Author Archives: The Official Google Blog

Dynamic audiences in Google Analytics for Firebase

For businesses to make the best decisions about where to invest their marketing budget, it’s critical that they understand user behavior on both their web and app properties. And while a website is often the first customer touchpoint, for many businesses, apps are where customers are spending more of their time. As a result, marketers need to capture audience insights from their app analytics that they can then take action on, both within and outside of their apps.

Google Analytics for Firebase, our app analytics solution, has historically given you the ability to organize your audiences around events, device type, and other dimensions. These criteria were not exhaustive, however, or dynamic as user behavior changed over time.

That’s why we’ve made enhancements to the audience builder experience, with a few major updates to help you identify relevant app audiences more easily and with greater precision:

  1. Dynamic audience evaluation: Audiences are now dynamic by default, meaning Analytics will automatically include users as soon as they meet your criteria, and automatically exclude users when they no longer do. This allows you to “set and forget” your audiences while they populate, without the hassle of constantly re-evaluating them.
  2. Audience exclusion: Audiences can be more precisely defined by adding exclusion criteria. For example, you can create a list of users that added an item to a shopping cart and of those users, exclude those who have also made a purchase.
  3. Membership duration: Audiences can now include a membership time frame, such as “users that have converted in the last 30 days,” so your audiences and messaging remain fresh and timely.  

These new tools make audiences more powerful, flexible and actionable than before, so you can be confident that your insights reflect relevant users and activity on your apps. In 2019, we will continue to enhance the Google Analytics for Firebase audience builder, offering even more ways to precisely create audiences.

Take action once you’ve identified relevant audiences

Once you’ve improved your understanding of users, you can also deliver personalized experiences based on varying user needs. For example, through push notifications or Remote Config in Firebase, or customized ads in Google Ads.

Let’s say you have an e-commerce app. Using these advanced audience capabilities, you can build an audience of users that visit your app for the first time and add an item to their cart, but don’t make a purchase — and only include those who do so in a 30 day window.

Build a dynamic audience for first time users that have abandoned their cart.

Build a dynamic audience for first time users that have abandoned their cart.

You can now reach that audience with tailored messaging relevant to their experience with the app, and encourage them to make the purchase through an in-app promotion, email notification, or personalized ad. Once these users have returned to the app, made a purchase, and/or exceeded the 30 day window however, they will no longer meet the criteria for that audience, and you will not adversely affect their experience with marketing that is no longer relevant to them.

With the ability to create dynamic audiences, you are able to understand your users with better precision. A better view into your audiences means more insight into the customer journey, so you can invest in your marketing activities with confidence and see better results — keeping users happy, and your app growing.

Celebrating community leaders bridging the digital divide

Local leaders know their communities best, and this Black History Month we’re celebrating organizations across the country that help people gain new skills, find jobs and grow their businesses. Over the past year, through our Grow with Google initiative, we've worked with leaders and organizations in Black communities across the US who are helping to close the digital skills divide.

One of these standout organizations with deep community roots is the Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio. In the 1960s, the church worked tirelessly with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to expand voter registration, paving the way for Carl Stokes to become the first Black mayor of a major U.S. city. Today, under the leadership of Reverend Dr. Jawanza Colvin, community activism and social justice remain at the heart of Olivet Church and its associated Olivet Housing & Community Development Corporation (OHCDC).

Cleveland has the second highest poverty rate among big cities in the U.S., so pathways to jobs is one of Rev. Colvin’s top priorities. Some members of his community and congregation are struggling to get access to good jobs and oftentimes don’t have the training required to change careers. To connect residents with the resources they need to compete for emerging information technology jobs in Cleveland, Rev. Colvin and OHCDC teamed up with Grow with Google to offer the IT Support Professional Certificate Program—an online curriculum designed to prepare people for roles in IT support. By creating cohorts of learners who are going through the IT Certificate curriculum together,  Reverend Colvin and the OHCDC are helping members of the Cleveland community prepare for jobs in a growing industry.

OHCDC is among many organizations who are helping their communities learn new digital skills to grow their careers and businesses. In Indianapolis, Larry Williams, President of the Indy Black Chamber of Commerce, is leveraging our tools and resources to teach local small businesses how to grow online. His first workshop was so popular that he’s continued to offer workshops to more than 100 business owners who are growing and creating more local economic opportunity. And in Columbia, South Carolina, JT McLawhorn—who leads the Columbia Urban League—used the Applied Digital Skills curriculum at their annual STEM careers summit, helping 400 teens in foster care prepare for summer jobs. The Columbia Urban League is now expanding these offerings across the state.

