Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
European consumers embrace online content
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
The Internet has been disruptive for the media industries - film, television, gaming, music, books and news. But it’s now becoming clear that whilst initially painful, this disruption is proving positive, as three recent studies released by
Booz & Co
,
Floor 64 Research
, and
Boston Consulting Group
show. The digital era is starting to benefit both Europe’s content producers and consumers.
Boston Consulting Group’s “
Follow the Surplus
” report (disclosure: commissioned by Google), published this week reveals growing confidence in online content. Three quarters of consumers surveyed in nine European countries judged that online content had improved in quality, and nearly two thirds expect continued improvement.
The report also noted that two-thirds of respondents value the diversity of information and opinions available to them online, and substantial majorities (as high as 75% in some countries) are more excited about the benefits of the Internet than they are worried about any perceived risks.
This optimism is generating a large ‘consumer surplus’ - the theoretical value consumers attribute to a product or service above and beyond what they paid for it - valued at an average of EUR 1,100 per person per year for online media.
It’s clear too that European consumers are increasingly willing to pay for content.
Booz’s
report (disclosure: also commissioned by Google) calculates digital revenues at €30 billion higher in 2011 than in 2001.
Floor 64’s
research shows that in 2007, there were just 11 legal digital music services in Germany, in 2011 there were 68. The British Recorded Music Industry’s recent
annual report
says UK digital music revenues last year overtook sales or records and CDs for the first time. And according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s
Digital Music Report
2013, digital revenues now account for 34% of total global revenues for the recording industry.
These reports all paint a picture of a large digital opportunity for the creative sectors - and of an industry in the process of reorienting itself to the online world. We’re keen to partner with the creative sectors and answer growing consumer demand for quality online media.
Posted by Simon Morrison, Public Policy Manager, Google
Sparking an Internet revolution in Finland’s traditional heartland
Monday, April 29, 2013
Several of Google’s data centres are located in traditional industrial centres, regions that typically have a good combination of industrial infrastructure, developable land and available workforce. In Belgium, our facility in
St. Ghislain
sprouted amid closed or shuttered coal mines. In Finland, we purchased the Summa Paper Mill in
Hamina
in March 2009, from Finnish paper company Stora Enso.
We’re keen to help these regions make the transition from old to new industries, and that’s why today in Finland we’re announcing a new partnership with
Aalto University
and the regional development agency
Cursor
.
The new partnership deepens an already strong Google presence in Eastern Finland. We’ve already converted the 60 year old paper mill into a
data centre
, investing an initial EUR200 million. More than 2,000 individuals working for 50 companies (mostly Finnish and from the local area) contributed to the project. In August 2012, we announced an additional EUR150 million investment to expand the facility which includes the restoration and conversion of an
Alvar Aalto
-designed machine hall. At peak, we expect the conversion to provide work for approximately 500 engineers and construction workers.
With Google's financial support, Aalto University now will help bolster promising local acceleration programs in southeastern Finland, as well as supporting programs to improve the use of the Internet by local SMEs. The university is one of Finland’s most prestigious educational institutions, and has focused strongly on the creation and expansion of business through technological innovation. It has founded several iconic new concepts like the
Aalto Design Factory
, the
Startup Sauna
and the
Aalto Ventures
.
The Economist
recently praised Aalto for its role in spreading "the word that Finland’s future lay with new companies, not old giants.”
Over the next 12 months, southeastern Finland's regional development agency Cursor will work together with Aalto University to bring entrepreneurship programs such as Startup Sauna to southeastern Finland, encouraging entrepreneurship and supporting the creation of new companies. Cursor will also strengthen the
Venture Gym
acceleration program around the growing
Playa Game Industry Hub
, as well as the region's
Kaakko 135 travel
and tourism initiative. Aalto will provide high level speakers at events, mentors and coaches for acceleration programmes, and moderate networking events to strengthen industry ties.
This represents our second large data centre community relations program launched in Europe. In February, we announced a partnership with the
Mundaneum
archives near our Belgian data center. We have been holding a series of presentations and exhibitions about Google Data Centres and hosted a jobs day, explaining what skills are needed to work at a data center. We will use these learnings to offer similar events in Finland. In both Belgium and Finland, our goal is the same: to show the way from our industrial past to our digital future.
Posted by William Echikson, External Relations
Celebrating the new Dutch King
Monday, April 29, 2013
On April 30,
Crown-Prince Willem-Alexander
will become the new Dutch King - and as part of the celebrations, we’re joining forces with the the national committee organising the coronation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to allow the estimated 750,000 Dutch who are out of the country enjoy the festivities.
