Building a more accessible map thanks to Local Guides from around the world

Navigating the physical world is one of the most challenging problems for the more than one billion people who have disabilities. It is also a hard technical problem to solve. Google Maps is trying to make the world more accessible with the help of Local Guides, a community of more than 50 million people around the world helping to contribute information to Google Maps.

Since launching our campaign one year ago, Local Guides worldwide have worked tirelessly adding accessibility information to Google Maps. Using local knowledge, they answer questions like "Does this place have a wheelchair accessible entrance?”, “Is there an  accessible restroom?” and many more.

In that time, seven million Local Guides answered more than 500 million of these questions. Thanks to their hard work, we can now provide accessibility information for more than 40 million places on Google Maps. (And to help people get to those places, our Maps  accessibility team launched wheelchair accessible public transportation routes this Spring.)

Accessibility_flags.jpg

151 Local Guides from 59 countries pose for a photo with their home flags during Connect Live 2018 in San Francisco.

For both Google and Local Guides, this is just the beginning. At last week’s Local Guides Connect Live, Local Guides from all over the world shared their insights and thoughts on how the program could be improved to promote ever more inclusion in their home countries.

Here some ways leading Local Guides were discussing accessibility:

  • Ilankovan Thushyantha, this year’s Meet-up Superstar award winner at Connect Live, is a top Local Guide from Sri Lanka. Ilankovan recently hosted his 48th meet-up, teaching millennials in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka the importance of mapping tools (You can watch Ilankovan's journey or check out his recap report here). He also created a Worldwide Meet-up for Local Guides to host accessibility-themed events this month. During Connect Live, Ilankovan shared that in rural areas, existing questions about places (like if there are elevators) can feel irrelevant, leading us to discuss how upcoming features will allow Local Guides to submit free-form accessibility information more effectively.

LocalGuides_Accessibility_Ilankovan.jpg

Ilankovan Thushyantha receives the  Meet-up Superstar award.

  • Emeka Ulor won the award for Outstanding Accessibility Contributions, and he even organized an accessibility meet-upduring his trip to San Francisco. At Connect Live, he shared that accessible entrances in Nigeria are often poorly marked—even at government buildings. In addition to improved signage, we brainstormed ways to indicate alternate entrances.

LocalGuides_Accessibility_Emeka.jpg

Emeka Ulor receiving Outstanding Accessibility Contributions Award from Googler Brittany Miller.

  • Paul Gerarts, a retiree from Belgium who is currently living in Malaysia, shared insights from his work in creating audio descriptions of videos and tours for people with vision impairment. Paul challenged us to explore adding questions that help those with “invisible” disabilities such as blindness and hearing impairment.

LocalGuides_Accessibility_Paul.jpg

Paul Gerarts (on the left) with Google Software Engineer Sasha Blair-Goldensohn.

With the help of transit agencies around the globe, Local Guides like these and 50 million more worldwide are contributing local knowledge and making progress toward a more accessible world for everyone.

  • LocalGuides_Accessibility_1.jpg

    Twelve Local Guides and two Googlers pose for a photo after an Accessibility Breakout sessions during the Connect Live 2018.

  • LocalGuides_Accessibility_2.jpg

    Local Guides pose with flags from their home countries. 

  • LocalGuides_Accessibility_3.jpg

    Celebrating another great major event for top Local Guides!

Learn more about the Local Guides community, sign up to be a Local Guide and help answer accessibility questions within Google Maps today.

Dev Channel Update for Desktop

The dev channel has been updated to 71.0.3578.20 for Windows, Mac & Linux.


A partial list of changes is available in the log. Interested in switching release channels? Find out how. If you find a new issue, please let us know by filing a bug. The community help forum is also a great place to reach out for help or learn about common issues.

Krishna Govind
Google Chrome

Gartner’s analysis on the progress of Android security

With mobile security always being a hot topic, it is imperative to evaluate the relative strengths of different platforms and how they stack up against a set of predefined security requirements. Gartner’s “Mobile OSs and Device Security: A Comparison of Platforms” is a comprehensive report that assesses how today’s mobile OS and device platforms are supporting the increasing needs to effectively secure company data based on Gartner’s recommended security criteria for enterprise IT and users.

