Respect user consent choices with Google Tag Manager

More people than ever before are purchasing goods and services online, bringing new opportunities for businesses to reach a growing base of customers. At the same time, restrictions around cookies and identifiers are changing the ways businesses understand the customer journey.  We’ve heard from businesses that they need new, easy-to-use solutions to keep pace with these industry changes, especially solutions that will continue to provide critical insights on campaign performance, while maintaining user privacy.

At Google Marketing Livestream, we shared our belief that it’s possible to improve privacy while still delivering business results and highlighted a few solutions that help. For example, Consent Mode lets advertisers customize how Google tags behave before and after users make their consent decisions. Consent Mode also informs conversion modeling to help bridge any measurement gaps that may occur due to cookie consent choices.

Our customers have shared with us that they would like simpler ways to ensure that all tags on their websites respect cookie consent choices. To make this process easier, we’re unveiling a new consent experience in Tag Manager. Starting today, users of Tag Manager and Tag Manager 360 will be able to directly integrate with Consent Mode and easily incorporate user consent into the behavior of all tags on their website.

Integrate your consent management solution

If your business operates in a region that requires you to collect user consent for certain operations, like the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you may need a consent management solution. And if you’re using Tag Manager to manage all the tags on your site, you’ll need to integrate Tag Manager with the consent management solution you’ve selected. But integrating these two can be complicated and require changes to website code.

We’re making it possible to remove that integration step altogether. Starting today, consent management solutions can build tag templates directly into the Community Template Gallery using a new set of sandboxed JavaScript APIs that will work with Consent Mode. We’re also introducing a new trigger type, Consent Initialization, which enables tags that require user consent choice to fire before all other tags.

Let’s say you’re a clothing retailer operating in the United Kingdom. You’ve decided to work with a consent management solution to display a consent banner to your customers and want to integrate it with your Tag Manager account. If your consent management solution has a tag template available in the Community Template Gallery, you can now add it to your container. With the Consent Initialization trigger, this tag will deploy your consent banner as soon as someone lands on your website. This enables you to collect a user’s consent choice before other tags in your container load.

Benefit from consent support on all your tags

Last year we announced that tags for Google advertising and analytics products will respect consent choices for ads cookies and analytics cookies when Consent Mode is in use. But to control how other third-party tags behave for these and other types of user consent, many businesses have turned to a custom tag setup in Tag Manager, which can be difficult to implement and manage.

Now in Tag Manager, you’ll be able to see and customize each tag’s consent settings. You can see which types of consent each tag requires. For example, a specific tag may already be adjusting its behavior based on user consent for ads cookies. And you can specify whether any additional types of consent are necessary for the tag to fire, like requiring consent for analytics cookies. We’re introducing new consent types into Tag Manager as well. These consent types correspond to options you might include in your consent management solution. If a user does not give consent to the specific consent types you’ve selected for the tag, the tag will not run.

Add additional consent in order for your tag to fire

Many consent management platforms are already compatible with the ad storage and analytics storage settings. You can see a full list in our Help Center.

Gain a complete view of your tags’ consent settings

For a complete view of the consent settings across all the tags in your container, you can now enable a new Consent Overview from your container settings. Once enabled, this overview will be available from the Tags screen. From here you can also manage consent settings in bulk, like adding a personalization storage consent type to multiple tags at once.

Access the Consent Overview and manage consent settings in bulk

All of these capabilities are available in beta in all Tag Manager and Tag Manager 360 accounts today. These updates will help you preserve online measurement while respecting user consent choices. Stay tuned for more information on other privacy-safe measurement solutions that we announced today.

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by Scott Herman via The Keyword

Building for the future to help you prepare for what’s next

The COVID-19 recovery process will vary by country, region and business sector, but the transformation will have an impact on all of us. Google is committed to providing economic relief and supporting the pandemic recovery efforts, which is why we’re working to provide accurate vaccine information and increasing vaccine access to people around the world, with a particular focus on countries that are continuing to experience the pandemic most intensely.

We’ve also been focused on how our products can help make things easier for people during this difficult time. Last year, we revamped our roadmap with simple, helpful solutions like curbside pickup for Local Inventory Ads and booking services directly in Search results through Local Services Ads. In 2021 we’re continuing to fine-tune our products to help advertisers connect with consumers even as the world around us keeps changing.

Join us today at Google Marketing Livestream 2021 at 8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET to learn more — including a deep dive into our latest innovations across privacy, measurement and automation.

Developing privacy-safe advertising technology

Time spent with digital media increased 15% last year, according to eMarketer, as people turned to devices like smartphones, connected TVs and computers. As they use digital tools to manage more aspects of their lives, people want to know that their privacy is protected and we expect these concerns will only increase in the future.

A healthy ads ecosystem is critical to keeping the internet open and accessible for everyone, but we must also ensure that people feel safe when they are online. Now is the time for our industry to rethink our practices and take bold action to regain people’s trust. That’s a key reason why we announced earlier this year that we won’t build alternate identifiers once third-party cookies are phased out. 