This year we launched the Grow with Google Partner Program to make sure that more community heroes like Reverend Colvin, Larry Williams and JT McLawhorn have access to free digital skill resources that help their communities thrive. We invite local heroes and organizations to learn more and apply at grow.google/partners. We look forward to continuing to support and celebrate the important work you’re leading in your communities.

From Doodling to Design: A Q&A with Nicola Formichetti

Nicola Formichetti is a designer, stylist and bonafide fashion icon. He’s created some of the most beautiful and awe-inspiring red carpet looks of the past decade—and now, he’s also the latest addition to #teampixel, thanks to his new collection of My Cases designed for Pixel 3 and Pixel 2 users.  


Nicola’s effortless and cool style pairs nicely with the sleek phone design, bringing a bright pop of color to Pixel devices. We caught up with Nicola to learn more about what inspired him to create his My Case collection and how technology shapes his current work.


What excited you about designing a My Case Artist collection?

I love that I was able to do my own design very quickly using Google tech—I used the Pixelbook and Pixelbook Pen to design this collection. I’m just one example of what fun you can have drawing with these new tools.


How does technology play a role in your creative process?

Technology is at the core of everything I do, from capturing my inspiration at the very beginning of the process to sharing the final product.


Tell us about what inspired your design of the phone cases?

When I was creating the concept for these cases with the Pixelbook Pen, I was reminded of when I was a kid and would doodle...everywhere! First on notebooks, then on walls, then eventually I began graffitiing. I’ve used pens on clothes before, but not on a phone case so it was an exciting process.  


What’s your favorite feature on Pixel 3?

The camera on the Pixel 3 is amazing and is able to capture photos and videos at an amazing quality. It’s perfect for taking a great selfie!


Welcome to #teampixel, Nicola!


Working with security researchers to make the web safer for everyone

What do a 19-year-old researcher from Uruguay, a restaurant owner from Cluj, Romania and a Cambridge professor have in common? They’re all security researchers—a global community of professionals, academics, students and hobbyists who are essential to the safety of our products and the web as a whole. We’re grateful to be a part of this community and support their work in a bunch of ways, including the Vulnerability Rewards Program and our 2018 Privacy and Security academic research awards.

Vulnerability Reward Program: Year in Review

Whether it’s been written by a PhD or a hobbyist, software inevitably has bugs that make it behave in unexpected ways. The important thing is that bugs are identified and patched as quickly as possible. Back in 2010, we started the Vulnerability Reward Program to get help from the security research community in identifying and reporting bugs in Google apps and software. The goal of the program is simple: encourage researchers to report issues so that we can fix them quickly and keep users’ data secure. We also provide financial rewards for bug reporters, ranging from $100 to $200,000, based on the risk level of their discovery. 

Since 2015, we’ve taken a look back at what VRP researchers have done to help make Google users safer. Here’s 2018, by the numbers:

vrp2018

Thanks to researchers from all around the world, we’ve been able to patch all different types of bugs. Ezequiel Pereira, a 19-year-old researcher from Uruguay, uncovered a Remote Code Execution "RCE" bug that allowed him to gain remote access to our Google Cloud Platform console. Tomasz Bojarski from Poland discovered a bug related to Cross-site scripting (XSS), a type of security bug that can allow an attacker to change the behavior or appearance of a website, steal private data or perform actions on behalf of someone else. Tomasz was last year’s top bug hunter and used his reward money to open a lodge and restaurant. After Dzmitry Lukyanenka, a researcher from Minsk, Belarus, lost his job, he began bug-hunting full-time and became part of our VRP grants program, which provides financial support for prolific bug-hunters over time.

Security and Privacy Research awards

We’ve also worked closely with leading security and privacy experts in academia, collaborating when we can provide the technology needed to carry out specific research projects. Academic breakthroughs help improve data privacy and security for years to come. Last year, we announced the Security and Privacy research awards, a new effort to recognize academics who have made major contributions to the field. Awards winners are selected by a committee of senior security and privacy researchers at Google.

