Tag Archives: Policy

Grow with Google takes digital skills training to the Illawarra community

Grow with Google has headed out on the road again for 2020, taking our specialist digital skills training program to the Illawarra region of New South Wales for the first time.

More than 250 Illawarra locals joined special training workshops at Shellharbour Civic Centre where they learned tips and tools from Google’s own digital experts to help them grow their businesses, careers and education.

Caption: Google Australia’s Richard Flanagan with Stephen Jones MP and Mayor Marianne Saliba 

We were joined by Shadow Assistant Treasurer and Member for Whitlam, Stephen Jones MP, and City of Shellharbour Mayor, Marianne Saliba - who officially opened the event.

The Grow with Google program - which features in person training and online resources - is designed to help address the digital skills gap in Australia.

 Caption: Local Illawarra businesses picked up online tips and tricks 

At today’s small business workshop, Illawarra businesses learned how to have a strong presence online to attract new customers and gain better insights into what their customers wanted - and individuals at all stages of the digital journey picked up new skills.

We know that digital tools and skills can open up new opportunities for communities and businesses across the Illawarra. But many people are unsure what to do or where to begin, so we created Grow with Google to help bridge this gap.

One Illawarra business that is using digital tools to help grow their business is catering and fine foods company Culinarius. Business owner Rebecca Armstrong said they’ve focused on updating their online profile, responding to customer reviews, and learning insights from their web traffic.

Since 2014, Google has trained more than half a million people across Australia through online and in-person digital skills training, as well as curriculum integrated through school and partner programs.

We look forward to taking Grow with Google to every state and territory in 2020.

Posted by Richard Flanagan, Head of Small Business Marketing

Go West! Google provides free digital skills training to Perth and Rockingham communities

Grow with Google has wrapped up 2019 by taking the free digital skills program to Perth and Rockingham for the first time.

First up, we ran workshops in Herne Hill at the local Swan Settlers Market on the outskirts of Perth where 100 local business owners and entrepreneurs picked up new skills and tips on things like how to grow their presence online, be found by new customers, and gain insights into their customers’ needs. We also ran sessions for local job seekers, teachers and students.

Caption: Attendees from our afternoon Digital Springboard session taking a quick break from the content 

A big thank you to West Australian Senator Matt O'Sullivan who represented Federal Member for Pearce and Attorney-General Christian Porter in officially opening the event. And to local caterers Little Lamonts, Mr Cannolo, Perth Bells and Juice Station for providing the sustenance throughout the day and local baristas from The Black Moustache Coffee Co. who provided the caffeine hits! 

From there we headed down the highway to Rockingham (aka “Rocko”) for sessions with another 80 business owners - and were joined by local Federal Member for Brand and Shadow Minister for Trade Madeleine King MP.

Caption: Madeleine King MP talks to Rockingham locals about the importance of digital skills 
It was great hearing feedback from locals at both events that they picked up something new - even though they were all at different stages in the digital journey.

A report released by AlphaBeta in September found that Google’s advertising and productivity platforms were helping more than a million Aussie businesses and had helped deliver business benefits of $35 billion so far this year - including supporting 13,300 West Australian jobs through our economic activity.

As we wrap up 2019 and reflect on what we’ve done and where we’ve been, we’re so thrilled to have worked with so many wonderful communities across Australia to learn and share new digital skills that will help people grow their businesses, careers and lives.

And we passed an important milestone, too, with Google now having trained more than half a million Aussies through our travelling digital skills workshops and other STEM outreach and curriculum support we are providing through the education system.

But there’s still much to do! We can’t wait to get back out on the road in 2020 to visit even more communities in all corners of the country, so that we’re supporting future jobs, economic growth and prosperity in Australia.

While the events have wrapped up for 2019, you can still access tips and resources online at http://g.co/GrowAustralia

A big thank you to the communities, business chambers, government agencies, the Walkley Foundation and the Google team who helped make Grow with Google a great success this year. See you in 2020!

Posted by Rebecca Mason, Grow with Google program lead, Google Australia 

Caption: Another 'first!' - Perth saw us welcome our first furry, four-legged friend to one of our digital skills workshops.