The good news is that it’s possible to improve privacy while still delivering business results. We’re collaborating with the web community to build solutions like those in the Privacy Sandbox. It’s an open-source initiative to develop new technologies centered on privacy techniques like anonymization, aggregation and on-device processing designed to support key advertising use cases such as interest-based ads, measurement and more.

Navigating new measurement and
audience strategies

Accurate measurement of your marketing is especially critical so that you know where to invest to drive the most impact. But the tools advertisers have historically relied on to measure results — such as cookies and other identifiers — are rapidly changing. We're focused on ensuring privacy-safe measurement is accessible to businesses and brands of all sizes. 

We're investing across our products to help unlock insights into consumer behavior and purchasing decisions using machine learning. For example, we’ll soon be including Display and YouTube, as well as in-app conversions, in all Google Ads attribution models, including data-driven attribution powered by Google’s machine learning. These changes will help you properly value the impact of all your Google Ads campaigns.

We recently shared how we're making it possible for you to use your consented first-party data to preserve accurate measurement, even when fewer cookies are available. First-party data can also help you connect with more of the right people for your business. We're now expanding the availability of Customer Match to nearly all advertisers to reach and re-engage customers across ad types. As we look to the future, you can expect to see more innovations like these to help with your transition to a privacy-first world.

Improving automation with better performance

As the recovery continues, advertisers can automatically tap new pockets of growth by using products that dynamically respond to the market conditions most relevant to their business. Today, advertisers are applying automation to more aspects of their campaigns than ever before — from automatically assembling and selecting the best-performing creatives with responsive search ads, to finding more search queries that perform using broad match keywords, and setting the right bid for every auction by factoring in a wide range of signals that predict performance using Smart Bidding. In fact, we’ve seen that automation products are even better together. For example, companies that switch from phrase match keywords to broad match keywords in campaigns that use Target CPA bidding see 25% more conversions.

Combining our automated products creates a multiplicative effect for driving growth — starting with keywords, bidding, and creative

Since automation is delivering strong results for advertisers, we want to help you use it in more places. Today more than 80% of advertisers use automated bidding to take the guesswork out of setting bids and to achieve their performance goals. For example, advertisers who want to optimize their campaigns based on return on ad spend use Target Return on Ad Spend (Target ROAS) Smart Bidding strategies to automatically optimize bids and maximize revenue. Now we’re expanding Target ROAS to work across even more of Google’s channels, including Discovery ads and Video action campaigns.

Just like with automation, you get more efficiency and better results when our advertising tools work together. So we've made it easy for retailers to connect your Google Merchant Center feed to Discovery ads and Video action campaigns. This will help you use images and video to drive product discovery and purchases for your full product catalog. In March, when we compared more than 900 Video action campaigns, we found advertisers that added product feeds drove 60% more conversions at a lower cost, compared to advertisers that didn't add product feeds.

 Product feed added to Video action campaigns

Bringing the full value of automation to more advertisers 

Last year we shared that we were testing a new type of campaign called Performance Max. It brings together the best of Google’s automation to help advertisers drive better results across all of Google’s channels: YouTube, Display, Search, Discover and more. Starting today, Performance Max campaigns are expanding to thousands of additional advertisers, with general availability coming later this year (visit the Google Ads Help Center for more details and complete this interest form if you’d like to join the beta).

We’re also adding support for Performance Max campaigns on the Insights page. We heard beta testers tell us they wanted more transparency into how automation is working and what’s driving performance changes. With this update, you’ll be able to see things like which audiences are converting, top-performing creatives, auction insights and trending search categories. You can also preview how your best ads are showing up on each channel.

Insights page showing “Top assets” for Performance Max campaigns

We’ve seen great results during early beta testing. Vodafone Turkey, part of the Vodafone Group, a leading telecommunications company in Europe and Africa, adopted Performance Max with the goal of scaling lead generation for its phone plans across all of Google’s channels to reach more potential customers. During testing, Performance Max campaigns drove an 18% increase in leads at a 70% lower cost per acquisition compared to their Search campaigns. As a result, Vodafone Turkey adopted Performance Max campaigns as its main lead generation campaign on top of its standard keyword-based Search campaigns. Visit the Advertising Solutions Center to see more Performance Max success stories from companies like Neo4j and MoneyMe.

“We're always keen on adopting new advertising technologies that create sales growth with lower costs. Performance Max aligns with our business objectives and helps us acquire new customers without cannibalizing sales between campaigns.”
Ayda Yorukoglu - Digital Marketing Product Owner, Vodafone Turkey

Grab a (virtual) front row seat at Google Marketing Livestream

We’re continuing to learn from you to understand how we can make Google’s products better for the future. Tune in to Google Marketing Livestream today at 8 a.m. PT / 11 a.m. ET to hear about these innovations and much more.

