Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Ho Ho Ho! Track Santa around the world with Santa Tracker
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
After 23 days of preparation, the elves are finally ready for Santa’s annual journey around the globe. They’ve taught each other how to say
"Santa Claus" in Swedish
, guided their friends through mazes
with code
, brushed up on
their geography
, and learned about
organizations making a difference worldwide
. It’s been a busy month, but Santa’s sleigh is now ready for lift-off!
The elves brushed up on coding fundamentals with blockly maze games
The elves decorated their trees with ornaments about organizations making a difference
Each stop on Santa’s journey offers more to explore—discover 360-degree imagery, Wikipedia snippets, geography facts, and updates on how far Santa’s current location is from yours (take note—Santa’s path is not a direct one!). Come back and visit
google.com/santatracker
throughout the night for more surprises, like sleigh selfies or a
latitude and longitude game
to deliver presents.
Follow Santa on any screen—desktop, phone, tablet, or TV
If you’re on the ho-ho-go, download the
Santa Tracker App for Android
to keep track of Santa on your phone or tablet. With the Android app, watch Santa’s journey on your TV using Chromecast, or on your wrist with Android Wear (especially handy when wrapping last-minute gifts). And, you can always search for Santa on
www.google.com
or on
Google Maps
, and get real-time location updates with Google Now in the Google App.
Santa’s available at the flick of the wrist with Android Wear
Santa’s got a long and exciting night ahead of him before heading back to the North Pole. Grab some eggnog, set out the cookies, and join Google Maps on
Google+
,
Facebook
and
Twitter
to
#tracksanta
!
Posted by Brendan Kenny, Reindeer Platform Engineer
New numbers and a new look for our Transparency Report
Monday, December 22, 2014
We
launched
the
Transparency Report
in 2010 to show how laws and policies affect access to information online, including law enforcement orders for user data and government requests to remove information. Since then, many other companies have
launched their own transparency reports
, and we’ve been excited to see our industry come together around transparency.
After doing things the same way for nearly five years, we thought it was time to give the Transparency Report an update. So today, as we release data about
requests from governments to remove content
from our services for the ninth time, we’re doing it with a new look and some new features that we hope will make the information more meaningful, and continue to push the envelope on the story we can tell with this kind of information.
More about that shortly—first, the data highlights. From June to December 2013, we received 3,105 government requests to remove 14,637 pieces of content. You may notice that this total decreased slightly from the first half of 2013; this is due to a spike in requests from Turkey during that period, which has since returned to lower levels. Meanwhile, the number of requests from Russia increased by 25 percent compared to the last reporting period. Requests from Thailand and Italy are on the rise as well. In the second half of 2013, the top three products for which governments requested removals were Blogger (1,066 requests), Search (841 requests) and YouTube (765 requests). In the second half of 2013, 38 percent of government removal requests cited defamation as a reason for removal, 16 percent cited obscenity or nudity, and 11 percent cited privacy or security.
As for the redesign, we’ve worked with our friends at Blue State Digital on a more interactive Transparency Report that lets us include additional information—like explanations of our process—and highlight stats. We’ve also added examples of nearly 30 actual requests we’ve received from governments around the world. For example, we have an annotation that gives a bit of descriptive information about our first government request from Kosovo, when law enforcement requested the removal of two YouTube videos showing minors fighting. If you’re looking for details on the content types and reasons for removal, use the Country explorer to dig into those details for each of the listed countries.*
Our Transparency Report is certainly not a comprehensive view of censorship online. However, it does provide a lens on the things that governments and courts ask us to remove, underscoring the importance of transparency around the processes governing such requests. We hope that you’ll take the time to explore the new report to learn more about government removals across Google.
*Update
Jan 16
: We updated the 'Country Explorer' section of the Transparency Report on January 16, 2015 to correct inaccuracies in the initially reported Government Requests figures.
Posted by Trevor Callaghan, Director, Legal
Life in the fast lane: lane guidance for drivers in Google Maps
Friday, December 12, 2014
Over the holiday season, if you’re driving back home to see family, or meeting up with friends, you can get where you want to go quickly and easily using voice-guided navigation in Google Maps — now with helpful lane guidance for highways in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the UK and Ireland.
When you’re in the turn-by-turn navigation mode, we can now make sure you don’t miss your next turn or exit by showing you which lane to stay in or move to so you’ll never find yourself darting across traffic at the last minute -- or worse, driving for miles down the wrong road. When you approach a junction or exit with multiple lanes, voice guidance will suggest which lanes are best for your route. You’ll also have easy access to alternate routes while you’re navigating, so you can choose the best drive for you.
To access turn-by-turn Navigation, open the Google Maps app on Android or iPhone and get directions to a location. Then simply touch the Navigation icon to hear voice-guided directions, complete with lane guidance. (Of course, don’t forget to enable GPS on your device to use Navigation.) For more information on navigation and lane guidance, see our help page.
Safe travels!
Posted by Darren Baker, product manager, Google Maps
An update on Google News in Spain
Thursday, December 11, 2014
After 9/11, one of our engineers, Krishna Bharat, realized that results for the query “World Trade Center” returned nothing about the terrorist attacks. And it was also hard to compare the news from different sources or countries because every web site was a silo. That’s how Google News was born and today the service is available in more than 70 international editions, covering 35 languages.
It’s a service that hundreds of millions of users love and trust, including many here in Spain. It’s free to use and includes everything from the world’s biggest newspapers to small, local publications and bloggers. Publishers can choose whether or not they want their articles to appear in Google News -- and the vast majority choose to be included for very good reason. Google News creates real value for these publications by driving people to their websites, which in turn helps generate advertising revenues.
But sadly, as a result of a
new Spanish law
, we’ll shortly have to close Google News in Spain. Let me explain why. This new legislation requires every Spanish publication to charge services like Google News for showing even the smallest snippet from their publications, whether they want to or not. As Google News itself makes no money (we do not show any advertising on the site) this new approach is simply not sustainable. So it’s with real sadness that on 16 December (before the new law comes into effect in January) we’ll remove Spanish publishers from Google News, and close Google News in Spain.