Want to send your best wishes to the new King? Go to
wenswereldwijd.nl
and send a photo or short message. Dutch celebrities including
DJ Armin van Buuren
,
cyclist Thomas Dekker
,
sprinter Churandy Martina
and
conductor Jaap van Zweden
have already have participated.
We expect strong interest around the globe with countries in royal families. Non Dutch speakers can post a wish through the English version of the website, available at
wishesworldwide.com
. Dutch public broadcaster NOS has made it possible for us to show a live stream of the festivities through the
Royal YouTube Channel
.
In collaboration with Dutch embassies, we’re also organising a series of
Google+ Hangouts
. which can be viewed online via YouTube and other websites, including
MijnDroomVoorOnsLand.nl
. The Hangouts will also be on display on 13 large television screens in city centers installed by KPN across the Netherlands.
And if you want to enjoy the festivities together with friends and family around the world, you can of course invite them to watch the coronation via
Hangout
.
Posted by Tim van de Rijdt, Google Netherlands
Transparency Report: government removal requests rise
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Three years ago when we
launched
the
Transparency Report
, we said we hoped it would shine some light on the scale and scope of government requests for censorship and data around the globe. Today, for the seventh time, we’re releasing new numbers showing
requests from governments to remove content
from our services. From July to December 2012, we received 2,285 government requests to remove 24,179 pieces of content—an increase from the 1,811 requests to remove 18,070 pieces of content that we received during the first half of 2012.
As we’ve gathered and released more data over time, it’s become increasingly clear that the scope of government attempts to censor content on Google services has grown. In more places than ever, we’ve been asked by governments to remove political content that people post on our services. In this particular time period, we received court orders in several countries to remove blog posts criticizing government officials or their associates.
You can read more about these requests by looking at the
annotations
section of the Transparency Report. Of particular note were three occurrences that took place in the second half of 2012:
There was a sharp increase in requests from
Brazil
, where we received 697 requests to remove content from our platforms (of which 640 were court orders—meaning we received an average of 3.5 court orders per day during this time period), up from 191 during the first half of the year. The big reason for the spike was the
municipal elections
, which took place last fall. Nearly half of the total requests—316 to be exact—called for the removal of 756 pieces of content related to alleged violations of the
Brazilian Electoral Code
, which forbids defamation and commentary that offends candidates. We’re appealing many of these cases, on the basis that the content is protected by freedom of expression under the Brazilian Constitution.
Another place where we saw an increase was from
Russia
, where a
new law took effect
last fall. In the first half of 2012, we received six requests, the most we had ever received in any given six-month period from Russia. But in the second half of the year, we received 114 requests to remove content—107 of them citing this new law.
During this period, we received inquiries from 20 countries regarding YouTube videos containing clips of the movie “Innocence of Muslims.” While the videos were within our
Community Guidelines
, we restricted videos from view in several countries in accordance with local law after receiving formal legal complaints. We also temporarily restricted videos from view in Egypt and Libya due to the particularly difficult circumstances there.
We’ve also made a couple of improvements to the Transparency Report since our last update:
We’re now breaking down government requests about YouTube videos to clarify whether we removed videos in response to government requests for violating Community Guidelines, or whether we restricted videos from view due to local laws. You can see the details by scrolling to the bottom of each country-specific page.
We’ve also refreshed the look of the
Traffic
section, making it easier to see where and when disruptions have occurred to Google services. You can see a map where our services are currently disrupted; you can see a map of all known disruptions since 2009; and you can more easily navigate between time periods and regions.
The information we share on the Transparency Report is just a sliver of what happens on the Internet. But as we disclose more data and continue to expand it over time, we hope it helps draw attention to the laws around the world that govern the free flow of information online.
Posted by Susan Infantino, Legal Director
Safe ducks! Donald and Daisy speak up for cybersafety
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Please be careful when you are trying to impress Daisy Duck. Not everybody is who they seem to be. If you give away your password, then you can end up with someone stealing your rich uncle's fortune!
Does this sound strange? Well, it makes perfect sense if you read a recent
special edition
of the Donald Duck magazine in Norway focused on online safety. We recently teamed up with industry associations and public and private partners to produce the magazine. More than 300,000 copies were distributed to Norwegian kindergartens.
Kids growing up in this digital age use the Internet for pretty much everything; entertainment, communication, education and when they get that far; new technologies will play an important role in their work. Never has a generation needed digital guidance as the one growing up now. And we were thinking: who would be a better digital guide for kids than Donald Duck?
