Europe Blog
Our views on the Internet and society
News Impact Summit on tour in Europe
Monday, February 23, 2015
From the carved stone tablet to today’s touchscreen devices, the ways in which people consume journalism have evolved as technology has advanced. So too have the ways in which journalists practice their craft - a mobile device can be used to conduct interviews, record video, write and file copy. There are myriad exciting ways for reporters to get the story, and enrich it for readers with deep research and interactive tools.
To further empower journalists and grow their digital skills, the News Lab at Google has partnered with the non-profit
European Journalism Centre
(EJC) to produce a series of eight
News Impact Summits
across Europe in 2015. The daylong events are free and will feature local practitioners, debates, insights into how stories are produced and hands-on workshops to train on a variety of tools and techniques. Our hope is to equip journalists with new digital skills and to inspire by featuring excellence in journalism from within the community.
The first summit is on February 24 in Brussels and features speakers from the worlds of media and technology including
Datawrapper
,
L’Echo
,
De Tijd
,
International Consortium for Investigative Journalists
(ICIJ),
JournalismFund.eu
,
Euractiv
,
the Dutch-Flemish Association for Investigative Journalism
(VVOJ),
Storycode
,
the Association of European Journalists
,
The Financial Times
,
the PressClub Brussels-Europe
and
Gruppo L’Espresso
.
The Brussels event will have a decidedly EU flavor but others will be centered around the host country. Future summits include March 31 in Hamburg and April 28 in Paris with additional ones to follow in Madrid, London, Amsterdam, Warsaw and Prague.
To register for any of the events, and for program details, please visit
newsimpact.io
.
Our mission at the News Lab at Google is to collaborate with journalists, entrepreneurs and publishers everywhere through product partnerships, digital tools training, and other initiatives that support the industry as a whole. We’re thrilled to work with the EJC, which fosters both quality journalism and a free press, to help create this opportunity.
Posted by Daniel Sieberg, Head of Media Outreach, the News Lab at Google
SMEs in the Digital Single Market: Europe’s Growth Engine
Monday, February 16, 2015
From farmers to florists, clockmakers to cheesemakers, accountants to antique shops, the web is powering the growth of small businesses across Europe. Entrepreneurs today find their customers online and export their products and services around the globe thanks to the web. Businesses that use the web intensively grow up to four times faster than those that don’t, creating new jobs and opportunities across all sectors.
On February 26th, together with
DIGITAL EUROPE
and the
Lisbon Council
, we’re hosting an event in Brussels to celebrate the success of small, web-savvy European businesses, and we hope you’ll join us.
At
SMEs in the Digital Single Market: Creating Growth in Europe
, you can:
Meet 20 small business owners from 10 countries
that are using the web to get ahead. They’ll explain their journey from bright idea to thriving business - and how Europe’s Digital Single Market will help them grow further and faster.
Hear a keynote speech from
Matt Brittin, Google’s President, Business and Operations, EMEA
, who will outline how every day, small businesses across Europe are using Google’s online tools as a growth engine to help them compete on the global stage
Listen to Internet entrepreneurs including
the UK’s
Look Fabulous Forever
, Germany’s
Book A Tiger
and Sweden’s
Happy Socks
, who will share their experiences and hopes for Europe’s Digital Single Market in a panel session
Debate the policies required to advance Europe’s Digital Single Market with
Kristian Hedberg, from Internal Market Commissioner Bienkowska’s cabinet, MEP Eva Paunova and John Higgins, Director-General of Digital Europe
.
Join us afterwards for a
delicious bite of lunch
and networking.
A limited number of places are still available, to register, please get in touch via
growthengine@google.com
Posted by: Sylwia Giepmans, Senior Policy Analyst, Google
Privacy, security, surveillance: getting it right is important
Friday, February 13, 2015
Whilst visiting Bavaria for the
Munich Security Conference
, Rachel Whetstone, Senior Vice President Communications and Public Policy at Google, gave a speech at the
Bavarian Parliament
about Google's views on surveillance, security and privacy. The following is the full text of her speech.
Thank you for inviting me here today. It’s a great honor to be with you this afternoon: in a state with such a long history of invention--numerous Mittelstand champions as well as Siemens, Audi, BMW, Adidas; and in a city that has been such a wonderful partner to Google.
Just down the road, we signed our first major books digitization project with the Bavarian State Library.
Oberstaufen
was our first Street View launch in Germany. Minister-President Seehofer was the first German politician to do a live
interview on YouTube
. Even the model locomotive in your Stone Hall represents a shared love of technology and excitement about the future.
Happily, it’s a future with more investment in Munich. Our new engineering center here will be home to several hundred employees--in addition to the three hundred who already live here. It happens to be located, appropriately enough, next to the Hacker Bridge--though, we don’t plan to hire any additional security. And we're working with local chambers of commerce across Bavaria to help promote German exports online.
Now I must admit to being a little bit nervous. US tech companies are front and center of the European political debate today: not always for the right reasons. And frankly some of the criticism is fair. As an industry we have sometimes been a little too high on our own success.
With that as my starting point, I wanted to talk about three important issues facing us all today:
First, government surveillance and the role technology companies have in the fight against crime and terrorism;
Second, the growing need to keep people’s information safe and secure online; and
And third, privacy in the digital age.
These are complex issues and I want to address them in a meaningful way, so forgive me for digging into the details a bit!
Government surveillance
One of the most basic duties of any government is to protect its citizens. It’s always been true that technology can be used for good, and bad. Since humankind discovered fire, there’s been arson. And today, the technologies we all use to find information or chat with loved ones, are also being co-opted by the criminal minority for their own purposes.
It’s why companies like Google have a responsibility to work with law enforcement. And we do--regularly providing account details, as well as the contents of private communications, like email, to the authorities as they investigate crime and terrorism.
For example, in the first six months of 2010, Google received almost 15,000 government requests for user data. By 2014, that number had risen to just under 35,000.
We look carefully at every request and provide information in the majority of these cases--over 65 percent.
Why, you may ask, didn’t we comply in every case? Well, we have a duty to our users, as well. When people sign-up for an email account, they trust Google to keep that information private. So we need to be certain the law enforcement requests we receive--and remember they come from all around the world--are legitimate, not targeted at political activists or incredibly broad in their scope. And we never let governments just help themselves to our users' data. No government--including the US government--has backdoor access to Google or surveillance equipment on our networks. Let me repeat that. The United States Government does not have backdoor access to Google.