Today, we’re revealing the 2018 winners—and on their behalf, we’re making a financial contribution to their universities totaling more than half a million dollars:

Whether they’re finding bugs today or making breakthroughs that will protect the web years into the future, the security research community is making everyone’s information safer online. We’ll continue to do our part to support it.

Childish Gambino dances into Playground on Pixel

Playground gives you the power to create and play through your Pixel camera using augmented reality. You can bring your photos and videos to life by adding interactive characters called Playmoji to what’s around you, and now there’s a new Playmoji inspired by recording artist Childish Gambino. You can add him to your photos or videos by simply pointing your camera and dropping him into the scene.

childish gambino 2

Examples of Playmoji inspired by recording artist Childish Gambino. 

We worked closely with Childish Gambino and his music video choreographer, Sherrie Silver, to make sure the Playmoji’s dance moves rival those of Childish Gambino himself. By using ARCore’s motion tracking, light estimation, and ability to understand the real world, his Playmoji looks and feels lifelike, whether he’s in front of you or in a selfie next to you. He even reacts to your facial expressions in real time thanks to machine learning—try smiling or frowning in selfie mode and see how he responds.

gambino_better.gif

The Childish Gambino Playmoji pack features unique moves that map to three different songs: “Redbone,” “Summertime Magic,” and “This is America.” Pixel users can start playing with them today using the camera on their Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL.

Google Pixel 3 | Playmoji Dance-Off

Think you have moves too? We want to bring you in on the fun so we're inviting #teampixel to a dance challenge. When you use the Childish Gambino Playmoji, bust out your best dance moves alongside him. The #pixeldanceoff is on—get moving!

Migrating to modern Android management solutions

A modern enterprise mobility solution requires a flexible and secure platform with advanced management capabilities. It’s what we’ve delivered with Android Enterprise, and today we’re offering additional resources for organizations that are moving off of legacy deployment methods. The Android Enterprise Migration Handbook is a guide for IT managers who want detailed steps and best practices for switching away from legacy APIs.

Why choose Android Enterprise?

Customers and partners like the flexible device management choices found in Android Enterprise. The clear separation of work and personal profiles on the same device is powerful—IT manages corporate applications and data, preserving employee privacy while  protecting the security and privacy of essential company information. Additionally, rapid deployment methods—like zero-touch enrollment, QR codes, a DPC Identifier or configuration through NFC—simplify the process of getting your team up and running.

Learn more about migrating to Android Enterprise

Transition updates

Device Admin-based management solutions rely on a number of complex workarounds, such as side loading applications and using personal Gmail accounts. These solutions are limited and are not as suited to the needs of modern enterprise use cases.

As part of the transition away from Device Admin, APIs for password enforcement, disable camera and disable keyguard features have been marked as deprecated in Android 9 Pie. These APIs will no longer be available in the 2019 Android release. We recommend that customers migrate to management deployments using the Android Enterprise framework through an EMM provider.

Modern management and security

Compared to Device Admin, Android Enterprise provides extensive management controls and solutions for personal devices, work only, personally-enabled and dedicated device scenarios. This extends to enrollment, offering a variety of options to get a team up and running.

The modern Android security APIs are part of a more vigorous security structure, with more privacy for users and protection for user data. The work profile and managed device APIs create a better experience for both IT admins and employees.

Helping your organization make the move

We recommend that organizations consider a move to work profile and managed device APIs to better serve their mobility needs. Our Android Enterprise Migration Handbook will serve as a helpful document for organizations that want additional direction.

Mobility transitions can be a large and important undertaking. We encourage reaching out to your EMM partner for additional guidance on migration.


How a data hack led Heather Adkins to her career

Editor’s note: Two-factor authentication, not using my pet’s name for a password, surfing the web on a secure browser—I do what I can to keep my data safe online. But thanks to the work of Heather Adkins—Google’s Director of Information Security—and her team, I don’t have to worry about my account getting hacked on a daily basis. I caught up with her for this latest She Word to learn about her career path in information security, her love for medieval history, her advice on how we can all protect ourselves online and more.

How do you explain your job at a dinner party?

I keep the hackers out of Google.

How did you get into information security field?

In college, I had a job at a small ISP (internet service provider) and we got hacked. When most people get hacked for the first time, there’s helplessness, fear and panic—you feel like you’re having your house burgled. Instead, I felt a sense of curiosity: How did the hackers possibly manage that? What do they know that I don’t?

