Gadget maker goes global

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Sheridan Kates, Associate Product Manager, iGoogle</span><br /><br />Last year we <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/youve-got-gadget-mail.html" id="ex_5" title="introduced a feature">introduced a feature</a> on <a href="http://www.google.com/ig?source=igbp" id="s:q1" title="iGoogle">iGoogle</a> so you can create a personalized gadget with just a few clicks — no programming skills necessary. We've loved hearing all the stories from people who are enjoying this feature, such as <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/02/share-love-with-igoogle.html" id="kwod" title="one couple">one couple</a> who live thousands of miles apart and use the GoogleGram gadget to send daily love notes. We've also heard from a lot of people who use the Framed Photo gadget to share the latest family snaps with relatives in far-off countries.<br /><br />Here's my photo gadget from my travels in Europe and the Middle East last year:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUPqN4FEJsdXBHTMtep13MfB7C5oypgJd_vLHmL5kVXk8xzEByIeGsqm0ZLAPe9o77fihKxKeG8k2xk_JHVgNBbRkeDkyzXrrtca0f8RH_wFR6YseTnEKWoxsLEJ8SNyuSTJ-AbgvBB5d/s1600-h/Picture+10.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179570577605749794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUPqN4FEJsdXBHTMtep13MfB7C5oypgJd_vLHmL5kVXk8xzEByIeGsqm0ZLAPe9o77fihKxKeG8k2xk_JHVgNBbRkeDkyzXrrtca0f8RH_wFR6YseTnEKWoxsLEJ8SNyuSTJ-AbgvBB5d/s320/Picture+10.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />Well, today you can do this in all <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/10/get-your-igoogle-in-42-languages.html" id="eso2" title="40+ languages for which we support iGoogle">42 languages for which we support iGoogle</a>. We're looking forward to seeing even more stories like these roll in from across the globe.<br /><br />We hope you enjoy building and sharing your own gadgets, wherever in the world you might be.

Gadget maker goes global

Posted by Sheridan Kates, Associate Product Manager, iGoogle Last year we introduced a feature on iGoogle so you can create a personalized...

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An appreciation of Arthur C. Clarke

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist, and Bill Coughran, Senior VP, Engineering</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">"<i>Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.</i>" </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a title="(Clarke's Three Laws)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke%27s_three_laws" id="n:2z">(Clarke's Third Law)</a></span><br /><br />How do you summarize a man like <a title="Arthur C. Clarke" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_C._Clarke" id="z0vx">Arthur C. Clarke</a>? The 90-year-old futurist and science fiction writer, who <a title="described himself as a "serial processor"" href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.03/clarke.html" id="gh5.">described himself as a "serial processor"</a>, died yesterday in Sri Lanka, his long-time home. Among the authors of the Golden Age of the genre in the 1950s, Clarke is a giant whose creative ideas have found purchase in the real world -- most notably the notion of a <a title="synchronous communication satellite" href="http://lakdiva.org/clarke/1945ww/" id="x9hu">synchronous communication satellite</a>, which he envisioned in 1945, but which did not become a reality for 20 more years.<br /><br />Clarke's <a style="font-style: italic;" title="The Deep Range" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Deep_Range" id="f8sr">The Deep Range</a> (1957) painted a world economy that harvested the bounty of the sea and incorporated humans adapted to that environment. In his earlier works, there is a strong scientific element that lends credibility to the worlds he envisioned. His more recent work has added more deeply philosophical themes. Clarke is probably best known for his book and co-authorship with Stanley Kubrick of the screenplay for the epochal <a title="2001: A Space Odyssey" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_%28film%29" id="a8v6"><i>2001: A Space Odyssey</i></a> and the sequels to that cultural milestone -- but his two most compelling contributions may be the ability to envision worlds and societies based on premises other than our own, and his dramatic and effective advocacy of science and technology.<br /><br />He has not squandered celebrity, but used his iconic status to draw public attention to things of <a href="http://www.clarkefoundation.org/about/accfmission.php" id="hq-z">global importance</a>. We owe him gratitude not only for his remarkable talent for cerebral entertainment, but also his exceptional ability to make us think. Especially noteworthy now is this 9-minute video, which he prepared on his 90th birthday last December -- as usual, rich with forward-thinking ideas.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/3qLdeEjdbWE&hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/3qLdeEjdbWE&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /></div><br />Not a few Googlers are who they are today because his work has been a source of inspiration and aspiration. We take a tiny bit of pride in the fact that Google is a "sufficiently advanced technology" that will make it easy for millions of people to find him.<br /><br />Perhaps the most fitting summary of his life, paraphrasing the famous Vulcan greeting, is that he lived long and prospered! May his views continue to inspire for eons.

