Monday 31 October 2022
Introducing two new solutions powered by Ads Data Hub
Ads Data Hub helps advertisers, agencies and measurement partners do customized analysis of campaigns while protecting user privacy. More than 3,000 brands, agencies, and measurement partners use cloud-based Ads Data Hub to perform analyses for their specific business objectives.
Customers of Ads Data Hub have different needs, so we’ve created more specialized entry points to get started. Marketers require tools to quantify a consumer’s path to purchase and the ability to activate new audiences. At the same time, measurement partners conduct third-party assessment of metrics such as video viewability and audience reach.
To offer a more tailored experience, we are introducing an evolution to the Ads Data Hub core platform by introducing two dedicated solutions: Ads Data Hub for Marketers and Ads Data Hub for Measurement Partners.
New solutions for more catered needs
Ads Data Hub for Marketers offers a new way for advertisers and agencies to analyze their data. With this solution, they can seamlessly access insights to better inform the way they purchase media. This means a simplified experience for marketers running queries and activating their first-party data.
Riot Games, for example, used Ads Data Hub for richer marketing analyses. The company centralized their insights and combined them with Display & Video 360 and Campaign Manager 360 data. This let Riot Games attribute credit to various ad touch points, accurately measure return on ad spend (ROAS), and establish a new benchmark showing that for every $1 Riot Games spent on Google media, it received $2 in revenue. Marketers, like Riot Games, perform these analyses regularly, with hundreds of thousands of queries run in 2022 alone.
Over time, new query templates, automated workflows, and updates to reporting will reduce the need for additional technical resources and decrease time to generate insights - with plans to implement Publisher Advertiser Identity Reconciliation, also known as PAIR. In addition to these improvements, marketers will soon be able to activate their audience segments on new inventory, including YouTube. As privacy expectations evolve, we will continue to build more solutions that enable advertisers and agencies to measure and activate their first-party data with Ads Data Hub for Marketers.
Ads Data Hub for Measurement Partners gives partners a new access point to provide YouTube measurement services on behalf of marketers, advertisers, agencies, or publishers. With this launch, it’ll be easier for partners to offer accurate measurement and deliver near real-time insights. For marketers, this means they can work with independent third-party partners to calculate and report on YouTube ad performance across devices, formats, and metrics.
These third-party independent measurement services are available to marketers via our growing partner ecosystem. With Dynata, and other vendors, we have expanded measurement services on Ads Data Hub to enable cross-media solutions for YouTube. Customers will be able to analyze the performance of YouTube campaigns relative to other media channels (including linear TV, streaming TV, or online video sources). Another partner, DoubleVerify, has earned YouTube Video Viewability accreditation by the Media Rating Council (MRC), in addition to Ads Data Hub’s own accreditation announced last year.
In 2023 we plan to integrate with new partners such as iSpot and VideoAmp, joining the list of measurement partners already available with Ads Data Hub.
Commitment to a privacy-centric future
Marketers and measurement partners will benefit from rigorous privacy checks that protect the personal data of users online while still being able to perform comprehensive analytics. These analyses, in addition to insight generation and audience activation, can all be performed with Ads Data Hub users only having access to aggregated data. By investing in privacy-centric solutions that address the specific needs of marketers and measurement partners, we've simplified the path to accurate measurement across YouTube and Google campaigns.
by Prema SampathProduct Management, Google Ads via The Keyword
How Scrolla is making news more accessible to South Africans
The costs associated with paying for mobile phone data in many African countries are often incredibly high, making it prohibitive for lower income readers to access news. As our mission is to bring high quality news on mobile phones to underserved communities, we set out to create a new product for Scrolla.Africa which is light on data use. The new platform is called Scrolla Data Lite.
Our core readers are pay-as-you-go mobile users, who make up about 75% of the market in South Africa. We found that people on these expensive pay-as-you-go data services were extremely cautious about downloading anything or surfing online. So beyond using data for messaging services, the idea of browsing on mobiles for news is regarded as a privilege.
As a mobile-only investigative and political reporting outlet, we were operating on a shoestring budget when we launched, so the data use issue was not something we had the technical capacity to address. We decided it had to wait until we had evolved the prototype and our editorial colleagues — Everson Luhanga and Phillip van Niekerk — had established Scrolla’s editorial ethos.
Our big break came when we were selected for the Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa in 2021. We had a rough outline of how we would design a separate “Data Lite” site, which we used as the basis for our application. The Data Lite site doesn’t contain video or audio, and has stripped back features allowing for faster scrolling. The goals were to compress stories and images as much as possible and to automate the process so that our small team didn’t have to learn a new Content Management System (CMS). As a recipient of funding, we could build a Data Lite site far quicker and better than would have otherwise been possible, and bring in external engineering expertise to design the new platform.
The site ended up saving readers 90% on the data costs of our “full fat” site, when we compare the 100 kilobytes on page downloads on Data Lite to our usual 1 megabyte. And this meant the Data Lite site gave us about a sixfold increase in traffic compared with the full data site. We couldn’t use video or audio on the new Data Lite site, which remains its only drawback. When it came to images, we gave the editorial team strict guidelines to minimize data use without compromising user experience. This left room for error, so we then built in additional automated safeguards which ensured that uploaded images didn’t risk leaving readers with a spike in data costs.
Alongside data costs, language is an additional barrier in South Africa, so we publish in Zulu as well as English. Crucially, the GNI funding allowed us to design a system where we could include our Zulu content, together with English (a second language in South Africa), on one platform. The site had to be super easy to navigate and allow users to toggle between English and Zulu.