Google takes digital skills training to South Australia

Google headed to Adelaide and Kangaroo Island in South Australia last week to run digital skills workshops for businesses, community organisations, and locals looking to grow their businesses, organisations, careers and education.

It’s the first time the Grow with Google workshops have been held in Adelaide and Kangaroo Island, and it was great to see locals picking up new skills regardless of where they were on the digital journey.

Grow with Google in Adelaide 
First up, more than 200 Adelaide locals joined special training workshops in Glenelg. We were joined by Steve Georganas MP who officially opened the event.

Caption: Grow with Google visited Glenelg in Adelaide 

Local businesses learned how to grow their presence online and gain valuable insights about their customers — and individuals at all stages of the digital journey picked up new skills.

One Adelaide business that has been using digital tools to grow successfully is outdoor camping gear retailer, Snowys. They created an online shop in 2011 to complement their existing physical retail store, and it’s helped the company grow significantly. Today half of their employees work solely on fulfilling online orders.

Learning new STEM skills at Madison Park 
We also visited Madison Park School to help students prepare their FIRST LEGO League (FLL) team for the upcoming regional competition. Together with the FLL team from Pedare Christian College we ran through robotics missions and provided feedback on their innovative solutions to this year’s City Shaper challenge. We also spent time with the older students talking about careers in STEM and answering all their questions about Google and technology.

Caption: Googlers visited Madison Park School to help students prepare for competition.

With support from Schools Plus and Google, Madison Park has introduced a STEM learning program across all year levels, aiming to lift student engagement in STEM and develop teachers’ skills and confidence in incorporating STEM learning in the classroom.

Last year, Madison Park was not only able to participate in the FLL Competition for the first time, but they won the regionals to then earn a place at the Nationals in Sydney later that year! Through Schools Plus, Google is providing STEM education in schools across Australia, reaching more than 1300 students and 480 teachers.

Grow with Google Kangaroo Island 
Then it was on to Kangaroo Island where we ran workshops over two days for sixty local businesses and community organisations. It was great to see the locals picking up new skills they can put to use to grow their businesses and organisations beyond the Island!

Caption: Kangaroo Island locals joined Google experts for digital skills workshops 

A big thank you to South Australian Senator and Shadow Minister for Tourism Don Farrell and State Member for Mawson Leon Bignell for officially opening the event.

A report released by AlphaBeta in September found that Google’s advertising and productivity platforms were helping more than a million Aussie businesses and had helped deliver business benefits of $35 billion so far this year - including supporting 7,400 South Australian jobs through its economic activity.

Grow with Google aims to provide all Australians with access to digital skills training online and in-person, to help them make the most of the Internet. It includes an online learning hub accessible from anywhere, on any device, with hundreds of handy training modules. The next Grow with Google event will be held in Perth on 19 November. Find out more at: http://g.co/GrowPerth.

Posted by Hannah Frank, Public Policy Manager at Google Australia

Indigenous entrepreneurs gain new digital skills to grow their businesses

We were thrilled to welcome forty Indigenous entrepreneurs and businesspeople to our Sydney headquarters today for digital skills workshops designed to help them grow their businesses further.

 The Grow with Google workshop was hosted in partnership with Supply Nation, and was the first one fully dedicated to empowering the Indigenous business community.



At today’s event, businesses learned how to grow their presence online and gain valuable customer insights, and individuals at all stages of the digital journey picked up new skills.

We know there are lots of opportunities for Australian businesses that have a strong online presence, and use the Internet to engage with customers and grow their business. But many aren’t sure how to go about it — so we hosted this event with the community to share digital tips and tools they can put to good use.

Vets on Call is a great example of a business that has been using digital tools to build awareness of their service and engage with customers effectively. Morgan Coleman, a Torres Strait Islander man and owner-founder of the company, created the mobile app which allows users to book veterinarians for home visits.



Google Australia has a Reconciliation Action Plan of which partnering with Indigenous communities to support their economic development and providing access to technology are key components.

Grow with Google aims to create opportunity for all Australians to grow their skills, careers, and businesses with free tools, training, and events. It includes an online learning hub accessible from anywhere, on any device, with hundreds of handy training modules.

