Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
Supporting Internet freedom in Madrid
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Reporters Without Borders latest
report
on press freedom makes for frightening reading. More than ever, the group says governments around globe are silencing journalists, censoring their articles, or worse, jailing or even assassinating them.
Google has worked with Reporters Without Borders for several years now, supporting their activities in favour of keeping the Internet free and open. So it was natural that we would appear in Madrid at the Spanish
presentation
of their new report.
Photo credits: Quim Lienas
While most attention these days in Spain focuses on the country’s economic crisis, the Reporters Without Borders event demonstrated a strong attachment to freedom. Some 100 reporters attended and coverage emphasized how 2012 saw a major crackdown on the press around the globe. Panelists included Epiphanie Ndekerumukobwahe, the widow of an assassinated Rwandan journalist, and Nedim Senar, a Turkish journalist who was jailed for his exposés on the army’s plot to overthrow the government.
We were the only private company in attendance and spoke about how the open and free Internet has come under attack. Google’s products - from search and Blogger to YouTube and Docs - have been blocked in more than 30 of the 150 countries where we offer our services. At least 17 countries have cut off YouTube at one time or another and it remains off limits today in China, Iran, and more recently, Pakistan. And, of course, there is our experience in 2010 in China where a steady and measurable increase in censorship in every medium, including the Internet, ultimately led to our decision to stop providing a local search engine.
Our work with Reporters Without Borders continues in the coming weeks with the hosting of the “Netizen of the Year” award ceremony in Paris. We look forward to updating you on this exciting activity shortly.
Posted by William Echikson, Head of Free Expression, Europe, Middle East and Africa
Preserving and sharing rich Slovak folklore
Monday, February 11, 2013
The dancers wore colorful linen dresses, a design dating back to the times of the Austro Hungarian Empire. They hopped and skipped to violin-infused beats drawn from the Tatra Mountains. Slovakia boasts a rich history, folklore and traditions and we are delighted to bring it online in a year-long program titled
Google to a Slovak Note
.
At the project’s recent launch event in Bratislava, the Google Slovak team dressed up in traditional costumes and danced to traditional tunes.
Our project aims to support Slovak tourism and encourage the country’s young generation to remember their roots and heritage. The initiative has been welcomed by Slovakia’s Ministry of Culture, as adding to the important work already undertaken by our partners, the Slovak Folk Art Ensembles Lúčnica, the Slovak Cultural Center and SĽUK.
Google products are being mobilized in the effort to bring Slovak culture online. Our
Street View
brings online both Slovakia’s man-made and physical beauty. Google maps now include panoramic images of beautiful Slovak towns, as well as soaring peaks of the Tatra and Pieniny National Park and the National Park Slovak Karst. Spa lovers can go on a virtual walk visiting many of Slovak’s famous spas, including Piešťany spa, Bardejovské spa, Rajecké and Trenčianske Teplice. Additional sights of historic interest will be added over the coming year.
The Google homepage doodle is dedicating space to the cause. On launch day, the Google doodle featured
Juraj Janosik
– Slovakia’s version of Robin Hood. Previously there have also been doodles celebrating leading Slovak writers, such as
Ľudovít Štúr
,
Martin Kukučín
and
Anton Bernolák
.
Google is also helping to digitise classic Slovak literary works, such as the first Slovak grammar book, “Grammatica Slavica”, which helped transform a spoken dialect into a literary language. Written by Anton Bernolák in 1790, this is just one of 50,000 original Slavic works from the period of the Austro-Hungarian Empire housed in the Austrian National Library in Vienna.
For more information on specific projects, consult the website
naslovenskunotu.sk
program.
Posted by Janka Zichova, Communications Manager, Czech Republic and Slovakia
The sky is rising for Europe’s content industries
Friday, February 8, 2013
The Internet is sometimes accused of damaging the traditional entertainment industry. But a new study shows that the opposite is true: the Internet is driving creativity and revenue opportunities in a way never before seen. The report, sponsored by
CCIA,
a trade association that counts Google as a member, and produced by market research firm
Floor64
. It concludes that both production and revenues are increasing in six key European markets for the book, video game, film, and music industries.
