Tag Archives: G Suite

7 ways admins can help secure accounts against phishing in G Suite

We work hard to help protect your company against phishing attacks—from using machine learning, to tailoring our detection algorithms, to building features to spot previously unseen attacks. While we block as many external attacks as we can, we continue to build and offer features designed to empower IT administrators to develop strong internal defenses against phishing.

Here are seven things we recommend admins do in G Suite to better protect employee data.

1. Enforce 2-step verification

Two-step verification (2SV) is one of the best ways to prevent someone from accessing your account, even if they steal your password. In G Suite, admins have the ability to enforce 2-step verification. 2SV can reduce the risk of successful phishing attacks by asking employees for additional proof of identity when they sign in. This can be in the form of phone prompts, voice calls, mobile app notifications and more.

Image 1: phishing post

G Suite also supports user-managed security keys—easy to use hardware authenticators. Admins can choose to enforce the use of security keys to help reduce the risk of stolen credentials being used to compromise an account. The key sends an encrypted signature and works only with authorized sites. Security keys can be deployed, monitored and managed directly from within the Admin console.

The Key to working smarter faster and safer

2. Deploy Password Alert extension for Chrome

The Password Alert chrome extension checks each page that users visit to see if that page is impersonating Google’s sign-in page and notifies admins if users enter their G Suite credentials anywhere other than the Google sign-in page.

Admins can enforce deployment of the Password Alert Chrome extension from the Google Admin Console (Device management > App Management > Password Alert)—just sign in and get started. You should check “Force installation" under both “User Settings” and “Public session settings.”

Image 2: phishing post

Admins can also enable password alert auditing, send email alerts and enforce a password change policy when G Suite credentials have been used on a non-trusted website such as a phishing site.

3. Allow only trusted apps to access your data

Take advantage of OAuth apps whitelisting to specify which apps can access your users’ G Suite data. With this setting, users can grant access to their G Suite apps’ data only to whitelisted apps. This prevents malicious apps from tricking users into accidentally granting unauthorized access. Apps can be whitelisted by admins in the Admin console under G Suite API Permissions.

Image 3: phishing post

4. Publish a DMARC policy for your organization

To help your business avoid damage to its reputation from phishing attacks and impersonators, G Suite follows the DMARC standard. DMARC empowers domain owners to decide how Gmail and other participating email providers handle unauthenticated emails coming from your domain. By defining a policy and turning on DKIM email signing, you can ensure that emails that claim to be from your organization, are actually from you.

5. Disable third-party email client access for those who don't need it

The Gmail clients (Android, iOS, Web) leverage Google Safe Browsing to incorporate anti-phishing security measures such as disabling suspicious links and attachments and displaying warnings to users to deter them from clicking on suspicious links.


By choosing to disable POP and IMAP, Google Sync and G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook, admins can ensure that a significant portion of G Suite users will only use Gmail clients and benefit from the built-in phishing protections that they provide. Additional measures include enabling OAuth apps whitelisting to block third-party clients as suggested earlier in the blog.


Note: all third-party email clients, including native mobile mail clients, will stop working if the measures outlined above are implemented.

Image 4: phishing post
Image 5: phishing post

6. Encourage your team to pay attention to external reply warnings

By default, Gmail clients (Android, Web) warn G Suite users if they’re responding to emails sent from outside their domain by someone they don’t regularly interact with, or from someone not in their contacts. This helps businesses protect against forged emails, from malicious actors or just plain old user-error like sending an email to the wrong contact. Educate your employees to look for these warnings and be careful before responding to unrecognized senders. Unintended external reply warnings are controlled from the Admin console control in the “Advanced Gmail” setting.

Image 6: phishing post

7. Enforce the use of Android work profiles

Work profiles allow you to separate your organization's apps from personal apps, keeping personal and corporate data separate. By using integrated device management within G Suite to enforce the use of work profiles, you can whitelist applications that access corporate data and block installation of apps from unknown sources. You now have complete control over which apps have access to your corporate data.