A screengrab of the Scrolla app featuring the Zulu language.
The biggest lesson we learned is it’s impossible to underestimate what a big deal these data costs are: to the extent that many readers are wary of downloading apps or touching the sort of advertisements which typically require a lot of data such as those with video. The GNI enabled us to build the site, and we're open to sharing the technology with other like-minded publications in Africa and beyond.
by Mungo Soggot via The Keyword
Friday 28 October 2022
How we detect, remove and report child sexual abuse material
Since Google’s earliest days, we have worked to prevent the spread of illegal child sexual abuse material (referred to as CSAM). Child safety organizations and governments rightly expect — and in many cases require — us to take action to remove it from our systems. Which is why, when we find CSAM on our platforms, we remove it, report it and often take the step to suspend the account.
Although CSAM accounts for a very small portion of the material uploaded and shared across our platforms, we take the implications of both CSAM violations and suspending accounts seriously. Our goal is to prevent abuse on our platforms while minimizing the risk of an incorrect suspension. Today, we are sharing more information on how we detect this harmful content and the steps we are taking to be more transparent about our processes with users.
How we detect CSAM
We rely on two equally important technologies to help us proactively identify child sexual abuse material: hash matching and artificial intelligence (AI). We also have a team of highly specialized and trained content reviewers and subject matter experts who help ensure that our technology delivers accurate results.
This combination enables us to detect CSAM on our platforms at scale, while keeping our false positive rate extremely low.
How we use hash matching to identify known CSAM
CSAM that has been previously identified is automatically flagged by our systems using Hash Matching Technology. This technology assigns images and videos a unique digital signature — a “hash” — and then compares it against a database of known signatures. If the two match, the content is considered to be the same or closely similar.
We obtain hashes from a variety of highly trusted sources including Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and others. NCMEC specifically hosts a hash-sharing service used by the tech industry and specialist NGOs from around the world. This repository serves as one starting point – but we review every purported CSAM hash independently to confirm its accuracy. Once we confirm it as CSAM, we input it into our detection systems.
The overwhelming majority of imagery reported by Google – approximately 90% – matches previously identified CSAM, much of which is already in the NCMEC database.
How we use artificial intelligence to identify new content
While hash matching helps us find known CSAM, we use artificial intelligence to flag new content that is very similar to patterns of previously confirmed CSAM. Our systems are specifically designed to recognize benign imagery like a child playing in the bathtub or backyard, which will not be flagged. A specialist team of trained personnel also reviews each piece of new imagery flagged, to confirm it is CSAM before it is ever reported.
Quick detection of new images means that children who are being sexually abused today are much more likely to be identified and protected from further abuse. And to help promote safety across the web, we provide other companies and NGOs access to detection and processing technology through our Child Safety Toolkit. This includes our Content Safety API, which helps partners more quickly prioritize and review content that is highly likely to be abusive. In the past 30 days alone, the Content Safety API has helped partners process over four billion pieces of CSAM. Through the toolkit, partners can also license our proprietary CSAI Match Technology, to detect known video CSAM on their platforms.
Our specialized content reviewers
While technology is essential in the fight against CSAM at scale, human reviewers also play a critical role to confirm hash matches and content discovered through AI. Our team members bring deep expertise to this work with backgrounds in law, child safety and advocacy, social work, and cyber investigations, among other disciplines. They are specially trained on both our policy scope and what legally constitutes child sexual abuse material. We regularly update this training and our guidelines in consultation with legal counsel, independent experts and medical professionals.
We know this is incredibly sensitive work and have a number of measures in place to protect reviewers’ physical and mental wellness. Our teams have access to tools, workspaces, resources and professional expertise, including counseling.
Referring content to NCMEC
Following this review process, we report the imagery identified as CSAM to NCMEC as required by US law. NCMEC evaluates the report and may decide to refer the case to a relevant law enforcement agency. If the local law enforcement agency chooses to investigate the NCMEC report further, requests for additional information from Google must be made through valid legal process or in accordance with applicable laws. You can learn more here on how we handle these types of requests.
In doing this work, we also believe in the importance of transparency. Today, we updated our Transparency Report, with the latest data around our detection and reporting efforts. In the first half of this year, we've made over one million reports to NCMEC about content that met the legal definition of CSAM, and where appropriate, also suspended the Google accounts associated with that content (approximately 270,000 account suspensions).
By using existing, confirmed CSAM to identify identical or similar material uploaded or shared to our platforms, we maintain an incredibly low false positive rate. However, if someone believes their account was incorrectly disabled, including for content flagged as CSAM, they can appeal the determination. A member of our child safety team reviews the appeal, and if we find we have made a mistake, we reinstate the account as soon as possible.
Improving our processes
Avoiding CSAM on our platforms is incredibly important work and is an area we’ll continue to invest in. At the same time, we recognize that we can improve the user experience when people come to us with questions about their accounts or believe we made wrong decisions. For example, we are actively working on ways to increase transparency and provide more detailed reasons for account suspensions (while making sure we don’t compromise the safety of children or interfere with potential law enforcement investigations). And we will also update our appeals process to allow users to submit even more context about their account, including to share more information and documentation from relevant independent professionals or law enforcement agencies to aid our understanding of the content detected in the account.
We will continue to explore additional ways to balance preventing this harmful content from spreading on our platforms with creating a more streamlined support experience for all users.
by Susan Jasper via The Keyword
Thursday 27 October 2022
How mentoring startups helped me grow as a Googler
Growing up, I avoided mentorship at all costs. Since I was raised by a single mother and my father has been incarcerated most of my life, I always viewed mentoring programs as an attempt to replace something missing. In hindsight, though, mentorship would have helped me get where I am today in my career more quickly — and avoid some pitfalls along the way.
