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New AdWords bidding tutorial

(Cross-posted from the <a href="http://adwords.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-adwords-bidding-tutorial.html">Inside AdWords Blog</a>) Last month we launched a new feature of <a href="http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=6084">AdWords</a> called <a href="http://adwords.blogspot.com/2009/08/bid-like-pro-with-bid-simulator.html">Bid Simulator</a>. Bid Simulator takes some of the guess work out of <a href="http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=10188">cost per click</a> (CPC) bidding by estimating the number of clicks or impressions you could have received if you had used a different maximum CPC bid. Today, I thought I would take the opportunity to help you make the most of this new feature by explaining how to use the data from Bid Simulator to maximize the profit from your marketing investment. In general, when you increase your maximum CPC bid for keywords on search you are able to generate more clicks to your site. This may be because your new bid qualifies you to appear higher up in the Sponsored Links on the search results page, or because your higher bid qualifies your ad to appear in new, more expensive auctions. The goal for you as an advertiser is to decide whether or not these additional clicks come at a cost that is still profitable for you. To make this decision, you need to compare your expected value per click to your incremental cost per click. Your value per click is how much a click for a particular keyword is worth to you, on average. Your incremental cost per click is how much extra you are paying, on average, for the extra clicks you are getting from your higher bid. When your value per click is higher than your incremental cost per click it makes sense to increase your bid. On the other hand, if your value per click is lower than your incremental cost per click, you probably want to decrease your bid. To learn more, you can watch the tutorial video below. In the video, I'll show you how to calculate these values, how to interpret them and how to use the data to maximize the profit from your marketing investment. My team and I are always looking for ways to help make the AdWords auction easier to understand so if you have other topics that you'd like us to address, please leave a comment on the video and we may be able to make it a topic for a future video. <object height="340" width="560"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/jRx7AMb6rZ0&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/jRx7AMb6rZ0&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="340"></embed></object> Watch it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRx7AMb6rZ0 Posted by Hal Varian, Chief Economist

New AdWords bidding tutorial

(Cross-posted from the Inside AdWords Blog ) Last month we launched a new feature of AdWords called Bid Simulator . Bid Simulator takes som...

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Teaching computers to read: Google acquires reCAPTCHA

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhstfrAxF-YaMH8KlXsnO9K470PndlHTsOvMhyphenhyphenF5d3dzDlQR5pRL3f_Oif9htPcBY-PRqp084iuGy-UMV2mWJp76JdSdWekCEgYGTJvqpQbRM7ngCj0q_DLYUYAI3uVubJBZh3pSe_9Dj9F/s1600-h/dcvf9tks_13fp86ngd5_b.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382086094433677970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhstfrAxF-YaMH8KlXsnO9K470PndlHTsOvMhyphenhyphenF5d3dzDlQR5pRL3f_Oif9htPcBY-PRqp084iuGy-UMV2mWJp76JdSdWekCEgYGTJvqpQbRM7ngCj0q_DLYUYAI3uVubJBZh3pSe_9Dj9F/s400/dcvf9tks_13fp86ngd5_b.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 63px;" /></a>The image above is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAPTCHA">CAPTCHA</a> — you can read it, but computers have a harder time interpreting the letters. We tried to make it hard for computers to recognize because we wanted to give humans the scoop first, but we're happy to announce to everybody now that Google has acquired <a href="http://recaptcha.net/">reCAPTCHA</a>, a company that provides CAPTCHAs to help protect more than 100,000 websites from spam and fraud. Since computers have trouble reading squiggly words like these, CAPTCHAs are designed to allow humans in but prevent malicious programs from scalping tickets or obtain millions of email accounts for spamming. But there’s a twist — the words in many of the CAPTCHAs provided by reCAPTCHA come from scanned archival newspapers and old books. Computers find it hard to recognize these words because the ink and paper have degraded over time, but by typing them in as a CAPTCHA, <a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8246463980976635143#">crowds teach computers</a> to read the scanned text. In this way, reCAPTCHA’s unique technology improves the process that converts scanned images into plain text, known as Optical Character Recognition (OCR). This technology also powers large scale text scanning projects like <a href="http://books.google.com/">Google Books</a> and <a href="http://news.google.com/archivesearch">Google News Archive Search</a>. Having the text version of documents is important because plain text can be searched, easily rendered on mobile devices and displayed to visually impaired users. So we'll be applying the technology within Google not only to increase fraud and spam protection for Google products but also to improve our books and newspaper scanning process. That's why we're excited to welcome the reCAPTCHA team to Google, and we're committed to delivering the same high level of performance that websites using reCAPTCHA have come to expect. Improving the availability and accessibility of all the information on the Internet is really important to us, so we're looking forward to advancing this technology with the reCAPTCHA team. Posted by Luis von Ahn, co-founder of reCAPTCHA, and Will Cathcart, Google Product Manager