This is why encryption is also important--because it requires governments to go through the proper legal channels. There’s simply no other way for them to get encrypted data, save hacking into our systems or by targeting individual users--issues I’ll touch on later. In fact, Gmail was the first email service to be encrypted by default, and we now encrypt Google Search, Maps, and Drive (our cloud-based storage service).
In the last few months, a number of governments have voiced their concern about the time it takes to process requests for user data when investigating crime, encryption and the storage of data, as well as the use of the Internet by terrorists. These concerns are entirely understandable, especially after last month’s horrific attacks in Paris and the barbaric murders of hostages by ISIS. So let me address each one in turn, starting with the time taken to process requests for user data.
When it’s a threat to life situation, Google is able to provide information to the authorities within hours--this is incredibly important given the increased terrorist threat many governments face today. But in most other situations, law enforcement requests--especially for private communications, such as Gmail--must be made through diplomatic channels, typically Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties, or MLATs for short.
For example, if the US Government wants user information from a company based in Germany--say GMX or Xing--it works through the German government. It’s the same when the German government wants information from a US company, like Google. This creates checks and balances, preventing potential abuse.
That said, the MLAT process is too slow, too complicated and in need of reform. For example, it would save everyone time if we moved beyond paper, fax machines and diplomatic pouches to web forms that are quick and easy to process. Europe is leading the way here. We now need the US to follow suit.
However, even with reform, some intergovernmental oversight will always be necessary. If government X wants information on its own citizens, that’s one thing. But when it’s asking for information about country Y’s citizens, surely that country should have a say in the decision as well. This takes time.
Next: concerns that encryption and the deletion of data make it harder for law enforcement to investigate crime. It is absolutely true that encryption means law enforcement must come to Google with their requests--they cannot go through a third party, for example a telecommunications provider.
And when it comes to data stored on phones and laptops, it’s the users who have the encryption keys--not Google. But people do keep sensitive stuff on these devices so it’s important to keep them secure. It’s the modern-day equivalent of putting sensitive documents in a safe with a combination lock.
Which brings me to the bigger point about encryption: It helps keep everyone safe and secure on the web by preventing the theft of sensitive information such as bank details or credit cards. Given most people use the Internet for the reasons it was intended, we shouldn’t weaken security and privacy protections for the majority to deal with the minority who don’t.
It’s the same with the deletion of data. One example is Snapchat, a popular new messaging app. Snapchat automatically deletes photos and videos once they have been shared. It’s the ultimate right to be forgotten for the millions of young people using the service every day. That’s a good thing.
Finally, terrorism. All of us have been horrified by ISIS and their use of the media to spread propaganda. At YouTube, the world’s most popular video sharing platform, we’re acutely aware of our responsibilities.
Last year alone we removed 14 million videos because they broke YouTube’s policies, including those prohibiting gratuitous violence, incitement to violence and hate speech.
We automatically terminate the accounts of any terror group, and hand over the account information to the authorities.
We allow law enforcement, for example the UK Home Office, to flag videos containing terrorist content, which we review and remove as a priority. We hope to work with law enforcement in other countries on similar efforts.
And we partner with dozens of non-governmental organizations on counter-speech--helping provide an alternative viewpoint to vulnerable young people.
Of course there is always more to be done and we welcome your ideas and feedback.
Over the last three years, first with Edward Snowden and now ISIS, we’ve seen the political debate about government access to information swing from one end of the spectrum to the other. Indeed, the race to encrypt was driven in large part by Snowden’s revelations, which uncovered some pretty outrageous behavior on the part of the US Government. The emergence of ISIS is now leading some governments to question encryption entirely, as well as to call for increased data retention. The solution, we believe, lies in a principled yet practical approach: one that restricts indiscriminate surveillance and supports valid law enforcement efforts while also protecting people’s privacy and security.
Privacy and security of personal information
Which brings me to my next subject: keeping people’s information safe and secure. In many ways, privacy and security are two sides of the same coin--if your data is not secure it’s not private, as last year’s celebrity hacks showed. While the target that time was Hollywood, it could just as easily have been you or me. So it’s not surprising that a recent
Gallup poll
showed people are more concerned with theft online than having their house broken into.
In the last four years, we’ve been able to cut in half the number of Google accounts that are hijacked. For example, we block suspicious attempts to log into accounts--perhaps because they come from an unusual device or location. If you’ve ever traveled abroad and got an email questioning a recent login, that’s Google working to keep you safe. And we also offer two-factor authentication so people are no longer rely only on their passwords for protection. Instead people confirm their identity not just with a password but also a code generated by their phone or by a USB device.
If you’re at this conference and you’re not using two-factor authentication, you really should be--please talk to Dr Wieland Holfeder, the head of our Munich R&D Center, afterwards!
Now, we’re under a lot of scrutiny in Europe because of our size. But it is precisely our size that enables us to invest a lot in security, which helps our users as well as the wider web. For example, our
Safe Browsing
technology identifies sites that steal passwords or contain malware. If you’re using the Chrome browser, we show very visible warnings--20 million per week--when you try to visit a malicious webpage. And because we make this data publicly available, Apple’s Safari and Mozilla’s Firefox browsers can use it as well. This helps protect over one billion people all around the world.
We can also help move things forward in other ways: for instance, we now rank encrypted websites slightly higher in our search results, encouraging everyone to encrypt their services. And any company can take advantage of Google’s security expertise by using our corporate versions of Gmail and Drive. The fact that we employ 500 security and privacy experts means they don’t have to.
Corporate attacks are on the increase--and they highlight the interconnected nature of the web. The Sony hack, for example, not only exposed their own employees, but also the business plans of a high-profile tech CEO. These kinds of complexities are why security should be a team effort--companies working together, and governments working with companies.
In 2010, Google disclosed that we had been subject to a significant cyberattack from China. At the time we were surprised that so few of the other companies targeted were willing to talk publicly. They were understandably afraid that doing so would frighten customers, provoke lawsuits, or worry investors. This is still the case for many corporations today.
When individual companies keep attacks under wraps, it can make it harder for other companies to improve our defenses. It’s why we should all share with each other best practices and the threats we see. We also believe that governments could be more forthcoming about the cybersecurity intelligence they have, so everyone can better protect themselves. This information often seeps out slowly, not least because it tends to get over-classified. We’re all stronger when security is a shared responsibility.