So when I read about the Google for Startups Founders Academy, I jumped at the chance to participate as a mentor. Launched in2020, the four-month program connects founders from Black, Latino and veteran-led startups with experienced Googlers, investors and industry experts. Through this program, I could share guidance and resources with those with similar backgrounds as me to help them navigate all the complex aspects of running a startup and growing their business.
After throwing my hat into the ring, I was accepted as a Google for Startups mentor and paired with Gritly, a Colorado-based edtech startup that specializes in tech sales boot camps for underrepresented groups. Gritly founder David Lopez grew up in a low-income, single-parent household and was the first person in his family to go to college. While on a full academic scholarship at the University of Colorado, David realized that a bachelor’s degree is actually not a prerequisite for many high-paying roles in the sales sector. Seeing an opportunity to create career pathways in their own communities, David and co-founder Avi set out to provide people from the Black and Latino communities, women, veterans and previously incarcerated individuals with the training and mentorship needed to succeed as entry-level tech sales reps.
As a Black Googler who didn't finish college, I was immediately drawn to the Gritly team and their mission. I knew my startup sales experience and critical thinking skills could help steer David and Avi’s product vision and strengthen their unique business model. Although the Founders Academy program only required monthly meetings, I wanted to make myself more available. So I met with David and Avi every week to work through roadblocks, answer questions and celebrate wins. I also attended Gritly’s team meetings to get to know the entire group better. And since we’re all based in Boulder, Colorado, we were even able to meet in person multiple times.
Over the course of the program, David and Avi pivoted Gritly into a digital portal that hosts more bootcamps and edtech programs for other role-specific training. This shift broadened the startup’s potential from a niche player to a fundamental part of the edtech space. We also worked together to refine both their product and pitching strategies to secure several angel investors and fellowships. Most recently, Gritly was selected as one of the first recipients of the Google for Startups Latino Founders Fund, which awarded them with $100,000 in equity-free funding, as well as Cloud credits and ongoing support from Googlers.
When someone asked me what my favorite part about being a Googler was, I would usually say access to the world’s brightest minds. Now, after becoming a Google for Startups mentor, the answer is the opportunity to connect the dots. It’s a privilege to serve as a facilitator between people around the world solving problems and the Googlers who can support them with knowledge, tools and resources. Mentorship, I’ve finally learned, isn’t a way to make up for something you lack — it’s a chance to grow in ways you didn’t even realize were possible.
by Tyson BrownGoogle via The Keyword
Wednesday 26 October 2022
Creating sustainable growth for Southeast Asia’s digital economy
The past few years have shown Southeast Asia’s incredible resilience, as people and businesses have come online – often for the first time – to find new ways of accomplishing what would previously have to be done in person. In 2022, we’ve seen that resilience again, with global economic headwinds rising just as the region began to emerge from the pandemic.
Despite the challenges, Southeast Asia’s digital economy continues to show its dynamism and strength. It’s expected to reach 20% growth in gross merchandise value (GMV) this year, heading towards US$200 billion in value. Encouragingly, as the lateste-Conomy SEA 2022 report confirms, the region is on track to hit that milestone three years earlier than we expected in our inaugural report in 2016.
Over the past three years, 100 million new internet users have come online. The accelerated adoption of digital services we saw during the pandemic is now slowing down as technology becomes an integral part of people’s lives – particularly in urban areas. Many digital businesses are shifting priorities from winning new customers to engaging more deeply with existing ones.
At the same time, there is plenty of room for the digital economy to grow, especially among suburban segments where digital services adoption is still relatively low.
With that in mind, here are the main highlights from the 2022 report:
Digital sectors are following different growth trajectories
E-commerce spiked significantly during the pandemic and continues to thrive, with GMV growing 16% year-over-year. The growth continues despite people partially returning to shopping in person and businesses focusing on driving profitability— for example, by reducing discounts and monetizing value-added services. Food delivery is back to its trendline after tripling through the pandemic, and is expected to reach 14% growth. Transport is looking towards a robust recovery – 43% year-over-year growth – but continues to encounter obstacles such as inflated fuel costs and workforce shortages. Travel is back and looking at a significant 115% growth, boosted by the opening of international borders. However, full recovery for the transport and travel sectors is expected to be gradual, and it will take some more time before they regain 2019 levels.
Digital Financial Services (DFS) continues to grow as a result of offline-to-online behavior shifts enduring post-pandemic, and we see winning business models emerge. Racing to capture different consumer segments, pureplay fintechs and consumer tech platforms are strengthening their position in the region, while established financial services accelerate digitalisation to compete with these newer players.
Tech investments are still going strong
Through the report, we also take a view into how investors in Southeast Asia's digital economy look at the growth and innovation coming from the region. Despite investors becoming more cautious in the current economic environment, tech funding maintained its strength during the first half of 2022, with a 13% growth in deal value from H1 2021 to H1 2022. Continuing the trend from the second half of 2021, DFS remained the top funded sector across Southeast Asia and overtook e-commerce as the region’s top investment sector. Emerging sectors hold promise in the digital decade, as over 80% of VCs expect that the focus in investments will increase in healthtech, SaaS and Web3.
However, a closer look at the investments also reveal that while early-stagers are flourishing, late-stage investments are impacted by dim IPO prospects. Going into the second half of the year, investors are adopting a more cautious wait-and-watch approach.