Teaching computers to read: Google acquires reCAPTCHA

The image above is a CAPTCHA — you can read it, but computers have a harder time interpreting the letters. We tried to make it hard for com...

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Leadership by Those Who "Live Insulated from the Daily Travails of Ordinary" People; the University of Washington Example

<a href="http://www.margaretsoltan.com/?p=17513">On the University Diaries blog</a>, Prof Margaret Soltan picked up on an article on the privileges now given to university leaders, using the example of the President of the University of Washington (which includes a medical school, academic medical center, etc). At a time when the university budget was being cut, President Mark Emmert refused to take a voluntary cut in his greater than $900,000 total annual compensation. This included a $12,000 car allowance and free use of the university mansion. From the original article comes this key quote: <blockquote> How could this happen? It happened for the same reason that Wall Street types, with acquiescence of their boards and public officials, saw no reason to make any personal sacrifice at a time when others are sacrificing greatly. The UW Board of Regents, as most others at public universities, is not made up of scholars and altruists. It consists mainly of governor-appointed businessmen, lawyers, and other high-income types who themselves live insulated from the daily travails of ordinary state taxpayers. </blockquote> As <a href="http://www.projo.com/opinion/columnists/content/CL_harrop16_09-16-09_0FFNJ2L_v15.3f88fbb.html">Froma Harrop put it</a>, the ethos among leaders of the finance sector now seems to be "heads, I win, tails, I'm bailed out." That ethos has now infiltrated the leadership of many kinds of organizations, perhaps because in many cases the Masters of the Universe from the finance sector now lead the boards of these organizations. The result may be leaders of academia more focused on enriching and empowering themselves than on their organizations' high-minded missions.

Leadership by Those Who "Live Insulated from the Daily Travails of Ordinary" People; the University of Washington Example

On the University Diaries blog , Prof Margaret Soltan picked up on an article on the privileges now given to university leaders, using the e...

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Introducing Google for the Public Sector

<div>(Cross-posted with the <a href="http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2009/09/introducing-google-for-public-sector.html">Google Public Policy Blog</a>)</div><div> </div>The 2008 elections demonstrated how technology can increase political participation, and now we're beginning to see the power of Web 2.0 come to government. On the heels of last week's <a href="http://googlepublicsector.blogspot.com/2009/09/transparency-technology-you-message.html">Gov 2.0 Summit</a> in Washington, D.C., we're excited to launch <a href="http://www.google.com/publicsector/">Google for the Public Sector</a>, a one-stop shop of tools and tips that local, state and federal government officials can use to help promote transparency and increase citizen participation. The site helps government agencies: <ul><li>Make your website, and the information it offers, easier to find. For example, in less than 50 technical staff hours, Arizona's Government Information Technology Agency <a href="http://www.google.com/publicsector/content/arizona.html">made hundreds of thousands of public records</a> and other webpages "crawlable" to search engines and visible in Google search results.</li><li>Visualize your information and tell your story in Google Earth & Maps to the hundreds of millions of people who use them. The State Department runs an <a href="http://www.state.gov/secretary/trvl/map/?trip_id=13">interactive Google Map</a> of Secretary Clinton's travels, which shows where she has been and includes photos and videos.</li><li>Use the power of online video to engage millions of potential viewers and give constituents a voice. In the U.S. alone, the Senate, House of Representatives, White House, and federal government, among others, all have YouTube channels. </li></ul>According to the <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/">Pew Internet and American Life Project</a>, nearly four out of five American Internet users go online to find government information. Technology will help play a key role in making this information accessible, useful and transparent. Posted by Ginny Hunt, Public Sector Project Manager

