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Showing posts from February, 2022

TAG Bulletin: Q1 2022

This bulletin includes coordinated influence operation campaigns terminated on our platforms in Q1 2022. It was last updated on February 28, 2022. January We terminated 3 YouTube channels as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations. The campaign uploaded content in Arabic that was critical of former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir and supportive of the 2019 Sudanese coup d’état. Our findings are similar to findings reported by Meta. We terminated 1 AdSense account and 1 Play developer as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Turkey. The campaign was sharing content in Arabic that was about news and current events in Libya. Our findings are similar to findings reported by Meta. We terminated 42 YouTube channels and 2 Ads accounts as part of our investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to Iraq. The campaign uploaded content in Arabic that was in support of the Iraqi Harakat Hoquq party. We received ...

Exploring Afrofuturism on Google Arts & Culture

An image of a winged – half-silver, half-gold – figure lifts their hands up in the air. The figure’s torso sits on top of a municipal building and marble block. AstroSankofa by Quentin VerCetty from the Carnegie Hall collection on Google Arts & Culture A woman wearing a bright pink dress smiles at the camera. There are four other girls sitting behind her working and laughing in the background. There are drawings on the wall behind them. Regina Agyare from the Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa Foundation on Google Arts & Culture A woman sits on a large sculpture of a room-sized manta ray, and wears a long, black and pink patterned dress. She holds two smaller, seahorse-shaped sculptures; one in each hand. In the background is her workspace with various cardboard boxes and pieces of plywood. Wangechi Mutu poses with model of MamaRay by LaToya Ruby Frazier from the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University collection on Google Arts & Cultur...

Don't...actually do @ me: 5 new Google Workspace features

Sixteen years ago, we launched Google Docs and Sheets and introduced a new way of working. For many, it was the first time they worked in the same digital space together, in real time, without the burden — or risk — of sending documents back and forth. This has become second nature for billions of Google Workspace users around the world, and we’re still finding ways to make it even better. One of our most recent efforts includes smart canvas , which we launched last year. Smart canvas is a new part of Google Workspace that brings a whole new level of collaboration to the platform. And it must be working: Today, people use smart canvas features like adding checklists and smart chips more than they use commenting in Docs. We recently revealed some new features that make Google Workspace tools even more collaborative and helpful. Check out some of what you can now do, thanks to smart canvas: Auto-generated summaries in Google Docs give you a quick overview of the main points in...

Demystifying the process of launching a news business

As Irene McKisson learned in launching AZ Luminaria , a non-profit, community-centered newsroom in Arizona, building a news business from the ground up is a daunting undertaking. “Before our news startup even had a name — when it was still just an idea — we knew that there were eight million things that we needed to do, we just had no idea what order to do them in,” she says. Like all journalism founders, she had what seemed like an endless list of big decisions to make: What will we report on? Who will our audience be, and how can we reach them? And, of course, how can the business earn enough revenue to sustain and grow? 10:25 The Google News Initiative Startups Playbook , published last year in close partnership with LION Publishers, was designed to help early-stage news entrepreneurs answer these questions and begin building their editorial, distribution, and financial operations. “The Playbook helped us step back and really assess our market, our...

An intro to AI, made for students

Adorable, operatic blobs. A global, online guessing game. Scribbles that transform into works of art. These may not sound like they’re part of a curriculum, but learning the basics of how artificial intelligence (AI) works doesn’t have to be complicated, super-technical or boring. To celebrate Digital Learning Day , we’re releasing a new lesson from Applied Digital Skills , Google’s free, online, video-based curriculum (and part of the larger Grow with Google initiative). “Discover AI in Daily Life” was designed with middle and high school students in mind, and dives into how AI is built, and how it helps people every day. AI for anyone — and everyone “Twenty or 30 years ago, students might have learned basic typing skills in school,” says Dr. Patrick Gage Kelley, a Google Trust and Safety user experience researcher who co-created (and narrates) the “Discover AI in Daily Life” lesson. “Today, ‘AI literacy’ is a key skill. It's important that students everywhere, from all bac...

