A year in Google blogging

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Karen Wickre, Google Blog team </span><br /><br />The <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=hxh&q=define+googol&btnG=Search">definition of "googol"</a> is a number, and Google lives by numbers. So how else should we look back over the year but with numerical bits? Here goes: This post marks the 294th time this year you're reading a post from us -- that's nearly 100 more posts than in 2005. In the last 12 months, we unveiled 24 new products here. We wrote up 128 product upgrades, new features and how-to-use-it items. We told you about 7 acquisitions. We blogged about policies or issues 23 times, on subjects including Google in China, how Book Search works, click fraud, and Net Neutrality. Google.org yielded 7 posts, and 29 times we said various services are available in many countries and languages. Then there was a <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/pug-speak.html">pug</a>, Google's custom <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/i-scream-for-google-ice-cream.html">It's It</a>, our compelling <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/04/cupids-algorithms.html">matchmaking service</a>, and a nearly-cosmic <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/stardate-081706.html">Stardate</a>.<br /><br />More for the numerically inclined: 7.6 million unique visitors generated nearly 15 million pageviews this year. Aside from the U.S. and UK, readers come from India, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and the Netherlands. Which sites send us the most readers? The top non-Google referrers this year are the influential <a href="http://www.digg.com/">Digg.com</a> and <a href="http://www.slashdot.org">Slashdot</a>.<br /><br />But we didn't just hope that readers would come to us. We also launched company blogs in <a href="http://googlechinablog.com/">China</a>, <a href="http://googlejapan.blogspot.com/">Japan</a>, <a href="http://googleitalia.blogspot.com/">Italy</a>, <a href="http://googlebrasilblog.blogspot.com/">Brazil</a>, <a href="http://googlemexicoblog.blogspot.com/">Mexico</a>, <a href="http://googlepolska.blogspot.com/">Poland</a>, and <a href="http://googlerussiablog.blogspot.com/">Russia</a> (and more are coming in 2007). We also launched AdSense-specific blogs for publishers who speak <a href="http://adsense-nl.blogspot.com/">Dutch</a>, <a href="http://adsense-de.blogspot.com/">German</a>, <a href="http://adsense-pt.blogspot.com/">Portuguese</a> and <a href="http://adsense-es.blogspot.com/">Spanish</a>. Product teams also started up quite a roster of new blogs covering everything from <a href="http://googlecustomsearch.blogspot.com">Custom Search Engines</a> to <a href="http://booksearch.blogspot.com/">Google Book Search</a> to our <a href="http://googlemac.blogspot.com/">Mac</a> and <a href="http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/">Enterprise</a> endeavors. If you want to keep current with nearly 40 corporate blogs we now publish, here's the <a href="http://www.google.com/reader/public/atom/user/10949413115399023739/label/officialgoogleblogs">Atom feed</a>, the <a href="http://www.google.com/reader/shared/user/10949413115399023739/label/officialgoogleblogs-all?c=CPXP5cj_rIkC">Google Reader share</a> option, and the <a href="http://www.google.com/reader/public/subscriptions/user/10949413115399023739/label/officialgoogleblogs">OPML file</a> (English language blogs only).<br /><br />Which posts caught your eye? Apart from the front page, these were among the most popular:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/01/google-earth-in-mac-world-pc-too.html">Google Earth for Macs </a></li><li>our (classic?) 2005 explanation of <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/09/googlebombing-failure.html">how "Googlebombing" works</a></li><li><a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/download-classics.html">downloading public domain books</a></li><li><a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2005/08/sign-up-for-gmail.html">Gmail open signup</a> (from August 2005, but apparently word kept spreading)</li><li>the <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/writely-so.html">Writely acquisition</a> (now part of Google Docs & Spreadsheets)</li></ul>It wasn't all fun, though; there was the time the blog <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/and-were-back.html">disappeared</a>. (Of course, that was before the <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/bloggers-new-bag-of-tricks.html">recent Blogger revamp</a>.) But even if real-time, all-too-human goof-ups make it a bit harrowing on occasion, the fact is a company blog is the fastest way to reach out. So we hope you continue to enjoy the rich stew we aim to serve. And before long, perhaps you can begin leaving comments directly. We're working on that. Meanwhile, our very best for a satisfying 2007 to you and yours.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Update:</span></span> Clarified the fact that the number of posts increased by 100 over a year.

A year in Google blogging

Posted by Karen Wickre, Google Blog team The definition of "googol" is a number, and Google lives by numbers. So how else should ...