For centuries publishers were limited in how widely they could distribute the printed page. The Internet changed all that -- creating tremendous opportunities but also real challenges for publishers as competition both for readers’ attention and for advertising Euros increased. We’re committed to helping the news industry meet that challenge and look forward to continuing to work with our thousands of partners globally, as well as in Spain, to help them increase their online readership and revenues.
Posted by Richard Gingras, Head of Google News
Bringing the museum to your mobile
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Enter the
Museum of Arts et Métiers
in Paris and one of the first things on view is a strange looking plane perched over a historic staircase. Wonder what it is? From today, click on a
mobile app
based on
Google Cultural Institute platform
and learn about
Clement Adler’s
120-year old rival to the Wright Brothers.
The platform allows museums to create a simple but powerful mobile app, based on Google's technology including Street View and YouTube. Without resorting to expensive technical help, museums now can tell their stories. Interested institutions should sign up
here
.
Eleven museums and cultural institutions in Italy, France, the Netherlands and Nigeria, have worked with our engineers on this pilot project. Their apps are available for free on the
Google Play store
.
In Turin, discover the riches of the near and far East at
MAO
, wonder at the surprising artworks at
GAM
, and go instantly from the Middle Ages to contemporary photography at
Palazzo Madama
. Or discover the international street artworks and their authors,brought together by the
Emergence Festival
. Finally, stroll through
MAGA
to find out more about the Italian contemporary art scene.
In France, enter Marie Curie’s office and relive the discovery of radioactivity at the
Musee Curie
. Drive hrough the impressionist collection of the
Museum of Le Havre
(MuMa) with
six audio thematic tours
, and the
Monnaie de Paris
offers a guid through contemporary artist Paul McCarthy's
Chocolate Factory
.
In the Netherlands, visit the
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
. Its
app
explores archaeological treasures from Egypt, Rome, and the Netherlands. Curious about the history of Nigeria? Discover the story of the Amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorate 100 years ago thanks to the
Pan-Atlantic University app
.
Particularly enjoy an artwork or love the story behind an object? These mobile apps allow easy sharing with friends. Because Internet access can be a challenge when traveling abroad, we made sure these apps will work when you're offline.
The Internet no longer plays just a minor role in diffusing museum knowledge. It has become a major force, allowing museums to expand and strengthen their reach. We look forward to deepening our partnership with museums that see digital media as core to their mission of education and inspiring people about art and culture.
Posted by Robert Tansley, Product Manager, Google Cultural Institute.
Competition drives Europe's mobile market
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
IBM launched the
first smartphone
only 20 years ago. Nicknamed Simon, it weighed more than a half a kilo, cost more than EUR1400 in today’s money, and lacked a touch screen or web browser.
Today, at a
Lisbon Council event
in Brussels,
The Boston Consulting Group released a new study
we commissioned showing that, fueled by stiff competition, the mobile Internet economy in the Europe’s five largest economies generates annual revenue of EUR92 billion -- encompassing sales of devices, access, advertising, and everything you do on the mobile web. This slice of the economy has also created 250,000 jobs in Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain.
Courtesy of BCG 2014
By 2017, mobile revenue in these five countries will have more than doubled to about EUR230 billion - an annual growth rate of more than 25 percent. This boom doesn’t come from rising prices. To the contrary, it’s propelled by increasing affordability and accessibility. The average selling prices for smartphones in Europe are projected to fall almost 38 percent by 2017.
Courtesy of BCG 2014
Importantly, BCG found competition occurring “at every layer of the mobile ecosystem - among service providers, enablement platforms and companies providing apps, content and services.” Competition is particularly intense among phone manufacturers and operating systems. As recently as 2010, the BlackBerry and Symbian platforms accounted for almost half of smartphone sales; today they represent less than five percent. Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, and Microsoft’s Windows are locked in fierce competition, while new entrants include Amazon’s Fire, Xiamo MIUI, Firefox OS, and Tizen.
Courtesy of BCG 2014
A big part of this success story is the flourishing app economy. More than 100 billion downloads took place in 2013 around the globe - about 20 billion in the European Union. Leading app store operators paid developers more than EUR12.2 billion between June 2013 and July 2014. Many of the world’s most dynamic app developers and mobile game operators are based here in Europe, including Finland’s Rovio, the developer of Angry Birds, UK-based Shazam, Wooga in Germany, and Sweden’s Spotify.
All told, the mobile economy is driving economic growth and jobs. The mobile web informs, entertains, and helps us navigate the world. I have no doubt that further innovation and new growth opportunities will mark mobile’s next 20 years!
Posted by Matt Brittin, President, Northern and Central Europe Business & Operations
Blasting off from a LaunchPad in Barcelona
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
Barcelona is already known for its sunshine and seashore. Now, according to the
Financial Times
, it aims to become just as well known for its start-ups. Last week, Google LaunchPad took place in the Catalan capital. The one-week program is designed to accelerate the growth of local, early stage tech companies, and part of our
Startup Launch program
. It’s our fourth LaunchPad in Europe, following events in Tel Aviv, London, Sao Paulo, Berlin and Paris.
A strong case exists for Barcelona to become a start-up hub, the Financial Times says. “Barcelona is known as the ‘north of the south’ – combining a cosmopolitan business-friendly city with Mediterranean coast sunshine. Two international business schools,
Iese
and
Esade
, attract talent from across the world. The city hosts one of the world’s top supercomputing centres.”
At our LaunchPad, local incubators
itnig
,
Incubio
,
Connector
,
Tetuan Valley
and
Caixa Capital Risc
picked 14 startups to attend. During the week, some 30 mentors work individually with them on their projects, as they are experts in their fields and in most cases experienced entrepreneurs. Workshops cover product strategy, UX/UI, technology and marketing.
This initiative underlines our commitment, once again, to Spanish entrepreneurship. Despite suffering a drastic downturn in the financial crisis, the country is emerging as strong start-up nation. According to the
Map of Entrepreneurship
in Spain 2014, 95% of entrepreneurs decide to become so out of motivation rather than necessity AND 16% of the new projects are launched Catalonia. Barcelona always will be a beautiful city. It is in the process of becoming a modern Internet hub.
Posted by Virginia Wassmann, Communications Manager, Madrid
Apply for a computer science award
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
High schools need to increase their computer science offerings and we’re eager to support. Starting today, applications are now being accepted for the 2015 Google Computer Science for High School Awards. Universities who meet our
eligibility criteria
can apply for an award of up to $15,000.