Gartner analyst Patrick Hevesi reviewed the security capabilities of Android, iOS, and Windows 10. The report also analyzed specific hardware implementations with Samsung Knox devices, Microsoft Surface Pro, and the Google Pixel family. The report details 28 distinct categories of security capabilities, diving into topics like core OS security features and device security controls.

In the video below you can hear about some of the results of the report, how Android security has evolved over the years and how Android is working to protect billions of users.

Gartner security report

Take a look at the video and see what’s unique about Android security, and why transparency and openness around the platform is critical for security conscious enterprises. These principles underscore how Android is a top choice for mobile security.

More 4K, more fun with Google Play Movies & TV

Movie nights just got better! Now you can enjoy your favorite movies in the highest quality possible on Google Play Movies & TV—without ever leaving your couch. 


Check out the full scoop on what’s new in the U.S. and Canada:

Movies you own will automatically be upgraded to 4K, on us:When 4K titles are available from participating Hollywood studios, we’ll upgrade your past movie purchases so you can stream in 4K, even if you originally bought the movie in SD or HD. It’s all on us, just open the Play Movies & TV app and we’ll let you know which titles have been upgraded.

Pay less for 4K movies:Starting today, most 4K movies on Google Play will cost you less, so you have more options to enjoy upgraded movies. Get started by browsing our top 4K titles.

Bring 4K to your TV: You shouldn’t need to buy an additional device to watch your 4K movies on the 4K TV you already own. In addition to 4K Sony Bravia TVs, you can now watch in 4K using the Play Movies & TV app on most 4K Samsung Smart TVs, and we’re working on adding support for LG as well.

Enjoy updated designs to our smart TV app:We’ve updated our app for Samsung, LG and Vizio TVs with a modern look and feel to provide a better experience.

We think watching in 4K should be a no brainer, so we’re continuously working to make that a reality. With Google Play, it’s now easier than ever for you to watch movies in the best quality possible, no matter which device you're using. And it doesn't stop here, we'll continue to make improvements so you can sit back, relax and enjoy your favorite movies, whenever and wherever.


Google Code-in 2018 contest for teenagers begins today

Today marks the start of the 9th consecutive year of Google Code-in (GCI). This is the biggest and best contest ever and we hope you’ll join us for the fun!

What is Google Code-in?

Our global, online contest introducing students to open source development. The contest runs for 7 weeks until December 12, 2018.

Who can register?

Pre-university students ages 13-17 that have their parent or guardian’s permission to register for the contest.

How do students register and participate?

Students can register for the contest beginning today at g.co/gci. Once students have registered and the parental consent form has been submitted and approved by Program Administrators students can choose which contest “task” they want to work on first. Students choose the task they find interesting from a list of thousands of available tasks created by 27 participating open source organizations. Tasks take an average of 3-5 hours to complete. There are even beginner tasks that are a wonderful way for students to get started in the contest.

The task categories are:
  • Coding
  • Design
  • Documentation/Training
  • Outreach/Research
  • Quality Assurance

Why should students participate?

Students not only have the opportunity to work on a real open source software project, thus gaining invaluable skills and experience, but they also have the opportunity to be a part of the open source community. Mentors are readily available to help answer their questions while they work through the tasks.

Google Code-in is a contest so there are prizes! Complete one task and receive a digital certificate, three completed tasks and you’ll also get a fun Google t-shirt. Finalists earn the coveted hoodie. Grand Prize winners (2 from each organization) will receive a trip to Google headquarters in California!

Details

Over the last 8 years, more than 8,100 students from 107 countries have successfully completed over 40,000 tasks in GCI. Curious? Learn more about GCI by checking out the Contest Rules and FAQs. And please visit our contest site and read the Getting Started Guide.

Teachers, if you are interested in getting your students involved in Google Code-in we have resources available to help you get started.

By Stephanie Taylor, Google Open Source

Announcing 10,000 Grow with Google Developer Scholarships with Pluralsight and Andela


There has never been a better time to bridge the skills gap among developers in Africa. According to TheNextWeb, it is well established that there’s a severe developer shortage in Africa. At Google, we have consistently invested in helping the developer and Startup community to get easy access to all the latest technology that is shaping the world today.


