CES 2022: Making the most of your drive with Google

Editor's note: Google planned to attend CES 2022 but pulled out of having an in-person presence due to concerns over COVID-19.

Google’s vision of helpfulness on the road is to provide a safe and seamless connected experience. Today, we’re introducing several updates for cars compatible with Android Auto and cars with Google built-in.

Your Android phone as your car key

With digital car key, you can now use select Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel phones to lock, unlock and start supported BMW vehicles from your phone. Starting later this year, phones with Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology will allow you to unlock your compatible car without taking your phone out at all, and key sharing will allow you to securely and remotely share your digital car key to trusted friends and family. We’re working to bring these features to even more Android phones and vehicles later this year.

Gif of a phone being placed on a car door handle to unlock it.

Unlock your car with your mobile phone and a simple tap.

A more helpful drive with Android Auto

Now available on nearly 150 million cars around the world, Android Auto brings the best of Google onto your car display via your Android phone. Most of the world's top car brands are bringing wireless Android Auto to their newest models, meaning you never need a cord to connect. And with just one tap, Fast Pair makes it easier than ever to connect your phone and wireless Android Auto. It’s available today on select BMW and Ford cars, with more to come. Also, with new accessories like the Motorola MA1 wireless adapter, you can now enjoy the wireless Android Auto experience even if your car doesn't have wireless support built-in. Connected via USB, the adapter stays in your car and wirelessly projects Android Auto from your phone to your car display as soon as you step inside.

You can already enjoy thousands of media, messaging, navigation, parking and charging apps that support Android Auto. And this summer, we’re bringing you more. We’re partnering with Lyft and Kakao Mobility to integrate their driver apps into Android Auto, so drivers will be able to view and accept rides right from their car display. And with access to points of interest apps like MochiMochi, Fuelio and Prezzi Benzina, you can explore more of the world, find and pay for all types of car services, and track your mileage and costs.

Image of car dash with Lyft app driver interface shown on car display.

Lyft Driver app for rideshare drivers will be projected onto their car display (UI for illustration purposes only and may not reflect final product).

New capabilities for cars with Google built-in

Car manufacturers like Polestar, Volvo Cars, and General Motors - with more to come - are already shipping select cars with Google technology built right into their infotainment systems, allowing you to get more use out of helpful features.

With Google Play built-in, you can soon download navigation apps like Sygic and Flitsmeister, charging apps like ChargePoint and PlugShare, parking apps like SpotHero and ParkWhiz and points of interest apps. In fact, later this year, you will be able to access video entertainment in the car while parked, starting with Volvo Cars with content from providers like YouTube. Suddenly, waiting for curbside pickup or for your car to charge isn't so boring anymore.

Image of car dashboard with Youtube video "Google Year in Search 202" playing.

Enjoy watching YouTube while parked on select Volvo Cars with Google built-in.

This deeper integration allows you to get help from Google beyond the car display. Coming this spring to Volvo Cars, you’ll be able to check on and adjust even more car settings by asking Google. From activating features like lane keeping assist to checking when your next service is due, your voice can replace looking around for the right button or scrolling through settings.

Smart home, meet smart car

With remote actions, you will soon be able to ask Google for help even before leaving the front door. Ask Google to warm up or cool down your car, lock and unlock it and check on the status of things like your battery charge, all from the comfort of your own home with the help of any Google Assistant-enabled device. This is coming first to select Volvo Cars, with more to follow.

Video showing woman using remote actions to pre-warm her car before setting off on a drive in the snow.
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Whether you’re getting ready for a drive or already on the road, we’re working hard to make sure Google helps make every ride a safe, smart and seamless experience.

Extended Stable Channel Update for Desktop

The Extended Stable channel has been updated to 96.0.4664.131 for Windows and Mac which will roll out over the coming days/weeks.

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


Srinivas Sista
Google Chrome

Chrome for Android Update

Hi, everyone! We've just released Chrome 97 (97.0.4664.104) for Android: it'll become available on Google Play over the next few days.