Privacy and trust
Finally, let me turn to privacy. I want to start by making clear Google hasn’t always got this right. It’s not just about the errors we have made--with products like Buzz or the mistaken collection of WiFi data--but about our attitude too. These have been lessons learned the hard way. But as our swift implementation of the Right to be Forgotten has shown, they are indeed lessons we have learned.
Now privacy means different things for different people, in different situations. For example, I may share photos only with my loved ones--others may feel comfortable posting them on the web. I may be happy for my friends to keep my shared photos forever--others may want them to disappear soon after they are shared.
In the end, privacy is closely tied to our sense of personal identity: it’s not “one size fits all”. That’s why people want to be in control of the information they share and have real choices about the services they use. And that’s what we focus on at Google.
Keeping a record of what people search for can improve the quality of their results over time. But if you want to search without your queries being stored, turn off Search History. It’s really easy. If Google has someone’s location, we can give directions without them having to type in their start point each time. That’s great for people like me with fat fingers on a mobile phone. But you can always turn location off too.
In addition, you can see all the information stored by Google and access all your privacy settings from one place, your Dashboard--which by the way was developed right here in Munich by our German engineers. Just type "Dashboard" into Google and it's right there. You can see who you have shared documents with, the apps you have downloaded to your phone and much more. People are using these tools and understand the choices they make. Ten million people check out their Account History settings each week--and make over 2.5 million changes. These are split evenly between people turning settings off and turning them on.
We also take pride in letting people leave Google easily. Data portability matters. So we’ve built a
Takeout
tool that enables you remove data stored by Google and put it elsewhere. We want people using our services because they love them, not because we hold their data hostage.
Now some of you are doubtless thinking: wait a minute--Google still collects all that information to serve me ads. Well actually no. Most of the data we collect is used to provide and improve our services. For example we store hundreds of billions of emails because hundreds of millions of people globally want unlimited storage. Gmail has become their digital filing cabinet. In fact, the core of our business--our Google search ads--actually requires almost no personal information. If you type flowers into Google search--the chances are you want … well … flowers! It doesn’t take a rocket scientist or a ton of data to work that one out.
Of course it is true that most of our services today are supported by advertising. But we view that as a positive because ads enable us to offer our products for free to everyone. Without ads, the poorest would not have access to the same search results, the same maps, the same translation tools, the same email service as everyone here today. And it’s important to remember that even though we are in the advertising business, Google does not sell your personal information. Let me repeat that. Google does not sell your personal information. Nor do we share it without your permission except in very limited circumstances, like government requests for data.
Now some people argue that Google’s collection of data is no different than government surveillance. “Google has the data so why shouldn’t we” is an argument used by many intelligence services in the press. But we believe there is a significant difference. Government surveillance uses data that was collected for an entirely separate purpose; it’s conducted in secret; its targets are unaware their data is being collected, and they are unable to stop or control it.
Google, by contrast, collects data to provide and improve our products. And we give our users the ability to control or stop the collection of their data, or leave entirely.
The potential of science and technology
I was reading about the history of this building. I was amazed to see how long the project took: King Maximilian first started construction in 1857. It wasn’t completed until 1874, 17 years later. They actually had to change the style of architecture, mid-build, to keep up with the times.
In those 17 years, though, we saw the invention of the gasoline engine, the sewing machine and the typewriter. Darwin wrote the
Origin of Species
, and Mendeleev created the periodic table. That’s a pretty good 17 years. Technology was moving fast--probably faster than people wanted it to.
Similarly, just 17 years ago, you couldn’t instantly share photos of your children with friends… or talk to anyone, wherever they are in the world. The idea of not having a landline telephone seemed absurd.
The point is, just as in the 1850s, technology is moving fast. It’s changing the way we live. It’s raising new questions all the time. And, just as in the past, it’ll take many of us working together to come up with the right answers. At Google, we look forward to working with all of you on that. This building was constructed from a profound optimism about the potential for science and technology to improve lives. That optimism is in your history. It’s in your DNA. And it’s an optimism that Google shares with you.
Vielen Dank.
Posted by Al Verney, Corporate Communications
On Valentine's Day, A Picture Speaks A Thousand Words
Friday, February 13, 2015
Wondering how to share your love tomorrow, on Valentine’s Day? Sometimes an image speaks louder than a thousand words...
To celebrate Valentine’s Day this weekend, the
Google Cultural Institute
team have gathered dozens of masterpieces on the theme of love and romance in
a unique collection
. Join us as we journey across countries, cultures and time and through love’s many manifestations, and share your favourite pieces with your loved ones. From
Banksy
to
Van Gogh
to
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
, you’ll see a wide range of artwork in our collection.
For this special day, we’ve even digitised in ultra-high resolution one of the most famous kisses in the history of art:
Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss
. The two figures are are on a flower-strewn meadow, gently ascending from the abyss and protected by a halo of shimmering gold. Now, you can zoom in to brushstroke level and discover the painting’s delicate layers of gold leaf and the details of the meadow.
For other smooching styles, take a minute to enjoy
Renoir’s Country Dance
, or kisses by
Anh Chang Hong
,
Edvard Munch
and
Giovanni Giuliani
!
Explore the collection to find the masterpiece that best expresses your mood. Why not invite your love for
a walk in the fields
or
an afternoon in the park
, or to
share a meal
? Don’t just stand there
day-dreaming
or
writing love letters
- let your hair down at a
wedding
or a
party
! And if you are looking for a nice topic of conversation for dinner,
explore how people have sent Valentines wishes
over the years, from handwritten letters to telegrams to Twitter and Instagram.
Still not had your fix of romance? Escape to
The Museum of Innocence
in Turkey to discover the deeply moving love story of
Kémal and Füsun
.
Orhan Pamuk
conceived The Museum of Innocence, a love story set between 1974 and the early 2000s, as both a book and a museum. Combined, the two paint a picture of life in Istanbul through the memories and flashbacks of two families.
And there are plenty more masterpieces that could help you express your feelings. Explore the thousands of documents and artworks put online by our
600 global Cultural Institute partners
.