Apply
before midnight (GMT), February 20th, 2015.
High school computer science courses face challenges throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Many teachers can have limited access to training and curriculum resources, struggle to keep up with fast changing technology or have difficulty demonstrating that computer science can be a rewarding and “cool” career choice.
Google’s Computer Science for High School Awards connects school teachers with university academics, who can provide them with the training and tools. Since its pilot in 2009, the program has sustained computer science teacher professional development and helped inspire a new generation of computer scientists who will build the apps and programs of the future.
To date, our program has trained more than 12,263 teachers, reaching an estimated 613,150 students in more than 230 locations worldwide. In 2014, we supported
26 university-led education projects
in 20 countries - with projects ranging from SCRATCH and Raspberry Pi teacher workshops in Europe to android and robotics programming workshops for female students in the Middle-East.
We have resources for teachers to get ongoing, year-round help. Our
Google+ Community
page hosts Hangouts on Air with Computer Science industry leaders, Googlers, and top educators on a regular basis and we have a
resources page
with online workshops, tutorials and information on computational thinking, robotics and more.
This year we've added a new computer science
custom search
for additional materials (such as lesson plans, tutorials, activities, and videos) to support classroom activity, after school programs, or for home enrichment. Our ultimate goal is ambitious — to “train the trainer,” develop a thriving community of high school Computer Science teachers, and above all, engage pre-university students about the awe and beauty of computing.
Posted by Michelle Finnegan, Program Manager
Bringing a fresh digital vision from “New Europe” to Brussels
Monday, December 8, 2014
While Old Europe ponders its approach to the digital future, New Europe is rushing ahead to embrace the web as a motor for growth and prosperity. This past autumn, together with Financial Times, International Visegrad Fund and Res Publica, we announced the
New Europe 100 list
of innovators from Central and Eastern Europe.This past week, many of
these entrepreneurs came to Brussels
to present their ideas to the European Parliament
The event featured real-life success stories :
The European Parliament New Europe 100 event
Kamila Sidor
, CEO, Geek Girl Carrots from Poland who runs a successful social innovation movement to encourage more women into ICT careers.
Michaela Jacova
, Investment Manager, Neulogy VC from Slovakia, who supports aspiring talented entrepreneurs by awarding grants and matching with VC investors.
Paul-Andre Baran
, Director, Biblionet from Romania, who helps provides free access to computers and the internet through public libraries.
Marcin Beme
, CEO, Audioteka.pl from Poland, who founded a successful mobile platform offering digital audiobooks in Poland, Czech Republic, Hunagry , Spain, FInland, Sweden, Russia, Germany, France and Romania.
Gergana Passy
, Digital Champion of Bulgaria, who advocates for a free access to the internet, e-skills and digital transformation across the society.
MEP Boni and Google's Vint Cerf
MEP
Michal Boni
, former minister for digitization in Poland, hosted the debate, which featured a keynote address from Vint Cerf, Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist. Policymakers from around New Europe attended, including MEP
Janusz Lewandowski
, former Polish EU Commissioner; MEP
Antanas Guoga
from Lithuania, and Prof.
Ziga Turk
of University of Ljubljana and Former Minister for Growth in Slovenia.
All listened to the entrepreneurs offering important lessons on technology-driven innovation. Apart from sharing personal passion for ICT-driven innovation, the New Europe called on the politicians to create a positive environment for innovation. Their proposed ingredients include accepting business failures, attracting more women in ICT careers, increasing access to the Internet across the society, and simplifying rules for trading across the borders. Together, these measures represent a positive recipe for creating a true European digital single market.
Posted by Sylwia Giepmans-Stepien Public Policy and Government Relations Senior Analyst, Brussels
Coding for democracy in Europe
Friday, December 5, 2014
It was an audacious task - write software that would increase democratic participation in Europe. At a time when polls show increasing public disenchantment with traditional European Union institutions, the latest and 4th edition of the
EUhackathon
focused on getting European citizens more involved in the EU policymaking progress.
A total of 41 coders from all over Europe participated this week in Brussels. In addition to Google, Facebook, ICANN and Netflix sponsored the event.
Andrus Ansip,
European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, and
Alexander De Croo
, Belgian Vice-Prime Minister and Minister for the Digital Agenda, visited the coders at the Google Brussels office. Google Vice President and Internet evangelist (and “father” of the Internet) Vint Cerf, offered additional encouragement.
Belgian Minister Alexander De Croo and European Commissioner Andrus Ansip
Vint Cerf with Commissioner Ansip
After 30 hours of intense coding with only a single four-hour break, the jury heard presentations of the projects. The prize giving ceremony took place at the European Parliament – MEPs Julia Reda, Andrey Novakov, Brando Benifei, Eva Paunova and Marietje Schaake announced the winners:
First Prize: Team Videodock (the Netherlands), created a cool search for finding videos of parliamentary debates.
Second Prize: Team Commission Today (Romania/Germany/USA), created a transparency register of the meetings of the EU Commission.
Third Prize: Team Frontwise (the Netherlands),developed a tool to make easier to access to EU public consultations.
The winning Dutch team receives their prize
Posted by Marco Pancini, Senior Policy Counsel, Brussels
Bringing a key moment of Gulf history online
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Our Paris-based
Cultural Institute
holds a global mandate to promoting culture around the globe. This week, it is reaching out to the Arab world, bringing online the United Arab Emirates national archives - our first Arab archives, and only third globally, after those of the
United States
and the
Netherlands
.
The exhibit highlights historic moments leading up to the formation of the Emirates in 1971. In three short decades, the Emirates have transformed themselves into global hubs for transport and commerce. Among the items on display range from the first flag-hoisting after the Emirates's establishment - to duplicates of the first national set of
stamps
.
We are keen to showcase more of the history of the Middle East, home to some of the most ancient cultures and civilizations. The Cultural Institute works with partners to make cultural content accessible online and preserve it for the future, whether it’s galleries like the British Museum to heritage sites like Versailles, or historical moments like
Nelson Mandela’s handwritten prison letters
and the
fall of the Berlin Wall
.