Image 7: phishing post

These steps can help you improve your organization’s security posture and become more resistant to phishing attacks. Learn more at gsuite.google.com/security or sign up for our security webinar on September 20, 2017 which features new security research from Forrester and a demonstration on how the cloud can help effectively combat cyber threats.

Source: Gmail Blog


7 ways admins can help secure accounts against phishing in G Suite

We work hard to help protect your company against phishing attacks—from using machine learning, to tailoring our detection algorithms, to building features to spot previously unseen attacks. While we block as many external attacks as we can, we continue to build and offer features designed to empower IT administrators to develop strong internal defenses against phishing.

Here are seven things we recommend admins do in G Suite to better protect employee data.

1. Enforce 2-step verification

Two-step verification (2SV) is one of the best ways to prevent someone from accessing your account, even if they steal your password. In G Suite, admins have the ability to enforce 2-step verification. 2SV can reduce the risk of successful phishing attacks by asking employees for additional proof of identity when they sign in. This can be in the form of phone prompts, voice calls, mobile app notifications and more.

Image 1: phishing post

G Suite also supports user-managed security keys—easy to use hardware authenticators. Admins can choose to enforce the use of security keys to help reduce the risk of stolen credentials being used to compromise an account. The key sends an encrypted signature and works only with authorized sites. Security keys can be deployed, monitored and managed directly from within the Admin console.

2. Deploy Password Alert extension for Chrome

The Password Alert chrome extension checks each page that users visit to see if that page is impersonating Google’s sign-in page and notifies admins if users enter their G Suite credentials anywhere other than the Google sign-in page.

Admins can enforce deployment of the Password Alert Chrome extension from the Google Admin Console (Device management > App Management > Password Alert)—just sign in and get started. You should check “Force installation" under both “User Settings” and “Public session settings.”

Image 2: phishing post

Admins can also enable password alert auditing, send email alerts and enforce a password change policy when G Suite credentials have been used on a non-trusted website such as a phishing site.

3. Allow only trusted apps to access your data

Take advantage of OAuth apps whitelisting to specify which apps can access your users’ G Suite data. With this setting, users can grant access to their G Suite apps’ data only to whitelisted apps. This prevents malicious apps from tricking users into accidentally granting unauthorized access. Apps can be whitelisted by admins in the Admin console under G Suite API Permissions.

Image 3: phishing post

4. Publish a DMARC policy for your organization

To help your business avoid damage to its reputation from phishing attacks and impersonators, G Suite follows the DMARC standard. DMARC empowers domain owners to decide how Gmail and other participating email providers handle unauthenticated emails coming from your domain. By defining a policy and turning on DKIM email signing, you can ensure that emails that claim to be from your organization, are actually from you.

5. Disable POP and IMAP access for those who don’t need it

The Gmail clients (Android, iOS, Web) leverage Google Safe Browsing to incorporate anti-phishing security measures such as disabling suspicious links and attachments and displaying warnings to users to deter them from clicking on suspicious links. 

By choosing to disable POP and IMAP, admins can ensure that all G Suite users will only use Gmail clients and benefit from the built-in phishing protections that they provide. POP and IMAP access can be disabled by admins at the organizational unit level.

Note: all third-party email clients including native mobile mail clients will stop working if POP and IMAP are disabled.

Image 4: phishing post
Image 5: phishing post

6. Encourage your team to pay attention to external reply warnings

By default, Gmail clients (Android, Web) warn G Suite users if they’re responding to emails sent from outside their domain by someone they don’t regularly interact with, or from someone not in their contacts. This helps businesses protect against forged emails, from malicious actors or just plain old user-error like sending an email to the wrong contact. Educate your employees to look for these warnings and be careful before responding to unrecognized senders. Unintended external reply warnings are controlled from the Admin console control in the “Advanced Gmail” setting.

Image 6: phishing post

7. Enforce the use of Android work profiles

Work profiles allow you to separate your organization's apps from personal apps, keeping personal and corporate data separate. By using integrated device management within G Suite to enforce the use of work profiles, you can whitelist applications that access corporate data and block installation of apps from unknown sources. You now have complete control over which apps have access to your corporate data.