New enablers open the way towards a sustainable digital economy
Historically, digital economy enablers in Southeast Asia have included payments, funding, logistics, internet access, and consumer trust. We’ve seen significant progress in many areas but as the digital economy continues to scale, we need to broaden our targets to ensure the growth is sustainable and no one is left behind.
During the next two to three years, amidst the current macroeconomic climate, it’s clear that the path to profitability is an immediate priority for companies to maintain growth momentum. However, in the long run, digital inclusion and addressing growing environmental and social concerns will be key to success. It’s everyone’s shared responsibility to help achieve these goals – companies, customers, investors, and governments alike.
Amidst the global economic headwinds, Southeast Asia is showing just how resilient and adaptable it can be. Its fundamentals remain strong and the digital decade holds great promise: the region’s digital economy is expected to grow twice as fast as GDP in most countries through 2030, and could reach up to $1T if it succeeds in scaling sustainably and unlocking its full potential.
by Stephanie DavisSoutheast Asia via The Keyword
A new genome sequencing tool powered with our technology
Genome sequencing provides a more complete description of cells and organisms, allowing scientists to uncover serious genetic conditions such as the elevated risk for breast cancer or pulmonary arterial hypertension. While researching genomics has the potential to save lives and preserve people’s quality of life, it's incredibly challenging work.
Back in January, we announced a partnership with PacBio, a developer of genome sequencing instruments, to further advance genomic technologies. Today, PacBio is introducing the Revio sequencing system, an instrument that runs on our deep learning technology, DeepConsensus. With DeepConsensus built right into Revio, researchers can quickly and accurately identify genetic variants that cause diseases.
How Google Health’s technology works
Genome sequencing requires observing individual DNA molecules amidst a complex and noisy background. To address the problem, Google Health worked to adapt Transformer, one of our most influential existing deep learning methods that was developed in 2017 primarily to understand languages. We then applied it to PacBio’s data, which uses fluorescence light to encode DNA sequences. The result was DeepConsensus.
Last year, we demonstrated that DeepConsensus was capable of reducing sequencing errors by 42%, resulting in better genome assemblies and more accurate identification of genetic variants. Although this was a promising research demonstration, we knew that DeepConsensus could have the greatest impact if it was running directly on PacBio’s sequencing instrument. Over the last year, we’ve worked closely with PacBio to speed up DeepConsensus by over 500x from its initial release. We’ve also further improved its accuracy to reduce errors by 59%.
Combining our AI methods and genomics work with PacBio’s instruments and expertise, we were able to build better methods for the research community. Our partnership with PacBio doesn’t stop with Revio. There’s limitless potential to make an impact on the research community and improve healthcare and access for people around the world.
by Andrew Carroll via The Keyword
Kwentuhan: Sharing our stories this Filipino American History Month
“Kwentuhan” roughly translates to “sharing stories” in English. For Filipino American History Month, or Kapamilya Month as our Filipino Googler Network refers to it, we sat down with Paolo Malabuyo, Director of User Experience in Google Maps and executive sponsor of the Filipino Googler Network, to learn about his story.
As a child growing up in the Philippines, we heard you were somewhat of a Lego competition legend. How did this kickstart your interest in working in UX and design?
I was the youngest of four and I always felt like I was in the shadow of my older, smarter, more athletic and more accomplished siblings. I don’t recall having many ideas about what I wanted to be when I grew up, until my grandmother immigrated to the United States in the 1960s and started sending small handfuls of Lego pieces through the mail.
This started my fascination with Lego and culminated in my participation in Lego competitions across the Philippines. I still think that the greatest job in the world is designing Lego sets.
I immigrated to the States right before my 12th birthday and picked up drawing, reading, and crafting. This developed into a real affinity for art. I ended up getting a BFA in art and minors in communication design, art history and Chinese studies. I also took basic programming classes and learned web design by emulating early websites.
Like Lego pieces, my early days of creatively building, combined with my art education and CS study were what constructed my career today. I got my first role as a graphic designer which started my roundabout journey to become a UX designer, leader and educator.
Can you talk about your role at Google?
I lead the cross-disciplinary user experience teams for Geo Auto and Geo Sustainability. In Auto, we design and deliver the in-car, embedded Google Maps experiences for navigation, routing, and situational awareness so that drivers are safer and more confident, with a major focus on electric vehicles. In Sustainability, we provide platforms, insights, and solutions that help users and partners tackle climate change – the preeminent challenge for humanity today. It’s an incredibly interesting portfolio and it’s such a privilege to work with our teams and clients.
As an executive sponsor for the FIlipino Googler Network, I get to work closely with other teams across Google on projects that impact the Filipino community. One example is the work happening on Maps to help business owners identify themselves, including the introduction of the Asian-owned attribute earlier this year. This attribute will help many Filipino businesses be recognized by current and future customers.
What else is Google doing in support of Filipino culture?
It’s great to see how Google’s products and services are celebrating Filipino culture and elevating our voices. This month, we ran a beautiful Google Doodle in the Philippines which celebrated the Regatta de Zamboanga, an annual sailing competition from the southern part of the country.
Google TV is highlighting recent movies and TV shows that tell Filipino American stories and feature Filipino American lead actors in its “For you” tab.
One of Google TV's highlighted shows for Filipino American History Month
And Google Arts & Culture has teamed up with amazing organizations to celebrate the rich culture and history of the Philippines, including the Filipinas Heritage Library, Filipino Street Art Project, and the Ballet Philippines.
