Archive for June, 2009

by Vera H-C Chan

As if to make up for the relative quiet of May, June brought news of transportation mayhem, historical revolutions, political scandals, and celebrity passings. Below, the stories that reverberated on Yahoo! Search and beyond.

In Memoriam
The word icon was invoked repeatedly with shocking deaths, sad passings, and unexpected departures. In the TV arena, David Carradine's apparently accidental hanging exposed a startling private life, while Ed McMahon's end reminded us the importance of sidekicks. Farrah Fawcett's strength to the end underscored the sex symbol's dignity. The unexpected death of pitchman Billy Mays brought in many tributes. But, it was the King of Pop's passing that stunned the world. News and questions persist over his death, but the loss restored the luster of his legacy.

International Relationships
President Barack Obama reached out to the Muslim world at Cairo University, managed to find destinations for Guantanamo's Uighurs, and pulled out troops from Iraq. That might've been enough drama on the world stage, but Iranians took to the streets and online in a historic protest over presidential election results, putting the country's theocracy in doubt. Leadership issues also explain North Korea's bristling stance (with two American journalists embroiled in the morass), and a coup in Honduras.

Domestic Affairs
A superstitious mind might start considering the label 'possible 2012 presidential candidate' a curse, at least among the GOP. The first extramarital confession came from Nevada senator John Ensign, but his startling admission was soon overshadowed by the mysterious case of the missing South Carolina governor. Mark Sanford's reapperance and rambling confession of an Argentinian liasion gave new meaning to hiking the Appalachian trail—and finally pushed "Jon & Kate Plus 8" from headlines. All these scandals made Alaska governor Sarah Palin look good, especially after her victory in a (TV) late-night spat.

Search Terms with the Biggest Percentage Changes Air France Flight 447 (off the charts) David Carradine (+175,919%) Bing (+8,094%) Billy Mays (+6,306%) US Open (+4,368%) Michael Jackson (+1,494%) Transformers 2 (+414%) Heather Graham (+409%) Father's Day (+317%) Sandra Bullock (+302%)

Biggest Search Terms Michael Jackson Megan Fox Transformers 2 Britney Spears Farrah Fawcett Beyonce Miley Cyrus Jessica Alba Angelina Jolie NASCAR

Follow us on Twitter

by Claudine Zap

Our top picks from the day's hottest searches.

1. Ana Ortiz (Searches increased by 22,004%). The "Ugly Betty" actress who plays older sister Hilda can now add "mom" to her resume: She and husband Noah Lebenzon welcomed a baby girl.
2. Peanut butter (+886%). Meet the newest health food: The sticky stuff may hold off heart disease.
3. Bernard Madoff (+2,366%). Now that the scam artist is behind bars, the hunt for all that missing money begins.
4. Michael Jackson will (+354). Oh, Joe Jackson, say it isn't so: The superstar's will supposedly snubs his dad. Expect lengthy court battles to ensue.
5. John Edwards (+187%). The ex-presidential candidate will be the subject of a former aide's tell-all book, including rumors of a sex tape between Edwards and his past mistress.

Follow us on Twitter

All around Google, we're proud of our work, our culture and, most importantly, our people. In the spirit of celebration, this spring and summer Googlers have participated in Pride celebrations in Tel Aviv, New York, Zürich, San Francisco and many other cities around the world. Pride is a time for the LGBT* community along with families, friends and supporters to stand up for equality, and to honor those who paved the way for us to express sexual orientation and gender identity openly.

In the U.S., this year's celebration is historically important: it's the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City, a response to what was then routine police harassment of LGBT people. Some 75 Googlers, family members and friends marched with several hundred members of New York's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center. Hundreds of Googlers also joined other U.S. celebrations in Pittsburgh, Chicago, and San Francisco.