In the book, Donald gets himself into trouble. He is guarding his uncle’s fortune with the help of a gigantic robot but trying as always to charm Daisy Duck - this time on the Internet. An unsuspecting Donald is lured into downloading a virus and giving away his password to Magica de Spell on “Duckbook”. No surprise: she takes control of the robot and the fortune.
However, all ends well, Donald even gets a prize for his digital skills and hopefully Donald and the tips and tricks in the magazine helps kids to safely enjoy the benefits of the Internet.
Posted by Martin Ruby, Public Policy, Copenhagen
Celebrating the 50th country on Street View
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Whether you're planning a summer vacation to visit
the Colosseum
or exploring potential neighborhoods for your next move, Street View gives you instant access to the places you want to see -- even before you leave the house. We launched Street View
in 2007 in five U.S. cities
to give you what we called a “feet on the ground” experience and have since been growing the program to make it more comprehensive, accurate and useful for everyone.
Today, we’ve reached 50 countries with the launch of Street View in Hungary and Lesotho and are significantly expanding our coverage in Poland and Romania, among other locations around the world. This is also the
largest single update
of Street View imagery we’ve ever pushed, including new and updated imagery for nearly 350,000 miles of roads across 14 countries.
Now you can take a virtual stroll through the historic center of Budapest, right along the Danube (the river that carves the city in two). See the
Hungarian Parliament building
or the famous
Chain bridge
.
View Larger Map
Budapest, Lánchíd (Chain bridge)
Other Hungarian treasures to be discovered include the
Széchenyi thermal bath
, the largest medicinal bath in Europe, as well as the wonders of
Buda castle
.
Lesotho, an enclave surrounded by South Africa, is the only independent state that sits entirely 1,000m or more above sea level. Explore some of the mountainous imagery captured by our Street View cars, including
the winding roads
and
lakes
.
View Larger Map
Leribe District, Lesotho
Other sights include the
Lesotho Evangelical Church
, which is one of Africa's oldest Protestant churches, founded in 1833 by missionaries from Paris, and the
traditional architecture
in Nkesi, Maseru.
We’re also refreshing and expanding existing Street View coverage in France, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore and Thailand. And, we’ve added new special collections of a host of picturesque spots—using our
Street View Trike
technology -- that include Portugal’s
Pena National Palace
, or the
Sha Tin Che Kung Temple
in Hong Kong or the
Kilkenny Castle in Irelan
d.
View Larger Map
Kilkenny Castle, Ireland
From the first handful of
U.S. cities
, to the now thousands of cities and villages worldwide, we’ve spent the past six years updating Google Maps for you. From
Antarctica
to
Australia
, from
South Korea
to
South Africa
, from the
snow-capped peaks of Everest
to the
Great Barrier Reef
, you can navigate more than 5 million miles of the world, without ever leaving home. So spin the globe and take a walk through any one of the 50 countries now on Street View.
Posted by Ulf Spitzer, Program Manager, Google Street View
Following the lead of nature's engineers
Monday, April 22, 2013
Cross-posted from the
Official Google Blog
It’s no surprise that Google appreciates engineers. And this Earth Day, we’re looking at some of our favorite engineers from nature to see how they can teach us to treat the environment better. We’ve created a
website
where we can see the beauty and ingenuity of the natural world through photos from National Geographic. We also want to provide easy ways to be greener in our own lives, so this site shows us how we can all be like those organisms by taking simple actions to care for the environment.
For instance, until recently I’d never heard of a
remora
. Turns out that these fish latch on to other ocean creatures such as whales and turtles to catch rides. In a way, these fish are using their own form of mass transit. To be like the remora and travel with a lighter footprint, we can plan trips using rapid
transit
. Or we can be inspired by
bears
—the true experts on “sleep mode”—to
save energy
in our own lives by
adjusting
our home thermostat and using energy efficient appliances.
Our doodle today also acknowledges the interconnections of the natural world. You can interact with elements of the environment to affect the seasons, weather and wildlife.
As another way to move from awareness to action, we’re hosting a Google+ Hangout On Air
series
focused on pressing environmental issues. We’ll kick it off today at 12pm ET with a Hangout on Air connecting NASA (live from Greenland), National Geographic explorers from around the world, and Underwater Earth (live from the Great Barrier reef). Throughout the week, we’ll hold daily Hangouts on Air covering topics such as clean water and animal conservation.
This Earth Day and every day, let’s take a moment to marvel at the wonder of nature and do our part to protect the natural ecosystem we all depend on. A salute to
nature’s engineers
!
Posted by Erin Reilly, Google Green team
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