Earlier, you talked about how you grew up in the Philippines. What role do you think Google has to play in supporting the local community?
Google has amazing resources that can help the people in the Philippines. We’ve done a lot to support inclusive distance learning, from a Google.org grant to help teachers, to the national deployment of G Suite for Education to 22 million learners in partnership with the Department of Education. We’re collaborating with local telecommunications companies to bring mobile access to learning tools and started a virtual training camp for Filipino YouTubers to accelerate development of quality learning content on the platform. Just last month, we announced we will be giving away Google Career Certificate scholarships to 39,000 Filipino youths.
Commitments like these are super valuable, and I’m grateful for the work to come.
by Rod Bersamina via The Keyword
The Art of Survival: A Yazidi Cultural Archive
The arts are integral tohow we make sense of the world. Traditional arts and cultural practices have long been used to elevate human experience and shift perspectives. However, in recent decades these benefits have increasingly been the subject of more formalstudy, highlighting the direct health benefits of participating in the arts such as increased physical activity, stress-reduction and connection. Such benefits are particularly vital for people who have experienced forced displacement.
Currentevidence points to how the arts and arts therapies promote physical, mental and social well being for people who are working through the aftermath of violence and conflict. Dance and dance/movement therapy can help people release grief and recover a sense of joy. Theater and drama therapy can aid people in re-discovering a sense of playfulness, rehearse new ways of being, deepen empathy and communicate across differences. Music and music therapy can decrease stress, facilitate emotional regulation, and promote a shared sense of belonging for both displaced persons and host communities. Participation in visual art and art therapy can promote relaxation and enable greater expression.
An example of this may be seen in the Yazidi Cultural Archives project. The project was developed over the course of 12 months through a partnership betweenYazda, a community-led organization that aids survivors of genocide in Iraq and around the world,Community Jameel,CULTURUNNERS, theOffice of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology and the World Health Organization, with support from the Iraq Cultural Health Fund, as part of the Healing Arts initiative. An evaluation of the impact of the archives on the psychological wellbeing of participants is being supported by theArts and Health initiative at New York University.
Today, in colaboration with Google Arts & Culture, we present four unique digital stories commemorating the strength and vitality of the Yazidi people following the 2014 genocide in Iraq carried out by Da’esh. We honor these women who have shown extraordinary courage in the face of dehumanising acts which are, for most of us, unimaginable. The content was produced through a series of art and photography workshops, led by Yazda, to help women use art to express their experience, recover a sense of connection with themselves and each other, reimagine identity, and document examples of their intangible cultural heritage. What is particularly notable about this project is that rather than delegating the process of cultural preservation to “experts,” this group of women were given the tools to identify what was meaningful to them and encouraged to find ways of expressing that meaning in the manner that suited them best.
The Nobody’s Listening: Justice for the Yazidi People exhibition provides background to the historical and cultural situation of Yazidis, a unique ethno-religious group whose origins stretch back more than 6,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia. Between the description of the past and current events, people can discover artworks from Yazidi survivors and get to know their feelings and thoughts.
Stories of Thread & Ink: Preserving Yazidi Cultural Heritage shows us Yazidi women of different generations who have come together to reclaim and revive at-risk cultural practices to preserve their heritage. Sustaining traditional cultural practices like Dazik — Yazidi traditional handmade bracelets and unique markings known as 'Deq' Tattoos — is important to survivors, and those who remain displaced and living in camps, as a pillar of their cultural identity and link to their lives before the genocide.
"I survived captivity and am passionate about my new life. After I was liberated from Da'esh, I joined this art workshop to advocate for myself and other survivors. I felt pride in what we created because it helped me remember who I am and who my people are." - Malaeen LUQMAN, Yazidi survivor.
The Healing Lens: A Photographic Journey by Yazidi Survivors exhibition was created by eight women who were under Da'esh occupation, all currently living in refugee camps in Iraq. It is their response to the ongoing situation between Da’esh and the Yazidis. The story presents photographs they took to commemorate cultural motifs, such as a healing fountain, tombs, or the olive oil jars used in religious ceremonies and rituals that are held in Lalish temple. Through The Art of Survival: A Yazidi Cultural Archive exhibition people can explore inspiring paintings of resistance and healing by Yazidi women who have hope, belief in their dreams and are proud now to share their culture with a new generation.
This project is a reflection of how the arts and culture are a valuable and available resource that can create healthier, stronger and more equitable communities. We encourage you to explore this affirmation of healing and remembrance on the United Nations page on Google Arts & Culture. In addition to preserving cultural practices, the celebration of our unique expression of identity allows us to regain control of our individual narratives and imagine for ourselves a joyful and thriving future.
by Nisha Sajnani via The Keyword
A brief history of our search interest in pumpkin spice lattes
Pumpkin Spice Lattes are practically synonymous with autumn. It just isn’t fall until you sip a PSL while fiery orange leaves crunch under your boots. The Pumpkin Spice Latte is an undeniable staple of the season — look no further than Google Trends for proof. Here are 10 moments of PSL search trend history.
- “Pumpkin Spice Latte” began gaining popularity as a search term in the fall of 2010.
2. It started out as a solidly autumnal treat — up until 2017, search interest in “Pumpkin Spice Latte” first peaked in September, and then again in October and November.
3. These days, it’s becoming more of a late-summer, early-fall beverage: Since 2018, search interest in “Pumpkin Spice Latte” has peaked in August.