This release includes stability and performance improvements. You can see a full list of the changes in the Git log. If you find a new issue, please let us know by filing a bug.

Ben Masin
Google Chrome

Stable Channel Update for Desktop

The Chrome team is delighted to announce the promotion of Chrome 97 to the stable channel for Windows, Mac and Linux.This will roll out over the coming days/weeks.

Chrome 97.0.4692.71 contains a number of fixes and improvements -- a list of changes is available in the log. Watch out for upcoming Chrome and Chromium blog posts about new features and big efforts delivered in 97.


Security Fixes and Rewards

Note: Access to bug details and links may be kept restricted until a majority of users are updated with a fix. We will also retain restrictions if the bug exists in a third party library that other projects similarly depend on, but haven’t yet fixed.


This update includes 37 security fixes. Below, we highlight fixes that were contributed by external researchers. Please see the Chrome Security Page for more information.


[$TBD][1275020] Critical CVE-2022-0096: Use after free in Storage. Reported by Yangkang (@dnpushme) of 360 ATA on 2021-11-30

[$10000][1117173] High CVE-2022-0097: Inappropriate implementation in DevTools. Reported by David Erceg on 2020-08-17

[$10000][1273609] High CVE-2022-0098: Use after free in Screen Capture. Reported by @ginggilBesel on 2021-11-24

[$5000][1245629] High CVE-2022-0099: Use after free in Sign-in. Reported by Rox on 2021-09-01

[$TBD][1238209] High CVE-2022-0100: Heap buffer overflow in Media streams API. Reported by Cassidy Kim of Amber Security Lab, OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp. Ltd. on 2021-08-10

[$TBD][1249426] High CVE-2022-0101: Heap buffer overflow in Bookmarks. Reported by raven (@raid_akame)  on 2021-09-14

[$TBD][1260129] High CVE-2022-0102: Type Confusion in V8 . Reported by Brendon Tiszka on 2021-10-14

[$TBD][1272266] High CVE-2022-0103: Use after free in SwiftShader. Reported by Abraruddin Khan and Omair  on 2021-11-21

[$TBD][1273661] High CVE-2022-0104: Heap buffer overflow in ANGLE. Reported by Abraruddin Khan and Omair on 2021-11-25

[$TBD][1274376] High CVE-2022-0105: Use after free in PDF. Reported by Cassidy Kim of Amber Security Lab, OPPO Mobile Telecommunications Corp. Ltd. on 2021-11-28

[$TBD][1278960] High CVE-2022-0106: Use after free in Autofill. Reported by Khalil Zhani on 2021-12-10

[$10000][1248438] Medium CVE-2022-0107: Use after free in File Manager API. Reported by raven (@raid_akame)  on 2021-09-10

[$5000][1248444] Medium CVE-2022-0108: Inappropriate implementation in Navigation. Reported by Luan Herrera (@lbherrera_) on 2021-09-10

[$4000][1261689] Medium CVE-2022-0109: Inappropriate implementation in Autofill. Reported by Young Min Kim (@ylemkimon), CompSec Lab at Seoul National University on 2021-10-20

[$3000][1237310] Medium CVE-2022-0110: Incorrect security UI in Autofill. Reported by Alesandro Ortiz on 2021-08-06

[$3000][1241188] Medium CVE-2022-0111: Inappropriate implementation in Navigation. Reported by garygreen on 2021-08-18

[$3000][1255713] Medium CVE-2022-0112: Incorrect security UI in Browser UI. Reported by Thomas Orlita  on 2021-10-04

[$1000][1039885] Medium CVE-2022-0113: Inappropriate implementation in Blink. Reported by Luan Herrera (@lbherrera_) on 2020-01-07

[$TBD][1267627] Medium CVE-2022-0114: Out of bounds memory access in Web Serial. Reported by Looben Yang on 2021-11-06

[$NA][1268903] Medium CVE-2022-0115: Uninitialized Use in File API. Reported by Mark Brand of Google Project Zero on 2021-11-10

[$TBD][1272250] Medium CVE-2022-0116: Inappropriate implementation in Compositing. Reported by Irvan Kurniawan (sourc7) on 2021-11-20