Thank you for your partnership, and we look forward to seeing you soon at Google Marketing Livestream.

by Jerry Dischler via The Keyword

Get discovered and build your brand on Google

There are now over one billion shopping sessions happening across Google every day. More consumers are shopping online than ever before, and they’re meeting a brand-new generation of digital-first retailers, each with their own unique products, stories and values to share. At Google, we’re working on more ways to bridge the connection between retailers and consumers, so that retailers can build direct and lasting relationships with their customers. 

Last week at Google I/O, we announced a new Shopify integration, and today, we’re sharing that retailers on WooCommerce, GoDaddy and Square will soon be able to integrate with Google easily and for free. This open ecosystem approach means that retailers will have even more ways to get discovered across Google, and shoppers will have even more choice.

As this generational shift to e-commerce accelerates, having a digital presence is just the minimum — it’s now imperative for you as a retailer to stand out and speak directly to your customers. That’s why today at Google Marketing Livestream, we’re introducing new tools that will help tell your unique brand story, from the point of discovery to checkout.

Build your brand and highlight what makes you unique

We’re reimagining entirely new ways to help you connect with your customer at decision making points in the journey - across Search, Shopping, Images, Maps and YouTube. Soon, you’ll have the ability to curate how your brand appears on Google through videos, rich lifestyle imagery and interactive story formats, for free.

This past year has made consumers more aware than ever that who they buy from shapes the world they live in. 71% of consumers want to identify and buy from companies aligned to the values that matter most to them, according to a recent study by 5WPR. We’ve listened to this feedback, and following the successful launch of a Black-owned business attribute earlier this year, we’ll launch new identity attributes, including a women-led attribute, soon.

Nine in 10 shoppers say they spend more or the same on beauty products online than before the pandemic, according to a PowerReviews Survey. What if you could use digital to offer the kinds of “hands-on” experiences that inspire consumers in real life? We launched an AR (augmented reality) makeup kit try-on experience for lipstick and eyeshadow, and soon consumers will be able to find that perfectly matching foundation, from brands like L'Oreal and Estee Lauder.  

Consumers also want to visualize how clothing will look on them. We’re rolling out a new AR apparel experience to show shoppers how different tops appear on people like them. 

Once you’ve attracted a new customer by highlighting your unique benefits, you have the opportunity to turn them into a loyal customer. We’re piloting a merchant loyalty program integration that lets customers see your special loyalty pricing and benefits — including free shipping — when they first start shopping on Google. 

If a consumer has a loyalty account with you, they will be able to instantly link it. If a consumer doesn’t, they’ll be able to easily join your loyalty program with a click of the “Create Account” button. You can see how it works in the Sephora Beauty Insider example below.

The power of branding has never been more important, but we also know sometimes consumers are just looking for a good deal. Searches for “discount code” have increased 50% since last year, and these searches are great moments for you to drive more sales. 

Later this year we’ll make it easier for shoppers to discover your brand’s promotions, just in time for seasonal shopping. We’ll launch a deals results page on Search and the Shopping tab. New real-time, deal optimization reporting is also coming to Merchant Center.

These are just a few examples of how we’re innovating to help you differentiate and make a deeper connection with consumers shopping across Google channels billions of times each day. 

Attract customers by offering flexible checkout options

The bar is high for consumers who now expect more buying options than ever before. Over the past year, “available near me” and “curbside pickup” searches surged, and searches for "in stock" have grown globally by over 800% year over year. 

That’s why we’re offering new ways to show consumers all the buying options you offer — online, in-store and across Google. Your local inventory ads can now show products that are available for immediate store pick up, curbside pickup or pick up later. 

Curbside pickup and in-store shopping labels are now extending to YouTube and Maps local ads, to help you reach even more nearby shoppers, in more places.

We’re also building a new free experience that will help you show your customers all the ways they can buy products from you. When a customer discovers your products on Google, they’ll see a summary of all the buying options you offer in one place.  Whether it’s your e-commerce site, nearby store, or Google’s native checkout flow, this new cohesive format will make shopping easier for customers who expect convenience, and help you neatly showcase your brand’s expanded omni channel offerings. Coming soon, merchants will have the option to enable Shop Pay as a buying option, giving their customers more options for an easy checkout experience. 

We’re currently testing this new buying experience on Search and the Shopping tab, and plan to bring it to YouTube and Images later this year.

Together, we’re building a better future for e-commerce: a future where your brand’s unique products, services, stories and values are front and center to the consumer. We’re incredibly excited to deliver these features to you throughout the year. Learn more about these product updates today at Google Marketing Livestream. Check out our keynote at g.co/gml2021.

by Bill Ready via The Keyword

Research shows work profile delivers satisfaction and balance

By 2024, mobile workers (employees who use mobile devices like smartphones and tablets for work) will account for over 60% of the total U.S. workforce, according to research from IDC. A large percentage of the mobile workforce will continue to work from home even as the mandatory COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and closures are lifted.

