Monthly Archives: January 2014

Sky First Episodes On YouTube

If you fancy a taste of BSkyB’s new dramas without having to sign up to the broadcaster’s service, then head to youtube.com/SkyFirstEpisodes from this Saturday, February 1. 


Series including “Moonfleet”, “The Tunnel” and “Moone Boy” will have premieres uploaded to the channel either as full episodes or initial scenes, so if you’re at all interested in the great British dramas that Sky TV have been producing, then head to /SkyFirstEpisodes and subscribe. An early look at Ray Winstone as the leader of a gang of smugglers? Why not. 


Jamie Dolling, YouTube UK, recently watched “Jubilee Line Ticker Barrier Sings Blur's Song 2"

Source: YouTube UK Blog


YouTube’s your one stop shop for U.S. politics this week

It’s a busy week in Washington, but you don’t need to be in the nation’s capital to be a part of it. YouTube will deliver each big moment live.

Tonight at 9 p.m. ET, President Obama’s fifth State of the Union address will stream live on the White House’s YouTube channel, followed by the Republican response by Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers on Speaker Boehner’s channel. Senator Mike Lee will deliver the Tea Party response and Senator Rand Paul will offer remarks as well. Several of our news partners will also share their coverage of the event on YouTube, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Young Turks, and NowThis News.


This Friday at 2 p.m. ET, President Obama will participate in the first-ever Presidential Hangout Road Trip. He’ll “travel” the country and hop into Google+ Hangouts with people from across the nation to answer their questions and hear their thoughts about the topics he addressed in tonight’s speech.

If you’d like to join the Hangout, record a 60-second video with your name, location, a bit about yourself and the question you’d like to ask the president. Then post it on YouTube with the hashtag #AskObama2014.

Tune in all week and keep up with the latest news by subscribing to youtube.com/news.

Posted by Brandon Feldman, News Content Partnerships, recently watched "Kid President's Letter to a Person on Their First Day Here."

Chrome + LEGO: You can build whatever you like

Think back: you’ve just dumped a bin of LEGOR bricks onto the floor with a satisfying crash, and you have the whole day ahead of you to build whatever you want. There’s something pretty amazing about being able to piece together your ideas with just a collection of colorful bricks.

Well, we think the creative freedom of LEGO bricks shouldn’t be limited to plastic bins—which is the idea behind Build with Chrome, a collaboration between Chrome and the LEGO Group that brought these colorful bricks to the web using WebGL, a 3D graphics technology. It was originally built by a team in Australia as an experiment, and now we’re opening it up to everybody. So now you can publish your wacky creations to any plot of land in the world.

Build: A Chrome Experiment with LEGO®

Build: A Chrome Experiment with LEGO®

We’ve added a few new features to make it easier to build and explore this digital world of LEGO creations. To start, you can now sign in with a Google+ account to help find stuff that people in your circles have created. A new categorization system for completed Builds will help you sort and filter for specific types of structures.

To hone your engineering skills and prepare for the upcoming “THE LEGOR MOVIETM,” you can explore the Build Academy, a series of short tutorials and challenges featuring characters and structures from the film.

If it feels more natural to use your hands—rather than a mouse—you can build your creations using a touchscreen on your phone or tablet with Chrome for Android support for WebGL on devices with high-end graphics capabilities.

As big fans of LEGO, we’re excited to see what you come up with to fill this new world. Share your creations on Google+ and we’ll reshare the most inventive ones.

Source: Google Chrome


Reminder: Change to contentBid setting in “Display Network Only” campaigns

As previously announced, we are removing the ability to set contentBid for “Display Network only” campaigns in the AdWords API on February 18th, 2014. Once this change happens, you will start receiving a ReadOnlyError.READ_ONLY error for all versions of the API if you set contentBid for a “Display Network only” campaign. You can use the fieldPath of the ApiError object to identify the operation triggering the error.

To make sure your applications and scripts work properly, you should make the following changes to your application code before February 18th, 2014:
  • modify your code to set the default ad group bid instead of contentBid for “Display Only Campaigns”
  • clear out the contentBid field for “Display Only Campaigns” so that AdWords will start using the default ad group bid when serving your ads
  • if you store campaigns in a local data store, re-sync your data store with AdWords to pick up the updated default bid values
If you have any questions about this change or the AdWords API in general, you can post them on our developer forum. You can also follow our Google+ page for updates about the AdWords API.

Anash P. Oommen, AdWords API Team

2014 Digital Analytics Association Awards For Excellence

It’s award season once again - Digital Analytics awards! 
The Digital Analytics Association exists to help organizations illuminate and overcome the challenges of data acquisition, exploration, deduction and application. The DAA is a not-for-profit, volunteer-powered association, and strives to help individuals become more valuable through education, community, research and advocacy. If you are involved in the analytics industry, we encourage you to check out what the DAA has to offer.