4. On that note: Searches for “Pumpkin Spice Latte” were highest in 2022 during the week of August 28 - September 3.
5. Search interest in “pumpkin spice latte” hit new heights in August of this year.
6. …Which isn’t terribly surprising, given that it’s been on a steady increase every year — until 2018! Search interest dropped significantly in 2018, and only began rising again in 2021.
7. Speaking of PSLs, search interest in the pumpkin spice acronym grew annually alongside the full drink name. (Quick note that not all “PSL” searches are about the drink — PSL is also an acronym for other things, like Port St. Lucie, a city in Florida. But PSL spikes do seem to coincide with “pumpkin spice latte” spikes each fall, so clearly some of the interest overlaps.)
8. Looking at related search terms, searches for “pumpkin spice” have actually always been higher than search interest for “pumpkin spice latte.” But they’ve also experienced a rise in popularity parallel to search interest in the coffee drink.
This begs the question: Is it the chicken or the egg? Or rather, the pumpkin spice or the latte? Has a penchant for pumpkin spice driven interest in the drink, or is it the other way around?
9. Search interest in “pumpkin spice” (hold the latte) is also happening earlier each year. Initially the spike happened in November and then October…but that peak moved to September and has stayed there since 2014.
10. And finally: Not all pumpkin spice products are edible. Earlier this month in the U.S., the most-searched “pumpkin spice scented” items (in order of popularity) were cat litter, soap, pouches, candles and hand lotion.
by Molly McHugh-JohnsonThe Keyword via The Keyword
In Madrid, a pitch for “open security”
The following is adapted from remarks delivered by Kent Walker, President of Global Affairs, at the “Google Cybersecurity Summit: Protecting Europe's Digital Space” in Madrid on October 26, 2022.
Today’s cybersecurity discussion couldn’t be more timely.
Against a backdrop of rising geo-political tensions, we are seeing more and more efforts to undercut our shared security.
Cyber and information wars have become tools of the trade in attempts to exploit our vulnerabilities and destabilize our economies and our democracies.
It is no wonder that when the European Commission unveiled its plan for Europe’s digital transformation by 2030, it called security a fundamental right central to its vision.
So where do we begin the task of securing the digital world?
On the one hand, some would embrace data localization requirements, limits on market access, and even restrictions to accessing some cross-border services.
Essentially walled gardens and high fortresses. But we would suggest a different tack.
Though it sounds like a paradox, the best modern digital security actually comes through embracing openness.
Though it sounds like a paradox, the best modern digital security actually comes through embracing openness.
That’s because in today’s mobile, hybrid environment, cybersecurity is a team sport. We are each only as strong as our weakest link. But when we work together, we spur innovation and advance best practices that benefit all.
I speak from some experience here, as Google’s services are attacked every day. And yet we keep more people safe than anyone else in the world. We do that by looking at security through a collective lens, leveraging open frameworks, and relying heavily on secure open-source software.
We hope to use what we have learned to help secure Europe’s “digital decade.”
To that end, we recently published a white paper with recommendations like investing in technology that’s secure by default; working with private and international partners on new areas of cooperation, and building security based on openness and interoperability.
These recommendations are based on first-hand experience. In 2009, Google was the victim of a major cybersecurity attack, code named Operation Aurora. We learned that transparency, coupled with security by design, was the best way to secure the digital ecosystem.
As we detail in our recently released docuseries, HACKING GOOGLE, Aurora changed everything. It spurred us to shift away from the old “perimeter defense” model of crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle (with high outside walls but no interior defenses) to a zero-trust model in which all users, all devices, and all applications are continuously checked for security risks, and yet security comes easily and naturally for users.
After Aurora, we launched our Threat Analysis Group, or TAG, to spot, disclose, and attribute threats, whether they were coming from nation-state actors or commercial spyware and surveillance vendors. We also launched our Project Zero team to find and promptly disclose previously unknown zero-day vulnerabilities in our own and other companies’ software, raising the security bar for everyone.
It hasn’t always been comfortable work–but that kind of transparency is key to security. As the computer engineering saying goes, “with enough eyes, all bugs are shallow.”
Today, by adopting advanced security innovation and threat intelligence, we ensure vulnerabilities are fixed fast, before they can be widely exploited.
You can see our approach in action whenever TAG discloses a new threat. For example, in 2017, our Android operating system was the first mobile platform to warn users about NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware–“zero-click” malware designed to allow an attacker to compromise a smartphone without a user taking any action.
By sharing information early and widely, we raised awareness of this threat, helped victims understand if they were compromised, and promoted a greater focus on mitigations. Since then, TAG has continued to report on Pegasus and other commercial spyware tools, shining a light on this murky industry.
So when the war came in Ukraine, open security principles kept us one step ahead. Since the war began, we’ve sent thousands of warnings to users targeted by nation-state actors–another practice we pioneered after Aurora. We’ve succeeded in blocking the vast majority of the attacks. And we launched Project Shield, bringing not just journalists, but human rights organizations and even government websites in Ukraine under Google’s security umbrella against distributed denial of service attacks.
Because while it can be easy to DDOS small sites, it turns out that it’s pretty tough to DDOS Google.
We are all in on this collaborative approach to security. Currently, we are working with our team at VirusTotal to launch a new Google Safety Engineering Center in Málaga, Spain, which we hope will become a European hub for joint research on advanced threats.
Our newest safety engineering center, like GCEC Munich (pictured above), is launching in Malaga.
Since we acquired VirusTotal in 2012, they have grown from a scrappy startup to become the world’s leading malware scanner and repository, what many call “the Google of cybersecurity tools.” VirusTotal enables people to search for malware against the millions of new samples submitted daily.