Posted by Sam Blatteis, Government Relations and Public Policy Lead, Gulf Countries
Dutch windmills to power Google’s Eemshaven data centre
Tuesday, November 18, 2014
The Netherlands is famous for its
windmills
, which over the years have been used to saw wood, mill corn, pump water and much more. Now, a new generation of Dutch windmill - wind turbines - will power a very 21st century facility: our
new EUR 600m data centre
, currently under construction in the north of the Netherlands.
Thanks to a new long-term agreement signed this week with Dutch power company Eneco, our Eemshaven datacenter will be 100% powered by renewable energy from its first day of operation, scheduled for the first half of 2016. We’ve agreed to buy the entire output of a new Eneco windfarm -- currently under construction at Delfzijl, near Eemshaven -- for the next ten years.
By entering into long-term agreements like this one with wind farm developers, we’ve been able to increase the amount of renewable energy we consume while helping enable the construction of new renewable energy facilities.
This is the third such power purchase agreement (PPA) we’ve signed in Europe in the last 18 months - the other two were with wind farm developers in Sweden and will power our Hamina, Finland datacenter with renewable energy.
Eneco’s new windfarm is an onshore-offshore development, which will use 19 turbines to generate 62 MW of renewable energy. Eneco expects the construction of the windfarm to provide employment for 80 people over the next 18 months.
This marks our eighth long-term agreement to purchase renewable energy around the globe. We sign these contracts for a few reasons: they make great financial sense for us by guaranteeing a long term source of clean energy for our data center and they also increase the amount of renewable energy available in the grid, which is great for the environment.
Posted by Francois Sterin, Director, Global Infrastructure Team
Throwing off the shackles of communism
Friday, November 14, 2014
A quarter century ago, the people of Central Europe liberated themselves, bringing down the Iron Curtain, choosing capitalism over communism, and democracy over dictatorship. This week, at an event in Prague, we unveiled ten online Google Cultural Institute exhibitions recounting the amazing and thrilling events from Poland in the north to Hungary in the south.
Communism represented an artificial transplant in Central Europe. Throughout history, the region enjoyed strong religious, economic and political ties with the West. The
Museum Masaryk T.G. Lany
brings its readers back to the founding ideas of democracy and freedom on which the Czechoslovak Republic was built through the legacy of the first Czechoslovak president.
All through the 1980s, pressure for change mounted. An independent free trade union called Solidarity swept through Poland at the beginning of the decade. Even though the government declared martial law to crush it, the light of freedom would only be dimmed temporarily. Dissidents appeared. Priests protested. Musicians revolted. The Czech Republic’s
Vaclav Havel Library’s exhibition of black and white photographs
captures not only the period of mass demonstrations in 1989 and the subsequent revolution, but also the visits and performances of cultural icons such as
Frank Zappa
and the US alternative troupe
The Bread and Puppet Theater
. For the citizens of Czechoslovakia, these first tastes of the Western world represented “the first free steps of a society.”
Starting in the spring of 1989, East Germans began fleeing to other Soviet bloc countries. The Hungarian government opened its border with Austria in May and the rush to escape was on. The Vaclav Havel Library exhibit captures the
wave of citizens of the German Democratic Republic
in September who inundated the surroundings of the embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Prague, waiting in anticipation for longed permission to travel to the West.
In June, the Polish government legalized Solidarity and held partially free elections. Solidarity won a landslide and formed the Soviet bloc’s first non-communist led government. The
Polish History Museum
has created an exhibit called "Tearing the Iron Curtain apart.” It includes a photo of the symbolic meeting between Poland's first non-communist Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and the German Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Another exhibition from the Julian Antonisz Foundation shows experimental art from the communist era.
In November, the Berlin Wall crumbled and millions of Czechs crowded the streets.
The Muzeum umění Olomouc
has prepared a selection of images from photographer Petr Zatloukal, showing a behind-the-scenes look at the November events. The
Muzeum policie České republiky
showcases photographs of the uniforms of the riot police on 17th November 1989, as they watched, powerless, while millions of Czechs marched for their freedom. Dissident playwright Vaclav Havel emerged from prison to become president. The photographs from the Nadace Dagmar a Václava Havlových VIZE 97 exhibit maps Havel’s extraordinary journey from 1989 to 2011.
Slovakia also won its freedom and soon broke away from Prague to achieve full independence. Its
the Museum of Crimes and Victims of Communism
illustrates the path to freedom through photographs of unknown heroes who participated in country's Candle Demonstration.
The sweep of the events accelerated and the shackles of communism were gone by the end of 1989, not only throughout Central Europe, but also in the Balkan countries of Romania and Bulgaria. The Balts, within the Soviet Union itself, soon would form a human chain hundreds of miles long and win back their freedom. In Hungary, the
Open Society Archives
, is bringing online one of the world's largest archives from the Cold War, including propaganda films and surveillance documents, samizdat and opposition activist videos, publications and posters.
Take time to browse and learn. We believe putting historical material on the Internet and organizing it in a way that allows visitors to read and understand what it felt like to be in the midst of events not only gives more people access to important material but also preserves these perspectives for future generations. Today, memories of the Cold War may be fading and it is our duty to keep them alive as a reminder of the tremendous achievements of the courageous people of Central Europe.
Poste
Posted by William Echikson, Head of Free Expression, Europe
YouTube music hits the right note
Thursday, November 13, 2014
You watched the Belgian singer Stromae perform
Papaoutai
200+ million times on YouTube, helping propel the song about his father to the top of the charts in France and into a global success. And that’s all just for one song.
This week, we’re making it easier to find new music on YouTube and rock out to old favorites by launching a new paid subscription service called
Music Key
. It
lets you watch and listen to music without ads, in the background or offline and is available already in the United Kingdom, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, with more countries to come soon.
If you’re interested in getting more info on the beta, you can let us know at
youtube.com/musickey
.
Music Key represents a big step forward in our blossoming partnership with the music industry. We've struck new deals with the major producers, thousands of independent record labels, collecting societies and music publishers.
Thanks to your music videos, remixes, covers, and more, you’ve made YouTube the place to go for the music fan.
YouTube benefits both the established musicians as well as newcomers, sending them more
than
$1 billion
.
