Monthly Archives: April 2015

Launching the Google Impact Challenge in France

We believe technology can contribute to help solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges and we want to support innovators who are finding new ways to make an impact. This is why we’re announcing the third European edition of the Google Impact Challenge in France, a program supporting non-profits who are using technology to have a positive impact.

French non-profits can submit their ideas via g.co/impactchallengefrance until 4 June and in September, ten finalists will be chosen by Google experts based on the project's potential impact, feasibility, scalability and degree of innovation

Four winners will each receive a €500,000 grant, as well as mentoring from Google employees, to help make each project a reality.

One winner will be chosen by public vote, and the other three by a judging panel made up of Bernard Kouchner, former French Minister of Foreign Affairs; Nadia Bellaoui, President of Le Mouvement Associatif; Ismaël Le Mouel, founder of HelloAsso; Anne-Cécile Mailfert, President of Osez le Féminisme; Alain Deloche, Co-Founder of La Chaine du Coeur; Nick Leeder, Managing Director of Google France; and Jacquelline Fuller, Director of Google.org.



Other Google Impact Challenges around the world have supported ideas ranging from smart cameras for wildlife conservation to solar lights for off-grid communities to a mobile application that helps protect women from domestic violence.

Technology can make a real difference in tackling some of the world’s biggest social challenges. We can’t wait to see what French non-profits will come up with.

Posted by Jacquelline Fuller, Director of Google.org

AwReporting: Upgraded to use AdWords API v201502

We’ve upgraded the AwReporting tool to use the latest AdWords API version, v201502. The code changes were made according to the migration guide.

Note that besides code changes, the database tables’ column names have also been updated to reflect the new report field names. Since these changes are scattered around many tables, you can run this version of AwReporting on a new database schema, then use the schema generation command to generate both database schemas and compare them. You can also create SQL scripts to import data from old database tables to new ones with updated column names.

We’ve put the code changes in the v201502_upgrade branch. Please feel free to pull this branch and give it a try. Remember to update the properties file to use the new report field names. This upgrade branch will be merged into the master branch at the end of May.

If you have any questions or feedback regarding this upgrade, let us know via the project’s issue tracker.

Zhuo Chen, AdWords API Team

YouTube Space Berlin – new home for YouTube creators in Germany and beyond

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The German creator scene forms one of the world’s most vibrant YouTube communities. They produce content for passionate audiences in a country where video consumption is amongst the highest in the world. To support this incredible community of YouTube creators and foster the next generation of talent, YouTube has partnered with MET Film School to open YouTube Space Berlin.

MET Film School is one of Europe’s largest film schools, running undergraduate, postgraduate and short programmes in practical filmmaking. Through this partnership, Germany's most talented YouTube creators, as well as, all of the students, will have free access to high end audio, visual and editing equipment, in addition to training programs, workshops and community events.


This collaboration follows in the footsteps of our YouTube Spaces in Los Angeles, London, Tokyo and most recently, New York City and Sao Paulo. Since the first Space was launched in 2012, creators have visited our Spaces over 100 thousand times, we have had over 800 events and workshops and our partners have created over 10 thousand videos.

Like all of our production facilities, YouTube Space Berlin will be a place where creators can collaborate, innovate and experiment with new content for audiences around the world to watch and love. It’ll also offer opportunities to:


  • Learn: From training programs and workshops to master classes, there are opportunities to get hands-on experience from industry leaders, and learn to use high end production equipment, production techniques, and YouTube best practices.
  • Connect: Attend events, meet fellow creators, spark new ideas and share experiences on how to succeed on YouTube: Happy Hours, Events for gaming, sports, family entertainment, collaboration events and more.
  • Create: This is a space for creators to bring stories to life. They’ll have access, for free, to a studio and all the latest audio, visual and editing equipment that will enable them to experiment and create great videos that fans will love.

The YouTube Space Berlin is another way for YouTube to help foster creativity, entrepreneurship and partnership with top video creators in the country and around the world. It’s amazing to see what creators have already been producing and we are excited to see what is coming next.

Posted by David Ripert, Head of YouTube Spaces EMEA, recently watched Kurz Gesagt - What is Life?