Introducing Google for the Public Sector

(Cross-posted with the Google Public Policy Blog ) The 2008 elections demonstrated how technology can increase political participation, and ...

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Biovail Settles, and a Judge Explains Why Settlements in Which Only the Organization Pays a Penalty Do Not Deter Bad Behavior

Last year, we <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/2008/05/biovail-pleads-guilty.html">posted</a> about the guilty plea by the US arm of the Canadian firm Biovail to charges that it paid physicians kickbacks to prescribe a long-acting version of the drug diltiazam. This week, the plea was formalized, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssHealthcareNews/idUSN1452312520090914">per Reuters</a>, <blockquote> A U.S. unit of Canadian drugmaker Biovail Corp (BVF.TO) has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and kickback charges, ending a case over its Cardizem hypertension drug, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday. Prosecutors said Biovail has been sentenced to pay $22.2 million in fines, formalizing an agreement reached last year. It also agreed to pay $2.4 million to settle civil claims. Both involved charges it improperly paid doctors and other prescribers up to $1,000 to recommend Cardizem. </blockquote> When we originally posted about this case, we focused on the unprofessional behavior of the physicians who accepted the payments apparently in turn for prescribing. However, this is also yet another in a string of cases in which charges of unethical behavior by a large health care organization (a drug company this time) are settled by the company paying a fine, but not by any penalties accruing to any people at the company who authorized, ordered, or implemented the unethical actions. We have written about many such cases (see <a href="http://hcrenewal.blogspot.com/search/label/legal%20settlements">this</a>). Also this week, a US judge addressed another proposed legal settlement of an important parallel case in the world of finance, and how he ruled suggests what needs to be done to truly discourage unethical behavior by health care organizations. The background, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/business/15bank.html">summarized by the New York Times</a>, is: <blockquote> Giving voice to the anger and frustration of many ordinary Americans, Judge Jed S. Rakoff issued a scathing ruling on one of the watershed moments of the financial crisis: the star-crossed takeover of Merrill Lynch by the now-struggling Bank of America. Judge Rakoff refused to approve a $33 million deal that would have settled a lawsuit filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission against the Bank of America. The lawsuit alleged that the bank failed to adequately disclose the bonuses that were paid by Merrill before the merger, which was completed in January at regulators’ behest as Merrill foundered. </blockquote> Now consider some of the Judge's main points, and how they might apply to the many settlements of cases of unethical behavior of health care organizations. Per <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203917304574413242609077958.html">an editorial in the Wall Street Journal</a>, <blockquote> Judge Rakoff was having none of it. In a 12-page opinion, he tore into the SEC for ignoring its own guidelines and penalizing shareholders rather than the individuals who supposedly acted improperly. The settlement 'does not comport with the most elementary notions of justice and morality, in that it proposes that the shareholders who were the victims of the Bank's alleged misconduct now pay the penalty for that misconduct.' </blockquote> Note that the settlement of nearly every health care case involved a payment by the organization, but none by the people who authorized, ordered, or implemented the unethical behavior in questions. In those cases involving public for-profit corporations, just like the current one, the shareholders were the ones footing the bill. In most such cases, the shareholders were also ultimately victims in that it was their money that ultimately paid for the bad behavior, just like in this case. So in those cases the shareholders, who were victims of the companies' managers' bad behavior, were penalized while the managers got off Scot free. (In cases involving not-for-profit organizations, in parallel, one could argue that it was the organizations' line employees and other constituencies who were both the payers of the penalties and the victims of the conduct.) Also, <blockquote> As for the SEC's argument that this shareholder punishment will result in better management, the judge called it 'absurd.' The judge also had little sympathy for the SEC's argument that it would be too difficult to pursue executives, since they had been guided by lawyers. 'If that is the case, why are the penalties not then sought from the lawyers? And why, in any event, does that justify imposing penalties on the victims of the lie, shareholders?' he asked. </blockquote> In most settlements of parallel cases in health care, the relevant government agency usually suggested that the settlement will lead to better behavior by the organization. As we have noted before, the take-away lessons for managers was more likely that bad behavior will at worst lead to increased costs of doing business, but no penalties to the people involved. Such lessons would likely reinforce managers' decisions to behave unethically when doing so would benefit the managers themselves in the short run. In parallel cases in health care, the relevant government agency has rarely explained why it did not pursue the managers who authorized or ordered the behavior, or the lawyers that advised them, for that matter. The current case suggests that there was no logical rationale for failing to hold the people responsible accountable, except... <blockquote> [The judge said] broadly the deal 'suggests a rather cynical relationship between the parties: the SEC gets to claim that it is exposing wrongdoing on the part of the Bank of America in a high-profile merger; the Bank's management gets to claim that they have been coerced into an onerous settlement by overzealous regulators. And all of this is done at the expense, not only of the shareholders, but also of the truth.' </blockquote> And it is likely in health care that previous settlements arose out of such a cynical relationship. The government agency got to claim it was exposing wrongdoing. The executives of the offending organization got to claim they were coerced into an onerous settlement by overzealous regulators. The main casualty was the truth. Again, in my humble opinion, until the people responsible for the bad behavior experience negative consequences from that behavior, they will continue to perform, direct, and condone bad behavior. We will not achieve real health care reform in the US until we effectively deter unethical, self-serving behavior by leaders of health care organizations.