Of course, YouTube is much more than music. Other types of content creators - from educational to comedy shows - also are finding an audience earning money in our partnership programs. More
-one million channels today earn revenue through the YouTube Partner Program. Thousands of channels make six figures annually. We look forward to continuing to develop new online opportunities for Europe's creators.
Posted by the YouTube Music team, which recently watched
“Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' - YouTube Mix.”
It’s time to extend the US Privacy Act to EU citizens
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Last summer’s Snowden revelations not only highlighted the urgent need for surveillance reform but also severely damaged relations between the US and Europe.
Google and many other technology companies have urged the US to take the lead and
introduce reforms
that ensure government surveillance activity is clearly restricted by law, proportionate to the risks, transparent and subject to independent oversight. Sadly, we’ve seen little serious reform to date.
However, the US Government can signal a new attitude when representatives of the European Commission visit Washington DC tomorrow. Right now, European citizens do not have the right to challenge misuse of their data by the US government in US courts -- even though American citizens already enjoy this right in most European countries. It’s why Google supports legislation to extend the US Privacy Act to EU citizens. The Obama Administration has
already pledged
its support for this change and we look forward to to working with Congress to try and make this happen.
We understand that governments have a duty to protect their citizens. The emergence of ISIS and other new threats have reminded us all of the dangers we face. But the balance in the US and many other countries has tipped too far in favour of the state and away from the rights of the individual — rights that are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
As President Obama recently
instructed
his Intelligence agencies: “
All persons should be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their nationality or wherever they might reside, and that all persons have legitimate privacy interests in the handling of their personal information
.”
Posted by David Drummond Chief Legal Officer, Google
Powering Italy’s exporters with the web
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Before the Internet, almost all exporters were big, powerful companies. Exporting was expensive and time-consuming, requiring large sales, marketing and distribution networks. Today, thanks to the Net, almost any company, anywhere, and of any size, is able to reach a global market with a few clicks of a computer mouse. Italy represents a powerful case study and that’s why we are working with Unioncamere, Symbola Foundation and the Ca ‘Foscari University to expand our pathbreaking
“Made in Italy Digital”
program.
Italy needs to rediscover growth and increasing exports can help. The country’s powerful network of small and medium sized, family-owned companies are homes to craftsmen who produce niche products. Our program gives them tools to bring them online, aiming to help them export and reach global markets. Numerous studies have shown that companies that use the web to promote their business grow twice as fast as those who are not online.
On the program’s
website
, a new section demonstrates how Google Trends, Global Market Finder, Consumer Barometer and Translate, allows companies to launch foreign subsidiaries. The
Giovine family
which has produced wines since 1850, recently started a blog and increased its social network activity - boosting sales by 5%.
Galassia Ceramics
gained 13,000 new visitors to its website, half from France and Spain.
Ghirigoro T-Shirts & Accessories
created a website - and boosted sales by 40 percent in 2014.
Along with the association of the Chambers of Commerce, Unioncamere, we have trained and supported with a scholarship 104 youthful “digitizers” and sent them in 51 chambers of commerce across Italy, where they provide face-to-face advice on how to approach and leverage the Internet. Our online portal offers another guide for companies wishing to meet the challenge of foreign markets. It is self-service. The
eLearning
path shows quick, easy solutions to selling online, launching social media marketing campaigns and much, much more, while the
export toolkit
to help SMBs understand their potential on several global markets and draft their export plan.
Despite these successes, much work remains to be done. According to Unioncamere, only 16 percent of its members have websites and engage in e-commerce. This means that the growth potential for Italy’s small and medium enterprises remains enormous. The task ahead is to embrace the opportunities offered by the Internet and spread global wings.
Posted by Claudio Monteverde, Communications Manager, Milan
#Deutschland25 - a new generation after the Berlin Wall
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Today, we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the brave people who tore down the Iron Curtain. Courtesy of the
German Federal Archives
, we have produced a special Doodle featuring unique photos from Berlin in 1989. Berlin composer Nils Frahm created the music.
We also have launched a platform called
#Deutschland25
. It shares the stories of 25 extraordinary personalities who were born in Germany around 1989.
Julia and Natalie
come from Leipzig, the city which saw peaceful demonstrations spark the movement to bring down East German communism. These young women started Code Girls, helping young women feel comfortable to learn programming.
Philipp
from Berlin helps children with his skateboarding culture, while
Lisa and Christian
from Munich launched Hemdless, creating shirts for people with Down’s syndrome. “The stories tell of a generation who have so many great ideas which have already been put into action," says director Bettina Blümner.
These young Germans embrace change and stand for openness, sustainability and tolerance. We at Google share these values. By making these stories accessible online, we hope to spark a conversation, allowing anybody to participate in creating our interactive portrait of today's Germany.
Posted by Frida Elisson, Consumer Marketing Manager, Google
Teaching children to program robots
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
"Programming is child’s play." That’s the motto of our new German cloud platform
Open Roberta
which simplifies programming for small robots for both teachers and students.
Its a priority to encourage students to program - and indeed in the rest of Europe. Every year, the German Federal Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media estimates that Germany lacks 39,000 trained IT experts. Initiatives like Open Roberta are designed to fill this gap, allowing students and teachers to start programming with ease - and enjoy it by making learning into a fun game.
This Open Roberta cloud-based platform allows school kids to program LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robots and control them using mobile devices. The cloud-based approach makes it simple to open the Open Roberta website and get started right away, eliminating the need for any installation or regular updating of PC software.
Researchers at Google and
Fraunhofer IAIS
have been collaborating since the spring of 2013 on ways to simplify programming of these little robots. The aim was to minimize technical hurdles for both students and the 1,000 certified 'Roberta Teachers'. Our solution with Open Roberta is to put the software in the cloud and open source it. Google.org provided Fraunhofer IAIS the necessary EUR1 million in funding to develop the new program. In parallel with the launch of the platform, LEGO Education introduced 160 all-new kits to be given in ten-packs to schools in the 16 German states.
Open Roberta makes it possible for kids to work on their programming projects both at school and at home, share them with others, and tinker away on them together – anywhere and anytime. At the same time, this approach is of particular advantage to schools, which often do not have enough computers for all their students.