[$TBD][1115847] Low CVE-2022-0117: Policy bypass in Service Workers. Reported by Dongsung Kim (@kid1ng) on 2020-08-13

[$TBD][1238631] Low CVE-2022-0118: Inappropriate implementation in WebShare. Reported by Alesandro Ortiz on 2021-08-11

[$TBD][1262953] Low CVE-2022-0120: Inappropriate implementation in Passwords. Reported by CHAKRAVARTHI (Ruler96) on 2021-10-25


We would also like to thank all security researchers that worked with us during the development cycle to prevent security bugs from ever reaching the stable channel.

As usual, our ongoing internal security work was responsible for a wide range of fixes:

  • [1284397] Various fixes from internal audits, fuzzing and other initiatives


Many of our security bugs are detected using AddressSanitizer, MemorySanitizer, UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer, Control Flow Integrity, libFuzzer, or AFL.


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

Prudhvikumar Bommana
Google Chrome

Chrome for iOS Update

Hi, everyone! We've just released Chrome 97 (97.0.4692.72) for iOS: it'll become available on App Store in the next few hours.

This release includes stability and performance improvements. You can see a full list of the changes in the Git log. If you find a new issue, please let us know by filing a bug.

Harry Souders

Google Chrome

How a college grad kicked off his career in data analytics

Karrim Omer loves his new career. As an associate analyst at Infosys, he enjoys collaborating with his teammates — using data-driven insights to solve complex problems for the company.

But the road to a career in data analytics wasn’t always easy. In fact, when Karrim graduated with a bachelor’s degree in management information systems in December 2020, he wasn’t sure what might come next. During his job search, he started to explore the data analytics career path and enrolled in the Google Data Analytics Certificate. With his new skills came newfound confidence, and within a month of earning his certificate, he landed his job with Infosys — one of the more than 150 companies in our employer consortium who are ready to hire certificate graduates.

It’s been an exciting year for Karrim, and his career is just getting started. We caught up with him about his new career and his 2022 new year’s resolution:

What was your proudest professional moment in 2021?

I would definitely say getting the job at Infosys. Once I got that offer, it felt like all the hard work I put in wasn't for nothing. It felt like a big accomplishment.

At the beginning of 2021, I didn't see myself getting a job as a data analyst within the year. I thought it would be hard to do. When I graduated from college, I thought having my degree would be enough, but after weeks of putting in applications and looking through requirements, I noticed that I didn't have enough of the necessary skills.

Taking the Google Data Analytics Certificate course showed me all the skills I needed in order to get an entry-level position and helped me add things to my resume. I was learning every day, starting to build more confidence and feeling more and more like I was ready for the challenge of getting a job. And for me to actually get the job made me feel like I can do anything I set out to do.

How has your new career changed things for you personally?

It’s boosted my confidence. I was unemployed early in the year and I started questioning if I was working hard enough. It was such a weight lifted off my shoulders when I received an offer from Infosys.

I remember I was like, OK, finally I’m going to have money to pay for things I need to pay for. And then I started thinking about the future. This is a stepping stone for my career and I can grow with this. I’m thinking about all the endless possibilities — from networking to seeing what positions I can move up to. I went from not knowing if I was going to get a job to then getting the job, and I was like, OK, I know what I'm doing, I'm on the right path. Now I just have to keep going.

Do you have a professional New Year's resolution going into 2022? Anything you’re looking forward to, or hoping to achieve in 2022?

In 2022, I’m looking to get more into product analysis and trends. Using data to see cities where a product’s most popular, how much time people are spending with the product and trying to find more ways to get people involved — I feel like that’s the kind of information you can use to help a product grow. It's fulfilling for me to see that.

What would you say to anyone considering a Google Career Certificate?

Keep going and keep trying. I know what it feels like to think it’s not working out. At the beginning of the course you're on a high. But then — I think it was the third course — that's when it dives deep into more technical concepts. That's when you have to think, how badly do you want it?