In March 2018, following our commitment to train 100K developers across the region in 5 years, we announced a 15,000 Google Africa Scholarship challenge to provide Android and Web development trainings to developers across Africa. We also announced the launch of the Developer Students Clubs. Through these programs more than 8,000 developers have received training to help build their web / mobile development skills, with more than 100 unique student stories describing the program’s impact on recipient’s career, employment, and even start-up creation. We invite you to watch Adaobi's story on YouTube.


But there’s still so much to do. This is why today, we are excited to announce a partnership with Pluralsight and Andela to support 10,000 aspiring and professional developers in Africa with a 4-month access to Android and Mobile web courses. This opportunity is open to successful graduates of the Google Africa Scholarship Challenge, Developer student clubs, GDGs and other aspiring and professional developers across Africa.


Pluralsight is a technology learning platform which will provide useful training content, while the Andela ALC program will provide mentorship to learners enrolled in this program. The aim of this program is to provide a continuous engagement platform to aspiring and existing developers in Africa on a track to become professional developers with skills that can get them through the Google certification to demonstrate job readiness.

Follow the link below to learn more and redeem this opportunity:


Although it is still early days into our 100k commitment, the successes we have seen so far inspires and drives us to continue to launch new initiatives aimed at increasing the number of employable skilled software developers in Africa while striving to bridge the unemployment gap on the continent.

Posted by:
William Florance, Head, Economic Impact Programs




 ====




Hausse annoncée de 10 000 bourses de développeur Google avec Pluralsight et Andela

Les développeurs en Afrique n’ont jamais bénéficié de meilleures conditions pour acquérir les compétences dont ils ont besoin. Selon TheNextWeb, le manque de développeurs sur le continent africain est une réalité incontestée. Chez Google, nous nous investissons beaucoup pour aider la communauté des développeurs et des start-ups à accéder aux technologies de pointe qui façonnent le monde d’aujourd’hui.

En mars 2018, suite à notre engagement de former 100 000 développeurs dans cette région en 5 ans, nous avons annoncé un Google Africa Scholarship Challenge dont l’objectif est de permettre à 15 000 développeurs africains d’assister à des formations de développement web et Android. Nous avons également annoncé la création de Clubs d’étudiants développeurs. Grâce à ces programmes, plus de 8 000 développeurs ont suivi des formations en développement web/mobile, et plus de 100 étudiants ont témoigné de l’impact de ces programmes sur leur carrière, leur situation professionnelle ou la création de start-ups. N’hésitez pas à regarder les témoignages d’Adaobi sur YouTube.

Mais il reste encore beaucoup à faire. Voilà pourquoi, aujourd’hui, nous sommes heureux d’annoncer un partenariat avec Pluralsight et Andela, qui permettra à 10 000 développeurs africains en herbe ou professionnels d’accéder à des formations en ligne sur les plateformes Android et mobiles pendant 4 mois. Cette opportunité s’adresse aux jeunes diplômés du Google Africa Scholarship Challenge, aux clubs d’étudiants développeurs, aux groupes de développeurs Google, ainsi qu’à d’autres développeurs en herbe ou professionnels en Afrique.

Pluralsight est une société qui propose des formations en ligne sur les technologies de pointe, et le programme Andela ALC assure un tutorat aux étudiants inscrits à ce programme. Le but de ce programme est de mettre une plateforme d’engagement continu à la disposition des développeurs, actuels et futurs, en Afrique afin de les aider à acquérir les compétences dont ils auront besoin pour décrocher la certification Google et démontrer leur employabilité.


Suivez le lien ci-dessous pour en savoir plus et bénéficier de cette opportunité :
Si nous n’en sommes qu’aux prémisses de notre engagement de former 100 000 développeurs, les succès remportés jusqu’à aujourd’hui nous incitent à multiplier les initiatives pour augmenter le nombre de développeurs logiciels qualifiés en Afrique et redoubler d’efforts pour réduire le chômage sur ce continent.

Publié par :
William Florance, Directeur, Programmes Impact Économique

Opening up opportunities in the UK

Today alone, you may have used Search at home to check the weather; your kids may have used YouTube to help learn something new at school; and you may have used Google Ads to seek out new customers at work.