On top of that, when Google combined our existing security solutions with Mandiant’s cyber threat intelligence, we laid the groundwork to help public and private sector organizations in Europe anticipate, warn about, and mitigate threats.
What are the larger lessons for all of us as we work toward open security?
First, partnerships and agreements among democratic and rule-of-law societies are key. We need to set aside siloed approaches and embrace an ecosystem of innovation where security experts can share threats, evolve best practices, and adopt new technologies.
In support of that ecosystem, I’m pleased to announce that in 2023, we will be hosting a new Google for Startups Growth Academy for EU Cybersecurity, a growth program to help cybersecurity startups across Europe grow into success stories.
Second, interoperability and aligned security standards between technologies and among countries makes compliance easier for businesses, innovators, and manufacturers of all sizes–which makes for more secure hardware and better software.
The third and final thing to keep in mind is that when we shift away from buggy legacy technology and perimeter defense models and toward modern infrastructure, we can accommodate today’s increasingly global, hybrid workforces, without sacrificing security.
Collective security requires not just walls, but bridges.
By adopting an approach built on open principles like security-by-default, zero-trust architecture, transparency, and principled partnerships, we can advance the frontiers of information security, letting all of us sleep better at night.
by Kent WalkerGoogle & Alphabet via The Keyword
Tuesday 25 October 2022
Helpful Search tools for evaluating information online
People turn to Google every day for information in important moments. Sometimes that’s to look for the best recipe for dinner, other times it’s to check the facts about a claim they heard from a friend.
No matter what you’re searching for, we aim to connect you with high-quality information, and help you understand and evaluate that information. That’s why we design our ranking systems to prioritize the most useful, highest-quality content and provide direct access to reliable information for important topics.
We’re also investing in new ways to give you more context about the information you find online and introducing more information literacy features, based on research and best practices from experts. This week marks UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy Week, and we’re sharing some new announcements about this important work.
Get context with About this result
When you’re searching for information on Google, it can be helpful to have quick access to more context about the sources and topics you’re finding in Search – so you can make a more informed decision about the sites you may want to visit and what results will be most useful for you.
Starting today, we’re rolling out our About this result feature to people searching in Portuguese, French, Italian, Dutch, German and Spanish in Europe. Next to most results on Google, you’ll begin to see the option to tap the three dots to learn more about the result or feature and where the information is coming from.
You can:
- See more information about the source: In addition to seeing a source description from Wikipedia, you’ll also be able to read what a site says about itself in its own words, and when it was first indexed.
- Find what others on the web have said about a site: Reading what others have written about a site -- news, reviews and other helpful background context -- can help you better evaluate sources.
- Learn more about the topic: In the “About the topic” section, you can find information, such as top news coverage or results about the same topic from other sources.
We’ve also launched About this page in the Google app, so you can get helpful context about websites as you’re browsing the web. Just swipe up from the navigation bar on any page to get more information about the source – helping you explore with confidence, no matter where you are online.
Empowering you with context
There are a range of other Google tools that help people evaluate the credibility of information online. For instance, we make it easy to spot fact checks published by independent, authoritative sources on the web. We highlight relevant fact checks on results in Search, News and Google Images.
One of the most important pieces of context we can provide is letting you know when helpful or relevant information isn’t available on the web just yet. This could be true in a rapidly evolving event, where interest in a topic can often travel faster than the facts. Or when relevant information simply doesn’t exist for your search. In these moments, we alert you with a notice recommending that you check back later or try another search.
Supporting Super Searchers
Information literacy is a key skill for people who are trying to navigate an increasingly complex information landscape. To help empower people to understand the tools and tactics that they can use to make sense of information online, Google is partnering with Public Libraries 2030 to launch the Super Searcher training program in Europe.
Under this partnership, librarians and library staff across Europe will be trained on best practices from information literacy experts, including how to use tools like About this result on Search to help evaluate information online. In turn, trained librarians and library staff will be able to help educate library patrons to strengthen their information literacy skills. This program will be offered in 12 countries in the coming months.
We know that Search is a powerful tool for getting high quality information, and we’ll keep investing in ways to empower people to critically evaluate the information they find.
by Nidhi Hebbar via The Keyword
The future of fighting misinformation in Asia-Pacific
The global Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2022 shows that trust in news has declined in almost half the countries surveyed, and more people are actively avoiding the news. Meanwhile, a majority of those surveyed said they worry about identifying the difference between real news and misinformation on the internet.
The Asia Pacific region is no stranger to these trends, and ahead of elections in Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, India and Indonesia, the fifth annual APAC Trusted Media Summit, organized by the Google News Initiative (GNI), brought together journalists, fact-checkers, educators, researchers, activists, and policymakers to share best practices for fact-checking and media literacy.
Here are our key takeaways from the event.
Pre-bunk rather than debunk.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge found that short "prebunking" videos, rolled out as ads on social media, are effective at improving people's ability to spot fake information.
Debunks, on the other hand, typically don’t reach as many people as misinformation, and they don’t spread nearly as quickly— which is why pre-bunking is crucial. Research shows the power of the continued influence effect: once someone is exposed to misinformation, it’s significantly more difficult to return their beliefs to a baseline similar to that of someone who was never exposed to it in the first place.
Remember that people react emotion-first.
Dr. Michelle Wong, Content Creator at Lab Muffin Beauty Science, has been debunking misinformation around online beauty products for 11 years. She says that with people’s short attention spans, garnering the same level of interest in true stories as misinformation means that social media content has to have two things: a compelling hook, and an easy-to-understand explanation.