In the words of Leo Tolstoy: "
There are as many kinds of love as there are hearts
”. So enjoy the visit and spread the love… and the art at
google.com/culturalinstitute/project/love
Posted by Amit Sood, Head of the Google Cultural Institute
Visit the Bolshoi Theatre with the Google Cultural Institute
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Every year, thousands of people from around the world visit Moscow’s historic Bolshoi Theatre to see a performance by the world-renowned Bolshoi Ballet, or watch an opera by composers like Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev.
Now, thanks to a new partnership between the Bolshoi Theatre and the
Google Cultural Institute
, you can
take a virtual tour of this iconic building
and learn about its rich history through new online exhibitions.
Using Street View technology, you can follow in the footsteps of greats like opera singer
Feodor Chaliapin
or prima ballerina
Maya Plisetskaya
. Feel the hairs on your neck rise as you look out from the stage, over the orchestra pit, to the imposing gilded auditorium. Don't forget to look up to see the famous crystal chandelier and painted ceiling.
Navigate your way up through the building’s corridors to the
9th floor rehearsal rooms
. And as you tour the richly decorated foyers, zoom in on the magnificent paintings to examine them in minute detail (and see if you can spot the Romanov family crest too.)
New exhibitions, hosted on the Cultural Institute website, help you understand the Bolshoi Theatre’s rich history. View
vintage photos
from the theatre’s early years (1860-1911). Wonder at the beauty and artistry of the
traditional Russian costumes
worn in productions between 1942 and 1999.
And don’t miss the exhibition dedicated to the outstanding Bolshoi stage designer and artist
Fyodor Fedorovsky
. As well as creating the beautiful golden curtain that veiled the stage between between 1955 and 2005, his creativity and imagination were responsible for the sets used in some of the Theatre’s best-known productions. Even today, the operas
Boris Godunov
and
The Tsar's Bride
are still performed using his original set designs.
Posted by AmitSood, Head of the Google Cultural Institute
Take a Security Checkup on Safer Internet Day
Tuesday, February 10, 2015
Online security is on everyone’s mind these days. According to a recent
Gallup poll
, more people are worried about their online accounts being hacked than having their home broken into.
Security has always been a top priority for Google. Our
Safe Browsing
technology identifies unsafe websites and warns people before they visit them, protecting more than one billion Chrome, Firefox, and Safari users everyday.
2-Step Verification
adds an extra layer of security, beyond your password, to your Google account; it’s like a second padlock on your account’s door. And our research teams regularly release new findings about nefarious online activity, like Gmail
account hijacking attempts
, so people can stay informed.
We have many protections in place to keep people, and their information, secure, but there's also a lot that you can do to protect yourself. Today, on
Safer Internet Day
, take a quick
Security Checkup
, an easy way to review and manage your Google Account’s security settings.
Here are some of the important items you can review during your Security Checkup:
Recovery information
: Adding a phone number can help us get in touch if you’re locked out of your account. We’ll only use your phone number to
protect your account
, unless you say otherwise.
Recent activity
: This is a quick overview of your recent sign-ins to Google. If you see any activity from a location or device you don’t recognize, change your password immediately.
Account permissions
: These are the apps, websites and devices connected to your Google account. Take a look and make sure you trust—and actually use—all of them. You might want to remove an old phone, or that dusty app you never use.
It takes just a few minutes to make sure your information is accurate and up to date. Visit your Account Settings and take your
Security Checkup
today.
Update
:
As an extra thank you, we’ll add 2GB to your Drive storage plan if you complete the
Security Checkup
by February 17. We’ll be granting the storage automatically to everyone around 28 February 2015 and we’ll send you an email when your adjustment is complete.
.
Posted by Andreas Tuerk, Product Manager
Remembering 70 years since Auschwitz's liberation
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
It was the end of one of the worst chapters in human history - the Soviet Army’s liberation 70 years ago of the notorious Nazi death camp Auschwitz on January 27, 1945. Today, starting at 15:30 CET, the Auschwitz Museum is live streaming on
YouTube
the ceremony marking the liberation, held in front of the Death Gate, together with survivors of the camp:
Throughout the world, various anniversary ceremonies, conferences, exhibitions and meetings are scheduled. The Auschwitz Museum and the United Nations have built a
Map of Remembrance
with the goal to bring together the various memorial activities taking place.
For the past three years, the
Google Cultural Institute
has been working with institutions and associations to preserve and share online thousands of archives, images and videos telling the
stories from the Holocaust
. The Auschwitz Museum participated in this project from the beginning, adding hundreds of
documents
and inviting you to discover individual stories like the love of
Edek Galinski
and
Mala Zimetbaum
or the unique collection of
family photographs
found in the ruins of the camp. Learn more on the “Evacuation and Liberation of the Auschwitz camp" and the “Sonderkommando" through these new online exhibitions.
For this anniversary, the
USC Shoah Foundation
, who shared with the world poignant testimonials of survivors through another exhibition, “70 Stories of Auschwitz”, inviting you to listen to the survivors as they recall their experiences in short and moving personal videos.
We encourage everyone to (re)discover these stories from the Holocaust - and remember, never again.
Posted by Agata Wacławik-Wejman, Head of Public Policy, Central and Eastern Europe
Bringing some of the best of Belgium to Street View
Thursday, January 22, 2015
hroughout the world, our Google Street View special collects allow users anywhere, on their mobile devices or computers, to see the world’s great sites. We’ve now just added some of the best of Belgium to the collection. Stroll through the Mardasson Memorial commemorating World War II’s decisive Battle of the Bulge or take a peek at the saxophone-filled homage to Albert Sax over the Meuse River in Dinant.
The images were taken with the
Street View Trekker
backpack on which is mounted a panoramic camera, and
Street View Trolley
, a cart with a camera system. Both tools make it possible photograph places inaccessible to Street View cars.
The project includes a shout out to three special Belgian towns: Wavre, Grobbendonk and Auderghem, the winners of Google eTown Awards in 2013. We award this prize to municipalities that benefit the most from the economic potential of the Internet.
In Wavre, we’ve captured images of the City Hall.
In Auderghem, we take a look inside the Val Duchesse castle.
In Grobbendonk, we feature the ruins of the OLV Ten Toon priory.
Posted by Caroline Coesmans, Policy Manager, Brussels
Launching voices of the Mediterranean
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
The Mediterranean Sea is the cradle of Western civilization - but all too often today is seen as an area of conflict. Together with the Voces Fondation, we are today launching a project designed to promote the development of a Mediterranean as a common place of respect, peace and solidarity.