This week, the DAA announced its list of nominees for the DAA Awards of Excellence. These awards are a great way to celebrate the outstanding contribution to our profession of individuals, agencies, vendors and practitioners.

This year’s  list of nominees is chock-full of highly talented individuals, new technologies, agencies & vendors. We’re excited to see so many inspirational leaders nominated for recognition and are looking forward to the digital analytics industry growing for many years to come via their leadership.

We are also honored to see a few Googlers nominated for awards.

Krista Seiden has been nominated for Digital Analytics Rising Star and Practitioner of the Year. Our Analytics Evangelist, Justin Cutroni, our Analytics Advocate, Daniel Waisberg, and our former GACP Program Manager, Jesse Nichols, who travel the world sharing Analytics love have each been nominated as Most Influential Industry Contributor (individual). Jesse has also been nominated for Practitioner of the Year.

We’d also like to recognize the many members of our GACP network who also received nominations. We wish you all the best of luck!

If you’re a DAA member make sure you vote by January 31. Winners will be announced at the 2014 DAA Gala in San Francisco on March 18. Tickets are available now.

Posted by the Google Analytics Team

Ensuring reliable performance with new filter limits for AWQL and reports

To ensure reliable performance for all developers and advertisers, AdWords API and AdWords scripts will start enforcing a limit of 10,000 matching values as arguments for the IN and NOT_IN operators starting March 31, 2014.

You may be affected by this change if you construct large queries that have thousands of matching values using these operators in one of these use cases: Once this change goes into effect, our servers will start throwing a SelectorError if your queries contains more than 10,000 matching values for IN and NOT_IN operators. For AdWords API v201309, the error reason would be set to SELECTOR_ERROR. In newer versions, the error reason would be set to TOO_MANY_PREDICATE_VALUES.

To make sure your applications and scripts work properly, check any code that constructs queries for reports and AWQL and add necessary limit checks before March 31, 2014.

If you have any questions about this change, you can post them on AdWords API or Scripts developer forums.

Anash P. Oommen, AdWords API Team

Study up on programmatic with our Bid Manager optimization webinars

Now that we're back from the winter break, it's time to study up on programmatic with DoubleClick Bid Manager. We'll help you be a star student with our Optimization Webinar Series over the next two months. Need to learn the basics, or are you already advanced? We offer basic training via eLearnings, as well as webinars for users already familiar with the platform.

Take a look at our schedule below and enroll through the Training page in the Bid Manager Help Center (sign-in required).

Optimization Webinar Series
In this series, experts will discuss key features in DoubleClick Bid Manager to help you more effectively manage your programmatic campaigns.

Buy Facebook Exchange (FBX) inventory using DoubleClick Bid Manager - 2/4
Did you know that you can use DoubleClick Bid Manager to bid on FBX, Facebook's real-time bidding exchange? In this session, our product experts will teach you tips and tricks on how to get started with DBM line items targeting FBX inventory. Join this webinar If you’re a Bid Manager customer looking to build your campaigns, expand reach, and explore new options. Register

vCPM Bidding - 2/18
Learn how to implement Bid Manager's automated bidding tool to enhance your campaign performance. Register

Targeting - 3/4
Learn how to assign targeting and make adjustment for your prospecting, audience targeted, and remarketing line items. Register

Reporting - 2/25
Join our live webinar on generating reports and reading inline statistics in Bid Manager. We'll cover how these reports can help you optimize prospecting, audience, and remarketing campaigns. Join this webinar if you run reports, review data, or make optimizations. Register

Advanced webinars

Launch your campaign - 1/23
Join this webinar if you’re ready to set your bid strategies. In this webinar, you'll walk through how to turn a media plan into a live campaign in Bid Manager. We'll also cover different strategies for gaining reach and increasing ROI, as well as setting up remarketing recency. Register

Private Deals - 3/19
In this webinar, you’ll learn how to set up private deals with ad exchanges, what’s needed to get started, and steps to launch. This webinar is intended for users of Bid Manager who are interested to learn more about available inventory and direct deals. Register

These webinars are intended for Bid Manager users who have completed Fundamentals training. If you’re a Bid Manager customer but are not yet with the tool, complete the Fundamentals eLearning.

Pre-recorded webinars available
We also offer pre-recorded webinars in our Help Center, covering the Overview for new users, as well as topics like Keyword contextual targeting, Creative approvals, upgrades, and more. While you’re there, be sure to read about our latest product releases.