Biovail Settles, and a Judge Explains Why Settlements in Which Only the Organization Pays a Penalty Do Not Deter Bad Behavior

Last year, we posted about the guilty plea by the US arm of the Canadian firm Biovail to charges that it paid physicians kickbacks to presc...

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Google Chrome after a year: Sporting a new stable release

At Google Chrome's <a href="http://chrome.blogspot.com/2009/09/google-chrome-turns-1.html">first birthday</a> just two weeks ago, we looked forward to an action-packed year for the browser and the web. Thanks to a full year of great feedback from our users, we're kicking off our second year of Google Chrome with a <a href="http://www.google.com/chrome/index.html?brand=CHNQ&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-et-chromeblog&utm_medium=et">brand new stable release</a>. This release comes hot on the heels of 51 developer, 21 beta and 15 stable updates and 3,505 bugfixes in the past year. For you, that means significant speed improvements for the browser as well as a fresh redesign of some of its most loved features. To walk through the top highlights in the spirit of a September of epic <a href="http://www.google.com/search?r&q=us+open">sporting</a> tournaments, here's a play-by-play comparison of our brand new release against our previous releases. A wicked serve, volley, and return: Fast, fast and fast This new release of Google Chrome is faster than ever, as we continue to provide a modern browser that starts up quickly from your desktop, and is fast to load web pages and web applications. Notably, we've improved by more than 150% in Javascript performance since our very first beta, and by more than 25% since the most recent stable release. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3cinIDOkTm2YM225-d-YCgSyIZln4nSMMN9BTD1ykl2BuU7RcjDesWtQOHQSQnJuOM8f03yCuI3y470ELEB4rWwtuYn-6UZDaW8arr1A9PGZjJ4UZKAVeAqjb87jWHAf90ZQxDeFk3VtD/s1600-h/Chrome3stableV8.PNG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381739577095774418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3cinIDOkTm2YM225-d-YCgSyIZln4nSMMN9BTD1ykl2BuU7RcjDesWtQOHQSQnJuOM8f03yCuI3y470ELEB4rWwtuYn-6UZDaW8arr1A9PGZjJ4UZKAVeAqjb87jWHAf90ZQxDeFk3VtD/s400/Chrome3stableV8.PNG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 242px;" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXGAlFGQ9SKi4APUvQoZLwMZpCItmEwdFPlwmag-HRzD9qP5xh_49KgMxYQXn0KbKZ2TRPA8h016hrBQ3B2t7MWwN_mAk5sMVD6R-1SpuCImCIvdTs1Z_sUWoJAuEXo2f4v2P0bBwLrbe/s1600-h/Chrome3stableSunSpider.PNG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381739584191830898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXGAlFGQ9SKi4APUvQoZLwMZpCItmEwdFPlwmag-HRzD9qP5xh_49KgMxYQXn0KbKZ2TRPA8h016hrBQ3B2t7MWwN_mAk5sMVD6R-1SpuCImCIvdTs1Z_sUWoJAuEXo2f4v2P0bBwLrbe/s400/Chrome3stableSunSpider.PNG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 241px;" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">The <a href="http://v8.googlecode.com/svn/data/benchmarks/v5/run.html">V8</a> and <a href="http://www2.webkit.org/perf/sunspider-0.9/sunspider.html">SunSpider</a> benchmarks measure Javascript performance for browsers </div> Your playbook for the web: The New Tab page When you download and fire up this latest release of Google Chrome, you'll notice that the New Tab page sports a new look: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZAhY5Y-EC0On_x181wM5O-U-t8zMLozBfKkRynrOdvN7N7SfVod4_y6wzm895G6WsSkU88lDzZW8rpGX7VCgpLfdYf7s_dOD_bdP_PGJhn5LFqZCLvIcVK2p2SqNr0qiIKbfFiUdQ0Pb3/s1600-h/Chrome-NTP-New.