An appreciation of Arthur C. Clarke

Posted by Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist, and Bill Coughran, Senior VP, Engineering " Any sufficiently advanced technology is ind...

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Opening Google Docs to users and developers via Gadgets and Visualization API

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Jonathan Rochelle & Nir Bar-Lev, Product Managers</span><br /><br />Whenever we're asked "how do people use Google spreadsheets?", we always struggle with where to start. It's not that we can't think of examples, it's just that the examples are all so different, so unique. Sure, there are definitely favorite themes -- sports, finance and, yes, <a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=psOu1MxOSLMOrN6GBsmAUGA" id="ocpt" title="knitting">knitting</a> -- but then the examples become so particular to the people and groups who are using them: The <a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pD0NlEE-rv7zcUYxvGlpHOA" id="b2tt" title="beer taster's">beer taster's results</a>. The nursery school class schedule. The <a href="http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=poRB3Tn-uVkEIuh4pU-OpAg&gid=4" id="d2b7" title="biker's riding log">biker's riding log</a>. The family reunion plan. The ski-trip sign-up form. Endless examples, all of which, to spreadsheet junkies like us, are interesting.<br /><br />But while we've always wanted to give people more options to view and use their information in Google Docs, we knew that trying to build all of these one at a time would simply serve too few people, given all the different ways people use and share spreadsheets.<br /><br />So today we're starting a new path to better enable developers to customize and build on top of Google Docs with two new tools we are releasing today: Gadgets-in-Docs and the <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/visualization" id="w:te" title="Visualization API">Visualization API</a>.<br /><br />Instead of delivering just one or two new types of reports, or a new visual map mashup (can you ever get enough of those?), we decided to deliver a platform on which anyone, not just Google, could build the next best thing. We even invited a few developers to try this with us, and they join us in this launch by featuring just a few of their creations, like Panorama's pivot table, or Viewpath's Gantt Chart, or InfoSoft's Funnel Charts -- all great tools for the student and enterprise user alike. We also built a few early gadgets ourselves which you might find useful.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ycfndZNCbjN2zJkYPhpV1Zb8sUPEN9i0bq3ZiYsyvaDm6jrB9E0Kr3VUMR4k3hBxtt447G5WG5MePGmuXTvYikcbPsC4qLxAPY3rcFDtuTg6asLvCPCHyF65xRddgMmmO4PHx9oU2-xK/s1600-h/Gadgets_spreadsheets.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179471964771836274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-ycfndZNCbjN2zJkYPhpV1Zb8sUPEN9i0bq3ZiYsyvaDm6jrB9E0Kr3VUMR4k3hBxtt447G5WG5MePGmuXTvYikcbPsC4qLxAPY3rcFDtuTg6asLvCPCHyF65xRddgMmmO4PHx9oU2-xK/s320/Gadgets_spreadsheets.gif" style="cursor: pointer;" /></a><br /></div><br />We borrowed the Gadgets-in-Docs concept from the iGoogle team, so it's only fitting that you can also publish your spreadsheet gadgets to iGoogle, where you can see your data-based-Gadget right next to all that other stuff that's important to you (even if it is just a picture of your dog).<br /><br />To try it out, go into <a href="http://docs.google.com/" id="fc31" title="Google Docs">Google Docs</a> and open up a spreadsheet. Click on the chart icon, and click 'Gadget...'. Pick your gadget, customize it to fit your data, and then publish it out to iGoogle or to any webpage.<br /><br />If you're a developer and want to reach millions of people with your latest creation, check out the <a href="http://code.google.com/apis/visualization/">Google Visualization API</a>, courtesy of our visualization team engineers. The Visualization API provides a platform that can be used to create, share and reuse visualizations written by the developer community. It provides a common way (an API) to access structured data sources, the first being Google spreadsheets.

Opening Google Docs to users and developers via Gadgets and Visualization API

Posted by Jonathan Rochelle & Nir Bar-Lev, Product Managers Whenever we're asked "how do people use Google spreadsheets?",...