Image 7: phishing post

These steps can help you improve your organization’s security posture and become more resistant to phishing attacks. Learn more at gsuite.google.com/security or sign up for our security webinar on September 20, 2017 which features new security research from Forrester and a demonstration on how the cloud can help effectively combat cyber threats.

Source: Android


7 ways admins can help secure accounts against phishing in G Suite

We work hard to help protect your company against phishing attacks—from using machine learning, to tailoring our detection algorithms, to building features to spot previously unseen attacks. While we block as many external attacks as we can, we continue to build and offer features designed to empower IT administrators to develop strong internal defenses against phishing.

Here are seven things we recommend admins do in G Suite to better protect employee data.

1. Enforce 2-step verification

Two-step verification (2SV) is one of the best ways to prevent someone from accessing your account, even if they steal your password. In G Suite, admins have the ability to enforce 2-step verification. 2SV can reduce the risk of successful phishing attacks by asking employees for additional proof of identity when they sign in. This can be in the form of phone prompts, voice calls, mobile app notifications and more.

Image 1: phishing post

G Suite also supports user-managed security keys—easy to use hardware authenticators. Admins can choose to enforce the use of security keys to help reduce the risk of stolen credentials being used to compromise an account. The key sends an encrypted signature and works only with authorized sites. Security keys can be deployed, monitored and managed directly from within the Admin console.

The Key to working smarter faster and safer

2. Deploy Password Alert extension for Chrome

The Password Alert chrome extension checks each page that users visit to see if that page is impersonating Google’s sign-in page and notifies admins if users enter their G Suite credentials anywhere other than the Google sign-in page.

Admins can enforce deployment of the Password Alert Chrome extension from the Google Admin Console (Device management > App Management > Password Alert)—just sign in and get started. You should check “Force installation" under both “User Settings” and “Public session settings.”

Image 2: phishing post

Admins can also enable password alert auditing, send email alerts and enforce a password change policy when G Suite credentials have been used on a non-trusted website such as a phishing site.

3. Allow only trusted apps to access your data

Take advantage of OAuth apps whitelisting to specify which apps can access your users’ G Suite data. With this setting, users can grant access to their G Suite apps’ data only to whitelisted apps. This prevents malicious apps from tricking users into accidentally granting unauthorized access. Apps can be whitelisted by admins in the Admin console under G Suite API Permissions.

Image 3: phishing post

4. Publish a DMARC policy for your organization

To help your business avoid damage to its reputation from phishing attacks and impersonators, G Suite follows the DMARC standard. DMARC empowers domain owners to decide how Gmail and other participating email providers handle unauthenticated emails coming from your domain. By defining a policy and turning on DKIM email signing, you can ensure that emails that claim to be from your organization, are actually from you.

5. Disable third-party email client access for those who don't need it

The Gmail clients (Android, iOS, Web) leverage Google Safe Browsing to incorporate anti-phishing security measures such as disabling suspicious links and attachments and displaying warnings to users to deter them from clicking on suspicious links.


By choosing to disable POP and IMAP, Google Sync and G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook, admins can ensure that a significant portion of G Suite users will only use Gmail clients and benefit from the built-in phishing protections that they provide. Additional measures include enabling OAuth apps whitelisting to block third-party clients as suggested earlier in the blog.


Note: all third-party email clients, including native mobile mail clients, will stop working if the measures outlined above are implemented.

Image 4: phishing post
Image 5: phishing post

6. Encourage your team to pay attention to external reply warnings

By default, Gmail clients (Android, Web) warn G Suite users if they’re responding to emails sent from outside their domain by someone they don’t regularly interact with, or from someone not in their contacts. This helps businesses protect against forged emails, from malicious actors or just plain old user-error like sending an email to the wrong contact. Educate your employees to look for these warnings and be careful before responding to unrecognized senders. Unintended external reply warnings are controlled from the Admin console control in the “Advanced Gmail” setting.