Millions of people across the UK choose to use Google tools every day, but traditional economic measures do not take their value into account since many of these products are free. We wanted to explore the real value people unlock by using Google tools. Research firm Public First investigated how Google helps people work more productively, learn more, and have more fun across the UK. Here are a few of their key findings:

  • At home.Families have fun with our products and use them to free up time. Every year, two thirds of adults use YouTube to figure out how to do DIY projects, and 60 percent use it to help them cook. People value online search so much that the average household would rather give up an hour of sleep each night than give up access to online search.
  • At school.Parents and teachers alike use our products to support learning as part of the British education system. Parents of more than half of the school kids in the country said they use Google and YouTube to help their kids with their homework. 
  • At work.Google services help enable the growth of startups and scaleups via Google for Startups Campus London. They also help a new generation of small businesses, like independent app developers and YouTube creators, reach new global audiences and be more productive. Public First found that 88 percent of British adults use a search engine at least once a day to help get things done, which creates a time saving equivalent to an extra bank holiday every year. 

The report uses a variety of methods to quantify the value of Google services to families throughout the UK. This includes looking at the value of time saved by using Google products and also what these free services are worth to those who use them. For consumers, the analysis shows that Google services provide at least £37 billion in consumer surplus.

Public First also calculated the business economic activity supported by Google services like Google Ads, Adsense, and Android. By combining third party estimates of the UK’s share of the revenue of these services with other work looking at the average Return on Investments they enable, the report estimates that Google’s services are conservatively supporting at least £55 billion in economic activity. And the combined value of all free internet services could boost GDP by 0.75 percentage points annually--or the equivalent of adding an industry the size of pharmaceuticals or agriculture every year.

Regardless of age, education, income or location, our products aim to benefit everyone. To make sure that everyone has access to these opportunities, all sorts of people, with various personal and professional ambitions, are attending Google Digital Garage sessions throughout the UK to up-skill in digital literacy. No matter what people want to do today or where they want to go next, Google is committed to helping open up possibilities for them.

We are proud of the findings in this report and invite you to read them in full here.


We’re opening the final round of applications to the DNI Fund

Three years ago, we launched the Digital News Innovation Fund (DNI Fund) to stimulate innovation within the European news industry by providing no-strings-attached funding to companies or individuals looking for some room—and budget—to experiment. Since then, the DNI Fund has supported over 559 ambitious projects in digital journalism—whether it is to help investigative journalists with tools to collaborate at scale across borders, create open-source software that enables independent journalism business models to thrive or use VR to help others combat their own empathy-walls. In total, we have granted more than €115.2 million to news organizations across 30 countries. Today, we’re opening the sixth and final round of applications—the deadline to apply is December 3, 2018.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4CK99EI3Ww

How can you effect change when no one is listening? This war correspondent created a VR platform, supported by the DNI Fund, so that people could experience the depth of the issues first-hand.

How the Fund works

The Fund is open to established publishers, online-only players, news startups, collaborative partnerships and individuals based in the EU and EFTA countries. We’re on the lookout for great ideas and welcome any brilliant plan for which applicants (especially new ones) need some time, space and budget to bring it to life. There are three categories of funding available: Prototype (up to €50k of funding), Medium (up to €300k of funding) and Large (between €300k and €1 million in funding). For more information on eligible projects, criteria and funding, see our website.


For this round, we’re looking for creative approaches that seek to build sustainable business models for news—whether that’s diversification of revenue streams, creative applications of technology to save costs, boosting all aspects of reader revenue (e.g. subscriptions, memberships, contributions, etc.) or designing new ways of thinking around monetisation through products and user engagement.


Applicants whose project falls under the medium and large categories will need to ensure their proposal comes with clearly identified monetisation opportunities. The prototype track does not have this requirement and can remain focused on innovation only.

Apply now

See the DNI Fund website for full details and application forms. Applications must be made in English by Dec 3, 2018 at 23.59 CEST. We’ll announce recipients in March 2019.


New approaches have never been more needed so it’s time to experiment and try something novel. We’re ready and waiting to help you bring your ideas to reality—submit your applications now.