Introducing Search Response and Airings Data in TV Attribution

The following is a cross post from Adometry by Google, a Marketing Analytics and Attribution product. 

Mass media drives people to interact with brands in compelling ways. When a TV or radio ad creates an I-want-to-know, I-want-to-go, or an I-want-to-buy moment in the mind of a consumer, many pursue it online. Immediately - and on whatever screen they have handy.

Last year, we announced Adometry TV Attribution, which measures the digital impact of offline channels such as television and radio. Now, we’re moving TV Attribution forward by integrating Google Search query data and Rentrak airings data to help marketers better understand the important moments their broadcast investments create.

New Search Behavior, New Search Analysis
Broadcast media doesn’t just drive consumers directly to websites — it drives searches. Now, TV attribution lets you analyze minute-by-minute aggregated Google Search query data against spot-related keywords to detect and attribute search “micro-conversions” to specific TV airings. 

With insights on the entire digital customer journey — including search behaviors — brands can better evaluate broadcast network and daypart, specific ad creative, and keyword performance. As a result, brands can:
  • Assess Immediate Influence: See which messages are sticking in the minds of consumers to both maximize TV interest and choose ideal keywords for SEO and paid search strategies.
  • Evaluate Awareness Goals: Optimize against a digital signal even when a site visit isn’t the primary goal, such as in brand awareness or sponsorship campaigns.
  • Analyze Competitive Category: Glean which generic keywords drive category interest for the industry — a type of insights not possible through site traffic analysis alone. 

Rentrak Partnership Speeds TV Attribution Insights
Knowing when your spots aired and collecting that data for timely TV attribution analysis can be a challenge. Marketers who buy broadcast media through agencies often don’t have direct access to this data. And once data is obtained — after coordinating with multiple agencies, partners, and TV measurement companies — the time lag makes for outdated analysis. 

TV Attribution now solves these challenges a new partnership with Rentrak, the leading and trusted source for TV airings information. 

What Rentrak Integration Delivers
Integrating directly with Rentrak TV Essentials, TV Attribution now overcomes some of the biggest hurdles in TV measurement, with increases in: 
  • Actionability: TV Attribution can more quickly and easily obtain TV data for analysis without time-consuming coordination from you or your agencies.  
  • Accuracy: Rentrak provides a comprehensive data set with aggregated viewership information from more than 30 million televisions across the country, and from more than 230 networks.
  • Frequency: A direct relationship means more frequent reporting since there is no longer a manual find-and-transfer of data required from TV buying partners.
“What makes this partnership so exciting is it removes the biggest barrier to truly measuring TV effectiveness, timely access to spot airings data including impressions,” said Tony Pecora, CMO for SelectQuote. “Rather than hunting and gathering data, we are now able to spend our time evaluating insights and optimizing our marketing investments across both TV and digital. As a CMO, this is a really big win for our business.”

Want to Get Moving?

The gap between offline and digital measurement continues to close. Learn more about how Adometry TV Attribution, now with Google Search query data and integrated Rentrak airings data, can help you gain more actionable cross-channel insights.

Posted by Dave Barney, Product Manager

Exploring Canada’s National Parks in the land of the Midnight Sun

Cross-posted to the Google Maps Blog.

The days are getting longer in Canada’s Arctic. The sea ice is breaking up, Arctic heather is poking through the snow-covered tundra and the arrival of the migratory snow bunting is days away. Summer is right around the corner. And today, in close collaboration with Parks Canada, we’re thrilled to share a glimpse of Canada’s Northern National Parks and the high north’s breathtaking summer season through the lens of Street View and Google Maps.

These are some of Canada’s most remote National Parks. In spite of challenges posed by this vast geography, the far north also presented a unique opportunity. For example, Ivvavik National Park looks as bright and sunny as midday. But Parks Canada operators were collecting this imagery close to midnight, taking advantage of the far north’s endless summer days.

Virtual visitors can marvel at the sweeping glaciers and dramatic fjords of Auyuittuq, discover the British Mountains and the Firth River Valley in Ivvavik, and immerse themselves in Tuktut Nogait’s stunning canyons and waterfalls along the rugged Brock River.