Image 6: phishing post

7. Enforce the use of Android work profiles

Work profiles allow you to separate your organization's apps from personal apps, keeping personal and corporate data separate. By using integrated device management within G Suite to enforce the use of work profiles, you can whitelist applications that access corporate data and block installation of apps from unknown sources. You now have complete control over which apps have access to your corporate data.

Image 7: phishing post

These steps can help you improve your organization’s security posture and become more resistant to phishing attacks. Learn more at gsuite.google.com/security or sign up for our security webinar on September 20, 2017 which features new security research from Forrester and a demonstration on how the cloud can help effectively combat cyber threats.

Source: Android


7 ways admins can help secure accounts against phishing in G Suite

We work hard to help protect your company against phishing attacks—from using machine learning, to tailoring our detection algorithms, to building features to spot previously unseen attacks. While we block as many external attacks as we can, we continue to build and offer features designed to empower IT administrators to develop strong internal defenses against phishing.

Here are seven things we recommend admins do in G Suite to better protect employee data.

1. Enforce 2-step verification

Two-step verification (2SV) is one of the best ways to prevent someone from accessing your account, even if they steal your password. In G Suite, admins have the ability to enforce 2-step verification. 2SV can reduce the risk of successful phishing attacks by asking employees for additional proof of identity when they sign in. This can be in the form of phone prompts, voice calls, mobile app notifications and more.

Image 1: phishing post

G Suite also supports user-managed security keys—easy to use hardware authenticators. Admins can choose to enforce the use of security keys to help reduce the risk of stolen credentials being used to compromise an account. The key sends an encrypted signature and works only with authorized sites. Security keys can be deployed, monitored and managed directly from within the Admin console.

The Key to working smarter faster and safer

2. Deploy Password Alert extension for Chrome

The Password Alert chrome extension checks each page that users visit to see if that page is impersonating Google’s sign-in page and notifies admins if users enter their G Suite credentials anywhere other than the Google sign-in page.

Admins can enforce deployment of the Password Alert Chrome extension from the Google Admin Console (Device management > App Management > Password Alert)—just sign in and get started. You should check “Force installation" under both “User Settings” and “Public session settings.”

Image 2: phishing post

Admins can also enable password alert auditing, send email alerts and enforce a password change policy when G Suite credentials have been used on a non-trusted website such as a phishing site.

3. Allow only trusted apps to access your data

Take advantage of OAuth apps whitelisting to specify which apps can access your users’ G Suite data. With this setting, users can grant access to their G Suite apps’ data only to whitelisted apps. This prevents malicious apps from tricking users into accidentally granting unauthorized access. Apps can be whitelisted by admins in the Admin console under G Suite API Permissions.

Image 3: phishing post

4. Publish a DMARC policy for your organization

To help your business avoid damage to its reputation from phishing attacks and impersonators, G Suite follows the DMARC standard. DMARC empowers domain owners to decide how Gmail and other participating email providers handle unauthenticated emails coming from your domain. By defining a policy and turning on DKIM email signing, you can ensure that emails that claim to be from your organization, are actually from you.

5. Disable third-party email client access for those who don't need it

The Gmail clients (Android, iOS, Web) leverage Google Safe Browsing to incorporate anti-phishing security measures such as disabling suspicious links and attachments and displaying warnings to users to deter them from clicking on suspicious links.


By choosing to disable POP and IMAP, Google Sync and G Suite Sync for Microsoft Outlook, admins can ensure that a significant portion of G Suite users will only use Gmail clients and benefit from the built-in phishing protections that they provide. Additional measures include enabling OAuth apps whitelisting to block third-party clients as suggested earlier in the blog.


Note: all third-party email clients, including native mobile mail clients, will stop working if the measures outlined above are implemented.

Image 4: phishing post
Image 5: phishing post

6. Encourage your team to pay attention to external reply warnings

By default, Gmail clients (Android, Web) warn G Suite users if they’re responding to emails sent from outside their domain by someone they don’t regularly interact with, or from someone not in their contacts. This helps businesses protect against forged emails, from malicious actors or just plain old user-error like sending an email to the wrong contact. Educate your employees to look for these warnings and be careful before responding to unrecognized senders. Unintended external reply warnings are controlled from the Admin console control in the “Advanced Gmail” setting.