Some sessions mention prerequisites where we recommend background knowledge. Please note these to make sure you get the most out of each session. Lastly, be aware of any regional time differences before enrolling in any of the live sessions.

Posted by Molly Larrison, DoubleClick Bid Manager Product Trainer

Life in the fast lane: Street View on the Top Gear test track

Thanks to Street View, you might have already traversed the elegant plains of Botswana, or discovered the serene fjords of Norway. But now for something completely different.

One of our brave Street View drivers has been to a remote airfield in Surrey, England — filming location of the BBC’s automotive TV show, Top Gear. He went to take on the fearless petrolhead that reigns supreme on the iconic show — The Stig. While the Stig raced around in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Black, we took a tour with our own vehicle. Take a look at the results in this behind the scenes video.




View Larger Map
Crossing the chequered line. The track plays host to regular Top Gear features like the Power Lap and Star in a Reasonably Priced Car.

The Top Gear test track is the latest in a line of special Street View collects designed to delight motorsport fans. Previously, we’ve put online the Laguna Seca raceway in California and the Monza Formula 1 circuit, host to the Italian Grand Prix, among others. Get behind the “wheel” and enjoy!

Posted by Ulf Spitzer, Street View Program Manager, Google

[Scheduled release] Add names to Hangouts video calls in Google Calendar

Starting January 29th, you will be able to give a name to Hangouts video calls in Google Calendar events. This name makes it easier for you and other guests to join the video call. Note that this feature is only available to domains that have enabled Google+ Premium Features.

Release track:
Scheduled release

Editions included: 
Google Apps for Business, Education, and Government

For more information:
https://support.google.com/a/answer/4362302

whatsnew.googleapps.com
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Learn About Analytics From Googlers At These Upcoming Events

We’re excited to be well into 2014, another year marketers and businesses will make continued investments in Analytics education for their teams. With that, conference season continues to ramp up.Things are likely moving fast for you as well, so we wanted to make sure you were updated on some of the key industry events our team members would be presenting at for the next few months. Following is a brief list. We hope to see you in-person at some of these (or on the digital discussions for our Webinars).
Googler Daniel Waisberg presenting on The Full Customer Journey in Dublin.

1/26: Search Marketing Expo Israel
Analytics Advocate Daniel Waisberg will be presenting a session on segmentation. Learn more.

1/29: Infopresse: Digital Performance in Montreal, Canada
Google’s Analytics Evangelist Justin Cutroni will be speaking on Universal Analytics. Learn more. 

2/6: IAB UK: Award Winning Attribution in London
Daniel Waisberg will be presenting on Attribution Modeling. Learn more.

2/11: SES London
Daniel Waisberg will be presenting on Segmenting your data to make better decisions. Learn more. 

2/14: Congresso E-Commerce Brasil De Search & Vendas 2014
Googler Eduardo Cereto will be presenting on using Analytics for E-commerce marketers and agencies. Learn more.

2/28: International Christian Media Convention in Nashville, TN
Analytics Advocate Adam Singer will share key metrics to measure for the mobile / apps ecosystem. Learn more. 

3/18: Travel Technology Initiative in London
Daniel Waisberg will be speaking on the importance of attribution for travel professionals. Learn more. 

3/18: Game Developer Conference in San Francisco
Googlers Russel Ketchum and Rahul Oak will be presenting a session for app developers on using data to improve their app. Learn more. 

3/21: Be-Wizard in Remiti, Italy
Justin Cutroni will be presenting on making data actionable with Remarketing. Learn more.

3/25: SMX Munich
Justin Cutroni will be speaking on people, process & platform: how to conceptualize your digital analytics practice. Learn more.

3/27: PRSA Big Data Webinar (Online)
Adam Singer will be presenting on how PR pros can use Google Tools to put data to work for their programs. Learn more. 

4/2: Social Media for PR and Corporate Communications Conference in Orlando
Adam Singer will be presenting on how to best measure and improve your social campaigns using data. Learn more.

4/7: SearchLove in Boston
Justin Cutroni will be presenting a session on best practices for cohorts and user measurement. Learn more.

4/7: Google Analytics Workshop in Washington DC
Adam Singer will be sharing a half-day workshop on using Analytics for communicators along with other trainers from PRNews. Learn more. 

4/16: Analytics & Optimization Summit (Online)
Googler Krista Seiden will be presenting on testing and optimization at this online digital advertising event. Learn more.

4/17: Building a Testing Culture panel at OptiCon
Krista Seiden will be presenting on a panel at Optimizely’s OptiCon conference on best practices and tips for building a testing culture. Learn more. 

And remember, even if you can’t make it to an event in person, you can follow Google Analytics on Twitter and Google+ where we share highlights from events.

Posted by the Google Analytics Team