And, not to be missed, be sure to check out the spectacular towering peaks of the Torngat Mountains, the grandeur of Canada's only salt plains and take a Street View stroll in the historic Sweetgrass bison corrals of Wood Buffalo National Park – Canada’s largest national park.


Ivvavik National Park protects a portion of the calving grounds of the Porcupine caribou herd. Some of the imagery from Ivvavik was collected as late as 11pm.


From the Inuktitut word Torngait, meaning “place of spirits,” the Torngat Mountains have been home to Inuit and their predecessors for thousands of years.


Overlooking La Roncière Falls in Tuktut Nogait National Park and the Hornaday River’s  awe-inspiring canyons and waterfalls.  


Auyuittuq National Park images were gathered primarily from the water. The Street View Trekker was positioned on a boat which sailed along the park's coastline.

Since starting work together in 2013, Parks Canada and Google have collected imagery from over a hundred of Canada’s national parks, national historic sites and national marine conservation areas. Our work in the north, however, is not finished and we look forward to connecting Canadians and the world to more of our country’s majestic northern national parks in the near future.

In the meantime, enjoy a trip north on Google Maps... the Arctic summer sun is not going down on these amazing Street View images anytime soon.

Posted by Aaron Brindle, Virtual Explorer and Canadian Trekker, Google Canada

Teaching the teachers

Everyone remembers a good teacher. They nourish our interests and fuel our passions. Many of us have ended up in the careers we’re in because of an influential teacher we met along the way.

So it’s critical that teachers are equipped to give our kids the skills they need for the economy of the future. And when you look at how different fields from medicine to banking are rapidly digitising, it’s clear our teachers need to be able to teach computational skills.

Australia and New Zealand have some wonderful people teaching computer science, like Graeme Breen from Mountain Creek Secondary School in Brisbane, who teaches computer science to high school students. Graeme has been teaching since 1989 and says he wants to gives his students the technology skills they need to one day start their own companies.

We need more Graemes. To help this, Google funds workshops that equip teachers to teach computer science. The program, Computer Science for High Schools (CS4HS), provides teachers with the skills and resources they need to teach computational thinking and computer science concepts in fun and engaging ways. And we’ve just announced the latest batch of funding recipients (see the list below).
Graeme doing what he does best

Globally, we’ve helped train more than 12,000 teachers and reached over 613,000 students in more than 230 locations since we started this program. Closer to home, we are supporting 25 organisations across Australia and New Zealand who will provide this important training to K-12 school teachers. This year, we hope to reach around 3,000 high school, primary school and pre-service Aussie and Kiwi teachers.

In addition to the workshops, we are also providing free online professional teacher development in partnership with Adelaide University.

If you want to know where computer science can take kids, have a look at Careers with Code. In the future, young Australians will use computer science to do great things. And it will all have started with a great teacher.

2015 CS4HS Funding Recipients 
Australia 
Australian Catholic University
Code Club Australia
Central Queensland University
Griffith University
Information Communication and Technology Educators of NSW
Information Technology Educators ACT
La Trobe University
Macquarie University
Mark Oliphant College
Queensland Society for Information Technology Educators
Queensland University of Technology
St Columba Anglican School
Swinburne University of Technology
Tasmanian Catholic Education Office
The University of Adelaide
The University of Melbourne
The University of Newcastle
The University of New South Wales
The University of Queensland
The University of Tasmania
The University of Western Australia

New Zealand
Robotics Education NZ Trust
The University of Canterbury
Unitec Institute of Technology
Victoria University of Wellington

Posted by Sally-Ann Williams, Engineering Community & Outreach Manager, Google Australia & New Zealand

Upcoming changes to mobile app install ads on the Search Network

As part of our ongoing effort to improve app promotion features in AdWords, we are making some changes to mobile app install ads (also known as click-to-download ads) on the Search Network. Starting July 1, 2015, we will support the creation of app install ads for the Search Network only in the Search Network only - Mobile app installs campaign type. In addition, app install ads created for the Search Network outside of this campaign type will stop running in July 2015. This includes any app install ads running together with website text ads in a Search Network only - All features campaign.