With the increase of workers at home, and a large number of companies announcing hybrid work plans, employees are increasingly juggling work and personal life on a single device. Many are struggling to find the right balance between creating separation of work-life balance and maintaining privacy.

As researchers on the Android Enterprise team, we are always curious about the various needs and expectations of mobile employees who use their smartphones for both work and personal purposes. So we began a research project to understand the elements that comprise the ideal smartphone experience. 

Our qualitative research shed light on the importance of work-life balance, privacy and wellbeing. We partnered with experience management firm Qualtrics to assess and quantify the qualitative findings through a study with more than 3,000 smartphone users around the world. 

Managing work and personal life on a single smartphone

The study revealed that 68% of employees use one smartphone for both work and personal purposes, while 32% use two smartphones, though not always simply one for work and one for personal use. Looking across the two groups, 85% of employees use at least one smartphone for both work and personal use. 

To get a bird's-eye view on the needs of people who use a single smartphone for both work and personal use, the team surveyed both users of the Android work profile — a dedicated space on Android devices where work apps are kept separate from personal apps and data — and non-work profile users, including those on other mobile operating systems.

Separation is key to satisfaction

Across the various user groups surveyed, 70% said they’d prefer a user interface (UI) on their phones that clearly separates work and personal apps and data, over a UI with no separation. Users mentioned that a clear delineation between work and personal apps and data can help them improve digital wellbeing and balance between their personal lives and their work.  

In line with our findings, the data shows that work profile users (81%) are more satisfied than non-work profile users (71%) with their experience of managing work and personal life on the same device. Work profile user satisfaction is driven by the peace of mind that their work data will be separate and secure, thus reducing the chances of making unwanted mistakes like sending a corporate or personal email from the wrong account.

When there is a distinct separation between work and personal apps, people are more conscious about their data and the boundaries they can and cannot cross. Work profile users are more aware than non-work profile users that the data linked to their work account can be seen by their company and more satisfied that their work data can be kept secure. For example, 63% of work profile users are aware that work app usage (data captured on work apps) is visible to IT,  compared to only 39% of non-work profile users who also use work apps on their phone.

10:25

Work-life balance under control 

Given the increasingly blurred boundaries between work and personal time, people find it difficult to fully disconnect from work after hours. As a result, survey respondents listed lack of work-life balance as the top frustration when using a single phone for work and personal use. 

One of the advantages of work profile is that users can switch their work apps and notifications off when they are not working, helping them take back control of their work-life balance. Our study shows that work profile users are significantly more satisfied with their work-life balance compared to non-work profile users (70% vs. 63%). 

For more information about how you and your employees can take advantage of the work profile, visit our website. 

by Andrea Miotto via The Keyword

Powering digital transformation for global publishers

Since the Google News Initiative was created in 2018, we have strived to meet publishers wherever they are in their digital evolution. We’ve worked with thousands of publishers on specific business challenges, like digital subscriptions and advertising revenue, and provided tools like News Consumer Insights to help publishers grow their online audiences. In 2020, we launched the GNI Digital Growth Program, a free initiative aimed at empowering small and mid-sized global news publishers to grow their businesses online. 

We’ve learned over the years that the shift to digital doesn’t happen overnight, so we shaped the Digital Growth Program to provide multiple entry points to support publishers' digital transformation, wherever they may be in the process. This includes live workshops and expert panels where participants can learn from various subject-matter experts and ask questions, interactive exercises that provide personalized recommendations, playbooks that dive deep into business topics relevant to news organizations, and collaborative Labs that tackle specific business problems with like-minded participants and experts. 

To date, more than 8,600 participants from more than 130 countries have been trained through the Digital Growth Program, across topics like reader revenue and audience development. This spans live and on-demand sessions in English, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, French, German, Polish, Italian and Czech. 

We’re continuing to expand the program to new topics and regions, including on June 1, launching the advertising revenue workshops and playbook(register here).  To date, the program has resulted in publishers all over the world showing measurable growth in their digital businesses. 

La Prensa in Panama took part in our Subscriptions Lab and increased digital subscribers fivefold. A core pillar of their strategy was to make their subscription product more accurately reflect their brand, ultimately moving business-related content behind their paywall to increase revenue. The publisher’s participation in the Lab gave them more confidence to make strategic decisions based on sound analysis and effective tools. 

The Telegraph Herald in the United States ran a number of experiments as part of our Subscriptions Lab, including launching targeted email pushes, implementing a new pricing model and testing higher rates. As a result of the Lab, they experienced a 25% increase in digital subscriptions, a 28% increase in newsletter subscribers and a 19% increase in subscriptions conversion rate. The Telegraph Herald gained a newfound confidence and ability to advance experimentation and revenue growth as a result of their participation.