Dr. Wong reminded us that misinformation spreads faster online because most of the content taps into powerful emotions like fear— which affect viewers more than complex science does. Using the same tactic for debunking can help reach (and inform!) a much broader audience.
Coalition building and empowering individuals.
Addressing misinformation requires more resources and skills beyond those of any single organization, industry, sector, or government.
As shared by Maria Ressa, Filipino-American journalist, author, co-founder and CEO of Rappler, #FactsFirstPH created a movement ahead of the recent Philippines elections. A coalition of 16 news organizations and 116 civil society groups and businesses came together and built a collective network that pushed the real facts through the algorithm in an enormous ripple effect.
Most importantly, collaboration needs to come from all sectors— from tech companies like Google, to media, governments, fact-checkers and research. Working together, we can build a sustainable, large-scale approach to fighting misinformation.
The way forward for Asia-Pacific.
This year, in its 5th edition, the Trusted Media Summit gathered 1,960 registrants across the globe from 24 countries, representing over 350 organizations in seven languages Attendees and speakers shared ideas and it was truly impressive how this community continues their work year after year to fight misinformation.
Attendees at this year’s event learned how the community can collaborate, work on pre-bunking and adopt influencers’ successful social media strategies. I’m proud of our work that helps bring people together, and I believe that Asia-Pacific can lead the way in building a better, more informed future for all.
If you missed the APAC Trusted Media Summit 2022, we’ve put together on-demand videos from the event here.
by Irene Liu via The Keyword
The 5 best ways to stay secure online with Chrome
We designed Chrome to be secure by default, protecting you from dangerous and deceptive sites that might steal your passwords or infect your device. Chrome pioneered many of the techniques that are now foundational to browser security (such as sandboxing and site isolation), and with recent advances like predictive phishing protection, you can be confident that we’re using the latest technology to keep your data safe.
But what can you do yourself to make sure you stay safe online? To mark Cybersecurity Awareness Month, we talked to a few Chrome security engineers to share a few pieces of advice:
Keep Chrome up to date
Hundreds of security engineers across Google work to keep Chrome safe against the latest threats, and those improvements come out at least every two weeks. “We try to shorten the time between when a security bug has been discovered or reported and when a fix is released,” says Amy Ressler, a security technical program manager. “No matter how fast we work, we know motivated adversaries are looking for opportunities to exploit the ‘patch gap’ between when we release the fix and when some users update to the newest version.” Chrome checks for updates regularly, and when one is available, Chrome downloads it immediately and then applies it when you close and reopen the browser. But if you haven’t closed your browser in a while, you may have a pending update visible in the upper right corner of the browser window. To apply the update, click “Update” or simply close and reopen Chrome. Don’t worry: You won’t lose your tabs, and it will only take a few seconds.
Store strong, unique passwords with Google Password Manager
Using a password manager (even if it’s not Google’s) will help you store and use a strong, unique password for each site you log into. “If your password is compromised through a phishing attack or a security breach,” security software engineer Nwokedi Idika says, “using a unique password on every site reduces its value to an attacker because it only provides access to a single site — not multiple ones.” If you’re using a password manager to store “fido1234” as your password for every site, you're not making the most of the tool. Google Password Manager can suggest and save a strong, unique password of gobbledygook (like KZamPPzj43T9mQM). Then, Chrome will autofill the password next time you need it — on any device. Chrome should suggest a new strong password when creating a new account, or you can always right click in the password field and click “Suggest Password.”
Don’t ignore Chrome's download warnings
Chrome and Safe Browsing work to ensure that we warn you about dangerous downloads when possible. When you see a download warning, you can still download the file, but we strongly recommend against it. Computers are often compromised by malware because people misunderstand or ignore warnings. "We hear feedback from people that think Google disapproves of that download or software, so they ignore the warning,” says software engineer Daniel Rubery. “But the file is actually malicious!" We are constantly working to remove warnings that aren't useful; for example, we recently reevaluated our list of dangerous file types which reduced low risk warnings by more than 90%. This means you can trust that a download warning really means danger.
Browse the web with Enhanced security protection
To be even more secure while browsing the web in Chrome, turn on Enhanced Safe Browsing protection in your Chrome settings. It substantially increases protection from dangerous websites and downloads by sharing real-time data with Safe Browsing. “This is how you can get the most out of Chrome's security features,” recommends security software engineer Javier Castro. “By enabling enhanced protection, you are letting Chrome use the latest threat intelligence and the most advanced user protections to keep you safe while you browse.” If you’re signed in, Chrome and other Google apps you use (Gmail, Drive, etc) will be able to provide improved protection based on a holistic view of threats you encounter on the web and attacks against your Google Account. As a result, people using Enhanced Safe Browsing are successfully phished 20-35% less.
Protect your Google Account with 2-step verification
Two-factor authentication can use your phone to add an extra step to verify that it's you when you sign in. Signing in with both a password and a second step on your phone protects against password-stealing scams. Software engineer Diana Smetters says, “It's simple to turn on, and you only have to use your phone the first time you sign in on each of your devices. If an attacker gets your password online and tries to sign in, they'll be blocked because they don't have your phone.” If you sign into Chrome with a Google Account, be sure that you’re enrolled in 2-step verification to protect your account.
To stay even safer online, take a few minutes this month to update Chrome, start using Google Password Manager, turn on Enhanced Safe Browsing and enroll in 2-step verification. One last tip–you can always confirm your use of security features by running Safety Check in Chrome settings.
by Mollie Bates via The Keyword