Meet the finalists of Doodle 4 Google 2018 from India

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lyN9OllRLcEGTUB2GYiPSXOT45WWUUw9f5C_fREwmWf1_aavxg14Y5a5ZX1m7u9El1FIMHMegWf9TweH3gN8-5cfXLKk10WSIK-ieZaEe3CW0HeE0LvTDrQEvo1eSiolNxWvx636 Sapna Chadha Director of Marketing Southeast Asia & India
Entries now open for online voting for users to choose the winner


This year, we asked art loving students from Class 1 - Class 10 in India, to tell us “What inspires me?”, and we are indeed inspired to see their vivid imagination and utmost creativity. Thousands of children from across the country sent in their entries. Over 55% of the entries were from non-metro cities, including Visakhapatnam, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Kottayam, Bareilly and Bhubaneswar, proving that creativity has no boundaries.


Today, we are glad to announce top 20 finalists for the annual Doodle4Google (D4G) 2018 competition. These children expressed themselves in unique ways! From a beautiful sight at the beach to nature’s tiny creatures; India’s farmer community to the Indian folk music; space exploration to learning from animals; children drew their inspiration using crayons, clay, and graphic designs.
This year’s D4G participants are grouped into five categories: Group 1 comprising students from Class 1 to 2; Group 2 with students from Class 3 to 4;  Group 3 with students from Class 5 to 6; Group 4 with students from Class 7 to 8 and Group 5 with students from Class 9 to 10.


These entries went through multiple rounds of judging, first by a panel of art teachers and then jury comprising of creative mastermind Arun Iyer, famous artist and YouTube Kids Creator, Rob (Harun Robert), India’s leading female YouTube Creator Sejal Kumar and our original doodle team lead, Ryan Germick. Details of the finalists along with their doodles are showcased at https://doodles.google.co.in/d4g.


You get to vote for your favourite little doodler too! It’s time for you to show some love, and ensure their doodle is featured on www.google.co.in on Children’s Day i.e. November 14, 2018. Online voting to pick the final winner will start on October 23 and will close at 10:00AM IST on November 6. Finally, based on your votes, the national jury will pick the final winners.
Here is the list of the 20 finalists from across India:


Group 1: Class 1 to 2
C Jayavant Kamesh, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam
Shalom Keshet, St.Mark's Sr. Sec. Public School, New Delhi
Aryamn Chitlangiya, Jayshree Periwal High School, Jaipur
Shaikh Mohd Rufael Rizwan, MESCO Crescent English High School, Mumbai


Group 2: Class 3 to 4
Aarohi Dixit, Dolphins International School, Pune
Patel Priyal Dilip, BKM Primary School, Bhopal
Daksh Verma, Gaur International, Greater Noida
Ankit Bhattacharya, Delhi Public School, New Town, Kolkata


Group 3: Class 5 to 6
Daniya Kulsum, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam
Aritra Haldar, G.B. Memorial Institution, Kolkata
B Sathwik, Sri Prakash Vidyaniketan, Visakhapatnam
Yash Pandurang Shelar, Ramannaug, Pune


Group 4: Class 7 to 8
Pingla Rahul More, J B Vachha High School, Mumbai
Manvi Jain, The Emerald Heights International School, Indore
B Shreya, Kendriya Vidyalaya Ganeshkhind, Pune
Aribah Fatima, Madina High School, Hyderabad


Group 5: Class 9 to 10
Dhwanit P Nagar, Swami Vivekanand International School, Mumbai
Anika Goel, Global Indian International School, Hyderabad
Aditi Shekhawat, Army Public School, Bengaluru
Sujoy Swastik, KIIT International School, Bhubaneswar


About the History of the Doodle:
Over the years, doodles on the Google homepage have made search on Google more fun and enjoyable for its users worldwide. When doodles were first created, nobody had anticipated how popular and integral they would become to the Google search experience. Nowadays, many users excitedly anticipate the release of each new doodle and some even collect them!


Doodles are known as the decorative changes that are made to the Google logo to celebrate holidays, anniversaries, and the lives of famous artists and scientists. Having a little bit of fun with the corporate logo by redesigning it from time to time is unheard of at many companies but at Google, it is a part of the brand. While the doodle is primarily a fun way for the company to recognize events and notable people, it also illustrates the creative and innovative personality of the company itself.

Posted by Sapna Chadha, Director of Marketing, Southeast Asia & India

A Final Update on Our Priorities for 2018

Dear Creators,


Since 2005, YouTube has transformed from a single video at the zoo to a global video library where billions of people turn to each day for knowledge, creativity and connection. Today, YouTube is a diverse community of creators who are building the next generation of media companies and drawing fans from every corner of the world. You are making history and changing the way people watch video, engage with each other and share their voice. I feel honored to help you do this, and I continue to be inspired by what I see.