If you are a developer who manages app install ads for the Search Network using the AdWords API, you need to perform the following changes on your end:
  • When creating new app install ads for the Search Network, make sure you create them only within Search Network only - Mobile app installs campaigns. These campaigns have their advertisingChannelType set to SEARCH and advertisingChannelSubType property set to SEARCH_MOBILE_APP.
  • If you have app install ads in your regular search campaigns, you need to move them to a Search Network only - Mobile app installs campaign. This may be done as follows:
    • Retrieve your Search campaigns containing app install ads.
    • For each campaign, create a new campaign with similar settings (such as location targeting, device targeting, ad delivery, etc.) with the advertisingChannelSubType changed to SEARCH_MOBILE_APP.
    • Mirror over your ad groups in the old campaign to the new campaign.
    • Mirror over your app install ads from the first campaign to the second campaign, in the corresponding ad groups.
    • Run an ad performance report to see how much you’ve spent on app install ads during the last month. Update your campaign budgets as follows:
      • new_campaign_daily_budget = app_install_cost / 30
      • old_campaign_daily_budget = old_campaign_daily_budget - new_campaign_daily_budget
  • [Optional] Delete or pause app install ads in the old campaign.
See our Help Center guide for more details.

To ensure uninterrupted serving of app install ads on the Search Network, make sure you move them to a Search Network only - Mobile App installs campaign before July 1, 2015.

If you have any further questions about this change, let us know via our forum or Google+ page.

Anash P. Oommen, AdWords API Team

IMA SDK for iOS Beta 13 Released

Today we’re announcing the release of beta version 13 of the IMA SDK for iOS. This release includes two new major features:

  1. The SDK can be included as a framework in your project.
  2. The SDK now supports ad playing in the background.

Importing the SDK as a Framework

Prior to today’s release, importing the SDK involved manually adding every header file to your project, importing every header file individually in your source, and manually including the required frameworks. With the new framework model, you can add a single .framework file to your app and replace all of your header import source lines with a single import statement.

For CocoaPods Users

If you use CocoaPods, your build will fail after you update to beta 13. But fear not, you can fix this in a matter of seconds with the following steps:

  1. Locate and remove each instance of an imported IMA header file in your source (these will look like #import “IMA<something>.h”).
  2. Add the following line to the first header or implementation file to access an IMA object: 
    @import GoogleInteractiveMediaAds;

For Manual Importers

If you don’t use Cocoapods, your path to upgrade is slightly different. You can update using the following steps:

  1. Remove all of the IMA header files and the IMA library file from your project.
  2. Under "Build Phases” > “Link Binary With Libraries”, click the plus sign, select “Add Other...”, and navigate to the downloaded and extracted SDK files. Select GoogleInteractiveMediaAds.framework from whichever folder applies to your implementation (with or without AdMob) and click “Open”.
  3. Follow the two steps above for CocoaPods users.

Background Ad Playback

Since our launch, one of the most requested features has been background ad playback. Suppose, for example, you author a music streaming app, and you want to be able to request and play ads in the background. With today’s release, however, we now support requesting and playing ads in a background service. For more info and implementation instructions, see our Background Ad Playback guide.

As always, if you have any questions feel free to contact us via the support forum.

 - , IMA SDK Team

Integrate Play data into your workflow with data exports

Posted by Frederic Mayot, Google Play team

The Google Play Developer Console makes a wealth of data available to you so you have the insight needed to successfully publish, grow, and monetize your apps and games. We appreciate that some developers want to access and analyze their data beyond the visualization offered today in the Developer Console, which is why we’ve made financial information, crash data, and user reviews available for export. We're now also making all the statistics on your apps and games (installs, ratings, GCM usage, etc.) accessible via Google Cloud Storage.

New Reports section in the Google Play Developer Console

We’ve added a Reports tab to the Developer Console so that you can view and access all available data exports in one place.

A reliable way to access Google Play data

This is the easiest and most reliable way to download your Google Play Developer Console statistics. You can access all of your reports, including install statistics, reviews, crashes, and revenue.

