "YouTube Election."

The year in YouTube politics

Posted by Steve Grove, Head of YouTube News and Politics Candidates caught singing on camera . Dorm-room presidential interviews . A marti...

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NORAD tracks Santa with Google

Posted by Melissa Crounse, Santa Tracker Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen! We're counting down the hours until Santa's flight around the world. On Monday, December 24th, starting at 1 am PST, visit <a href="http://www.noradsanta.org/">noradsanta.org</a> to track Santa with NORAD on his annual trip. NORAD will use Google Maps to track several hundred of Santa's stops in over 200 countries and territories, and will embed videos of Santa's stops captured on their <a href="http://www.noradsanta.org/en/how.htm">Santa Cams</a> on the Google Map and post the videos on the <a href="http://youtube.com/profile?user=NORADTracksSanta">NORAD Tracks Santa YouTube channel</a>. Want to see more of Santa? NORAD will also provide a downloadable Santa Tracker file to track several thousand of Santa's stops in <a href="http://earth.google.com/santa/">Google Earth</a>. Santa's visits are only a few seconds long, and then -- poof, he's off to the next location. Click on the gift icons in Google Maps or Google Earth to learn more about the cities that Santa visits. Happy holidays from all of us at Google!

NORAD tracks Santa with Google

Posted by Melissa Crounse, Santa Tracker Now Dasher! Now Dancer! Now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, Donner and Blitzen! We...

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