In the last year, the number of channels with over 1 million subscribers has increased by 75%. Each month, more than one billion fans come to YouTube to be part of music culture and discover new songs and artists. Building on that momentum, we’ve expanded YouTube Music to the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia, Canada, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Brazil. We also rolled out three new stories on Janelle Monáe, J Balvin and Shawn Mendes in our YouTube Artist Spotlight series over the last few months. And we launched 13 YouTube Originals in the last quarter, including three in Germany and two in France.


All of this is possible because of the creative economy powered by you. However, this growing creative economy is at risk, as the EU Parliament voted on Article 13, copyright legislation that could drastically change the internet that you see today.


Article 13 as written threatens to shut down the ability of millions of people -- from creators like you to everyday users -- to upload content to platforms like YouTube. It threatens to block users in the EU from viewing content that is already live on the channels of creators everywhere. This includes YouTube’s incredible video library of educational content, such as language classes, physics tutorials and other how-to’s.


This legislation poses a threat to both your livelihood and your ability to share your voice with the world. And, if implemented as proposed, Article 13 threatens hundreds of thousands of jobs, European creators, businesses, artists and everyone they employ. The proposal could force platforms, like YouTube, to allow only content from a small number of large companies. It would be too risky for platforms to host content from smaller original content creators, because the platforms would now be directly liable for that content.  We realize the importance of all rights holders being fairly compensated, which is why we built Content ID, and a platform to pay out all types of content owners. But the unintended consequences of article 13 will put this ecosystem at risk.  We are committed to working with the industry to find a better way. This language could be finalized by the end of year, so it’s important to speak up now.


Please take a moment to learn more about how it could affect your channel and take action immediately. Tell the world through social media (#SaveYourInternet) and your channel why the creator economy is important and how this legislation will impact you.


Please read on for an update on our priorities for 2018.
Communication and transparency
As I’ve written to you before, we’ve made a conscious effort to communicate with you more in the places where your conversations are taking place--social and video. Based on your feedback, we’ve also increased the number of product updates or “heads up” messages regarding changes to YouTube, including smaller tests or experiments, on our @TeamYouTube handle and the Creator Insider channel. And we continue to share helpful tutorials and inspiring creator stories on our YouTube Creators channel, formerly the Creator Academy channel. We’re working to increase these efforts. I’m posting more videos to my own channel and the Creator Insider channel just posted their 100th video!


We’ve heard that you want communication from us in a simplified way and in one central location. To that point, we launched YouTube Studio, the new one-stop shop for platform news and product updates. This is the primary place for getting YouTube-related information, such as announcements about new features, creator academy videos and Creator Insider weekly news flashes. This easy-to-view dashboard is THE place you can go to find the latest news and will be the new homepage for all creators by end of the year.


Finally, our leadership continues to meet face-to-face with creators around the world. Robert Kyncl and Neal Mohan spoke to creators from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa at the Creator Summit in Berlin. Robert continued his series of Creator Interviews with Caspar Lee in Berlin and Gautam Anand, Managing Director of YouTube APAC, sat down with Korean creator Dotty in Seoul. We saw incredible turn out at our Creator Summit in Seoul, with creators from across Asia Pacific, and we look forward to hosting Latin American creators at our final 2018 Creator Summit in November.

Helping you succeed
Monetization is the heart of your business. To that end, we released an update to our monetization systems this quarter, which improved the accuracy of monetization icons by 10%.


In my last letter, I talked about our pilot to test a new video upload flow that asks creators to provide specific information about what’s in their video as it relates to our advertiser-friendly guidelines. Most creators in the pilot were able to accurately represent the content in their video, and it is providing more transparency to creators in terms of what type of content is suitable for ads. We hope to offer self certification to more creators before end of year and plan to expand broadly in early 2019.