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How we came up with year-end Zeitgeist data

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Artem Boytsov, Software Engineer</span><br /><br />The <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist.html">Zeitgeist</a> is "the spirit of time." This is why when we come up with the <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2006.html">lists of top searches on Google.com for 2006</a>, we do not simply retrieve the most frequently-searched terms for the period -- the truth is, they don't change that much from year to year. This list would be predominated by very generic searches, such as "ebay", "dictionary", "yellow pages," "games," "maps" -- and of course, a number of X-rated keywords. These are constants, and although unquestionably popular, we don't think they actually define the Zeitgeist.<br /><br />Instead, we looked for those searches that were very popular in 2006 but were not as popular in 2005 -- the explosive queries, the topics that everyone obsessed over. To come up with this list, we looked at several thousand of 2006's most popular searches, and ranked them based on how much their popularity increased compared to 2005. ("Bebo", for example, had very little traffic in 2005.) We also gave a bit higher score to searches with more traffic. Similarly, our "what is" and "who is" lists are not necessarily the absolute most frequent searches, but rather those that best represent the passing year.<br /><br />A final note: there was some confusion over the use of descriptors like "most popular" and "fastest-gaining" in <a href="http://www.techmeme.com/061219/p49#a061219p49">media reports</a> about our Zeitgeist. We've edited the <a href="http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2006.html">2006 Year-End Zeitgeist</a> description to be more accurate on this point: "we compared frequent queries this year against 2005 to see what sorts of things were top of mind."<br /><br />We hope you enjoyed our year-end Zeitgeist as much as we enjoyed working on it!

How we came up with year-end Zeitgeist data

Posted by Artem Boytsov, Software Engineer The Zeitgeist is "the spirit of time." This is why when we come up with the lists of t...

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Speech-friendly textual directions from Google Maps

<span class="byline-author">Posted by T.V. Raman, Research Scientist</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">From time to time, our own <a href="http://emacspeak.sourceforge.net/raman/">T.V. Raman</a> shares his tips on how to use Google from his perspective as a technologist who cannot see -- tips that sighted people, among others, may also find useful. - Ed.</span><br /><br />Google Maps and its associated local search is a quick and easy means of locating businesses and obtaining directions. Most people who use it already seem to enjoy the graphical interface with its extremely reactive GUI. But when using spoken output, this visual richness can get in the way of quickly listening to the results of a maps query.<br /><br />As an alternative, Google Maps also provides a simple to use a textual interface that serves up directions very efficiently when working with a screenreader or a Braille display. This alternative view into Google Maps is here, at the <a href="http://maps.google.com/?output=html">Textual Maps UI</a> (<span style="font-style:italic;">http://maps.google.com/?output=html</span>). It's extremely useful for blind and visually impaired users, as well as an effective solution for those times when you're at a non-graphical display and need to quickly look up a location.<br /><br />Just type a simple English query of the form <b>start address to end address</b> and quickly get the information you're looking for. Though we added this option to enhance the accessibility of Google Maps for blind and low-vision users, perhaps others will find this alternative view a useful addition to their maps arsenal.

Speech-friendly textual directions from Google Maps

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

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Where on Earth is Santa?

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Melissa Crounse, Chief Elf</span><br /><br />As you know, every Christmas Eve Santa Claus gets busy on his tricked-out sleigh, soaring around the globe to deliver presents to (presumably deserving) children the world over. This year, even if you don't have a reindeer team of your own, you can use the <a href="http://earth.google.com/santa/">Google Earth Santa Tracker</a> (That's <a href="http://earth.google.com/santa/">earth.google.com/santa</a>.) Follow along on every step of Santa's travels with Donner, Blitzen, and of course Rudolph, in all their 3-D satellite glory. And to all a good flight -- er, night!

Where on Earth is Santa?

Posted by Melissa Crounse, Chief Elf As you know, every Christmas Eve Santa Claus gets busy on his tricked-out sleigh, soaring around the gl...

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Blogger's new bag of tricks

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Lexi Baugher, Software Engineer</span><br /><br />Blogger has always been the easiest-to-use blogging software around, but it just got <i>way</i> more powerful. We've added a bunch of new features, which you can check out in the <a href="http://www2.blogger.com/">new version</a>:<br /><ul><li>You can <a href="http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=43708">add stuff to your blog</a> (cute cat photos, lists, feeds) without needing to know HTML.</li><li>You can also make a <a href="http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=43709">completely unique template</a> that has just the color scheme you want, without knowing any CSS.<br /></li><li>Don't want your mom to read your thoughts? Make a <a href="http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=42673">private blog</a>. </li><li><a href="http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=44498&topic=10275">Label</a> your posts, to group related ones together. </li><li>Use one of our new templates. </li><li>You can now sign in to Blogger using your <a href="http://www.google.com/accounts">Google Account</a>.</li></ul>Naturally, this is still a work in progress, and more exciting features are in the pipeline. Try it out and send <a href="http://www.blogger.com/problem.g" title="your feedback">your feedback</a>!