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381741628890052706" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZAhY5Y-EC0On_x181wM5O-U-t8zMLozBfKkRynrOdvN7N7SfVod4_y6wzm895G6WsSkU88lDzZW8rpGX7VCgpLfdYf7s_dOD_bdP_PGJhn5LFqZCLvIcVK2p2SqNr0qiIKbfFiUdQ0Pb3/s400/Chrome-NTP-New.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 278px;" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">The redesigned, new New Tab page</div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOfLjJn1pF8OUr9UxXveh-R-hWI0o220PDJbNHAOcgh6lxk2jEQnv_kQqBDkweyb7iQpVQfhCf3ymhgLAWg6Ke6TMS4qlGFAi7IVWXjujbNoJlU45t_-ue-xLdwGLLxzL-bTgZvozkzpi/s1600-h/newtab_full.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381741634522188370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOfLjJn1pF8OUr9UxXveh-R-hWI0o220PDJbNHAOcgh6lxk2jEQnv_kQqBDkweyb7iQpVQfhCf3ymhgLAWg6Ke6TMS4qlGFAi7IVWXjujbNoJlU45t_-ue-xLdwGLLxzL-bTgZvozkzpi/s400/newtab_full.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 333px;" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">The old New Tab page, which we're now retiring </div><div> </div><div>We've redesigned the <a href="http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95451">New Tab page</a> so that it's easy to use and easily customizable, following some rigorous testing on the most recent <a href="http://chrome.blogspot.com/2009/08/new-beta-why-slow-down-when-you-can.html">beta channel release</a>. Now you can rearrange thumbnails of your most-visited websites by simply clicking and dragging your mouse. Additionally, you can pin thumbnails to a spot so they don't disappear even if your browsing habits change. This way, you can easily get to the websites you care about with just one click. You can do even more to <a href="http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95451">customize your New Tab page</a> — for example, you can hide parts of the page you don't want to see, or even opt for a simple list view of all your most visited websites. In addition, we've added handy tips to the bottom of the New Tab page to help you get the most out of Google Chrome. As we bid adieu to the old, New Tab page, let us know what you think about the redesigned New Tab page — we'd love to hear your <a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Chrome?hl=en">feedback</a>. With just a few deft strokes: The Omnibox We've also improved one of the most used and loved features of Google Chrome, the <a href="http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=95440">Omnibox</a>. Because it's a search bar as well as the web address bar, the multi-talented Omnibox helps you get to the sites you're looking for with just a few keystrokes. With this release, we've optimized the presentation of the drop-down menu and added little icons to help you distinguish between suggested sites, searches, bookmarks, and sites from your browsing history. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhySeK-pm7YdASu-c2wkhDYnrjC8d1QkfwC0HZe5QqE2HKOeJEsEzCdK5IfY_2KzRDO5uks0s7SU2GOqL1wd9eSrz9uwuniEMBo00DagswbGLGAy3kh0oR_baZGQ34MippNOnzZBOae8fqu/s1600-h/NewOmnibox_stable3.PNG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381739600832815730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhySeK-pm7YdASu-c2wkhDYnrjC8d1QkfwC0HZe5QqE2HKOeJEsEzCdK5IfY_2KzRDO5uks0s7SU2GOqL1wd9eSrz9uwuniEMBo00DagswbGLGAy3kh0oR_baZGQ34MippNOnzZBOae8fqu/s400/NewOmnibox_stable3.PNG" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 211px;" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">The new Omnibox drop-down menu </div> Bringing the cutting edge to the field: HTML5 capabilities We're very excited about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5">HTML5</a> becoming standard in modern browsers, and continued to add HTML5 capabilities to this stable release. We're particularly excited about the <video> tag in HTML5, which makes embedding videos in a page as simple as embedding regular images. The <video> tag also allows video playback without a plug-in. You can give the <video> tag <a href="http://tinyvid.tv/">a whirl</a> in Google Chrome and also check out our <a href="http://chrome.blogspot.com/2009/08/50-chrome-experiments-and-counting.html">50th Chrome Experiment</a>, which uses HTML5 <audio> and <canvas> tags. It's great to see the great innovations that come from the use of open standards, and we'll continue to bring the latest and greatest in web technologies quickly to users through Google Chrome. And finally, a photo finish with style: Deck your browser with Themes After testing out Themes for Google Chrome in the beta channel, we're finally releasing it in this stable release. Themes allow you to deck out your browser with colors, patterns and images. We'll be bringing more Themes for the browser soon, but in the meantime, you can <a href="http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=148695">change the theme</a> of your browser by visiting the <a href="https://tools.google.com/chrome/intl/en/themes/index.html">Themes Gallery</a>. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwyhRXuccnrhiF1xkuX7NIdoEO5Yey8oMiqOAhE89FFpk5CQizRFVeJ7GeC5TgMns9dkABte56q9VgQ4C5ybxnsW7fK6ajl_sKiBJVEoP-dcVELZTqPcVEe8g6sE0oETWq9ZStIKtxSsp_/s1600-h/theme_stargazing.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381739593682295442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwyhRXuccnrhiF1xkuX7NIdoEO5Yey8oMiqOAhE89FFpk5CQizRFVeJ7GeC5TgMns9dkABte56q9VgQ4C5ybxnsW7fK6ajl_sKiBJVEoP-dcVELZTqPcVEe8g6sE0oETWq9ZStIKtxSsp_/s400/theme_stargazing.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 320px;" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">Theme preview: Star Gazing </div> If you haven't tried Google Chrome recently, we invite you to download and browse the web with this new stable release. Many of the improvements in this release were inspired by the responses from users, so we're all ears if you have any <a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Chrome?hl=en">feedback</a>. If you're already using Google Chrome, you'll be automatically updated to this new version soon, but if you're itching to try this right away, download the latest version at <a href="http://www.google.com/chrome/index.html?brand=CHNQ&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-et-chromeblog&utm_medium=et">google.com/chrome</a>. Posted by Anthony Laforge, Program Manager, Google Chrome</div>