The Vermont Digger leveraged the GNI Sponsorships Lab to understand the power of virtual events. The Digger team ran a lively, three month virtual event series that successfully brought in one large sponsor to support the full series. As a result of their participation in the Lab, Vermont Digger grew their annual sponsorships revenue by 71% and increased average client revenue by 61%. They did all of that despite the impact and stress of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attending the GNI Digital Growth Program workshops helped Italian publishersIVG.it and Genova24.it refine their offering to readers and increase the number of paying members. Through participation in the same program, La Cronica in Spain was able to better analyze reader engagement and grow revenue. 

Business Insider Japan, a participant in the GNI Subscriptions Lab in Asia Pacific, aligned its organization’s thinking around digital subscriptions, using new benchmarks and key metrics that the business had not previously considered.  Due to the program, the organization was able to grow digital subscription revenue and month-end digital subscribers by nearly 25% each. 

In the past two weeks, we have kicked off newAudience Development Labs in North America and South America in partnership with INMA and News Revenue Hub, with another set to launch in Asia in July 2021. And in Europe, we will be launching new programs throughout the year in partnership with FT Strategies.

by Ben MonnieNews via The Keyword

TAG Bulletin: Q2 2021

This bulletin includes coordinated influence operation campaigns terminated on our platforms in Q2 2021. It was last updated on May 26, 2021.

April

• We terminated 3 YouTube channels as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to El Salvador. This campaign uploaded content in Spanish focusing on a mayoral race in the Santa Tecla municipality. Our findings are similar to findings reported by Facebook.

• We terminated 43 YouTube channels as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Albania. This campaign uploaded content in Farsi that was critical of Iran’s government and supportive of Mojahedin-e Khalq. Our findings are similar to findings reported by Facebook.

• We terminated 728 YouTube channels as part of our ongoing investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to China. These channels mostly uploaded spammy content in Chinese about music, entertainment, and lifestyle. A very small subset uploaded content in Chinese and English about protests in Hong Kong and criticism of the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings are consistent with our previous reports.

by Shane HuntleyThreat Analysis Group via The Keyword

Create your own journaling app without writing code

Studies show that regularly writing down your thoughts and feelings can improve your mental, emotional and physical health. Despite all of journaling’s benefits, it can feel like an insurmountable challenge. 

While writing by hand is therapeutic for some, many may find it uncomfortable and tiring. Others may find an inventive way to leverage Google Doc, Keep, or Sheets to log their thoughts, but these tools are not optimized for the struggling journaler. In reality, the challenge may not be journaling itself but creating and customizing a routine that helps you get into a rhythm and document your day in the ways most useful to you.

A few months ago, I decided to put this theory to the test by building my own journaling app in AppSheet, Google Cloud’s no-code application development platform. It lets me customize my journaling experience the way I want, I was able to build the app without writing any code, and it’s been extremely useful.

The journaling app, built with AppSheet, has a form that makes it easy for me to log my moods and activities, write a few notes, and add photos. I’ve also added a list and a calendar view so I can read through previous entries.

With AppSheet, anyone can create their own custom apps, connected directly to their data in Sheets — no technical background needed. To help you create your own journaling app, without writing a single line of code,  I’ve made a tutorial video.

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And that’s just a starting point. From there, try adding your own customizations, like your own activities, notification and text message reminders and charts to show trends over time. 

AppSheet lets you build and use your own personal apps for free. For example, you can build a custom workout app to help track your progress at the gym or you can build an inventory management app to keep track of inventory at your local community events. These are just a few ideas, but feel free to explore our app templates library or start with your own ideas.

Hopefully creating a custom journaling app inspires you to start writing — and dive into no-code app building at the same time.

Ready to use AppSheet? Get started now.

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by Chris Bailey via The Keyword

For the first time I was able to call my 23-year-old son

Last August — for the first time in my life — I had the opportunity to do something that people do every day. I called my son.

“Dad, do you realize this is the first time we’ve talked on the phone?” said my 23-year-old son Harry who lives in Hong Kong. Since birth, I’ve been profoundly deaf. In my daily life, I rely on captions and lip-reading for communication. Until recently, I haven’t been able to simply pick up the phone to chat with someone because I didn’t have a way to caption what they were saying. But Live Caption on the Google Pixel changed all of this.

Thanks to this feature, when Harry spoke his words were instantly converted to text. I was able to simultaneously read what Harry was saying and respond to him in a way that was natural and fluid.  

Since the first call with my son, I’ve called my bank manager, handyman, colleagues, family and friends. I even used Live Caption on a recent call with my doctor who noted that “it worked extremely well.” And last week, my partner asked me to make a phone call for her — never in my life could I have imagined that scenario.

Live Caption continues to delight me every day, and it’s clear how it can have a huge impact on the millions of people around the world who live with hearing loss every day. These days, I can’t wait to pick up the phone again.

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Live Caption for calls is currently available in English only on Pixel 2 or newer phones. The accuracy of the captions can vary depending on the quality and clarity of the audio source. For more information check out our help center page.

by Matthew Johnson via The Keyword

Tracking data to advance health equity

Last year, I saw COVID-19 impact the lives of some of the strongest people I know because of their race, class and zip code — especially in my hard-hit hometown of Detroit. But I wasn’t the only one who witnessed this. We’ve all heard how the pandemic has affected vulnerable communities across the country due to structural and long-standing health inequities. Even so, there was no central resource to help consolidate, visualize and understand the data on a national scale. 