Earlier this month, around 50 Googlers and friends gathered to celebrate at Europride, Europe's best-known Gay Pride celebration. This year it was in Zürich, Switzerland. After weeks of sunshine, on the morning of the parade it began to storm, but that didn't deter our intrepid Googlers from being out at 6:30am turning a 28-ton truck into a rainbow-colored nightclub on wheels. Hundreds of nuts, bolts and gallons of helium later, the truck was transformed, the sun came out and we were ready to march through the city streets, cheered on by a crowd of 50,000.

Google is a company that supports its LGBT employees, taking a public stand on issues that are important to our community. This is not the first year that Google has supported Pride, and it will certainly not be the last. We hope you enjoy this photo album of our global celebrations.




*LGBT stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered people and is also intended to include people who identify as queer, asexual or intersexed, amongst others.

Posted by Cynthia Yeung, Partner Strategy Team

We're pleased to announce today that the click measurement systems in Google AdWords has now been accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC). MRC accreditation certifies that Google's click measurement technology adheres to the industry standards for counting interactive advertising clicks and that its processes supporting this technology are accurate.

The industry guidelines were developed over the past three years in an effort coordinated by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the MRC. We're proud to be one of the founding members of this group, which established the first ever industry guidelines governing how interactive advertising clicks are counted and how invalid clicks are detected and handled. The audit against these guidelines was conducted by a CPA firm engaged by the MRC to perform the audit. You can view the IAB / MRC Click Measurement Guidelines here.

We look forward to continuing to work with the rest of the industry in promoting rigorous standards and practices in click measurement and analysis. As ever, our Ad Traffic Quality team continues to work hard on protecting advertiser ROI. To read more about our work in this area, please visit our Ad Traffic Quality Resource Center.

Posted by Amanda Kelly, Inside AdWords crew

Sound is one of the major senses and a major part of daily life, and yet is largely ignored on the web. Web developers know that when it comes to HTML, audio is not as easy to add to a web site as it should be. Why is that? The following are some thoughts on the historical problems with embedding sound, a few ideas and some demos of embedding and controlling sound from Javascript with YUI.

Demos

If you’re like me, you’re probably wanting to see some fun stuff up-front because reading is work, and work is boring! ;) Feel free to play with the demos first and then read on for the details.

• Demo 1 (practical): Play MP3 Links Inline
• Demo 2 (fun): A Noisy DOM

A Brief History of HTML and “Multimedia”

The web is pretty good at visual presentation. It is easy to create, design and embed images, text, and links in HTML documents. Of the media formats natively supported today in HTML 4, audio and video – or rather, <audio> and <video> – are conspicuously missing.

HTML 5 should bring audio and video embedding closer to the simplicity of <img /> in the not-so-distant future. In the meantime, we have to resort to creative work-arounds to get HTML-5-like audio/video functionality across the gamut of today’s common HTML 4-supporting browsers.

The (HTML 4) Problem With Embedding Audio

For audio on web sites today, developers often display a list of HTML links directly to MP3 files. This method is simple, universally-understood and indexable by search engines, but makes for a confusing and inconsistent browsing experience by default.

Users are generally prompted to right-click, “save as” and finally open the file from their desktop, or click the link and have their browser download and open the MP3 file. The regular “click” typically opens in a new page with the embedded player or launches an external application like QuickTime or Windows Media Player.

Not only are “naked” MP3 links extra work and confusing for the user, the browser’s method of handling them is a distraction and takes them away from the experience of your site.

Using <object>/<embed> is another generic way to directly embed MP3 or other content, but again suffers from the problem of inconsistency; the developer won’t know what may show in that area of the web page, given the user could have any array of applications which may load in order to handle that file type – in this case, likely the same QuickTime or Windows Media Player which would handle direct downloads would be shown in-place in your page. Again, not a great solution.

Flash widgets are sometimes used as a solution for embedding MP3 content, but the UI and skins tend to be 100% Flash-based rather than HTML and CSS-based and thus are more difficult for most web developers to customize. HTML 5 should change this with standards-based, CSS-skinnable and scriptable audio/video elements.

In the meantime, some creative solutions can be used to get more “web developer-friendly” widgets for audio.