Tutorials soon will be available for teachers on using Open Roberta in ways that meet the diverging interests of girls and boys. We at Google are proud to be supporting this initiative. Additional information is posted at
open-roberta.org
. To get started with programming, just visit the Open Roberta Lab at
lab.open-roberta.org
... and unleash the robots!
Posted by Sabine Frank, policy counsel for Child Welfare and Media Literacy
Explore the haunted corners of Europe....if you dare
Friday, October 31, 2014
Something wicked this way comes… Whether you’re a trio of
witches
back from the dead or just a trick-or-treater, chances are you’re hitting the streets (or riding a broom!) on Halloween night. For those looking for an extra fright, take a tour of spooky places from around the world on Google Maps.
Start in 19th century Paris. While cheery guests listen to the beautiful arias at the Opéra Garnier, a dreary lake lies beneath the streets. Floating above the silent water, a
phantom
lurks. Are your eyes playing tricks on you... or is that a cloaked figure looming in the shadows?
For the holiday, we've also just released some new imagery in Italy, Romania and Slovakia. Start with Italy's premier witchcraft museum, the
Museo della Stregoneria di Triora
.
Continue onto Slovakia and the Čachtický hrad, a castle where Elizabeth Báthory, a countess from the renowned Báthory family, lived. Stories describe her vampire-like tendencies (most famously the tale that she bathed in the blood of young servant girls who she killed - to retain her youth).
Conclude with the spookiest site of them all in Romania - Dracula's own Bran Castle. The Dracula's Castle was built on the edge of the Bran Pass and nowadays lures guests worldwide who wish to partake in the legend of the Count Dracula.
If these spooky spots whet your appetite for fear, get up close with some of the most frightful locations in Google Maps Gallery and find ghouls and goblins in haunted houses around the world. If you’re looking for a laugh instead of a scream, take a hayride through your local corn maze, find the perfect jack-o-lantern at your neighboring pumpkin patch, and scout the best trick-or-treat routes near you.
Now get your cauldrons bubbling and monsters mashing because after all, this is
Halloween
!
Posted by Valentina Frassi, Google Maps Zombie Bride
Speeding up the Slow Food movement
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Slow Food,
founded in 1989 in Italy, has grown into a global, grassroots organization fighting the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions. We agree with its philosophy that everyone should have access to good, clean and fair food and are delighted to help bring its tasty
Ark of Taste
project online in an exciting new set of Google Cultural Institute
exhibitions
.
The exhibits tell the story of the endangered foods around the globe, from Brazil’s Babacu fruit to Ethiopia’s Boke black salt to Japan’s Dojo Hachiyagaki dried persimmon fruit. So far, we look at 31 products. Each exhibit uses photos, videos and testimonials to explain the culture behind the food.
At this week’s launch event, Slow Food founder Carlin Petrini emphasized how technology and tradition go well together. “Farmers need to use the new technologies to make themselves and their products known worldwide," he explained, adding that Google and Slow Food share a common vision that “digital networks need human networks and the human networks need digital networks”.
We hope this is just the beginning of a partnership that will help to protect and preserve the heritage of biodiversity in food. In coming months and years, Slow Food plans to add new products to the site. Take a tasty trip and see how technology is protecting our critical gastronomic heritage.
Posted by Diego Ciulli, Policy Manager, Rome
Supporting New Europe’s digital advances
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
They threw off the shackles of communism. Now they are grabbing the reigns of the technology revolution. Together with Financial Times, International Visegrad Fund and Res Publica, we announced the
New Europe 100
list of innovators from Central and Eastern Europe who are leveraging new technologies to transform the region in business, media, culture, science and politics.
In announcing the project, the Financial Times noted: “central and eastern Europe say the combination of a high level of mathematical education, low overheads and a globalised, westernised young generation makes for a heady and successful mix.” We agree. The New Europe 100 winners show that this former communist region is fast moving away from its old traditional manufacturing industries. They range from “a Hungarian doctor who has created a medical advice website driven by social media, a team of Polish students who have built an award-winning robot that could operate on Mars, and a Slovak inventor of a flying car. “
Check out the whole list at
http://ne100.org/
and read more about the project and its laureates in the newest
Visegrad Insight.
Follow it on Twitter
@NewEurope100
and tag as #NE100 elsewhere.
The FT correctly notes that the the region still must overcome obstacles. Research and development activities is about one per cent of the region’s gross domestic product, according to McKinsey, the consultancy - half the rate in the western EU, and even behind 1.5 per cent in the Bric economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Our hope that the New Europe 100 project will help raise the profile of the region’s innovators. Recognition from being included on the list will, we believe, bring the initiatives attention, investor interest - and perhaps even potential business partnerships.
Posted by Agata Waclawaik-Wejman, Head of Public Policy, Central Europe
Remembering Irish participation in World War I
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Earlier this year in our Dublin headquarters, we hosted the
launch
of an
online tool
to search the names and biographies of up to 50,000 Irish soldiers who died fighting in the British army during World War I. Today, we travelled with Irish Minister for Arts, Heritage and Gaeltecht
Heather Humphries
to the site of the Ypres battlefield in Belgium and took two important new steps to increase the project’s impact.
The
In Flanders Fields Museum
in Ypres has joined our Google Cultural Institute and posted an
online exhibition
about Irish World War I commemoration.
The new Cultural Institute Irish World War I exhibit
We also are joining with the Irish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in creating a new fellowship program to send students from Dublin on internships to Ypres. During its research, the museum discovered that the records were neither fully correct nor complete. So far, the museum has checked 11,060 out of the 49,000 names. Irish students will now come to Belgium to verify and update information on the rest of the list.
Today's presentation in Ypres
Minister Humphreys, right, discovers the new Cultural Insititute exhibtion
This is a big day in Flanders. Belgium is commemorating the centenary of the Battle of Ypres. The Allies stopped the German advance in the battle, and the two sides settled into four years of deadly, protracted trench warfare, with Ypres the site of some of the war’s bitterest and most brutal struggles. A total of 83 countries are participating in the commemorations, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
For some, the Irish role in these hostilities has been controversial because the soldiers fought in the British army, but returned to a changed Ireland following the 1916 uprising. At the project’s Dublin launch, then Irish Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore T.D., hosted Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness. All three spoke movingly about how the project should help heal wounds.