A big thank you to Laura Berry, CEO of Supply Nation, and to the local Gadigal people and broader Indigenous business community who made this initiative possible.

Posted by Jean Magalhães, Small Business Marketing Manager, Google Australia

Unlocking the Economic Impact of Public Cloud in Australia

Australia is one of the most advanced public cloud markets in Asia Pacific (APAC) but there’s still plenty of room to grow and benefits to reap.

A new Boston Consulting Group (BCG) report commissioned by Google Cloud examined the public cloud’s economic impact in six APAC markets including Australia, and it reveals that public cloud adoption locally has the potential to contribute:

  • A sizeable US$108 billion of GDP between 2019 and 2023—that’s about 1.5% of GDP when annualised and equivalent to over half of the mining industry’s annual contribution to the overall economy 
  • Public cloud deployments have the potential to create as many as 26,000 jobs with an additional 47,000 jobs influenced over the next five years. When combined, that’s equivalent to 0.6% of the current workforce. 
  • BCG outlines that continued regulatory support and deployment of government applications combined with an increase in the pool of digital talent—the GDP impact could rise by another 20% to US$130 billion with 53,000 jobs created and another 59,000 jobs influenced 

The power of the cloud 
At a firm level, the benefits of the public cloud are numerous; from boosting internal productivity, to creating a robust security environment and reducing the time to market for new products and services.

Large enterprise across a range of sectors including financial services, retail and media and gaming have been quick to adopt the public cloud and are already reaping the benefits. Case in point - ANZ Bank has embraced the public cloud to develop data-driven business insights for its institutional clients, finding that the ability to offer instant insight allows them to expand its services.There is also strong interest growing among traditional industries such as manufacturing and mining.

Public sector is leading by example through its cloud-first policy and improving citizen services through the cloud. For example, Australia Post is improving customer experiences with smart data analytics. BigQuery has given it visibility into every stage of the mail delivery process. Operations managers can now see what’s happening in sorting facilities in real time, helping to identify flow blockages almost instantly. With near real-time data analytics, Australia Post can free up valuable resources, act quicker and provide better service to the millions of Australians that rely on it everyday.

The cloud is also fast emerging as a platform for business to develop AI-driven solutions. Using machine learning through Google Cloud, and its own artificial intelligence-based platform, Brisbane-based medical technology firm Maxwell Plus processes more than 1GB of data per patient — across tens of thousands of patients — to diagnose medical conditions such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease quickly and accurately.

A driver of jobs 
As the public cloud gains momentum it is expected to contribute significantly to employment opportunities in Australia. This includes a combination of non-digital roles such as sales, marketing and human resources, as well as digital jobs such as cloud architects, developers, data and AI scientists. There is also incredible potential for additional jobs to be created as a result of second order effects of key industrial verticals that drive the economy.

With that said, when I speak to customers every day they tell me it’s no longer a question of whether the cloud makes sense, but how quickly they can move and access to skilled talent is critical. That’s why we’re committed to nurturing the next supply of cloud-savvy talent through our regularly Cloud OnBoard events which equip participants to thrive in a cloud-first workplace.

The fundamentals are set for Australia’s public cloud market to drive economic growth and advance digital transformation. Our Google Cloud Region in Sydney is supporting businesses to develop advanced digital capabilities and government agencies in enhancing citizen services - all the while providing these organisations Google Cloud’s world-class security. We look forward to working with Australian businesses and public sector organisations to drive the country’s economic growth and digital transformation.

By Colin Timm, Country Director of Australia and New Zealand

Digital skills help Melbourne coffee pod business brew success

We all know Melburnians love their coffee but just what is Melbourne’s preferred brew? According to what coffee Melburnians are searching for online, it’s the espresso.

A look at Google Trends over the last 12 months found the espresso came out of top, closely followed by the latte — when compared to other common favourites including the flat white, cappuccino, mocha, macchiato and long black.