Our focus is engage young people between the ages of 14 and 22 from Spain in the West to Palestine in the East that are interested in photography and audiovisual arts. Voces Foundation already has created a G+ page (
Voices of the Mediterranean
) where people can share pictures and videos about what the Mediterranean means, highlighting those aspects that bring us together instead of those aspects that separate the different cultures and countries.
Specific topics that will be discussed include access to water and other natural resources and to access to Internet and new technologie. Other subjects range from education and culture; gastronomy; entrepreneurship with social impact - and above all, peace. Actors and singers including actress Elisa Mouliaá or the musician and composer Rash already are contributing. Participate using the hashtag #Nostrum.
At the end of the project, we will hold a contest to choose the most interesting photos, painting and videos. Please contribute!
P Esperanza Ibáñez Lozano, Public Policy Manager
Entrepreneurial Spirit: Happy Socks and Angry Birds
Monday, January 19, 2015
At a Lisbon Council event in Brussels, David Drummond, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer, today argued that there is no limit to entrepreneurial spirit - and that Europe is generating more Internet success stories than most imagine.
I want to thank the Lisbon Council for all the work they’ve done on entrepreneurship and continuing to push the conversation forward. I feel privileged to speak here today on a vital topic that is near and dear to our hearts at Google.
Just this month, Niklas Zennstrom, the Swedish founder of Skype was interviewed in
Foreign Affairs
magazine, where he was asked for his thoughts on the global spread of tech entrepreneurship.
In the article, Niklas spoke about the usual concerns you hear about being an entrepreneur in Europe. Red-tape. Scarce venture capital. A risk-averse culture. Unforgiving bankruptcy laws.
That’s become a commonplace critique in Europe. As far back as 2003, the European Commission asked a similar question in a Green Paper on entrepreneurship: “Why are so few Europeans setting up their own companies?”
But, overall, the tone of Zennstrom’s interview was surprisingly upbeat.
“Ten or 15 years ago,” he said, “if you wanted to be an Internet innovator or entrepreneur, you packed your bag and bought a one-way ticket to Silicon Valley and made it over there.”
But “today,” he said, “you don’t need to do that.”
So while there’s no shortage of doom and gloom when discussing the startup climate in Europe, I’m here today to side with Niklas, and to talk about trends that suggest Europe’s entrepreneurial spirit is very much alive.
The same continent that gave birth to several of the world’s most important companies of the last century—BMW, Maersk, L’Oreal, —is producing a new generation of startups that have the potential to shake up markets, grow economies and boost jobs. It’s a trend we’re witnessing firsthand at Google, both in terms of the numbers and through the success of our many partners. And it’s one we’re heavily invested in promoting.
Data
Let’s start, as we often do at Google, with the numbers.
In capital after capital, European startups are having banner years. In London, tech firms set a new investment record in the last year, bringing in nearly 1.2 billion euros in investment, double what they raised in 2013.
In Madrid, startups raised 187% more capital last fall than they had just a year earlier.
In Berlin, tech start-ups saw their investments grow by 140 percent year-over-year, with two of Europe’s largest tech IPOs. Both the e-commerce site Zalando and the incubator Rocket Internet earned multibillion euro valuations.
And in Stockholm, we’re witnessing the birth of one of the most prolific tech hubs in the world, with 6.3 companies valued at a billion dollars for every million Swedes. In Silicon Valley, that number is only a little higher at 6.9.
The emerging picture shows that across Europe, 2014 was a great year for tech startups. In fact there were as many start-up exits in the first half of 2014 in Europe as there were in all of 2011 and 2012 combined.
Stories
Ok, so let’s look beyond the numbers for a minute and look instead at cultural influence. The most downloaded gaming app in Google Play last year was Candy Crush, created by British gaming company King. A few years after the Finnish firm Rovio defined app-based gaming with Angry Birds, other Helsinki-based firms like Supercell are following in their footsteps, with massive hits like Clash of Clans — 2014’s top-grossing game for iPhones and iPads.
And the future of the music industry is increasingly being charted by ambitious European companies. SoundCloud is a Berlin based platform for musicians and music fans to promote, share and stream music. Since its launch in 2007, it has built up a base of over 175 million monthly users who contribute over 12 hours of new content every minute. Experts expect its valuation to soon top €1 billion. Another example is the popular Swedish music streaming service Spotify. Since Spotify was launched, Sweden’s record industry revenues grew by more than a third, while piracy plummeted. Today, Spotify has more than 60 million users worldwide and is providing global exposure for chart-dominating European acts like Clean Bandit and Hozier.
All of these developments have left us at Google with an optimistic view of European entrepreneurship. That’s why Google Ventures, our Venture Capital investment arm, broke ground in Europe in a big way. Last year we established a European venture fund of $100 million to support the next generation of European companies, helping fuel their passion and bring their ideas to life. And after a few months we announced that we would be increasing that fund to $125 million - a clear sign that we believe investing in European entrepreneurs is good business. While I know it has often been fashionable to bemoan the lack of European venture capital funds, we’ve been impressed by their number and quality, and we are actively seeking to co-invest with them.
We want Google to be an engine of entrepreneurship in Europe, helping match the enormous talent and ambition of European entrepreneurs with the opportunity the world’s largest market provides. We’re excited to join a vibrant investment scene in Europe and work with other European investors to give our support directly to European businesses.
AdWords
Now we’re also seeing firsthand how small business entrepreneurs are using the Internet to create innovative business models and grow what many will see as traditional businesses. And we’re proud that our products are helping entrepreneurs in all fields to hire talent and expand their reach into new markets that were previously closed to them.
Study after study has shown that small businesses can do better when they establish a strong web presence, growing sales up to four times faster than their competitors when they embrace the web and digital tools.
The clearest reason for that growth is the internet’s ability to help entrepreneurs tap a vibrant export market. It’s important to remember that 30 years ago, small businesses couldn’t afford to advertise, certainly not on a global scale. They could afford listings in the yellow pages or their local paper, but expanding beyond that market was simply out of reach. Today, with technologies like Google’s AdWords advertising, they can market their wares globally, exposing their craft to a much larger audience.
We’re not really known in Silicon Valley for our sense of fashion. But today, I’m proud to be wearing these very loud and very vibrant socks. Six years ago, on a bleak day in Stockholm, a man named Viktor Tell noticed his friends had all worn colorful socks to lift the mood. He realized how hard it was to find colorful socks and took to his shed to begin a new trend from the ankles-up.