Our idea is to engage the public and increase knowledge about these casualties. If you find an ancestor or locate a long-lost relative in the list send, documents, pictures, letters or any other relevant information, email namenlijst@ieper.be. The information will be verified and added to the website.
Other organizations provided invaluable assistance to make this project come to life. The Irish genealogical history and heritage company
Eneclann
contributed important images and research. And the Irish Embassy in Belgium led by Ambassador Éamonn Mac Aodha played a crucial role in promoting and facilitating. Google is proud to play a part in this exciting project helping to make sure that the memory of the names of those who died in World War 1 remain alive.
Posted by William Echikson, Head of Community Relations, Europe
Supporting a new home for Poland’s rich Jewish history
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
For 1000 years, Poland was home to the world’s largest Jewish population and the centre of Jewish religious, cultural and political thought. The
POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews
, whose core exhibition opens in Warsaw on October 28, highlights this rich history.
We took our StreetView technology inside the museum, which is housed in an award-winning new building directly opposite the memorial to the 1943 Warsaw ghetto uprising. We are happy to invite you to the first Museum View launch in Poland, available all around the world on the Google Cultural Institute. Enjoy a walk through the corridors.
View Larger Map
The online exhibit "
How to make a museum
" published by POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews invites you to discover the story of the creation of the museum, from the original idea in 1993 to the inauguration in 2014. You will go behind the scenes of this monumental project and learn about the process of gathering support in Poland and abroad, raising funds, organizing an international architectural competition, preparing the Core Exhibition, and developing the educational and cultural program.
The evening opening event will be live-streamed on YouTube from 7 to 9 p.m. on October 28. Watch it on the
museum’s channel
. The event, open to the public, will feature concerts by clarinetist David Krakauer and trumpeter Tomasz Stańko as well as a play directed by Andrzej Strzelecki based on Julian Tuwim’s poem „My Żydzi polscy” (“Us Polish Jews”).
The new museum represents an important step in reviving the memory of Poland’s rich, millenium long Jewish history. Developed by an international team of historians, museum experts and Jewish Studies scholars, it shows how Jews both prospered and suffered. As the Economist recently wrote, the exhibit “restores some balance” to the often one-sided debate that often focuses on the community’s destruction in World War II. We’re glad that Google tools can help get across this important message.
Posted by Piotr Zalewski, Communications and Public Affairs Manager, Warsaw
Advisory Council on Right to be Forgotten in Brussels
Monday, October 27, 2014
Since September,
the Advisory Council to Google on the Right to be Forgotten
has held public meetings in Madrid, Rome, Paris, Warsaw, London and Berlin. Council members have heard views on how to implement the European Court’s ruling from more than 45 national experts, as well as from members of the public. On Tuesday 4 November, the Council makes its final stop in Brussels.
A limited number of seats are available for members of the public at the Brussels meeting, and
online registration
is now open (
members of the press, please register here
).
As at each previous meeting, the Council will listen to statements from invited experts, ask questions of the experts and discuss matters of law, technology, and ethics. The public portion of the meeting will last around four hours, with a short intermission. The whole meeting will also be live-streamed on the
Advisory Council’s website
.
During the event, members of the audience can submit questions to the Council and invited experts. The Council also invites members of the public to share their thoughts on the Right to be Forgotten via the form at
google.com/advisorycouncil
- all contributions will be read. Individuals or organizations with subject matter expertise can submit attachments such as research papers at
google.com/advisorycouncil/comments
on an ongoing basis.
After the Brussels meeting, Council members will meet privately to deliberate before putting together their report, which will be published in early 2015.
We look forward to seeing you in Brussels.
Posted by Betsy Masiello, Google Secretariat to the Advisory Council
Street View arrives in Luxembourg
Friday, October 24, 2014
Luxembourg is the heart of Europe and boasts an above average number of beautiful sites, from the medieval
Grund neighborhood
in the capital to the ridges of the
Moselle River
and the sparkling modern
Kirchberg center
for European Union buildings. And now, thanks to Street View in Google Maps anyone, anywhere can visit these sites from their desktop computer or mobile device.
Viewers can access images taken at street level in two ways, either by dragging the "Pegman" character, located at the bottom right of the map, onto a place highlighted in blue, or by clicking a spot on the map and selecting Street View in the top left of the display window that pops up.
Street View offers myriad benefits. Check what looks like a restaurant before going there; find a place to park the car before you leave the house to go shopping; arrange a meeting point in an unfamiliar location; or help your kids bring their geography studies to life! If you are interested in buying a home, you can explore the area with a few clicks of a mouse; people in wheelchairs can figure out whether places have sufficient access before making a trip.
Street View is all about making Google Maps more useful, comprehensive and interesting for people, and we’re delighted people can now discover all that Luxembourg has to offer.
Posted by Ulf Spitzer, Street View program manager at Google
Teaming up with Oxford University on Artificial Intelligence
Thursday, October 23, 2014
It is a really exciting time for Artificial Intelligence research these days, and progress is being made on many fronts including image recognition and natural language understanding. Today we are delighted to announce a partnership with Oxford University to accelerate Google’s research efforts in these areas.
The Oxford skyline. Credit
Oxford University Images
Google DeepMind
will be working with two of Oxford’s cutting edge Artificial Intelligence research teams. Prof Nando de Freitas, Prof Phil Blunsom, Dr Edward Grefenstette and Dr Karl Moritz Hermann, who teamed up earlier this year to co-found
Dark Blue Labs
, are four world leading experts in the use of deep learning for natural language understanding. They will be spearheading efforts to enable machines to better understand what users are saying to them.
Also joining the DeepMind team will be Dr Karen Simonyan, Max Jaderberg and Prof Andrew Zisserman, one of the world’s foremost experts on computer vision systems, a Fellow of the Royal Society, and the only person to have been awarded the prestigious
Marr Prize
three times. As co-founders of
Vision Factory
, their aim was to improve visual recognition systems using deep learning. Dr Simonyan and Prof Zisserman developed one of the winning systems at the recent 2014 ImageNet competition, which is regarded as the most competitive and prestigious image recognition contest in the world.