One Melbourne business working to capitalise on Melburnians love of coffee in their homes and workplaces - while helping the environment - is Melbourne-based eco-friendly coffee pod maker Pod Co. They’ve built a burgeoning online business combining Melbourne’s penchant for great coffee with digital tools.

Pod Co have used the internet to gain insights into what brews Melburnians love the most, and have run online campaigns to engage with them when they’re thinking about coffee. Since focusing on online sales, customer engagement, and targeted advertising, they’ve doubled their revenue.

While showing other Melbourne businesses how to succeed online, research suggests many small businesses are unsure how to go about it. In fact, while businesses who engage online are one and half times more likely to be growing, 90 per cent of Aussie small businesses aren’t taking the necessary steps.

Caption: Google's Melbourne site leader Sean McDonell opened Grow with Google Melbourne. 

Google Australia is working to close this gap through the Grow with Google program which came to Melbourne today. Grow with Google workshops were held at Hawthorn Arts Centre. At today’s event Melbourne businesses learned how to grow their presence online and gain valuable customer insights, and individuals at all stages of the digital journey picked up new skills.

Since 2014, Google has trained more than half a million people across Australia through online and in-person digital skills training, as well as curriculum integrated through school and partner programs.

Caption: More than 200 local businesses and individuals picked up digital tips from Google experts. 

Grow with Google aims to provide all Australians with access to digital skills training online and in-person, to help them make the most of the Internet. It includes an online learning hub accessible from anywhere, on any device, with hundreds of handy training modules. The next Grow with Google event will be held in Adelaide on 4 November. Find out more at: http://g.co/GrowAdelaide.

SEARCH TRENDS DATA 

Key insights:
  • The espresso, or “short black”, is the most searched type of coffee by Melburnians in 2019.
  • Search interest in “short black” is +30% higher in Melbourne than Australia as a whole.
  • Melburnians are also searching for Turkish coffee (+28%) and Vietnamese coffee (+18%) above the national average.
  • Coffee pods ranked third for search interest in biodegradable products in Melbourne this year.
  • Coffee pods ranked fourth for search interest in compostable products in Melbourne this year.
Top five most searched coffee type, in Melbourne in 2019:

  • Espresso (Short Black) 
  • Latte 
  • Mocha 
  • Cappuccino 
  • Flat White

Grow with Google brings digital skills training and tips to Burnie businesses

Grow with Google has continued on the road, this time heading to Burnie in Tasmania for the first time to host digital skills workshops for businesses and locals. We were joined there by Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie who officially opened the event.
  Caption: Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie with Google Australia Public Policy Manager Hannah Frank 

Today’s event was held at Weller’s Inn and attended by more than twenty local businesses who picked up tips on how to grow their presence online and be found by more customers, where to gain customer insights, and general digital tips and tricks.

Grow with Google aims to provide all Australians with access to digital skills training online and in-person, to help them make the most of the Internet - including within our fast growing digital economy.

We know that digital tools can open up new opportunities for regional communities and businesses - and help level the playing field. But many people and businesses are unsure where to begin, which is why we created Grow with Google to help close this gap.

A report released by AlphaBeta in September found that Google’s advertising and productivity platforms were helping more than a million Aussie businesses and had helped deliver business benefits of $35 billion so far this year - including supporting 2100 Tasmanian jobs.

The report also highlighted Tasmanian business success story Bridestowe Lavender, which has used digital marketing to help turn an old lavender farm into a popular tourist destination.

Since 2014, Google has trained more than half a million people across Australia through online and in-person digital skills training, as well as curriculum integrated through school and partner programs.

Grow with Google aims to create opportunity for all Australians to grow their skills, careers, and businesses with free tools, training, and events. It includes an online learning hub accessible from anywhere, on any device, with hundreds of handy training modules. The next Grow with Google event will be held in Melbourne on 24-25 October. Find out more at: http://g.co/GrowMelbourne.

Bringing digital skills to Wagga Wagga

Today, Grow with Google came to Wagga Wagga for the first time, helping local businesses, community organisations, teachers and students, and locals pick up vital new digital skills.

The Grow with Google program aims to provide all Australians with access to digital skills training online and in-person, to help them make the most of the Internet.