You have to keep in mind what you're working towards — just finish this course and see what happens. That helped me get through it. I tried to put in an hour or two every day, and if I couldn't wrap my brain around something, I could just take a break and come back fresh a couple hours later. That definitely helped during times when it got a little bit rough. A Google Career Certificate can take you from zero to 100, so as long as you put the work in, you will go as far as you can go.

Karrim is one of thousands of people who’ve gained job-ready skills through the Google Career Certificates. If learning new skills or making a career change happens to be your resolution this year, explore our certificates at grow.google/certificates.

4 ways to set your app business up for success in 2022

2021 has been a big year for app developers — global consumer spend has reached new heights; expectations around digital security continue to shift; and mobile platforms and regulators are introducing changes to better protect user privacy. These will likely continue to be major themes in 2022, so we’re sharing some monetization strategies to help you drive business growth in a fast-evolving landscape.

Diversify your demand sources to deliver more value

As the industry pivots to real-time bidding, strong demand sources can help you make the most of your unique inventory. Access to a diverse range of buyers in particular can deliver strong effective cost per thousand impressions (eCPMs) for your inventory.

Google AdMob supports many demand sources to help you earn more across real-time bidding and waterfall mediation. The AdMob network includes demand from Google Ads, Display & Video 360 and more than 200 demand-side platforms (DSPs). Soon, we’ll introduce software development kit (SDK) integrations with buyers like Snap to further enhance performance — with more to come in 2022. For direct-sold inventory support, you may want to consider Google Ad Manager.

After mobile game developer Me2Zen saw strong performance from the AdMob network, they decided to move to the AdMob platform. The team adopted both bidding and waterfall mediation and saw a 15% increase in their average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU).

Simplify operations to free up resources

An effective suite of tools to manage operational tasks can save time and help you focus on growth. For example, a robust A/B testing strategy can help you decide what levers to pull to optimize performance with confidence. With AdMob, you can set up an A/B test with a few clicks and get actionable insights to earn more.

Onboarding and testing can be another manual and time-consuming task for developers. With tools like ad inspector, you can test adapter setups, demand sources and more with the shake of your hand — which accelerates the testing process and adds a bit of fun.

Animation of a hand shaking a mobile device to demonstrate how the ad inspector tool works.

RisingWings, a fast-growing casual game company, cut operational costs by 50% and saw ARPDAU increase by 8.7% after switching to AdMob. The team took an integrated approach with in-app ads for all their hybrid games, and built a reliable revenue stream without affecting user retention.

Use data and insights to drive growth

The right insights can uncover new opportunities beyond monetization. A broad understanding of user lifetime value (LTV) can help you refine your user acquisition strategy. And insights on how ads influence user retention can help you optimize total revenue while maintaining a good user experience. With resources like the ads activity report and cohort report available on AdMob, you’ll get a clear picture of ads performance and user LTV. You can then use these insights to find more high-value users through solutions like target return on ad spend (tROAS) for ads revenue.

During the transition to a hybrid model, game developer IGG combined LTV data from AdMob with internal ROI analysis to identify new growth opportunities in their top markets. These insights helped the team double their user base by increasing spend on regional App campaigns.

Apply strong brand safety controls to maintain user trust

As people’s expectations around digital privacy continue to rise, it’s critical to build trust through engaging and brand-appropriate ads. While a meaningful ad experience can complement your app and increase trust, a bad experience can lead to an uninstall or, even worse, a loss of trust in your brand.

To ensure brand safety, your platform should have a high bar for the quality of advertiser demand and provide controls to help you deliver an optimal ad experience. With AdMob, you can block ads from certain categories or specific competitors, or use the Ad review center to review ads flowing through the AdMob network and manually block them if needed. We’ll expand these same ad quality controls to third-party buyers participating in bidding in 2022.

We’ve learned so much in an industry that’s changing faster than ever. As we head into 2022, we look forward to continuing to partner together to shape the future of app monetization.

Beta Channel Update for Desktop

 The Beta channel has been updated to 97.0.4692.71 for Windows, Mac and Linux.

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


Prudhvikumar BommanaGoogle Chrome