Google DeepMind has hired all seven founders of these startups with the three professors holding joint appointments at Oxford University where they will continue to spend part of their time. These exciting partnerships underline how committed Google DeepMind is to supporting the development of UK academia and the growth of strong scientific research labs.
As a part of the collaboration, Google DeepMind will be making a substantial contribution to establish a research partnership with the Computer Science Department and the Engineering Department at Oxford University, which will include a program of student internships and a series of joint lectures and workshops to share knowledge and expertise.
We are thrilled to welcome these extremely talented machine learning researchers to the Google DeepMind team and are excited about the potential impact of the advances their research will bring.
Posted by Demis Hassabis, co-founder of DeepMind and Vice President of Engineering at Google
Launching youtube.com/government 101
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
When the
French Foreign Ministry
wanted to engage with citizens, it chose to launch a special YouTube channel. From live streams of
award ceremonies
, to
press conferences
on important issues and
Hangouts
with constituents, YouTube has become an important platform where citizens engage with their governments around the world and elected officials. The Foreign Ministry uploads on average more than one video each day.
In order to help government officials get a better idea of what YouTube can do, we are launching
youtube.com/government101
, a one-stop shop where government officials can learn how to get the most out of YouTube as a communication tool.
The site offers a broad range of YouTube advice, from the basics of creating a channel to in-depth guidance on features like live streaming, annotations, playlists and more. We’ve also featured case studies from government offices around the world that are using YouTube in innovative ways.
If you're a government official, whether you are looking for an answer to a quick question or need a full training on YouTube best practices, we hope this resource will help you engage in a rich dialogue with your constituents and increase transparency within your community.
Posted by Brandon Feldman, YouTube News & Politics
Promoting social mobility through the Internet
Monday, October 20, 2014
Policymakers often worry that the Internet creates a small number of winners and too many losers in the economy. At the same time, we have heard stories about the rise of self-employment and the creation of fast-growing companies in garages (like Google). In order to investigate the Internet’s impact on social mobility and equality, we asked British economist and former Chief Secretary to the Treasury,
Kitty Ussher
, to investigate.
Her
new research
, published this month, analyzed government data and Google Apps customers, and reached a surprising conclusion. Rather than worsening inequality, the Internet is improving the lot of economically vulnerable people across the United Kingdom. One example: the report shows that parents of young children are more likely to engage in online selling from home than singles. In other words, the Internet allow potentially vulnerable families convenient alternatives to traditional employment.
Interestingly, Internet success no longer requires PhDs. Nearly half of Google Apps customers surveyed whose highest qualification is a GSCE high school diploma, secured incomes of over £45,000. Another 20 percent earned between £30,000 and £45,000. These people achieved above average incomes through online selling, impossible before the Internet.
Success on the Internet can be achieved anywhere, with businesses from more remote parts of the UK taking advantage. As Ms Ussher concludes, “It is not just the uber-professional elite that is exploiting the commercial opportunities that the Internet has to offer.”
The Internet is a leveler. It offers new options to make a living regardless of one’s background or education. This new opportunity is paying dividends for families across the UK.
Posted by Jon Steinberg, Europe Policy Manager, London
Denmark’s "Borgen" goes live on Street View
Friday, October 17, 2014
After
scaling Swiss mountains and roaring along the new Sochi Formula One race track
in recent weeks, StreetView has broken new ground in Europe by launching collection of one of the world’s most interesting political monuments - going inside the
Danish parliament Borgen
. Our cameras combed the Copenhagen icon’s halls and brought its extensive art collection to the world on our
Art Project
.
Since the 15th century, the address in the center of Copenhagen has been home to various castles and palaces which ruled the Danish Kingdom, regardless of whether the power was executed by hereditary kings or elected politicians.
Its most famous occupant, arguably, is the cool modern Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg. She is not a real politician, but the fictional Prime Minister played by actress
Sidse Babett Knudsen
in the popular Danish political TV series
"Borgen."
All of us now get the possibility to enjoy the same view as the politicians speaking at the podium. Look closely and you might even find the secret stock of the licorice hidden behind the parliament chairman’s desk.
This project required 18 months of hard work. Credit first goes to Liberal
MP Michael Aastrup Jensen
, who suggested to the Parliament that the Parliament itself should open up to the world. Negotiations followed with the local copyright association to secure rights to film the Parliament art collections. Some 89 pieces are showcased in the Art Project exhibition. Talks also were needed with the security services to win their approval.
In the end, everyone saw the benefits of putting Borgen online. Please enjoy and explore.
Posted by Martin Ruby and Christine Sorensen,Communications and Government Affairs, Copenhagen
Google Summer of Code 2015 and Google Code-in 2014 are on!
Thursday, October 16, 2014
A call to all students in Europe: if you have ever thought it would be cool to write code, then please keep reading. We're excited to announce the next editions of two programs designed to introduce students to open source software development,
Google Summer of Code
for university students and
Google Code-in
for 13-17 year old high schoolers.
Google Code-in
Google Code-in is an international, online contest designed to introduce pre-university students to the world of open source development. When you read the term open source, do you think:
What is open source?
What types of work do open source projects do?
I’ve only taken one computer science class, can I contribute to an open source project?
I’m not really into coding, how else can I contribute to open source?
I’ve never participated in open source or an online contest before, can someone help guide me?
Open source sounds fun, how can I get started?
If you’re a high schooler and you've wondered about any of these questions, then we hope you will join in the fun and excitement. Over the past four years, we have had 1,575 students from 78 countries in the contest. This year we hope to surpass 2,000 students.
Visit the
Frequently Asked Questions
page on the
Google Code-in site
for details on how to sign up and participate. We will announce the open source organizations that will be participating in the contest on November 12. The Code-in contest starts on December 1.
Google Summer of Code
Google Summer of Code offers student developers summer stipends to write code for various open source projects. Over the past 10 years, over 8,300 mentors and 8,500 student developers in 101 countries have produced a stunning 55 million lines of code.
If you know of a university student that would be interested in working on open source projects this summer, or if you know of an organization that might want to mentor students to work on their open source projects, please direct them to our Google Summer of Code 2015
website
. Stay tuned for more details!
Posted by Stephanie Taylor and Carol Smith, Open Source Programs
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