This summer, we announced Channel Memberships, and since then, we’ve seen thousands of creators take advantage of this feature. For instance, Wintergatan, creator of the Marble Machine, grew his revenue by more than 50% since adding channel memberships and is using it to fund his next generation Marble Machine and a World Tour. Gaming creator Markiplier increased his revenue by 20% and comedy creator Mike Falzone tripled his YouTube revenue. We’ve also seen creators use Memberships to support creative endeavours, such as TriStar Gym offering exclusive Brazilian Jiu Jitsu technique videos and Ola Englund offering guitar lessons online to members. Because of this success, we're accelerating the roll-out of memberships to more channels and lowering the subscriber threshold from 100,000 to 50,000 subscribers. We plan to expand memberships to even more of you in the months to come.


Over the past few weeks, we've hosted three special editions of our NextUp camps designed to support up-and-coming Black, Latino and women creators. We received more applications for this round than any other before it. If you missed your chance to apply this time, please stay tuned for the next round. We are hosting two more in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil and St. Petersburg, Russia and plan to announce more in the coming months.

Giving people more ways to engage
Since we announced Premieres this summer, creators have been using this new feature to generate more views, more engagement and more revenue for their channel. For instance, Twenty One Pilots premiered their new video My Blood to more than 75,000 fans who watched it together and engaged over live chat and comments. One of our top gaming creators, TheRadBrad, tried it out and told his fans in his live chat that “it was one of the coolest experiences in my 8 years on YouTube.” And Linus Tech Tips’ premiere of his recent tech reviews was one of his best performing videos. I’m happy to announce that premieres is now available to all creators.


We recently introduced YouTube Giving, a suite of features that allow creators and nonprofits to raise funds for causes they care about directly on YouTube videos and live streams. While these features are currently in beta, we’ve seen creators use them to create inspiring impact. Hope for Paws raised over $100,000 in the first 10 days, and over 12 gaming creators have teamed up with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to raise over $125,000 throughout Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Our hope is to expand these features soon to more creators so that they can give back and support causes they care about.


Finally, we’re building a stronger gaming community on YouTube with features, such as our new Gaming Destination, Gaming Creator on the Rise and dedicated pages for over 80,000 games. We’ll also be retiring the standalone gaming app next year. We know this change impacts a lot of you, but it will allow gaming creators to have greater access to fans while still providing a unique gaming experience.

Tightening and enforcing our policies
One of our biggest priorities from a policy perspective has been investing in the news experience on YouTube and tackling misinformation. In close collaboration with many of our news partners, we've rolled out a number of changes to address them. For example, we have worked to make credible sources more readily available to users and rolled out breaking news and top news shelves in 23 countries. We also hosted the first YouTube News working group meeting at our headquarters and used this opportunity to listen to news organizations, academics, and creators on how we can improve news on the platform. Finally, we’re supporting journalism with technology that allows news to thrive, including an innovation fund to help news organizations sustainably build their video capabilities. We know we have more to do to combat misinformation, and we will continue to invest in innovative solutions to address this.


We also continue to provide updates to our YouTube Community Guidelines enforcement report, which you can read here.

Learning and education
Learning is one of the best parts of YouTube. In recent months, BookTubers came together for their annual BookTubeAThon, during which creators read books, shared their thoughts via their channels and inspired people around the world to do the same. We also saw “Study with me” videos gain popularity--motivating users to persevere through their own study sessions.


We’re committed to empowering both the creators who want to share their knowledge with the world and the users who come to our platform to learn--from home improvements to the basics of physics to grammar lessons. Today I’m happy to announce we’re investing $20 million in YouTube Learning, an initiative to support education focused creators and expert organizations that create and curate high quality learning content on YouTube. Part of this investment includes a Learning Fund to support creators who want to build multi-session learning content for YouTube. If you’re interested in this program, please fill out this form.


As part of our efforts to support creators who are sharing their knowledge on the platform, we also launched Learning, a new channel of curated tutorials, DIY videos, skill-based playlists, and other high-quality educational content from a range of creators. And we hosted three YouTube EduCon gatherings in Los Angeles, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. These conferences were great opportunities for Edutubers to network and learn new skills, and we’re planning to hold more conferences in new places in the upcoming year.


At YouTube, we hope to give back. We’ve worked with Lilly Singh to support girls’ education and fight violence against children, and we teamed up with Priyanka Chopra, BB Ki Vines and MostlySane to encourage girls’ literacy and education around the world. Please take a moment to watch and support theses causes.


Thank you for making YouTube an incredible source of creativity, knowledge and inspiration. As always, keep the feedback coming. I’m listening.


Susan Wojcicki