A
previous version
published in 2012 concluded that rising consumer spending likely boosted the entertainment industry in the United States by 50 percent in the decade since 2000.
The
present report
looks at France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. It shows how the Internet offers creators and artists opportunities to thrive. Technology and online platforms are helping creators make more money every year, both online and offline. The eBook market, for example, saw double-digit growth in all jurisdictions studied between 2010 to 2011.
The Internet brings big benefits to content makers. It lowers their cost of production and distribution, while opening up a new online market. In Germany, for example,
Sami Slimani
started a lifestyle and fashion channel on YouTube and now has hundreds of thousands of subscribers and over 70 millions views. In the UK, The
Slow Mo Guys
began experimenting with high-speed cameras in 2004 and now have well over a million subscribers to their YouTube channel.
Online platforms are expanding fast. On YouTube, video uploads have been increasing exponentially. By the end of 2012, more than 72 hours of video was being uploaded to YouTube every minute, a 30% jump from the beginning of the year. YouTube is also paying out more money to our partners. Thousands of channels are now earning over six-figures a year. The music industry alone is currently making hundreds of millions of dollars annually from having their content on YouTube.
We are in a time of transition from one model of production and distribution of media and culture. While certainly that transition won’t be easy for everyone, the future remains bright for European artists, creators, and the industries that support them.
Posted by Alex Kozak,, Public Policy and Government Relations Analyst
Promoting Arab Culture Online
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
The
Qatar Foundation
recently welcomed more than 400 guests to its shining new auditorium in Doha to celebrate their joint love of all things Arabic. They came to hear about the growing number of locally produced Arabic videos on YouTube - particularly the film Super.Full by Lebanese film-maker and
YouTube “Your Film Festival”
finalist Naim Itani
The Doha event was just one highlight of
Google’s Arabic Web Days
, promoting Arabic content online. Today, just three percent of content on the web is in Arabic, even though more than five percent of the world’s web users speak it as their mother tongue. Arabic Web Days showed a deep hunger for more local content. More than half million users showed interest for the campaign, viewing the Arabic Web Days
website
and YouTube
channel
.
Arabic Web Day events took place in countries across the Middle East, involving a wide range of companies and organisations. In Abu Dhabi, we
partnered
with TED and announced a global initiative to enable volunteers to add Arabic subtitles to TED videos. In Jordan, more than 400 developers received training on with Google Translate and a Wikipedia training session encouraged 510 attendees to create articles in Arabic. In Dubai, we ran a training session on online Arabic language tools for journalists at the Dubai Press Club.
Politicians joined in too. In Egypt, the Ministry of Education announced an initiative to create online portals for Arabic educational content. Tunisia's Prime Minister participated in an
online discussion
with bloggers to talk about Arabic content online. The
Telecommunications Regulation Authority
in the United Arab Emirates celebrated an official
“Arabic Web Day”
with workshops on how to help grow the Arabic web.
For a full look, search for
“Arabic Web Days”
on Google+ (in Arabic, of course!).
Posted by Maha Abouelenein, Head of Communications, Middle East and North Africa
Safer Internet Day: how we help you stay secure online
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Technology can sometimes be complicated, but you shouldn’t have to be a computer scientist or security expert to stay safe online. Protecting our users is one of our top priorities at Google. Whether it’s creating easy-to-use tools to help you manage your information online or fighting the bad guys behind the scenes, we’re constantly investing to make Google the best service you can rely on, with security and privacy features that are on 24-7 and working for you.
Last year, we launched Good to Know, our biggest-ever consumer education campaign focused on making the web a safer, more comfortable place. Today, on Safer Internet Day, we’re
updating Good to Know
to include more tips and advice to help you protect yourself and your family from identity theft, scams and online fraud. You can also learn how to make your computer or mobile device more secure, and get more out of the web—from searching more effectively to making calls from your computer. And you can find out more about how Google works to make you, your device and the whole web safer.