Google Chrome after a year: Sporting a new stable release

At Google Chrome's first birthday just two weeks ago, we looked forward to an action-packed year for the browser and the web. Thanks to...

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Read news fast with Google Fast Flip

One problem with reading news online today is that browsing can be really slow. A media-rich page loads dozens of files and can take as much as 10 seconds to load over broadband, which can be frustrating. What we need instead is a way to flip through articles really fast without unnatural delays, just as we can in print. The flow should feel seamless and let you rapidly flip forward to the content you like, without the constant wait for things to load. Imagine taking 10 seconds to turn the page of a print magazine! Today we're adding a new experiment to <a href="http://www.googlelabs.com/">Google Labs</a>: Google Fast Flip, accessible at <a href="http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/">fastflip.googlelabs.com</a>. Fast Flip is a new reading experience that combines the best elements of print and online articles. Like a print magazine, Fast Flip lets you browse sequentially through bundles of recent news, headlines and popular topics, as well as feeds from individual top publishers. As the name suggests, flipping through content is very fast, so you can quickly look through a lot of pages until you find something interesting. At the same time, we provide aggregation and search over many top newspapers and magazines, and the ability to share content with your friends and community. Fast Flip also personalizes the experience for you, by taking cues from selections you make to show you more content from sources, topics and journalists that you seem to like. In short, you get fast browsing, natural magazine-style navigation, recommendations from friends and other members of the community and a selection of content that is serendipitous and personalized. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2En1L6b4GQOna3yd0PXWlMw_L7d96bDHVGsWAHilTU_4AujfA292ce0YmaH03XtKBag6_958i8mRkiq6mfNjjOCzVNIIZb1geQieiF2-p9yICRZSoSHVFwNk8l7-gtlyMUXsGhGdvReCv/s1600-h/Fast+Flip+scsh+for+blog+post.png" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5381460977566757442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2En1L6b4GQOna3yd0PXWlMw_L7d96bDHVGsWAHilTU_4AujfA292ce0YmaH03XtKBag6_958i8mRkiq6mfNjjOCzVNIIZb1geQieiF2-p9yICRZSoSHVFwNk8l7-gtlyMUXsGhGdvReCv/s400/Fast+Flip+scsh+for+blog+post.png" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 234px;" /></a> To build Google Fast Flip, we partnered with three dozen top publishers, including the New York Times, the Atlantic, the Washington Post, Salon, Fast Company, ProPublica and Newsweek. These partners will share the revenue earned from contextually relevant ads. This gives publishers an opportunity to introduce new readers to their content. It also tests our theory that being able to read articles faster means people will read more of them, driving more ad revenue to publishers. The publishing industry faces many challenges today, and there is no magic bullet. However, we believe that encouraging readers to read more news is a necessary part of the solution. We think Fast Flip could be one way to help, and we're looking to find other ways to help as well in the near future. We've also made a mobile version of Fast Flip with <a href="http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/mobile">tactile page flipping</a> for Android-powered devices and the iPhone, so you can browse on the go. This is accessible at the same address. Go to Google Labs and give Fast Flip a spin. If you have suggestions to make the service better, please <a href="http://www.google.com/support/news/bin/request.py?contact_type=report_news&source=fastflip">let us know</a>. We'll keep working on new ways to improve your news-reading experience. Happy flipping! Posted by Krishna Bharat, Distinguished Researcher, Google News

Read news fast with Google Fast Flip

One problem with reading news online today is that browsing can be really slow. A media-rich page loads dozens of files and can take as much...

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