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Add your business to Local Search in India

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Ravi Yadavilli, Geo Content Operations Manager, and Alok Goel, Product Manager</span><br /><br />- Do you own a restaurant in Delhi and wish more people knew about your delicacies?<br />- Are you an insurance agent seeking new clientele?<br />- Would you like more tourists for your travel agency in Goa?<br />- Are you a custom apparel merchandiser in Bangalore seeking to expand your customer base?<br /><br />Every day several lakhs of people search the Internet seeking firms like yours. It will help you to be listed in <a title="Google local search" href="http://local.google.co.in/" id="v8il">Google local search</a>. It's really simple to add your business, and it's free. Call us at 1-800-419-4444 (in India only, for your Indian-based business), SMS "register" to 09900800000<span>,</span> or just <a href="http://www.google.co.in/local/add">add your listing</a>.<br /><br />Spending a few minutes on this can make all the difference to your business - why not do it now?

Add your business to Local Search in India

Posted by Ravi Yadavilli, Geo Content Operations Manager, and Alok Goel, Product Manager - Do you own a restaurant in Delhi and wish more pe...

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Google for Non-Profits

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Chris Busselle, Investments Manager, Google.org</span><br /><br />Many of you spend your days making this world a better place, and we want to do our part to help. Today, we're excited to launch <a href="http://www.google.com/nonprofits/" id="mjkh" title="Google For Non-Profits">Google For Non-Profits</a>, a one-stop shop for tools to help advance your organization's mission in a smart, cost-efficient way.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4XFxw9mc-tZF9-7lMPqGAw3pAG8fiVQAzpWFQqckWG7SKkjQr_lAXYCuAlxxl-d5bxA_R2vG7fR6hl3YNABpxSB2-9mLC2nSqaPwPnC9j2zY7gy8g1chP-6foR8r197yEdswuHk1tgpar/s1600-h/screenshot.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179157324254151458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4XFxw9mc-tZF9-7lMPqGAw3pAG8fiVQAzpWFQqckWG7SKkjQr_lAXYCuAlxxl-d5bxA_R2vG7fR6hl3YNABpxSB2-9mLC2nSqaPwPnC9j2zY7gy8g1chP-6foR8r197yEdswuHk1tgpar/s320/screenshot.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>This site features ideas and tutorials for how you can use Google tools to promote your work, raise money and operate more efficiently. And to get inspired, you'll also find examples of innovative ways other non-profits are using our products to further their causes. Here are some of the ideas covered:<br /><ul><li>When you're writing a grant application, don't get stuck emailing drafts back and forth. <a href="http://www.google.com/nonprofits/docstutorial.html" id="hdy0" title="link to toturial">Try Google Docs</a> to collaborate on documents with your colleagues.</li></ul><ul><li>Cut costs and save time with <a title="Google-hosted email" href="http://www.google.com/nonprofits/gmailtutorial.html" id="kmkv">Google-hosted email</a> at your own domain. Access your e-mail from any computer with an Internet connection.</li></ul><ul><li>Accept online donations without hassle and with no transaction fees until 2009 with <a title="Google Checkout" href="http://www.google.com/nonprofits/checkouttutorial.html" id="q:s4">Google Checkout</a>.</li></ul><ul><li>Apply for free online advertising through our <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><a href="http://www.google.com/nonprofits/grantstutorial.html" id="niqx" title="Google Grants">Google Grants</a></span> program to raise awareness and drive traffic to your website.<br /></li></ul><ul><li>Start a <a title="blog" href="http://www.google.com/nonprofits/bloggertutorial.html" id="tqhg">blog</a> to keep your supporters informed and engaged.</li></ul>We'd also love to <a title="hear your own stories" href="http://services.google.com/feedback/nonprofits_story" id="s2d3">hear your own stories</a> about how Google tools have made a difference in your organization's work.

Google for Non-Profits

Posted by Chris Busselle, Investments Manager, Google.org Many of you spend your days making this world a better place, and we want to do ou...

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Using data to help prevent fraud