Making MP3 Links “Just Work”: YUI + SoundManager 2

To have “progressively-enhanced” links to MP3s that will play in-place when clicked, something must intercept the browser’s normal download action and subsequently handle the request; by combining Javascript and Flash to handle the loading and playing of MP3 content, this can be done very effectively.

In a personal quest to get cross-browser audio control for a DHTML game back in 2002, I developed a JS + Flash audio API called SoundManager. Having since evolved to include video, SoundManager 2 implements and extends Flash’s native sound API and exposes it to Javascript. The result is cross-browser/platform scripted audio functionality which can help to bridge the gap for JS-driven sound until HTML 5 is widely supported.

By combining SoundManager 2 with YUI’s DOM and Event utilities, you have an effective solution for embedding and controlling audio which can gracefully degrade to a browser download or embedded player.

Practical Example: Playable MP3 Links

The following demo uses YUI and SoundManager 2 to enhance MP3 links, making them playable inline. YUI’s event utilities intercept clicks on links pointing to MP3 files and then use the SoundManager API to load and play the relevant URL before returning “false”, and preventing the browser from loading the link. Subsequent clicks will toggle play/pause state.

In the event Javascript/Flash aren’t present or if anything else goes wrong, the browser will simply fall through and load the MP3 link as usual.

• Demo 1 (practical): Play MP3 Links Inline

Adding Audio To Your UI

Javascript-based animation, transition and motion effects add fluidity to web interface design and are becoming more commonplace. Smartly-applied audio can complement and further enhance the UI, making the experience more meaningful.

In certain applications, sound in the form of UI feedback can be appropriate and helpful to the user experience. Sound effects are common for Flash-based sites and web-based games, and in desktop gaming audio is usually a key part of telling the story.

.. But Don’t Over-Do It

It’s important to know when to stop. Recall animated “under construction” .GIFs? How about the blink tag? Marquee text? Some things are best left alone. Not every HTML page needs to move, blink, slide, flash and be noisy at the same time; even “fun” is best applied in moderation. Annoying your users with auto-playing music or noise can quickly lead to abandonment of your site.

There is probably good reason that standard HTML elements such as form controls and the like do not have sound effects or notifications associated with them. Perhaps “silence is golden” and it’s best that the web be a quiet place by default, so as not to be annoying and distracting.

As one notable exception to the “silent web” theme, Internet Explorer usually makes a “click” sound when page navigation occurs, presumably to notify the user that an action has started. This has become more muted in recent times, but is still present and still seems to annoy some users to this day.

“Fun” Example: A Noisy DOM

Despite the arguments for silence, the following is an example of what it might be like to have “noisy” form elements, buttons and DOM elements which provide audible feedback as they’re being used. The novelty is certainly to wear off quickly, but it does add an element of childish fun to the UI.

• Demo 2 (fun): A Noisy DOM

Looking Forward: HTML 5

Native <audio> and <video> support will mean it will be much easier to embed and control more media formats within the browser without relying on third-party plugins. Furthermore, an extensive Javascript API should encourage developers to create increasingly-innovative experiences.

We use the Internet all the time: at home, at work (especially at Google!), on the move, and, increasingly, at school. We believe that the Internet and cloud-based tools are a key part of a 21st century classroom, helping students learn and teachers teach in collaborative and innovative ways. Students use Google Docs to work on group projects; classrooms use Google Sites to show off their work; and teachers use Forms in Google Docs for instant grading and Google Calendar for lesson planning. Google Apps Education Edition is helping schools build online communities for students, teachers and parents, and we now have 4 million students using Google Apps Education around the world.

This week the Google Apps Education team is launching a few new ways to make it easier for K-12 schools to use Google Apps, and attending the National Education Computing Conference (NECC) in Washington D.C. To help address schools' email security needs, Google Message Security (GMS) will be offered free to current and new eligible primary and secondary schools globally that opt in by July of next year. GMS filters out email messaging threats, and education IT departments can customize the filtering rules and group messaging lists to suit their schools. We're also launching the Google Apps Education Community site for educators and students to share tips and ideas for using Google Apps in their classrooms, as well as the Search Education Curriculum and a Google Apps Education resource center with more than 20 classroom-ready lesson plans for teachers. We'll be adding more to these resources going forward.