Caption: Googler Hayley Yu shares small business tips with Wagga businesses.

At today’s event held at the International Hotel in Wagga Wagga, more than 100 local businesses learned how to grow their presence online and engage customers, teachers gained tips for engaging students in learning opportunities, and individuals at all stages of the digital journey picked up new skills.

They were joined at the workshops by Deputy Prime Minister and Member for Riverina Michael McCormack and Google Australia’s Country Director Mel Silva.

Caption: Google Australia Country Director Mel Silva with Deputy Prime Minister and Member for Riverina Michael McCormack.

There are tremendous opportunities for those who take advantage of digital tools, especially in regional communities where it can help level the playing field. But many people are unsure how to go about it, which is something we’re helping to address through Grow with Google.

Since 2014, Google has trained more than half a million people across Australia through online and in-person digital skills training, as well as curriculum integrated through school and partner programs.

A report released by AlphaBeta earlier this month found that Google’s advertising and productivity platforms were helping more than a million Aussie businesses and had helped deliver business benefits of $35 billion so far this year.

Caption: Wagga Wagga Chamber of Commerce Board Member Rhys Bower with Google Australia Country Director Mel Silva.

Grow with Google aims to create opportunity for all Australians to grow their skills, careers, and businesses with free tools, training, and events. It includes an online learning hub accessible from anywhere, on any device, with hundreds of handy training modules. The next Grow with Google event will be held in Burnie Tasmania on Friday 11 October. Find out more at: http://g.co/GrowBurnie
.

Federal Elections 2019: Helping Canadians Make Informed Decisions

Canada’s 43rd election has been called and the team at Google is busy building products and programs to protect the democratic process, to help campaigns manage their digital presences, and to help Canadians engage in their democracy.


Getting Voters the Information they Need
In anticipation of heading to the polls, we know people need useful and reliable information to navigate the election. Google supports the priorities outlined in the government's Declaration on Electoral Integrity, and is committed to providing information and services that meet these principles.

In 2019, we’re focused on directing Canadians to authoritative resources as they prepare to participate in the election. We're specifically working with Elections Canada to ensure the information we provide is timely and accurate ahead of election day.

Protecting Election Information Online
We’ve built free products to help campaigns keep information safe and to ensure that voters have accurate information when they need it.

With an emphasis on safeguarding campaigns from digital attacks, we’ve hosted several training sessions with policy makers, candidates, campaign teams, and journalists. These trainings focused on our Advanced Protection Program and Project Shield.

To help prevent the spread of misinformation surrounding elections, we continuously make product quality improvements and support newsrooms around the world with training and tools to better verify digital stories. Learn more on how Google fights misinformation.

Connecting Voters to Candidate Information
We provide ways for users to find reliable information about candidates, including information from candidates themselves.

In Search, features called “knowledge panels” help people quickly find an overview of facts and information about things, places, and people-- including political candidates. Information in knowledge panels comes from a variety of sources, including authorities with candidate information. Candidates can also claim their knowledge panels and suggest factual changes once they have been verified. More here. 

YouTube can help campaigns to connect with voters, strengthen their online presences, control their stories, and engage with audiences wherever they are, with videos that can easily be embedded across all media platforms and on official websites. With YouTube Live, campaigns can now broadcast townhalls and speeches live to their audiences with the push of a button. More here.

Working with Newsrooms
Google and YouTube work closely with Canadian news organizations to support high-quality journalism. In 2019, the Google News Lab team conducted several in-person trainings in Canadian newsrooms to ensure journalists were aware of Google tools that might aid in their reporting and storytelling.

With the constant flow of election coverage, we know it’s critical for news organizations to stay up-to-date on the topics that matter. Tools like Google Trends, which allows exploration of frequent searches and questions relating to the elections, and a dedicated Google Trends Canadian Federal Election 2019 page, make it easier for these organizations to stay current.

Google Ads Policy
To comply with new legislation, Google's advertising policies prohibit running Election Ads and Issue Ads during the regulated periods. Read more here.