For years,
Happy Socks
, the company he founded, has been using our AdWords advertising product to take his local experiment in optimism worldwide. By advertising and selling his socks online, he dramatically increased his traffic and revenue, doubling his turnover in 2013. Today he has customers throughout Europe, Japan, Australia and the US, making Happy Socks a global player with a presence in over 6,000 retail stores.
And even if you prefer to go sockless on the beaches of the Aegean, we can help. The Greek travel Agency
Pamediakopes.gr
has grown tremendously since it began to advertise with Google AdWords in 2010. In four years, both its traffic and sales have quadrupled, leading a small company of 35 to grow to 150 employees. By targeting Russian, Romanian and Bulgarian web traffic through AdWords, Pamediakopes is now a leading travel agency in each of these countries.
Google has helped hundreds of thousands of European small businesses like Happy Socks and Pamediakopes succeed online, giving them new ways to grow and promote their businesses. A study by the German Institute for Economic Research credited Google products with helping create 28,000 companies and 100,000 jobs in Germany during the worst years of Europe’s downturn.
But we still need to help educate people and businesses to get online; for example, in the UK only 45% of small businesses have a website.
In Germany, we kicked off the “
Weltweit Wachsen
” initiative to do just this, helping German small businesses to use the internet to tap new markets. By the end of the year, we expect to engage more than 250,000 people through educational workshops to bring their businesses online.
And we also launched a digital platform called
Made in Italy
, to support traditional Italian industries like food, fashion and handcrafts by improving their digital skills. Through free online training for business owners as well as personalized support from over 100 tutors, we plan to reach over 80 percent of Italy’s traditional small businesses.
YouTube
Some of those jobs may not be the type you’d expect. YouTube, our online video site, is helping create an entire new type of field: the online video entrepreneur.
Rather than explain what I mean, let’s embrace the spirit of YouTube and have you see it for yourself in this video.
With a simple camera, a YouTube account and the savvy to realize that the music he loved wasn’t being covered anywhere else, Jamal Edwards built his passion into the leading youth media music force in the UK, SB.TV. In fact, when we ran that ad for the first time in the UK, the SB.TV web site crashed because nearly a million people searched for Jamal Edwards.
Now, Jamal is spending his time expanding SB.TV, landing himself on the cover of the Economist and breaking new artists worldwide. In fact, Spotify’s top male artist of the year, Ed Sheeran, actually broke through on SB.TV.
And speaking of breakout stars, I’m curious, how many of you could guess one of the five most popular celebrities among US teenagers, according to Variety magazine?
Not Katy Perry. Not Leonardo Dicaprio. Not Taylor Swift.
According to Variety, the top five most popular celebrities are all YouTube stars, coming out ahead of traditional stars like Jennifer Lawrence and Johnny Depp. In fact, the third most popular celebrity is a 25-year-old Swede named Felix Kjellberg who lives in Brighton, England. Felix is better known to his fans as
PewDiePie
and he currently has the most popular YouTube channel in the world, with over 33 million subscribers. By the end of this month, that number will probably be 34 million.
Every week, Felix reviews and comments on video games to a global fanbase that extends throughout Europe, North America and Asia.
In fact, YouTube stardom has become so mainstream that in Germany, we’ve seen something remarkable happen. When our German YouTube stars apply for a loan, they list their occupation as YouTuber.
Today, thousands of YouTube channels are making six figures annually and total revenue amongst our YouTubers has grown by 50 percent in each of the last two years.
Android
I spoke earlier about companies like Rovio and SuperCell, both companies that have found success through the emergence of the mobile economy. Mobile marketplaces are serious business, with a recent study finding that the mobile economy generated about 90 billion euros in revenue in Europe in 2013. It’s estimated that there are more than 2.9 million developers in the world and more than 2 million apps.
We’re proud to be a part of that ecosystem. Indeed, one of Google’s largest efforts over the last several years was developing our open-source mobile operating system Android, with our own app store called Google Play. We announced at our global developers conference last year that we had paid out more than $5 billion to developers since the previous year’s event.
Developers like
6Wunderkinder
, a Berlin startup who built a task management app called Wunderlist that was a top app on both Google Play and the App Store last year. Wunderlist’s largest market is the US, but its also thriving in China and Europe as well. They recently attracted 16 million euros from Sequoia Capital. Sequoia’s name is legendary in the US, having backed companies like Apple, Oracle, even Google. But it wasn’t until 6Wunderkinder that they made their first investment in Europe.
Elsewhere in Berlin,
EyeEm
has built a global community for photographers in record time. In 2013, the app had 1 million users. Today, 10 million users from around the world have a destination to sell photos, share tips and connect with other aspiring photographers.
Supporting Entrepreneurs
If we’re honest, entrepreneurial growth in Europe isn’t just a question of capital, or helpful products or global platforms like YouTube and Android. It’s also a question of skills. Entrepreneurship feeds off of collaboration and partnership, with people coming together to learn from each other and generate new ideas.
Our own effort to seed Europe’s playing field led us to create Campuses that attract ambitious and aspiring entrepreneurs in a place to connect and create. We’ve also been proud to partner with a number of leading start-up organizations - such as
NUMA
in France - to support start-up working spaces and programs for entrepreneurs across the EU. Globally our programs have reached some 280,000 entrepreneurs who have launched 8000 startups, created 6600 jobs and raised 160 million euros.
Google’s London Campus
has already grown to 32,000 members, leading to startups that have created nearly 600 jobs and attracted 44 million euros in funding. Across this year, we’ll be launching
new campuses
in Warsaw and Madrid, based on the inspiring demand we’re seeing on the ground in those cities. At each of these centers, we're supporting founders and developers to improve their technical and business skills so they can take their ideas to market. We offer thousands of hours of free mentoring, networking with venture capital and other events to support these entrepreneurs.
We also launched
Actívate
in Spain, where youth unemployment has reached a massive 54% in 2014. Actívate is an initiative to provide free online training in e-commerce, analytics and cloud computing to Spanish youth. These are real courses designed in partnership with Spanish government and academic institutions, awarding official certificates that can breathe new life into CVs throughout the country. Our goal is to offer these courses to 160,000 young people in Spain by year’s end.