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Shuman Ghosemajumder, Business Product Manager for Trust & Safety</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">We recently began a series of posts on how we harness the power of data</span><span style="font-style: italic;">. <a title="Earlier" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/why-data-matters.html" target="_blank">Earlier</a> we told you </span><i style="font-style: italic;">how data has been critical to the advancement of search technology</i><span style="font-style: italic;">. <a title="Then" href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/using-log-data-to-help-keep-you-safe.html" target="_blank">Then</a> we shared how we use log data to help make Google products safer for users. This post is the newest in the series. -Ed.</span><br /><br />Protecting our advertisers against click fraud is a lot like solving a crime: the more clues we have, the better we can determine <a href="http://adwords.blogspot.com/2007/02/invalid-clicks-googles-overall-numbers.html" id="v4:f" title="which clicks to mark as invalid">which clicks to mark as invalid</a>, so advertisers are not charged for them.<br /><br />As we've mentioned before, our <a href="http://adwords.blogspot.com/2007/02/meet-click-quality-team.html" id="v3:6" title="Click Quality team">Ad Traffic Quality team</a> built, and is constantly adding to, our <a href="http://adwords.blogspot.com/2007/02/invalid-clicks-googles-overall-numbers.html" id="uta7" title="three-stage system">three-stage system</a> for detecting invalid clicks. The three stages are: (1) proactive real-time filters, (2) proactive offline analysis, and (3) reactive investigations.<br /><br />So how do we use logs information for click fraud detection? Our logs are where we get the clues for the detective work. Logs provide us with the repository of data which are used to detect patterns, anomalous behavior, and other signals indicative of click fraud.<br /><br />Millions of users click on AdWords ads every day. Every single one of those clicks -- and the even more numerous impressions associated with them -- is analyzed by our filters (stage 1), which operate in real-time. This stage certainly utilizes our logs data, but it is stages 2 and 3 which rely even more heavily on deeper analysis of the data in our logs. For example, in stage 2, our team pores over the millions of impressions and clicks -- as well as conversions -- over a longer time period. In combing through all this information, our team is looking for unusual behavior in hundreds of different data points. <a href="https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6322" id="r4u0" title="IP addresses"><br /></a><br /><a href="https://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=6322" id="r4u0" title="IP addresses">IP addresses</a> of computers clicking on ads are very useful data points. A simple use of IP addresses is determining the source location for traffic. That is, for a given publisher or advertiser, where are their clicks coming from? Are they all coming from one country or city? Is that normal for an ad of this type? Although we don't use this information to identify individuals, we look at these in aggregate and study patterns. This information is imperfect, but by analyzing a large volume of this data it is very helpful in helping to prevent fraud. For example, examining an IP address usually tells us which ISP that person is using. It is easy for people on most home Internet connections to get a new IP address by simply rebooting their DSL or cable modem. However, that new IP address will still be registered to their ISP, so additional ad clicks from that machine will still have something in common. Seeing an abnormally high number of clicks on a single publisher from the same ISP isn't necessarily proof of fraud, but it does look suspicious and raises a flag for us to investigate. Other information contained in our logs, such as the browser type and operating system of machines associated with ad clicks, are analyzed in similar ways.<br /><br />These data points are just a few examples of hundreds of different factors we take into account in click fraud detection. Without this information, and enough of it to identify fraud attempted over a longer time period, it would be extremely difficult to detect invalid clicks with a high degree of confidence, and proactively create filters that help optimize advertiser ROI. Of course, we don't need this information forever; last year we started <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/taking-steps-to-further-improve-our.html" id="yu6a" title="anonymizing server logs">anonymizing server logs</a> after 18 months. As always, our goal is to balance the utility of this information (as we try to improve Google’s services for you) with the best privacy practices for our users.<br /><br />If you want to learn more about how we collect information to better detect click fraud, visit our <a href="http://www.google.com/adwords/adtrafficquality/" id="bwg:" title="Ad Traffic Quality Resource Center">Ad Traffic Quality Resource Center</a>.

Using data to help prevent fraud

Posted by Shuman Ghosemajumder, Business Product Manager for Trust & Safety We recently began a series of posts on how we harness the po...

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Vote for the YouTube Awards

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Mia Quagliarello, YouTube Team</span><br /><br />We're thrilled to say that the second annual YouTube Awards are now live and ready for your vote. This year we've added five new categories: Short Film, Political, Sports, Eyewitness, and Instructional, for a total of 12. So head over to our <a href="http://www.youtube.com/ytawards07">YouTube Video Awards channel</a> to start watching and voting for some of the videos that defined '07.<br /><br />You can vote once per day (though you may not change your vote on the same day) and you have until 11:59pm PT this coming Wednesday, March 19th, to do so. We'll announce the winners on Friday, March 21st, at which point we'll feature them on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/ytawards07">this page</a> and invite them to a special YouTube gathering later this year.<br /><br />There are more <a href="http://www.youtube.com/blog?entry=YXJYpx0EKEs">details on the YouTube Blog</a>. Have fun voting!

Vote for the YouTube Awards

Posted by Mia Quagliarello, YouTube Team We're thrilled to say that the second annual YouTube Awards are now live and ready for your vot...

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