Programmatic access to Google Play data

This new Google Cloud Storage access will open up a wealth of possibilities. For instance, you can now programmatically:

  • import install and revenue data into your in-house dashboard
  • run custom analysis
  • import crashes and ANRs into your bug tracker
  • import reviews into your CRM to monitor feedback and reply to your users

Your data is available in a Google Cloud Storage bucket, which is most easily accessed using gsutil. To get started, follow these three simple steps to access your reports:

  1. Install the gsutil tool.
    • Authenticate to your account using your Google Play Developer Console credentials.
  2. Find your reporting bucket ID on the new Reports section.
    • Your bucket ID begins with: pubsite_prod_rev (example:pubsite_prod_rev_1234567890)
  3. Use the gsutil ls command to list directories/reports and gsutil cp to copy the reports. Your reports are organized in directories by package name, as well as year and month of their creation.

Read more about exporting report data in the Google Play Developer Help Center.

Note about data ownership on Google Play and Cloud Platform: Your Google Play developer account is gaining access to a dedicated, read-only Google Cloud Storage bucket owned by Google Play. If you’re a Google Cloud Storage customer, the rest of your data is unaffected and not connected to your Google Play developer account. Google Cloud Storage customers can find out more about their data storage on the terms of service page.

Helping small businesses reach new customers with Google Shopping

Cross-posted with the Google Shopping Blog.

When it comes to attracting customers, small businesses know that showcasing their products online can help them get in front of more people -- even when their physical store doors are closed. In fact, one-third of small business owners said new or existing clients engaged with them through their e-commerce websites at least once daily.1

But getting started with a website is just the beginning. Google Shopping helps small businesses like you tap into the power of customer intent to reach the right people with relevant products ads, when it matters the most. Here’s how two local businesses, Paper Culture and PUBLIC Bikes, used Google Shopping to gain a competitive edge and spark shoppers’ interest across the country by leveraging their strengths: unique designs and inspired products.

Paper Culture uses Shopping ads to connect with design lovers online
Unique, modern design is a top priority for Paper Culture, an environmentally-conscious stationery company that sells 100% post-consumer recycled cards, coasters, and other personalized products online. To complement their AdWords text ads, Paper Culture turned to Google Shopping to put their product designs front and center, and reach new customers with rich, visual ads that jump off the search page.

“One of the toughest challenges for us as a small business is that we don’t have the brand of our larger competitors,” says Chris Wu, CEO and co-founder of Paper Culture. “Google Shopping helps us tell our story through showing searchers our unique product designs, right on Google search.”

By coupling customer intent with Google Shopping’s image-focused approach, Paper Culture was able to highlight their designs in a cost-effective way -- ensuring that each shopper that clicked on a Google Shopping ad was an already-interested buyer. Through Shopping campaigns, Paper Culture decreased their cost-per-lead (CPL) by 50%, and saw 3x ROI overall when compared to their other online channels.


PUBLIC Bikes reaches more searching cyclists with Google Shopping
Multi-channel retailer PUBLIC Bikes is in the business of selling colorful, trendy city bikes with a mission to help people fall in love with urban biking. But as a small business that designs, manufactures, and sells their own merchandise, the team often found themselves short on time and resources.

“With a small team, it’s challenging to do everything we want to do and get our brand and products out there,” says Dan Nguyen-Tan, founding executive of PUBLIC Bikes. “We need a way to scale our marketing efforts and get in front of potential customers where they can discover and engage us. That’s why Google Shopping is so important: it helps us reach customers looking for our products across the country.”

PUBLIC Bikes used Google Shopping to find new customers beyond their brick-and-mortar stores. Bidding by product allowed them to more easily prioritize those products that were new or on sale, turning once low-converting search terms into profit. For every $1 invested in Shopping campaigns, PUBLIC Bikes was able to see 2x the ROI as compared to their other online channels.


A new hub for retailers, large and small
Whether you’re an ecommerce business or a multi-channel business, the new Google for Retail offers a one-stop hub to learn more about Google’s solutions for retailers of all sizes.

If you’re a small business like Paper Culture or PUBLIC Bikes, we’re introducing a new Shopping Campaigns page as a go-to resource to help you get up and running on Google Shopping and make the world your storefront. Here, you’ll find product overviews, success stories, tutorial videos, and help resources to show how Google’s various retail tools work together to let you find your shoppers, wherever they are.

Posted by Kim Doan, Product Marketing Manager, Google Shopping

1. eMarketer, Do Small Business Websites Drive Client Engagement?, Feb 2015