Image 6: phishing post

7. Enforce the use of Android work profiles

Work profiles allow you to separate your organization's apps from personal apps, keeping personal and corporate data separate. By using integrated device management within G Suite to enforce the use of work profiles, you can whitelist applications that access corporate data and block installation of apps from unknown sources. You now have complete control over which apps have access to your corporate data.

Image 7: phishing post

These steps can help you improve your organization’s security posture and become more resistant to phishing attacks. Learn more at gsuite.google.com/security or sign up for our security webinar on September 20, 2017 which features new security research from Forrester and a demonstration on how the cloud can help effectively combat cyber threats.

Source: Google Cloud


Analyze your business data with Explore in Google Sheets, use BigQuery too

A few months back, we announced a new way for you to analyze data in Google Sheets using machine learning. Instead of relying on lengthy formulas to crunch your numbers, now you can use Explore in Sheets to ask questions and quickly gather insights. Check it out.

Quicker data → problems solved

When you have easier access to data—and can figure out what it means quickly—you can solve problems for your business faster. You might use Explore in Sheets to analyze profit from last year, or look for trends in how your customers sign up for your company’s services. Explore in Sheets can help you track down this information, and more importantly, visualize it.

Getting started is easy. Just click the “Explore” button on the bottom right corner of your screen in Sheets. Type in a question about your data in the search box and Explore responds to your query. Here’s an example of how Sheets can build charts for you.

Sheets Explore GIF

Syncing Sheets with BigQuery for deeper insights

For those of you who want to take data analysis one step further, you can sync Sheets with BigQuery—Google Cloud’s low cost data warehouse for analytics.

Compare publicly-available datasets in BigQuery, like U.S. Census Data or World Bank: Global Health, Nutrition, and Population data, to your company’s data in Sheets and gather information. For example, you can see how sales of your medical product compared with last year’s disease trends, or cross-reference average inflation prices in key markets of interest to your business.  

Check out this post to see how you might query an example.

Source: Google Cloud


Analyze your business data with Explore in Google Sheets, use BigQuery too

A few months back, we announced a new way for you to analyze data in Google Sheets using machine learning. Instead of relying on lengthy formulas to crunch your numbers, now you can use Explore in Sheets to ask questions and quickly gather insights. Check it out.

Analyze easily with Explore in Sheets | The G Suite Show

Quicker data → problems solved

When you have easier access to data—and can figure out what it means quickly—you can solve problems for your business faster. You might use Explore in Sheets to analyze profit from last year, or look for trends in how your customers sign up for your company’s services. Explore in Sheets can help you track down this information, and more importantly, visualize it.

Getting started is easy. Just click the “Explore” button on the bottom right corner of your screen in Sheets. Type in a question about your data in the search box and Explore responds to your query. Here’s an example of how Sheets can build charts for you.

Sheets Explore GIF

Syncing Sheets with BigQuery for deeper insights

For those of you who want to take data analysis one step further, you can sync Sheets with BigQuery—Google Cloud’s low cost data warehouse for analytics.

Compare publicly-available datasets in BigQuery, like U.S. Census Data or World Bank: Global Health, Nutrition, and Population data, to your company’s data in Sheets and gather information. For example, you can see how sales of your medical product compared with last year’s disease trends, or cross-reference average inflation prices in key markets of interest to your business.  

Check out this post to see how you might query an example.

Source: Google Cloud


New features in Jamboard to help you make the best of your jams

A few months have passed since we first released Jamboard—Google’s cloud-based, collaborative whiteboard. Since then, our engineering and product teams have been developing new features to make your jam sessions even better.

For those of you new to Jamboard, check out this video. For those of you who have been testing Jamboard with your teams, here are eight new updates to help you jam even easier.

1. Use Jamboard in Canada and the U.K. now.

Starting today, you can use Jamboard to collaborate with teammates in Canada and the United Kingdom. This means that your Chicago office can have a product development working session with their Toronto counterparts, or your marketing team in New York can redline the latest website proposal live with the London headquarters. Of course, any team can still view and participate remotely via the Jamboard iOS or Android apps.