And we’re already seeing these efforts pay off. Last year, María Victoria Ruiz joined an Actívate digital marketing course in Spain. This inspired her to set up her own business with co-founder Eduardo Fernández, and in 2013, Maredas was born – an online shop selling urban-style espadrille shoes. Working with Google AdWords, Maredas has built their visibility and attracted new customers, exporting to other parts of Spain and even to France and Italy. In fact most of their sales increase has come from abroad.
We are also helping to fuel the creative economy and grow the next generation of creators and media companies online. Both Google Play and YouTube have provided a paid distribution platform to creators to reach a global audience. YouTube alone has paid over €1 billion to the music industry, propelling the success of countless European creators. The
YouTube Space London
is YouTube’s state of the art production facility open to European YouTube creators to learn from industry experts. Creators learn everything from camera basics, to being a business on YouTube, share best practices, collaborate and network with other creators and create the dream video through the latest technology in video production. Hundreds of talented creators have got the chance to create brilliant content and showcase it to the world.
Support from policymakers
We know there’s more Google can do to spur the blooming trend of entrepreneurship in Europe. And we plan to keep investing—in both ideas and people. But the question I get asked most is what can policymakers do to help.
Now, I’m always very nervous as an American going to other countries and offering advice to people on how to manage their policies. But here’s what I’ve observed from ten years of repeated trips to Europe and conversations with policymakers and entrepreneurs alike.
I speak to many entrepreneurs who struggle with 28 different rule books. The Internet is in many ways borderless and yet there are many borders still within Europe, even within the single market. With over two dozen frameworks, many of which are inconsistent, entrepreneurs stumble when they seek to grow or hire across borders or trade goods and services. The biggest step the EU can make is to complete the formation of the digital single market, a goal the European Commission rightly recognizes as critical to the Continent’s growth.
We hope the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership can also provide a generational opportunity to support the growth of the transatlantic economy and open up new avenues for growth to European and American companies alike.
I also hear from policymakers and business leaders about the crucial role intellectual property plays and need to protect their innovations. The Internet creates opportunities for creators to reach new audiences and develop new sources of revenue. Copyright rules should take full advantage of a new single market to promote research and innovation while protecting the rights of creators.
Of course, the other ask from entrepreneurs is to make it easier for them to access capital to grow and scale-up their business. Nicklas Zennstrom called on governments to encourage private investors to put their money in start-ups by reducing capital gains taxes for investing in start-up companies.
And anyone who’s in need of talent talks about the importance of encouraging our youth to acquire the digital and scientific skills of the future, both in Europe and the US. By 2020, nearly 90 percent of all jobs will require some technical information and communications skills. At current rates, the EU predicts a shortfall of 900,000 jobs that will go unfilled because students—especially young women—are lacking these skills. In the US, 57% of bachelor's degrees are earned by women, but only 12% of computer science degrees.
At Google, we’ve invested in initiatives like the
RISE Awards
and
Made with Code
to encourage children to adopt technical skills. And we’re also working with more than a dozen Science, Technology, Engineering and Math—or STEM—education organizations across the EU to give over 90,000 students exposure to computer science. Our goal is to ensure that children have the technical tools to solve real world problems, whatever their passion.
Conclusion
We at Google see clear reasons for confidence in Europe’s entrepreneurial potential and we’re proud to play our part. But in all this talk about Happy Socks and Angry Birds, IPOs and investment rounds, it’s easy to lose sight of what entrepreneurship really means.
Despite the revolutions we’ve seen in technology or the transformations that have shaken both our economies, when it comes to work, one thing has never changed. As people, we still largely define ourselves by our calling—by our profession. Whether you choose to be a barrister or a baker, a politician or a police officer, you derive a sense of pride from your work. That is something that is fundamental to the human condition—we all seek meaning through work or service.
The human costs of unemployment in both America and Europe have been massive. When people cannot find work—when they cannot better their own lives or the lives of their families or their communities—they lose more than a paycheck. They lose a sense of themselves. They ache for meaning.
What we’re beginning to see in Madrid and Milan and Athens, as well as in American cities like Detroit and Baltimore, is a response to that ache. We’re witnessing a belief in entrepreneurship that suggests people can climb out of their circumstances, if only their talent and ambition can be met with opportunity.
That opportunity doesn’t just exist on one shore or in one country. On both sides of the Atlantic, we’re seeing a drumbeat of innovation grow steadier, taking advantage of the scale and support that only our combined markets can provide.
Silicon Valley has been a tech hub for nearly fifty years. And I hear the question all the time: How do we replicate Silicon Valley? And my answer is not that you can’t, but that you shouldn’t.
Silicon Valley is the product of a number of forces that came together to create something unique. Whether it’s proximity to a world-class university in Stanford, or even nice weather--there’s no one thing that makes Silicon Valley what it is, nothing that can be exported on a barge and sent across the Atlantic. And there’s definitely nothing in the water...
There’s no reason that the forces that were harnessed in Silicon Valley-- talent, creativity, ambition, and as we like to say at Google, a healthy disregard for the impossible-- cannot be brought to bear to create an equally valuable, and uniquely European technology sector. In fact, major European cities already have much more than Silicon Valley ever did at the beginning, when it was just a lightly populated region south of San Francisco known mostly for producing apricots, plums and strawberries. London, Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Stockholm--you have vibrant, diverse cities, with a deep-seated sense of culture and a shared history, full of creative people with brilliant ideas just looking for an opportunity.
More than anything else, Silicon Valley was built on an entrepreneurial spirit—on a prevailing idea that entrepreneurs could build something from scratch and see it thrive and expand.
But there’s no natural limit to that spirit. It doesn’t need a work visa; it doesn’t need translation. It travels easily. Google began 1998 in a garage in Menlo Park. But today, it’s just as likely the next great company will begin in a warehouse in Berlin or a Swedish cafe or a British tech incubator.
Good ideas are everyone’s domain; they just need to be nurtured to reach their potential. And that’s a commitment we can all make together.
Thank you.
Posted by David Drummond, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer
Driving into the future with European partners
Monday, January 19, 2015
Since we revealed our plans last May to build
fully self-driving vehicles
for testing and learning, we’ve been working on different prototypes. We’ve now put all those systems together into a
fully functional vehicle
which we discussed recently at the
Automotive News World Congress
in Detroit.