Blogger's new bag of tricks

Posted by Lexi Baugher, Software Engineer Blogger has always been the easiest-to-use blogging software around, but it just got way more pow...

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Happy Holidays with Google Desktop 4.5

<span class="byline-author">Posted by Mendel Chuang, Product Marketing Manager</span><br /><br />Since the debut of the new transparent Sidebar in <a href="http://desktop.google.com/">Google Desktop 4.5</a>, we've been working to make it widely available outside of the English-speaking world. We're finally done, and now you can get it in any of 28 languages. And just in time for the holidays, we've added several <a href="http://desktop.google.com/plugins/c/sidebar/holiday.html">holiday themed gadgets</a>. More details are available on the <a href="http://googledesktop.blogspot.com/2006/12/holiday-gadgets.html">Google Desktop Blog</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7609/900/1600/929561/Desktop_xmastree.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/7609/900/320/152187/Desktop_xmastree.jpg" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a>

Happy Holidays with Google Desktop 4.5

Posted by Mendel Chuang, Product Marketing Manager Since the debut of the new transparent Sidebar in Google Desktop 4.5 , we've been wor...

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Accessible Search: Answers to common questions

<span class="byline-author">Posted by T.V. Raman, Research Scientist</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">From time to time, our own <a href="http://emacspeak.sourceforge.net/raman/">T.V. Raman</a> shares his tips on how to use Google from his perspective as a technologist who cannot see -- tips that sighted people, among others, may also find useful. - Ed.</span><br /><br />Since we launched <a href="http://labs.google.com/accessible">Google Accessible Search</a> in July, we have received lots of feedback along with many questions. I'll briefly summarize these with answers.<br /><br /><b>Q: Does Accessible Search filter out inaccessible content?</b><br />A: No. First of all, "accessible" is a very subjective measure; what's more, queries can vary widely with respect to how accessible the results are. As an example, if you are looking for information such as weather forecasts or reference material, like the definition of an unfamiliar term, the set will often consists of both accessible and inaccessible content. In these cases, Google Accessible Search promotes those results that have been measured to be more accessible. On the other hand, if the particular query is about videogames, the chances are fairly high that a majority of the best results for that query will be visually busy pages. So in the final analysis, we <span style="font-weight: bold;">do not</span> filter content in Google Accessible Search; we pick the best results exactly as we do with regular Google search, and then re-order the top results by their level of accessibility.<br /><br /><b>Q: The result set looks identical to regular search. Is this intentional?</b><br />A: The operational word in the above question is <span style="font-style: italic;">looks</span>. Google Accessible Search does not in any way change the look and feel of Google search results. What it does is re-order results based on how accessible they are.<br /><br /><b>Q: How has Google enhanced navigating its search results?</b><br />A: Since Google Accessible Search launched, many people have sent feedback about the results page (both Google Accessible and regular search) being difficult to navigate with screenreaders. In response, we have updated the results pages in both cases to have section headers that can be used in conjunction with screenreader hotkeys to quickly skim through the page. Thus, once Google has responded to your search query, use your access technology's "move by section" keys to move between the section that displays sponsored ads and the individual results.<br /><br /><b>Q: How can I perform more complex searches?</b><br />A: Notice that <a href="http://labs.google.com/accessible"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> http://labs.google.com/accessible</span></a> has a link to <a href="http://labs.google.com/accessible/advanced_search.html">Advanced Search</a> in addition to the simple text box. Use this link to focus your search on documents in a specific language. The resulting search will continue to use Google Accessible Search for ordering the results.<br /><br /><b>Q: How can I compare regular search with Google Accessible?</b><br />A: Google Accessible Search is an experiment, and to be an effective experiment, people need to be able to easily compare the results obtained by using regular Google search versus Google Accessible. Notice that the top of the results page contains a pair of radio buttons labeled "Web Search" and "Accessible Search." You can easily repeat your search by pressing the appropriate radio button and clicking on the "submit" button.<br /><br /><b>Q: How can I make my site rank higher in Accessible Search?</b><br />A: Use our <a href="http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35769">Webmaster Guidelines</a> as a starting point. Once you've fully addressed these, I'd suggest reviewing your content to see how well it degrades gracefully. In addition to viewing the page in text-only mode (as the Guidelines suggest), also try the following additional checks:<br />- browse your site on a monochrome display;<br />- use your site without a mouse.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Update: </span><span style="font-style: italic;">Corrected to note that we *do not* filter Accessible Search content. </span>

Accessible Search: Answers to common questions

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

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