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In 2000, Google’s Chicago office consisted of two people in River North. Now, that presence has grown to more than 1,800 employees in Fulton Market. And today, we’re announcing we intend to buy the iconic James R. Thompson Center building in Chicago’s Loop upon future renovation, which deepens our commitment to Google’s long-term presence in the city. The cost of the existing unrenovated building is $105 million. This will support engineering work in Chicago and helps advance the growth of Google’s partners and customers across the Midwest and nationally. It also helps us meet the future needs of our flexible hybrid workforce . By establishing a presence in Chicago’s central business district, we will be getting in on the ground floor of a broader revitalization of the Loop. The Thompson Center will provide employees with unparalleled public transit access as the only building in the city where six L train lines converge, easily connecting Chicago’s South, West and North sides. Onc...

This fall, for the first time in years, many students across the U.S. will return to the classroom in person. With a new (in-real-life) school year fast approaching, students and their families are already on the lookout for new gear: In fact, searches for “back to school supplies'' increased by 80% in the last month versus the same period last year, while searches for “back to school deals” grew 40%. We looked into what items back-to-school shoppers are searching for and found that the early 2000s are having a moment. One of this season’s hottest shopping trends is the Y2K aesthetic — with butterfly hair clips, trucker hats and inflatable dorm furniture making a comeback. So as you get ready for the school year, we’re sharing the top-trending Y2K back-to-school items and Google tools to help you get the most bang for your buck. Top Y2K trends Search interest for school supplies spikes every August in the U.S., and it's driven by searches for the usual su...

Our advertising partners often ask me, “how can I better understand where my dollars are being spent?” This question isn’t new. But as buying and selling digital ads has become more complex, tracking where the money goes has become more difficult. On average 15% of advertiser spend is unattributable, according to some industry estimates. One of my biggest concerns about this trend is its impact on marketer confidence in digital advertising. How can we all provide greater visibility into the investments of agencies and advertisers to properly inform future media spend? While we can’t speak for the many other companies in this space, our platforms do not take hidden fees. Working with others in the industry, we’re committed to investing in solutions that bring greater trust to programmatic buying and advance a more transparent ecosystem. Introducing Confirming Gross Revenue Today we’re announcing Confirming Gross Revenue, a new solution that gives buyers and publishers a privacy-saf...

Who’s got those summertime feelings? If the warmer months have you feeling extra inspired — and excited — to get outside and explore with friends, Google Maps can help you transform the way you coordinate plans and stay connected this summer and beyond. Whether you’re checking out top landmarks in a new city, planning to hop on your bike, or hanging out with friends around town, these updates have you covered. Experience global landmarks in a whole new way The summer travel season is in full swing, and people are turning to Google Maps to plan their trips and find helpful information about places they plan to visit — like what time a place is open and how crowded it is. To help you with the trip-planning process, we’re bringing photorealistic aerial views of nearly 100 of the world’s most popular landmarks in cities like Barcelona, London, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo right to Google Maps. This is the first step toward launching immersive view — an experience that pairs AI w...

After a long day, I love to lounge on the couch, tablet in hand, checking my emails and adding to my to-do lists while watching TV. It’s a great way to stay productive and get things done — and it’s about to get even easier to use your tablet to stay up to date. Earlier this year Android introduced 12L , a software update to make devices with bigger screens, like tablets, easier to use. At I/O, we shared plans to update more than 20 Google apps on tablets to take full advantage of the extra space on those bigger screens. To get started, today we are making Google Workspace apps even better on Android’s larger screens with updates to Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Keep. Drag and drop files for better productivity One of the best features to get things done on tablets is multitasking across two windows at once. So we’ve built out new ways to use Google Workspace apps when you have two screens open on your large-screen device. You can now easily drag text or images from ap...

Think back to 2012: “Call Me Maybe” was on top of the music charts and “Venmoing” wasn’t a mainstream verb yet. Android — with its mission to make mobile computing accessible to everyone, everywhere — was just a few years old. That year, we opened the (digital) doors of Google Play. A decade later, more than 2.5 billion people in over 190 countries use Google Play every month to discover apps, games and digital content. And more than 2 million developers work with us to build their businesses and reach people around the globe. As we celebrate 10 years of Google Play, here are 10 of our favorite milestones and features from the last decade: New ways to enjoy apps and games: Products and features like Google Play Pass and Google Play Instant introduced new ways to discover and experience apps and games. We also launched Google Play Points so you can earn points and rewards for the ways you already use Google Play. As of today, more than 100 million people have joined the program...

The Bay Area is our home, and we’re helping our hometown communities solve challenging problems. In 2019, we committed $1 billion to help increase the Bay Area’s housing supply and support organizations on the front lines of homelessness. Over the last three years, we’ve been making investments and allocating land to help developers create new affordable housing units in all corners of the region. A map of our current commitments from our $250 million affordable housing investment fund. Investing $1 billion across the Bay Area So far, we’ve allocated a total of $128 million of our $250 million investment fund to 18 organizations, which has supported the development of 23 affordable housing projects across the Bay Area. A rendering of Meridian, a 90-unit affordable housing development, in Sunnyvale, California. Image credit: Steinberg Hart. As part of our commitment to give $750 million worth of our land to housing development, we’ve worked closely with...