Over the past year a team of Google.org Fellows and I worked with the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine and a multi-disciplinary Health Equity Taskforce to understand COVID-19 health inequities. Today, we released The Health Equity Tracker (HET), a publicly available data platform that visually displays and contextualizes the health disparities facing communities of color throughout the U.S.

With $1.5 million of Google.org grant funding and over 15,000 pro bono hours donated from 18 Google.org Fellows, the HET parses through a mountain of public health data to record COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations nationwide across race and ethnicity, sex and age, as well as state and county. The tracker also measures social and systemic factors — like poverty and lack of health insurance — that exacerbate these inequities and have resulted in higher COVID-19 death rates for people of color, especially Black and Latinx communities.  

The HET allows users to compare public health data on a local and national level. 

Collecting this data showed us where there are gaps in our knowledge. Public health data can be inconsistent, collected in silos or missing completely. Knowing where these blindspots are is valuable. When we’re aware of unknown or missing data, we’re able to take action toward improving data collection and reporting standards.

The tracker currently focuses on data analysis for COVID-19, but in the future we expect to be able to track additional conditions, like mental and behavioral health. And we’ll include analysis of health inequities for people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community and those facing socio economic challenges. 

For me, the process of creating this during a time of devastation has helped me translate mourning into meaning. Future generations deserve more complete, accurate, and representative data that can advance health equity in times of crisis and beyond. 

Watch Satcher Health Leadership Institute’s YouTube series to learn more about health equity tracker and the Google.org fellows who worked on it. 

by Chelsea Seabron via The Keyword

Street by street: How we’re mapping air quality in Europe

Since 2015, dozens of Street View cars outfitted with pollution sensors have been cruising the roads to track air quality in cities all over the world — from Oakland to Sydney. Over the past six years, these cars have collected more than 100 million street-by-street air quality measurements, all for Project Air View — our effort to bring detailed air quality maps to scientists, policymakers and everyday people. These hyperlocal air quality measurements are helping governments and communities make more informed choices about changes that can help city residents breathe cleaner air.

In celebration of EU Green Week next week,we are sharing a new air quality map for Copenhagen and recently started working with the City of Dublin to collect air quality measurements with Aclima technology in our first-ever, all-electric Street View car. This is all part of Google’s Environmental Insights Explorer (EIE), our free tool that provides thousands of cities with actionable data and insights to reduce their emissions.

Capturing air quality in Copenhagen

In 2018, we started mapping hyperlocal air quality in Copenhagen, working closely with the City of Copenhagen and Utrecht University, in collaboration with Aarhus University. The map — which is already being put to use —  includes measurements of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), black carbon, and ultrafine particles. Through mapping street-by-street air quality we found that Copenhagen’s major access roads have nearly three times more ultrafine particles and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and five times higher black carbon levels when compared to less trafficked residential areas.

This air quality map shows the street-by-street average of nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Utrecht University & Google, 2021.

Armed with these air quality insights, the City of Copenhagen and urban planners are working to design future neighborhoods that include “Thrive Zones.” These zones aim to build places, like schools and playgrounds, away from high-pollution zones to provide young children with access to cleaner air. The city also plans to use the air quality data to encourage more sustainable transportation and create healthier bicycle and walking routes away from car traffic.

An all-electric Street View car hits the road in Dublin

We’ve also partnered with the City of Dublin to gather hyperlocal air quality measurements in Ireland’s capital, where our first all-electric Street View vehicle, a Jaguar I-PACE, has hit the roads. This is the first time an all-electric Google Street View car is being used to capture air pollution and greenhouse gas measurements and Google Street View imagery — a feat made possible due to Jaguar Land Rover engineers integrating Google's Street View technology and specialized Aclima sensors into the vehicle.

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Our Jaguar I-PACE is able to measure nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitric oxide (NO), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and ozone (O3). Aclima’s platform analyzes and quality assures pollution measurements to develop these maps.

The road ahead

Project Air View’s air quality insights will be integrated into the European Commission-funded  European Expanse project, which is exploring how pollution is impacting the health of Europeans and how hyperlocal air quality measurement efforts can inform policy development.

We also plan to equip more Street View cars with air quality mapping capabilities so that we can continue sharing hyperlocal air quality insights. By mapping air quality in more cities, we can equip people with the information they need to create more sustainable cities that protect the health of everyone.

by Karin Tuxen-BettmanGoogle Earth Outreach via The Keyword

Google Career Certificates launch in the UK

Today, we’re launching U.K.-wide Google Career Certificates in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). 

With people in the U.K. gaining the opportunity to explore new freedoms each week, we know that many people, through both necessity and personal drive, are looking for ways to grow skill sets to prepare for the jobs of the present and the future. 