2. Duplicate and select objects on Jamboard easier.

Now, you can duplicate objects on your Jamboard screen or mobile device. Select an object and click on the duplicate icon on the upper right-hand corner. You can also select drawings and objects—like post-its, stickers, and images—and easily move or resize them using the “Lasso” selection tool.

Object dupblication GIF: G Suite

3. Try out “Glide Typing.”

Jamboard now offers “Glide Typing”—a way to type by swiping your finger across letters on your keyboard—so you can add text to a jam even quicker.

4. Share your work with teammates fast.

Ready to get feedback on a project from colleagues? Click “Add people” in the Jamboard app, and it will auto-suggest contacts based on history, matching address book contacts and your email domain. When you add an individual, they receive a notification in their email just like in Google Docs.

5. Redline text to edit jams like you would on paper, but better.

You now have the option to edit text within jams using the stylus. To delete, simply strike over a letter you’d like to remove from a word. To insert letters, write them either above or below the word and draw a small arrow to insert them. To merge, select a text object and drag it to another text object. Check it out.

Jamboard deletion
Delete text in Jamboard using your stylist pen.
Object insertion: Jamboard
Insert text in Jamboard by drawing a caret.
Merge text in Jamboard
Merge text by dragging a text object near another object on Jamboard.

6. Add your favorite GIFs.

Jamboard now supports adding GIF images via Google Drive, so you can add dynamic images to your jams. Or, you know, a team pick-me-up.

7. Move objects to adjacent jam frames.

By popular demand, objects can now be moved to adjacent jam frames or pages. Just select and glide the image toward the left or right edge of your screen.

Adjacent: Jamboard
Move objects adjacent to other images or text on Jamboard.

8. Additional reporting for Jamboard admins.

For the G Suite admins out there, you can now see historical data for Wi-Fi network strength (RSSI), Wi-Fi network speed and board online/offline status in the Jamboard Admin console.

Start jamming

Creative agencies, professional services companies and teams in a variety of industries are using Jamboard to collaborate from different locations more effectively.  For a full list of Jamboard updates, check out What’s New in Jamboard, or you can visit google.com/jamboard to see how you can start jamming with your colleagues today.

New features in Jamboard to help you make the best of your jams

A few months have passed since we first released Jamboard—Google’s cloud-based, collaborative whiteboard. Since then, our engineering and product teams have been developing new features to make your jam sessions even better.

For those of you new to Jamboard, check out this video. For those of you who have been testing Jamboard with your teams, here are eight new updates to help you jam even easier.

1. Use Jamboard in Canada and the U.K. now.

Starting today, you can use Jamboard to collaborate with teammates in Canada and the United Kingdom. This means that your Chicago office can have a product development working session with their Toronto counterparts, or your marketing team in New York can redline the latest website proposal live with the London headquarters. Of course, any team can still view and participate remotely via the Jamboard iOS or Android apps.

2. Duplicate and select objects on Jamboard easier.

Now, you can duplicate objects on your Jamboard screen or mobile device. Select an object and click on the duplicate icon on the upper right-hand corner. You can also select drawings and objects—like post-its, stickers, and images—and easily move or resize them using the “Lasso” selection tool.

3. Try out “Glide Typing.”

Jamboard now offers “Glide Typing”—a way to type by swiping your finger across letters on your keyboard—so you can add text to a jam even quicker.

4. Share your work with teammates fast.

Ready to get feedback on a project from colleagues? Click “Add people” in the Jamboard app, and it will auto-suggest contacts based on history, matching address book contacts and your email domain. When you add an individual, they receive a notification in their email just like in Google Docs.

5. Redline text to edit jams like you would on paper, but better.

You now have the option to edit text within jams using the stylus. To delete, simply strike over a letter you’d like to remove from a word. To insert letters, write them either above or below the word and draw a small arrow to insert them. To merge, select a text object and drag it to another text object. Check it out.