If you're at NECC this year, come visit the Google team in booth #3148. If not, the teaching and learning continues with some cool presentations and lesson plans on the Google Apps Education Community site, or you can learn more at google.com/a/edu.

Posted by Dana Nguyen, Google Apps Education team

Hello all,

The AdWords API team is pleased to announce the launch of AdWords API v2009 in production! v2009 offers more speed, scale, and flexibility to developers, at a lower cost.

Back in April, we released a sandbox for our newest version of the AdWords API so you could begin experimenting. As mentioned in that blog post, we're using a new version naming convention to highlight the significant differences between this version, called AdWords API v2009, and v13.

This launch is a production beta, and we're asking developers to sign up for access here. We'll add you to our whitelist on a rolling basis,and send each of you a confirmation email once you've been added.

We've made a few policy changes in the API v2009 as well:

• Revised Terms and Conditions - We've updated our Terms and Conditions to improve clarity. This change includes a more comprehensive explanation of our policy regarding the commingling of data, and also redefines the required minimum AdWords functionality for third party developers. You can see the list of required and optional features here.
• Lower costs - v2009 comes with a new Rate Sheet that reflects the improved efficiency of the new system. We've lowered the cost of v2009 for the average developer by approximately 20% through reducing the unit cost of our most commonly called operations -- add criteria, add add, and set adgroup.

Getting started with v2009:

Once you've applied for access, you can find comprehensive developer documentation on our v2009 homepage.

While you're waiting for access to the v2009 beta, we encourage you to begin experimenting immediately with the v2009 sandbox. The sandbox doesn't charge for quota, and all you need to access it is your current Google account username and password. Please remember that the sandbox is a testing and development environment, so changes made there won't affect your live AdWords account. You can read more about sandbox best practices here.

What to expect next:

Over the next few months, we'll continue to introduce new features and additional AdWords functionality. Prior to moving added features to production, they'll be released to the v2009 sandbox so that you can try them out in advance. As they become available, we'll announce them on our blog. Some of the most notable are:

• Partial failure acceptance - We plan to support partial failures, which means that large posts won't be completely rolled back due to a few small errors. This allows you to keep moving forward with development without halting to re-do posts.
  
• Asynchronous calls - We’ll offer asynchronous calls, which will allow you to work with large sets of data faster and more easily. Instead of having to wait for our system to fully complete your request before you can make another one, you’ll be able to make another call as soon as the API service confirms that it’s received your previous call. No more waiting for large requests to be finished. (Synchronous methods will still be supported as well.)

• Keyword Tools - With new keyword management tools, you'll be able to directly access new URL-specific keyword suggestions from the AdWords Keyword Tool and the Search-based Keyword Tool through the API.
• MCC and Reporting functionality.

While we continue to roll out these offerings, both AdWords API v13 and v2009 will be fully supported. We'll begin the sunset countdown for v13 once we remove the v2009 whitelist and all developer have acquired access. Because we're introducing more changes than usual with this version, we'll extend the normal sunset period for v13, so it won't sunset until early 2010. By signing up for the v2009 whitelist now, you have the opportunity to get a head start on development.

Best,

Doug Raymond

Product Manager, AdWords API

by Claudine Zap

This just in: A kid traded in his iPod for a Sony Walkman for a week...and lived to blog about it.

The story is this: A plugged in teen had heard from his dad all about the low-tech granddaddy of MP3 players, the Sony Walkman. So "Generation Internet" agreed to take one small step backward and switch out his palm-sized digital player with the 1979 analog original for a week.