Amplifying our Voice with Partners
Through various non-partisan partnerships, we’re continuing to provide relevant information to enable participation in the 2019 Federal Elections. Learn more about our partnerships below:

We’ve partnered with Elections Canada to source and promote authoritative voter information. Elections Canada is also leveraging “Posts on Google” to communicate directly with voters from Search by sharing videos, infographics and images about the 2019 election. These published posts are available on the Elections Canada knowledge panel.

Apathy is Boring is a non-partisan, charitable organization that supports and educates youth to be active and contributing citizens in Canada’s democracy. In partnership with Ryerson’s University’s Democratic Engagement Exchange, Apathy is Boring has gathered a coalition of organizations to promote citizen engagement, with a pledge to collectively engage 1 million new voters in the 2019 federal election. Google shares Apathy is Boring’s mission of democratic engagement and will be supporting the Canadian Vote Coalition and other non-partisan civic literacy activities leading up to the 2019 Canadian Federal Election.

To educate school-aged Canadians on fact-based journalism, we worked with the Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) to launch a national news literacy program, News Wise. With a $1 million dollar grant from Google.org and a partnership between CJF and CIVIX (Student Vote), NewsWise was piloted with Ontario teachers participating in Student Vote Ontario 2018. NewsWise will continue to evolve and rollout new resources leading up to the 2019 Federal Elections.

Like others, we’re committed to supporting the upcoming election. With the race ramping up, our aim is to keep Canada’s democratic processes secure and to provide Canadians access to the authoritative electoral information that they need to engage in their democracy.

Posted by Colin McKay, Head of Government Relations, Google Canada

Building a safer Google Play for kids

Posted by Kanika Sachdeva, Product Manager, Google Play

At Google Play, we’re committed to providing a positive, safe environment for children and families. Over the last few years, we’ve helped parents find family-friendly content through the Designed for Families program and empowered them to set digital ground rules for their families with Family Link parental controls.

After taking input from users and developers we are evolving our Google Play policies to provide additional protections for children and families. These policy changes build on our existing efforts to ensure that apps for children have appropriate content, show suitable ads, and handle personally identifiable information correctly; they also reduce the chance that apps not intended for children could unintentionally attract them.

Over the next few months, we will continue to roll out additional features that will help parents make informed choices before they install apps for their kids.

What’s changing for developers

We are asking every developer to thoughtfully consider whether children are part of your target audience.

  • If children are part of your target audience, you must meet policy requirements in your app concerning content and handling of personally identifiable information.
  • Ads in your app that are served to children need to be appropriate and served from an ads network that has certified compliance with our families policies.
  • If children are not part of your target audience, you should make sure your app does not unintentionally appeal to them. We will double check your app marketing to confirm this and ask you to make adjustments where required.

Declaring a target audience

As part of the new policy, all developers must complete the new target audience and content section of the Google Play Console.

The new target audience and content section of the Google Play Console.

For most developers, the target audience does not include children and this section should be relatively quick to complete. If children are part of your target audience, we will ask you follow-up questions.

We will use the information you provide in the Google Play Console, along with our own review of your app marketing assets, to categorize your app and apply policies according to the following target audience groups: children, children and older users, older users.*

We recommend you review our new policies, developer guide, and this training before starting the target audience and content section so that you clearly understand the implications of your answers.

Rolling out these changes

These changes affect every developer on Play, so if your app is already live on the Google Play store, we want to give you time to make any necessary updates. Below are the key dates to keep in mind:

  • Today: Target audience and content section available in the Google Play Console. All new apps must comply with the updated policies.
  • September 1st, 2019: All existing apps must have filled out the new target audience and content section and complied with the updated policies.

Our commitment to you

We’re committed to providing the resources you need to understand and implement these changes. You can view more information on the Android developers website and access training on our new policies on Google Play's Academy for App Success. We have also increased our staffing and improved our communications for app review and appeals processes to help you get timely decisions and understand any changes that are needed.

Thanks in advance for the work you are putting in. We will continue to listen to your feedback and use it to improve the way we roll out these updates and communicate with the developer community.

*Note: The word “children” can mean different things in different locales and in different contexts. It is important that you determine what obligations and/or age-based restrictions may apply for the countries where you target your app.

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