Google for Games Developer Summit returns March 15

With over three billion players showing strong engagement worldwide, the games market continues to remain resilient and grow beyond expectations. As we look ahead this year, the influx of new and returning players creates a great opportunity for developers to grow their games business. The Google for Games Developer Summit returns digitally on March 15, 2022 at 9AM Pacific. From mobile to cloud, learn about our new solutions for game developers that make it easier to build high-quality games and reach audiences around the world. The event keynote kicks off at 9AM Pacific and is open for all. Check out the full agenda today at g.co/gamedevsummit . by Belinda Langner via The Keyword

Introducing Checks: simplifying privacy for app developers

Can I trust this app with my data? Is this app respecting my privacy rights? These are questions consumers are asking more and more about mobile apps and the developers who create them. In turn, developers are faced with a privacy and compliance landscape that is becoming increasingly more complex. And the path to compliance can be both time-consuming and difficult. We believe every developer — no matter the stage or size of their company — deserves access to easy-to-use tools that help them achieve their goals, while making privacy compliance simpler. That’s why today, as part of Google’s in-house incubator Area 120 , we’re launching Checks, a new privacy platform. We are on a mission to help simplify privacy and reduce risk for mobile app developers. A shared passion to help developers succeed In 2018, as the world prepared for the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we were hearing that mobile app developers were struggling to feel prepared to meet the new priva...

The nonprofit leaders to watch in 2022

For as long as Google.org has been around, we’ve supported big ideas to change the world by funding organizations led by dynamic individuals. We backed Sal Khan’s Khan Academy when he was creating it from his walk-in closet in 2010; today more than 70 million people have used the service to help improve their academic outcomes. Or GiveDirectly co-founders Michael Faye and Paul Niehaus, who’ve grown their initial idea for direct cash assistance from a private giving circle to one of the fastest-growing nonprofits of the decade. So, we asked ourselves: Who are the nonprofit leaders of today who will help create a better tomorrow? The answer: These seven individuals from around the world who are driving real-world change in their communities and finding unexpected solutions to complex challenges across equity, education, health and sustainability. Take a look at Google.org’s Leaders to Watch for 2022. Black and white sketch of Brandon. Brandon Nicholson, Ph. D., (he/him) ...

The future of learning is digital

With the rise of online learning and digital tools, education has dramatically changed over the years — requiring teachers and students alike to learn new digital skills. On February 22, thousands of educators around the world are celebrating the use of technology in the classroom by participating in Digital Learning Day . Whether in school or at home, we’ve seen technology can help provide access, increase engagement and help educators and students open up new possibilities for learning, especially over the last few years. In honor of Digital Learning Day, Grow with Google’s Applied Digital Skills program has curated a collection of our most popular digital lessons , which includes everything from how to make art using spreadsheets to creating a presentation. Applied Digital Skills is Google’s free, online, video-based curriculum that teaches learners of all ages the practical technology skills needed to be successful in school, work and beyond. To date, this curriculum has helped...

Seeking news innovators in the Middle East, Turkey & Africa

Want to listen to the article instead? Press play. From Kenya to Lebanon, innovation lies at the heart of the many news organizations across the Middle East, Turkey and Africa where we are today inviting applications for the Innovation Challenges program. As part of our ongoing commitment to support the news industry around the world, we are launching our third Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge in the region. Funding up to $150,000 is available via this open call for any digital innovative project and all news providers are eligible, regardless of size. 10:25 The program has been running in the region since 2019 and the first two rounds saw 43 projects selected from 18 countries. Those recipients answered a call for projects which would increase reader engagement and/or explore new business models. The ideas ranged from novel membership strategies to Arabic language search tools. ...

Asian startups are shaping global trends

There’s never been a more exciting time to be building a startup in Asia Pacific. Across the region, a diverse, talented and energetic group of founders is on the rise. And these entrepreneurs have an unprecedented opportunity to find the support they need to grow, with record venture funding flowing into the region . For Google, supporting startups of all sizes is part of our commitment to help digital economies grow. Today, at a virtual Google for Startups event, we shared some of the key insights from our partnerships with founders throughout Asia Pacific: how they’re targeting global growth, moving technology forward, and seeking out support to help realize their potential. Building for the world In April 2021, there were almost 200 unicorns (startups valued at $1 billion or more) in Asia Pacific , second only to the United States (290) and ahead of Europe (69). Many of Asia’s leading startups are making a global impact, whether by influencing new business models — like Grab ...