You can read the 13-year-old's entire blog post here, which details the taunts he endured on the school bus, the trauma of learning how to "fast forward" and "rewind," and his disappointment in the "bland grey" color and bulky size of the so-called portable player. The culture shock was huge. But perhaps a small technology divide was bridged between father and son.

Follow us on Twitter

We've picked two free tools that anyone can use while setting up Google Analytics for your site. The tools below are pretty basic but are applicable to anyone tracking a campaign with an Analytics account.

URL Builder

The first tool we want to introduce our beginners to is the URL Builder. In order for Google Analytics to track your marketing campaigns effectively, you'll need to tag your online ads with the right information (e.g. campaign, medium and source) so that Google Analytics can track your marketing campaign and show you which activities are paying off. To help the the tagging process goes smoothly, you can use the URL Builder from our Google Analytics Help Center.

Tagging your campaign links will consist of a URL address followed by a question mark and your campaign variables. But, you won't need to worry about link syntax if you fill out the URL Builder form and press the Generate URL button. A tagged link will be generated for you and you'll be able to copy and paste it to your ad.

SiteScan

The Google Analytics SiteScan tool, created by EpikOne, a Google Analytics Authorized Consultant, is a very handy tool to verify that all pages on your site include the tracking code.

SiteScan picks up on some classic signs indicating that your site has improperly implemented tracking code like:

1. No data in your account. (The tracking code was either never implemented or has the wrong account number)

2. You're seeing a high bounce rate even though your site isn't a blog and has more than one page. (If you've only tagged your homepage, your Google Analytics account will be unable to identify any other pageviews from your site. )

SiteScan then reports each page in an easy-to-read CSV file after you've installed the tool. This makes it easy for you to isolate the pages with tracking problems, fix them, and effectively manage your Google Analytics Tracking Code installation.

We're constantly working on developing tools to diagnose problems associated with your account or increase the usability of Google Analytics. We hope that you find the above two tools useful and leave us a comment about any other diagnostic tools you would like to tell us about on this blog!

Posted by Christina Park, Google Analytics Team

by Vera H-C Chan

Garrulous and ever congenial, Billy Mays believed in what he preached. Or pitched. In a month of unexpected celebrity passings, the man who sincerely believed in his hype died reportedly of hypertensive heart disease on June 28.

In a month of too many celebrity passings, people took a moment to honor the bearded infomercial hawker. Searches on Yahoo! were so massive on Sunday that his name "billy mays" bypassed even "michael jackson." (Cumulative queries for Jackson's music, biography, and so on, however, continue to overwhelm the Web). Mays' searchers wasn't just old couch potatoes. Everyone from teenagers to 50-somethings joined in.

Media outlets also paid their respects. CNN called him "handsome in a Brawny Towel Guy sort of way" with a "sunshiny attitude." The Los Angeles Times reminisced about how he joined in video parodies of his infomercials with his own joke spots. AP repeated Mays' favorite story of giving away OxiClean as wedding favors.

Unlike spammers or telemarketers, the former football player did more then get people to sit up and watch (and sometimes order). Mays specialized in solving the nagging aggravations and pet peeves modern society, and he managed to do that with the sheer force of his normal-guy charisma, volume turned up to maximum.

Discovery Channel plans to honor him July 1 with a marathon of "Pitchmen," a reality series that started April 15. Mays would probably be pleased with another posthumous tribute: Along with searches into his biography, family, and beard, people also checked out his products.

Below, the top 10—and please note, even though Shamwow lookups also saw an online surge, that's that other guy.

Top 10 Billy May Product Plug Searches on Yahoo!, June 28

1. OxiClean (stain remover)
2. Kaboom (all-purpose cleaner)
3. Orange Glo (wood cleaner)
4. Impact Gel (shoe inserts)
5. Mighty Putty (epoxy)
6. Awesome Auger (garden digging tool)
7. Big City Slider Station (hamburger press)
8. What Odor? (deodorizer spray)
9. Zorbeez (all-purpose cleaning cloth)
10. Hercules Hooks (wall hanger)

Follow us on Twitter