I knew that’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life: get hacked—or at least study the techniques hackers use, and find ways to defend against it. My career found me, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.

There are high-stakes and stressful situations when you’re investigating potential security threats. How do you stay focused and calm?

One of the most important things is to make it a team effort. This responsibility doesn’t fall on any one person’s shoulders; it falls on a set of people who can support each other. It helps to distribute the stress—without a team, it would be too much.

My team has a heavy focus on trying to maintain work-life balance. Since our work is 24/7, we use a “follow the sun” model, moving responsibility of a project along with offices’ daytime working hours. This gives people a sense of closure at the end of their day, knowing that their work isn’t going to get dropped.

You’ve been at Google for 16 years—how many different roles have you had? How have you seen online security change during that time?

I’m one of the founding members of the security team. It’s changed so much—there was no Gmail when I joined Google! As the company has grown over time, so has our responsibility as a security team. But a lot of fundamental things are the same: Google was really committed  to security before I got here. And the passion of people who work in security hasn’t changed—they love technology and they care about keeping people safe online.

What’s one thing everyone should do right now to better protect themselves online?

Two-factor authentication, where it’s offered, and use a security key if you’re a Google user.

My career found me, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.
heather4'

What’s one habit that makes you successful?

I like to read lots of different things. When I started in the industry, I would get up and read Bugtraq (an electronic mailing list covering issues about computer security). When I wake up today, however, I want to know what the trade relationship is between the U.S. and other countries. The security industry is as much driven by geopolitical trends as anything. I find inspiration for solutions in all kinds of places; I’m reading books about quantum physics and civilizations at the moment.

What are you passionate about outside of work?

I study medieval history as a hobby. We know very little about this period of time in history because nobody kept what we would consider to be good records. It’s similar to what interests me when it comes to working on a system compromise—it’s a desire to put the picture back together, and figure out what happened.

Who has been a strong female influence in your life?

There are numerous luminaries I admire like Admiral Grace Hopper but they loom large at a distance (I’ve never met them). In my professional life, there haven't been many—I knew maybe five women in the field when I joined. In my personal life, my mom has been my biggest influence.

What advice do you have for women starting out in their careers?

Build resiliency in yourself. Finding a way to be resilient through tough times and come out the other side—having grown a little—means that you’re going to be able to go farther. To do that, you have to make sure you have joy elsewhere in your life to offset the difficult moments. It’s an engineering job: you have to be able to engineer your own happiness. You can get through anything in life if you can do that.

You can pick the winner of the Google.org Impact Challenge Illinois

Last month, eight high school students in Columbia, South Carolina started apprenticeships at local businesses through a program to support homegrown talent in the area. In Cleveland, 25 high schoolers are hard at work on their internships at a local manufacturer, on a track to have a permanent job by the spring. And in Pittsburgh, hundreds of women participated in pay-what-you-can workshops, ranging from DIY synthesizer making to custom vinyl cutting.

Since our start last year, the Google.org Impact Challenge has awarded $1 million to 16 nonprofits in four cities: Pittsburgh, Oklahoma City, Columbia, S.C., and Cleveland, all cities we visit on our Grow with Google tour across the U.S. Selected by a panel of local advisors, each organization came up with a new way to create economic opportunities for the communities they serve. At Google, when we see something that’s working, we find a way to make it even better.

For our next Google.org Impact Challenge in the U.S., we decided to cast a wider net and support organizations whose reach will extend beyond one metropolitan area. To support Grow with Google’s initiative to create economic opportunities for all Americans, we launched a new statewide Impact Challenge, giving Google.org the ability to support an even more diverse group of organizations. Last September, we convened our first statewide Impact Challenge in Illinois, and 167 nonprofits from all corners of the Prairie State applied with their boldest ideas to make positive change.

Today, we are pleased to announce the winners, each of whom will receive $75,000 in grant funding and Google training to make their ideas a reality. One of these winners will receive an extra $250,000, and it’s up to you to pick who wins. You can select your favorite on our site today; voting ends on February 14.

Grow With Google Illinois

  • After School Matters:Supporting a program to guide disconnected Chicago youth onto individualized college and career pathways.

  • Cara Chicago:Helping people affected by poverty and the challenges that come with it get quality jobs.

  • Future Founders Foundation: Empowering young adults to start their own businesses through a free accelerator.

  • Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois:Increasing on-site accessibility to STEM education for girls in over 40 rural Illinois counties.

  • Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs: Creating community-owned grocery stores in small towns to increase access to fresh produce and meats from local farmers.

  • Manufacturing Renaissance: Offering paid work experiences, training for industry credentials, career and college coaching to underserved youth for careers in manufacturing.

  • North Lawndale Employment Network: Providing transitional jobs for men and women returning from incarceration.

  • Mattoon in Motion:Supporting a sustainable, collaborative space for entrepreneurs to receive training, mentoring, and coaching.

  • True Star Foundation Inc.: Helping small businesses and nonprofits create social media content, blog posts, videos, and more through a youth-led digital marketing agency.

  • YWCA of McLean County:Building employment skills for formerly incarcerated women.

Thanks to our panel of local advisors for selecting such a great group of finalists. Now it’s time for you to weigh in. Vote through our website to select which of the 10 winners will receive the People’s Choice Award and and additional $250,000. Public voting will end in one week, on February 14, and the winner will be announced on February 15.

Avoid the heartache of Valentine’s Day planning with Google


Whether you’re single, in a relationship, or planning a Palentine’s Day get-together, we’ve got a few ways to make planning your night out as sweet as Valentine’s Day candy. Here are a few helpful features on Maps and local Search that’ll help you plan a night out (or in) from start to finish.

The last minute lover

Although restaurants tend to book up on February 14, if you’re the spontaneous type you can still try your hand at walking in. To give you the best chance at a last minute table, just find the restaurant's Business Profile on Google and scroll down to see when they tend to get busy. For some restaurants, we can even show you whether it's busy in real time, so you can act like you actually had your night planned out all along.

                                       

The stay at home romantic

Sometimes, there’s nothing more romantic (and comfy!) than a nice night in. If you’re planning a party for two at home, it’s easy to get your dinner delivered right to your door. All you need to do is find the restaurant’s Business Profile on Google and select from any of the delivery services listed to have dinner on the table in a jiffy—saving time on cooking so you can spend more quality time together.

The fancy feaster

Dining out on Valentine’s Day probably takes the most advance planning. Lucky for you, Google has all the information you need to make a decision on where to go—and when you’re ready, make the reservation. Once you've found a place that interests you, just open the restaurant’s business profile to learn more by browsing photos, taking a look at menus and checking out the reviews. When you're ready to go, tap the "Reserve a table" button to make a res without ever leaving Google. Bon appetit!

                                      

The Palentine’s Day organizer

Prefer to spend this night out with pals? The group planning feature in the Google Maps app is perfect for helping you quickly find a spot that all of your friends will enjoy. Simply long press on a place to add it to a shortlist, and then share it with friends via your favorite messaging platform. From there, they’ll be able to vote on where they want to go, or add other places to the list if they have alternative suggestions.

 

So no matter how you plan to spend your Valentine’s Day, Google can help you get your planning done in just a few taps or clicks.



Romance Report: A look at love in 2019

Hearts beating with worry over a potential conversation hearts shortage, people have been on the hunt for a candy-free way to express their affection this Valentine’s Day. Looks like we’re in the clear, but  many people still turned to Google for ideas, advice, emojis and more.

To celebrate all the ways that people around the world show their love, we’re sharing our Romance Report to give you a global glimpse at how people look to say “Be Mine” in their own special way.

“What is love?”

Well, first of all, it’s one of the top questions people ask about love, according to Google Trends. But as Valentine’s Day nears, we dug into one of the other most popular questions about love since February 14 last year: “What are the 5 love languages?”

Gary Chapman’s 1995 book has caught people’s attention as they look to understand the ways in which they and their partners prefer to express love, and search interest in “love languages” is at an all time high. With that in mind, here are some of the top questions and insights about the love languages.