For example, we encrypt the Gmail and Google Search traffic between your computer and Google - this protects your Google activity from being snooped on by others. We also make this protection, known as session-wide SSL encryption, the default when you’re signed into Google Drive. Because outdated software makes your computer more vulnerable to security problems, we built the Chrome browser to auto-update to the latest version every time you start it. It gives you up-to-date security protection without making you do any extra work.
We know staying safe online is important to you - and it is important to us too. So on Safer Internet Day, we’re participating in events in countries across Europe including: one hundred simultaneous online safety workshops with the
Italian Postal Police
; a Hangout between parliamentarian
Trine Bramsen
and 80 school kids from a primary school in Højby, Denmark; and a debate about inappropriate content online in Germany, with politicians from the Brandenburg state government and civil society groups. There, we'll be talking about our
YouTube 361 campaign
to encourage tolerance and respect online:
And in Brussels, we’ll be launching of a new educational handbook for 13-16 year-olds that we have helped develop in collaboration with
InSafe
,
INHOPE
,
the European Commission
,
Liberty Global
and
European Schoolnet
(the network of thirty Ministries of Education). The booklet, which will be available in multiple languages, has been extensively tested with young people across Europe, and will guide classroom discussions on digital footprints, reputation, rights and responsibilities online.
We've also been a part of Commissioner Neelie Kroes'
Better Internet for Kids
initiative, and now support - amongst other commitments - new ways to report harmful content online, including
Second Friend
and
Net Ecoute
.
Please find some time today to talk with friends and family about Internet safety. Take affirmative action by making your passwords stronger and turning on 2-step verification to protect your Google Account. And please also visit our new
Good to Know
site to find more tips and resources to help you stay safe online.
Posted by Alma Whitten, Director of Privacy, Product and Engineering
Big Tent Brussels: Europe's economy and the Internet
Monday, February 4, 2013
Does the Internet encourage innovation in other sectors? How much does it really contribute to Europe's economy? Does it create new jobs, or just displace existing ones?
These are just some of the questions we will be debating on February 20th at our
Brussels Big Tent
event, held in association with the
Irish Presidency
.
Richard Bruton
, Irish Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation will open the Brussels event.
Taylor Reynolds
of the OECD will debate the opportunities for economic growth online with
Anthony D, Williams
, co-author of Wikinomics and
Jeff Lynn
, Chairman of Coadec.
Highlights of the 2012 London Big Tent
Professor John Van Reenen
from the London School of Economics and
Kathryn Parsons
, co-founder of Decoded will discuss whether the internet can help solve unemployment in Europe and how productivity gains from technology adoption can drive growth across all sectors of the economy. Innovation Commissioner
Maire Geoghegan-Quinn
will close the event.
The
Big Tent event series
brings together speakers with diverse points of view to debate some of today’s hot topics around the internet, the economy and society.
We hope you can join us in Brussels on 20th February - please
check out the programme
and
register to attend
by 18th February.
Posted by Angela Steen, Google Public Policy, Brussels
Featuring 6 Nations rugby on YouTube
Monday, February 4, 2013
For many European sports lovers, mid-winter means rugby and specifically the
RBS 6 Nations
rugby tournament. This weekend saw the opening matches and we’re delighted to let you know you can now catch up on all the action on YouTube. The RBS 6 Nations and YouTube are partnering for the next three seasons to bring match highlights and exclusive content to viewers worldwide.
Watch
Ireland hold off Wales
in Cardiff despite a second half comeback,
England overcome the spirited Scots
in London, and
Italy surprise the French
in Rome.
The official YouTube channel,
‘RBS6Nations’
, will have highlights from every championship match available to watch within minutes of the end of each match. As an added bonus for viewers in the UK, Ireland and Italy, highlights will be uploaded during the games.
Watch Irish winger, Simon Zebo’s delicious flick against Wales
The channel will offer viewers the chance to watch a wealth of archive moments from past tournaments, which will be uploaded on a regular basis. We hope you enjoy our rugby content on YouTube and stay tuned as YouTube adds more high quality sports content.
Posted by Stephen Nuttall, Senior Director, Sports for YouTube Europe, Middle East and Africa
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