6. Add your favorite GIFs.

Jamboard now supports adding GIF images via Google Drive, so you can add dynamic images to your jams. Or, you know, a team pick-me-up.

7. Move objects to adjacent jam frames.

By popular demand, objects can now be moved to adjacent jam frames or pages. Just select and glide the image toward the left or right edge of your screen.

8. Additional reporting for Jamboard admins.

For the G Suite admins out there, you can now see historical data for Wi-Fi network strength (RSSI), Wi-Fi network speed and board online/offline status in the Jamboard Admin console.

Start jamming

Creative agencies, professional services companies and teams in a variety of industries are using Jamboard to collaborate from different locations more effectively.  For a full list of Jamboard updates, check out What’s New in Jamboard, or you can visit google.com/jamboard to see how you can start jamming with your colleagues today.

Source: Google Cloud


Check out the most recent G Suite launches

In June, we introduced a new resource for admins: What’s new in G Suite? Don’t forget to visit the page regularly for a list of the most recent launches across G Suite.

Feedback? Let us know.




Stackdriver Logging for Google Apps Script is now available

Posted by Paul McReynolds, Product Manager, Google Apps Script and Romain Vialard, Product Manager, Revevol

Google Apps Script has always provided a simple logging tool—the Logger service—to help developers better test their scripts. This works for many simple use cases, but developers need other ways to log messages and errors, particularly when:
  • Troubleshooting or analyzing scripts across multiple executions
  • Working on a script or add-on with multiple users 
  • Looking for trends or insights about their scripts and users
To make Apps Script a friendlier environment for developers, we are announcing general availability of a new integration with Google Stackdriver. This is in addition to the pre-existing Logger service, which is still available.

Using Stackdriver Logging in Google Apps Script

Log messages can now be sent to Stackdriver Logging using the familiar console.log(), console.info(), etc. functions. You can also instruct Apps Script to log messages and stack traces for all exceptions, which also become available for analysis in Stackdriver Error Reporting by simply checking a box. No need to add a single extra line of code.

In Stackdriver, logs are kept for 7 days for free, and the premium tier offers 30-day retention. Powerful search and filtering are available to quickly find log entries by text content or metadata, and developers can also choose to export logs to BigQuery, Cloud Storage, and Cloud Pub/Sub for further analysis, long term conservation, and custom workflows.

Log messages and errors are reported for all users of a script, with a unique but obfuscated identifier assigned to each user. This means log entries can be aggregated anonymously per user, for example allowing developers to count unique users impacted by an issue or analyze user behavior, but without logging users’ personally identifying information.


Developers get some of these aggregated analyses for free. In the Stackdriver Error Reporting tab of the developer console, you can see recurring errors and the numbers of users impacted. You can even subscribe to receive an email alert when a new type of error is detected.


How developers are using Stackdriver Logging

Developers of scripts and add-ons have started to rely more on more on this new logging capability. Romain Vialard, creator of Yet Another Mail Merge, a popular Google Sheets add-on, is using Stackdriver Logging to time the execution of his add-on, exporting data to BigQuery to perform aggregations and analyze trends. Read this tutorial to learn how to export logs to BigQuery and run queries to analyze how users are interacting with your script.

Stackdriver Logging is one of the ways we’re making Apps Script a more manageable platform for developers. We hope that it and other features coming soon make Apps Script developers more productive and their scripts, add-ons and integrations more robust.

You can read more about how to enable and use the Stackdriver integration by reading Apps Script’s logging documentation.

About the authors 

Romain Vialard is a Google Developer Expert. After some years spent as a consultant, he is now focused on products for G Suite (formerly Google Apps) users, including add-ons such as Yet Another Mail Merge and Form Publisher.

Paul McReynolds is a Product Manager at Google focused on Apps Script and G Suite Marketplace. Previously a startup founder and CTO, Paul believes that the easy things need to be easy or the hard things don’t get done. At Google, he's excited to be a part of the company that makes solving problems for business fun again.

Editor's note: Yet Another Mail Merge and Form Publisher are not created, sponsored, or supported by Google.