Technology and automation were already fundamentally changing the way we work, a trend only accelerated by the additional upheaval of jobs markets due to the pandemic. In fact, research conducted by Google and The McKinsey Global Institute before COVID-19 shows that, to ensure job creation, more than 90 million workers may need to develop significant new skills by 2030.

Our Search data in the U.K. suggests we’re already looking to get ahead of this with an increase in Searches for ‘information technology online course’ up 780%, ‘business management course online’ up 296% and ‘online courses with certificates’ up 259% in just the last week alone. 

On top of this, people are turning to the internet to ask their most pressing questions about ‘skills' with some top-ranked questions in Search being ‘How to improve leadership skills?’ ‘How to improve problem solving skills?’ and ‘How to improve communication skills?’

To support the need to learn these new skills, we’re distributing 9,500 Google Career Certificate scholarships in the U.K. through government partnerships with the DWP (9,000) and Camden Council (500). We’re also providing grant funding to The Prince’s Trust and INCO Academy via Google.org to ensure that an additional 1,500 young people from underrepresented and disadvantaged communities across the U.K. can take advantage of the training opportunity.  

Those who sign up to Google Career Certificates can select any number of the four courses available to help grow the necessary skills to support a career in technology. The courses available include IT Support, Data Analyst, Project Manager and UX Designer. Typically learners take up to six months to complete the course, no degree level experience is needed and they’re recognised by industry experts and employers, including Google. 

We know that technology is only becoming more important for the U.K. economy. The amount technology contributes to the UK economy has grown on average by 7% year on year since 2016. And U.K.-based venture capital investment is third in the world, reaching a record high of $15 billion in 2020, despite the challenging conditions. 

As the U.K. embarks upon the biggest recovery challenge in recent history, technology must help everyone, no matter their location, race, age or education level. We must harness the opportunity to prepare people across the country for the jobs of the not-so-distant future. We hope that with these new efforts and the support of our public sector partners, even more people can develop the skills to thrive and continue growing their careers through technology.

by Ronan Harris via The Keyword

Plan and find your way in stations with new, accessible Maps tools

Train stations are often busy, bustling places. Whether you’re reaching your final stop or catching a connection, finding your way through a complex or crowded station can be daunting. And for people traveling with wheelchairs, luggage, prams or crutches, there are even more factors to juggle.

In 2018, we brought wheelchair accessible routes to Sydney and other cities around the world. To build on this, we’ve been working with Transport for NSW to help people map out each stage of the journey inside the station. 

To help people map out their journeys ahead of time, we’re launching indoor Street View imagery for 130 train stations and a dozen metro stations in Sydney. Starting today, you’ll be able to virtually navigate interactive, panoramic imagery inside Sydney stations, so you’ll know your way when you get there. You can also enjoy the rich history and beauty of many stations, from heritage listed St James Station, to the stunning views of Circular Quay and Milsons Point – and the thriving hub of Parramatta. 

• Indoor Street View imagery of the platform at St James station in Sydney.

  Street View imagery inside St James station, Sydney

• Street View imagery of the platform at Milsons Point train station in Sydney, with a spectacular view of the Harbour Bridge.

  Street View imagery on the platform at Milsons Point station, Sydney 

• Street View imagery of the platform inside Circular Quay train station in Sydney, with a spectacular view of the Harbour Bridge.

  Street View imagery inside Circular Quay station, Sydney

• Street View imagery showing the entrance of Parramatta train station in Sydney.

  Street View imagery at the entrance of Parramatta train station, Sydney.

For the first time in Australia, we’re also bringing detailed navigation directions for accessible routes across 70 complex train and metro stations across Sydney to Google Maps. These tools allow people to find the best and most accessible entrances, exits, signage and paths within the station and better anticipate in-transit travel times along these pathways.

Accessible navigation directions on Google Maps on desktop

And as a world first, we’re sharing these navigation directions with Transport for NSW so it can be published to the NSW government’s Open Data Portal. This will allow the transport industry and app developers to access this valuable information and find more solutions to enable accessible transit travel in the future.

To find these accessible navigation directions for your route on desktop or mobile, type your destination into Google Maps. Tap “Directions”, then select the public transport icon and any route options (such as “wheelchair accessible”, “fewer transfers” and “less walking”).  After you tap your chosen route, the detailed navigation instructions will be displayed if your route takes you through a complex station in Sydney.   

 Accessible in-station directions in mobile view

Whether you are planning or navigating your commute, we hope these tools make Sydney stations feel a little more familiar – and help you commute with more confidence.

by Ramesh NagarajanGoogle Maps via The Keyword

Celebrate Africa Day through culture and music

Africa is home to more than 1.5 billion people, and each country, community and person has an incredible story to tell. Through the power of technology, artists and cultural institutions are using online platforms to share their stories and engage with new audiences.