Let’s start with some quality time on our most searched love language (and searches are on the rise, to boot). These are the top questions related to both quality time with your S.O. since the last V-Day:

  1. How to spend quality time with your partner?

  2. How to set boundaries with your significant other for quality time?

  3. How to have more quality time with your partner?

  4. What does spending quality time with your other significant mean?

  5. What to do when your partner is touch and you are quality time?

If there’s one thing we can learn from Google Trends, it’s that words of affirmation can be hard, and people often look for advice on how to express their feelings. Here are the top searched “how to say” relationship questions:

  1. How to say sorry to your partner?

  2. How to say happy birthday to an ex?

  3. How to say happy birthday to a loved one?

  4. How to say something difficult to spouse?

  5. How to say love you to your partner?

The chocolate company in Hershey, PA isn’t the only one concerned with hugs and kisses. These expressions of physical touch (our next love language!) are on people’s minds and in their searches. “Kiss” is more searched than “hug” in every country, and on average, “kiss” is 7 times more searched than “hug” worldwide. So what are they searching for? Here are the sweet and simple questions many people ask:

Top “kiss” questions worldwide, since last Valentine’s Day:

  1. How to kiss a girl?

  2. How to kiss a guy?

  3. How to kiss someone?

  4. How to kiss a boy?

  5. How to kiss well?

Top “hug” questions worldwide, since last Valentine’s Day:

  1. How to cuddle?

  2. How to hug a girl?

  3. How to hug?

  4. What is cuddling?

  5. How to hug a guy?

With all the “gift for” searches around Valentine’s Day (the second busiest week for these searches apart from Christmas week), you’d think everyone’s love language is receiving gifts. If your partner is one of the many who appreciate a heartfelt token of admiration, or if you’ve got kids who are all about collecting Valentine’s cards, perhaps DIY is the way to go.

These are the top searched queries related to do-it-yourself and Valentines' Day in the past 12 months, worldwide:

  1. DIY valentine gifts for him

  2. DIY valentines cards

  3. DIY valentine decorations

  4. DIY valentine box

  5. DIY valentine gifts for her

At long last, we’ve reached our final (and apparently most enigmatic) love language: acts of service. Whether for him or her, near or far, these are the top searches from people looking to do a special something for their significant other:

  1. Acts of service love language ideas for her

  2. Acts of service love language ideas for him

  3. What are acts of service?

  4. Examples of acts of service

  5. Acts of service love language long distance

¡Te amo!

Saying “I love you” shouldn’t be bound by your preferred love language, or what language you speak. Every year, Google Translate sees translations spike on February 14, nearly doubling for those three simple words.  

Translations from English to Spanish top the “I love you” list. Here are the top 10 languages into which people translate that phrase:

  1. Spanish

  2. Portuguese

  3. Korean

  4. French

  5. Arabic

  6. Russian

  7. Japanese

  8. German

  9. Indonesian

  10. Simplified Chinese

Call the love doctor

When in doubt, the Google Assistant is there to help you out with translations, animal inspo and even a serenade or two.

  • To take a hint from our furry friends and learn how creatures across the animal kingdom show their affection, just say “Hey Google, tell me a fact about love.” Spoiler alert: did you know that a male penguin proposes to a female penguin by throwing the nicest rock he can find by her feet? If she picks it up, they’re engaged!

  • For some extra words of affirmation, “Hey Google, serenade me” is guaranteed to land you a love song.

  • Tell your Assistant, “Hey Google, Happy Valentine’s Day,” to learn how to say “I love you” in 8 different languages, including Korean, Mandarin, Hindi, French, Spanish, Danish, Gujarat,  and Indonesian.

  • Curious to uncover which “dynamic duo” you and your Assistant are? Just ask “Hey Google, do you love me?” and take a brief quiz to see just what kind of special bond you have with your Assistant. How sweet.

A 😍 is worth a thousand words

There’s nothing better than an emoji when words alone just aren’t enough. Whether it’s 😘,🍫, or 💘, Gboard helps you find and share the perfect emoji (or sticker, or GIF) all year long. Here are a few insights about romance and emoji from around the world:

  • We love to love: the heart-eyes emoji 😍 is the #4 most popular emoji worldwide, followed by the heart ❤️ at #5

  • It takes two: sometimes one emoji doesn’t cut it, so you gotta double up. And when we do, we’re usually feeling a bit mushy. Half of the most popular (non-repeating) emoji duos are about L-O-V-E:

    • 😍😘

    • 😘❤️

    • 😍❤️

    • ☀️😘

  • Some languages love *love* more than others: the heart ❤️ is the most-used emoji for people who type in French, Portuguese and Dutch

  • An emoji by any other word: Hindi speakers use the rose 🌹 more than any other emoji

  • Living up to the country’s romantic reputation, Italian speakers use the kiss 💋 more than any other emoji. Bacio!

Anyway, I’m off to celebrate Singles Awareness Day.