These vehicles, designed from the ground up to drive themselves, could only be possible by working with strong European partners and suppliers, including ZF Lenksysteme, Continental, Bosch, FRIMO and many others. ZF Lenksysteme, for example, brought its expertise in steering system development, driver assistance systems and safety concepts. Bosch provided expertise in powertrain development and driver assistance systems and Continental provided expertise in braking systems and other electronics.
In addition to our existing suppliers, we’re looking for automotive industry partners to help bring the vision of self-driving cars to market. We see that our best path forward to this goal is combining our technology with car maker know-how.
The self-driving car project is designed to improve road safety and help people who are
blind
,
disabled
or otherwise can’t drive, Much work remains ahead. Our hope is to test prototypes on public roads in later this year. We're excited by the progress we've made so far - and our suppliers are playing a crucial role.
Posted by Chris Urmson, Director, Self-Driving Car Project
Lighting up Google Maps with the aurora borealis
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Nature’s greatest light show has come to Google Maps for the first time. Starting today, armchair arctic explorers, science lovers and curious observers will be able to explore the Northern Lights in Finland right from Google Maps.
Northern Lights, Finland
Also known as the aurora borealis (after Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn, and Boreas, the Greek name for north wind), these dazzling lights are the effect of charged particles interacting with one another in earth’s atmosphere. These light displays have long been a source of wonder for poets and travelers gazing up at the otherworldly colors in stark contrast with the austere, arctic terrain. However, they can only be seen in person at certain latitudes and times of year, making this breathtaking sight a rare experience for most of us.
To see more views of the Northern Lights, explore the
Google Maps gallery
. Click across the frozen lake in Finland where these shots were captured, and take in the awe-inspiring views above.
Posted by Magdalena Filak, Google Maps Street View Associate Program Manager
Hallo, hola, olá to a new powerful Google Translate app
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Often the hardest part of traveling is navigating the local language. If you've ever asked for "pain" in Paris and gotten funny looks, confused "embarazada" with "embarrassed" in Mexico, or stumbled over pronunciation pretty much anywhere, you know the feeling. We’ve now updated the
Translate app
on
Android
and
iOS
to transform your mobile device into an even more powerful translation tool.
Instant translation with Word Lens
The Translate app already lets you use camera mode to snap a photo of text and get a translation for it in 36 languages. From today, you can instantly translate text. While using the Translate app, just point your camera at a sign or text and the translated text will overlaid on your screen—even if you don't have an Internet or data connection.
This instant translation currently works for translation from English to and from French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish, and we’re working to expand to more languages.
Have an easier conversation using the Translate app
When talking with someone in an unfamiliar language, conversations can... get... sloowwww. While we’ve had real-time conversation mode on Android since 2013, our new update makes the conversation flow faster and more naturally.
Starting today, simply tap the mic to start speaking in a selected language, then tap the mic again, and the Google Translate app will recognize which of the two languages are being spoken, letting you have a more fluid conversation. For the rest of the conversation, you won’t need to tap the mic again—it'll be ready as you need it. Asking for directions to the Rive Gauche, ordering bacalhau in Lisbon, or chatting with your grandmother in her native Spanish just got a lot faster.
These updates will be coming to both Android and iOS, rolling out over the next few days. This is the first time some of these advanced features, like camera translations and conversation mode, will be available for iOS users.
More than 500 million people use Google Translate every month, making more than 1 billion translations a day to more easily communicate and access information across languages. Today’s updates take us one step closer to turning your phone into a universal translator and to a world where language is no longer a barrier to discovering information or connecting with each other.
Posted by Barak Turovsky, Product Lead, Google Translate
Hacking against Ebola
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Like other epidemics, Ebola creates panic, dangerous rumors and unverified facts. Journalists must be prepared, yet unfortunately they often lack the necessary resources and tools that match the responsibility to inform local communities.
To help fill the gap, we’re supporting the
Global Editors Networks's
#HackAgainstEbola on January 14 and 15. Other supporters include
Open Society Initiative for West Africa
(OSIWA),
Union for Francophone Press (UPF)
, and
Code for Africa
. Follow the two-day event through GEN's
live blog
and the hashtag #HackAgainstEbola.
Our goal is to help develop the best tools needed to explain the Ebola epidemic. In Dakar, a dozen teams, composed of one journalist, one designer, and one developer, who will work to build a prototype online product in 48 hours.
This is only the final of a
three part series
. Nigeria's
Pan-Atlantic University
, Ghana's
PenPlusBytes
and
South Africa's 24.com
hosted previous Ebola hack days.
The Editors' Lab has been running
Google-supported hack events
in newsrooms around the world for the past few years, bringing journalists and coders closer together to explore new ways of creating and presenting the news. World-renowned media organizations including The New York Times, The Guardian, El Pais and Le Parisien have hosted hack days on different themes.
The winning team in Dakar will compete against the other winning Editors Lab teams at the GEN Summit 2015 in Barcelona next June.
Posted by Simon Morrison, Public Policy and Government Affairs Manager, London
Promoting sportsmanship on the field - and on the net
Sunday, January 11, 2015
In football, a red card means expulsion from the game. On the Internet, what would a red card resemble? This week, we launched a contest here in Belgium with the Mons Football Club youth clubs to help find out.
Why Belgium and why Mons? One of our two largest European data centers is located just outside the city. We’ve invested hundreds of millions in it and that means we are going to be involved in the local community for a long time to come. Belgium’s football reputation has been growing recently with an excellent showing at the recent Brazil World Cup - its top players are found sprinkled on many of the world’s top team - and the Mons youth academy is known as one of the country’s best.
Launching the contest in Belgium
The idea came from our strong partnership with the local
Mundaneum
institution and a
partnership
forged last year with one of the world’s biggest football clubs - Real Madrid. It held a contest called
"First Prize for the Promotion of Internet Values.”
As in football, the Net bans violence towards others. When you play sports, you are obliged to help all who are injured or have a disability. On the Internet, too, you need to help others.
The Belgian contest will be open to 11-17 olds, the teenagers who are growing up on the net. From this month through April, the club’s teenage players will attend workshops and create projects - drawings, videos, or essays - that marry their passion for football, fair play and the Internet.
More than 120 young players from RAEC Mons attended the
contest launch
. Dressed in their team uniforms, most said they spent as much or more time surfing on the Net as on the playing field. They will now compete for prizes ranging from a Chromebook to a tablet. Winners will be announced on April 19 at the club’s final home match this season.
Posted by William Echikson, Head of Community Relations, Europe
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.
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