This year, we’re hosting the Africa Day Benefit Concert in collaboration with MTV Base Africa and Idris Elba. We invite you to tune in at 7 PM CAT this evening to experience a musical homage to this amazing continent, and its next generation of pop stars making headlines across the world.

The concert is the culmination of Africa Month, which we’ve celebrated through YouTube Music and Google Arts & Culture. We’ve hosted a live performance by Sauti Sol, a talk on theLeading Women in Music, and the launch of the projectÈkó for Show: Explore Lagos. Music unites Africa, and we hope the concert tonight will bring Africans and people from other parts of the world together to celebrate the continent's roots, rhythms and records.

As we celebrate Africa Day today, we invite you to explore the continent's rich cultural heritage through curated online experiences on YouTube and Google Arts & Culture. We hope Africans and people from all over the world will be inspired by these activities that bring together the continent's roots and rhythms.

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Africa Day Concert hosted by Idris Elba

Step inside Africa’s cultural institutions

There are thousands of iconic museums, galleries and cultural sites in Africa, including Kenya's African Heritage House. Virtually visit 32 cultural institutions across the continent and read over300 expert-curated stories on art, identity, music, fashion, food and more. 

Search for your favorite African artist and click on the Art Projector feature to display their artwork in front of you. Start with paintings byAli Omar Ermes, Ben Enwonwu, Mohammed Khadda, Nja Mahdaoui, Wangechi Mutu, William Kentridge and Wosene Worke Kosrof.

Discover more about contemporary African art and its artists by visiting Jean Pigozzi’s Pocket Galleryin augmented reality. Can you spot the paintings by artistChéri Samba and Esther Mahlangu?

Exterior of the African Heritage House, Deidi von Schaewen, African Heritage House

Be inspired by Africa's trailblazing women

Let the voices of women from the past and present inspire you. Meet a courageous freedom fighter, let Mama Nike ignite your creativity, learn about activist Winnie Mandela's bravery, take in the remarkable story ofQueen Tiye and score a goal with a strong women's football team.

10:25

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela

Learn about Kenyan heroes and explore the future

Step back in time with 61 Kenyan heroes and discover how they fought for their communities’ land, freedom and spiritual well-being. Take the quiz to find out who your super alter-ego would be. 

Drawing on Afrofuturism, be inspired by artists from the diasporaand Osborne Macharia to create your own Afrofuturist world. Release your inner superpowers and let your imagination be your guide.

Superheroes of Kenya, Shujaa Stories and National Museums of Kenya, 2020

Feel the buzz of Lagos and explore South Africa

Step inside Lagos, Nigeria's most populous city, with Èkó for Show, and let over 100 creatives inspire you. Start singing Afrobeat tunes with Reekado Banks, paint the lagoon withVictor Ehikamenor, meet the stars of Nollywood with Iké Udé and letDavido inspire your taste buds. 

Continue your journey to South Africa and feel the urban vibe with musicians Busiswa andMuzi. Let them take you on a personal city tour and learn how Durban and Johannesburg have impacted their lives.

Èkó for Show: Explore Lagos, Google Arts & Culture

Celebrate the power of African literature

Let poet Siphokazi Jonas'love letter to her home country inspire you, and learn more about what identity means to author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o.Share Africa’s greatest stories by joining the #AfricaReads challenge with YouTube. Share a video of yourself reading a book by your favorite African author, or watch how people across the continent came together to read Lọlá Shónẹ́yìn's novel The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives.

Crack the hieroglyphic code

Still curious about words and languages? We challenge you to crack the hieroglyphic code from Ancient Egypt with the AI-powered toolFabricius.You can also use emojis to create secret codes with friends.

Fabricius: Learn, Play, and Work, Google Arts & Culture

Explore and protect Africa’s wildlife and natural wonders

Africa is home to some of the world's most extraordinary wildlife and nature. Learn more about the importance of conservation with thelast male northern white rhino or join a virtual game to meet Africa's big five: lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo.

If you’re one for appreciating nature, we invite you to check out the people of Kilwa Kisiwani in Tanzania, and learn how planting mangrove trees and using technology can help save historical ruins and communities.

Addo Elephant National Park, Eastern Cape, South Africa, South African Tourism

Turn your lens on Africa

Join Africa's photographers in capturing and sharing culture in new ways. Be inspired by legendary photojournalist James Barnor, take a look back at 10 years of LagosPhoto Festival and learn how to turn the street into a runway with Stephen Tayo.

Ibeji (brothers), Stephen Tayo, Homecoming, 2019

Explore Black history beyond the continent

African culture has had a transformative impact on the world and keeps fuelling creativity in the diaspora. Join rapper Nas in paying homage to the long tradition of black musicians and storytellers who inspire us to this day. Learn more about Black history and culture in theUnited States, theUnited Kingdom or explore 50 years of black creativity through the exhibitionGet Up, Stand Up Now.

10:25

Celebrating history's Black musicians with Nas

Find out more on YouTube Music and with the Google Arts & Culture app on Android or iOS.

by Alex Okosi via The Keyword