African developers: creating opportunities and building for the future

Every day, African businesses harness ingenuity to empower their communities. African software developers are an engine for digital transformation in local economies across the continent, and there’s no one better to solve challenges than local developers, founders, and entrepreneurs. And as African startup funding reaches unprecedented levels (growing by over 2.5x in 2021 over the previous year), understanding Africa’s developer landscape is key to support the growth of these startups. For the second year in a row, Google published the Africa Developer Ecosystem report to map Africa’s developer landscape. We expanded this edition of the report to include year-on-year growth analysis, tech ecosystem components and key growth factors. The research was conducted in 16 African markets (Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda) and the findings were extrapolated to the rest of t...

Our new $100 million Google Career Certificates Fund

Editor’s note: Today Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a new $100 million Google Career Certificates Fund at an event with U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Castillo and the CEOs of Social Finance, Merit America and Year Up. Below is an edited transcript of his remarks. Watch the event above. One of the best parts of my job is visiting the communities where Google operates. These visits remind me that America is full of people who want to work hard and contribute to their communities. That sense of purpose and optimism is what brought me to America nearly 30 years ago. And it’s what drew me to Google and its mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. We are a company of technology optimists. We believe in what people can do with technology to improve their lives and the lives of others. That’s what inspired us to launch Grow with Google in 2017, to help all Americans access training to gro...

A watch company founder looks to the future

In 2014, Randy Williams founded Talley & Twine Watch Company with the desire to create beautiful, high-quality watches at a reasonable price point. Since then, he’s grown the business to 16 employees, has expanded to hundreds of styles and gives back to a variety of nonprofits. Digital tools like Google Ads have been critical to growing his business, helping him efficiently build his brand and connect with customers from across the world. As we celebrate Black-owned businesses this Black History Month, we had a few questions for Randy about how he got started and his advice for other aspiring business owners. How were you inspired by other Black-owned businesses before founding Talley & Twine? Seeing other successful Black-owned businesses inspired me by showing me what was possible. Black entrepreneurs are more than business owners; they're leaders in their communities. Seeing them opened my mind and allowed me to be creative and to dream. I'm still inspired daily...

This Googler wants to ‘add every voice’ to AI

Early in his career, Laurence Moroney was working on an equation — not something related to his job in tech, but to his bank account. “At one point, I calculated I was about three weeks away from being homeless,” Laurence says. “My motivation was to put a meal on the table and keep a roof over my head.” Today Laurence is a developer advocate at Google focusing on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). “It’s my goal to inform and inspire the world about what we can do with AI and ML, and help developers realize these possibilities.” Laurence applied at Google in 2013 after hearing then-CEO Larry Page talk about Google’s vision to make the world a better place. “I was hired on my third attempt — so yes, I failed twice!” Now he focuses on inviting and introducing more people to roles in the AI and ML fields through coursework, workshops and bootcamps that help developers gain job skills through professional certificates. “I try to meet developers where they are, whet...

How Ada’s work empowers Black creators and artists

Welcome to the latest edition of “My Path to Google,” where we talk to Googlers, interns and alumni about how they got to Google, what they do in their roles and how they prepared for their interviews. Today’s post is all about Adrienne (Ada) Hopkins, a Strategic Partner Manager at YouTube and a tireless advocate for Black creatives. What do you do at YouTube? I’m a Strategic Partner Manager on YouTube’s Top Creators team, where I focus on amplifying and accelerating the growth of creators from underrepresented backgrounds. I also co-lead efforts to promote inclusion across YouTube’s partnerships, and work to strengthen the relationship between YouTube and aspiring Black creators, artists, executives and creative communities. I’m called to use technology to ensure creatives, particularly those most marginalized, are educated about the businesses they occupy, have equitable access to opportunity, are compensated for their gifts and have safe spaces to use their authentic voices. C...