Peggy Ks Tips & Tricks

While Plussers are looking for a new home, life - and app updates - go on. There are improvements to video watching, live streaming and much more.
The YouTube embedded video player - the one you use on websites other than YouTube - got a redesign. It now displays the channel’s avatar, and there is no longer a way to hide the title or prevent related videos from appearing at the end. You can, however, limit the related videos to those from the same channel.And now you don’t need to stop watching videos while you are surfing on desktop. On YouTube, just click the mini-player icon on the bottom right of any video to continue watching as you browse the site. And if you use Chrome, picture-in-picture is now the default on Linux, Mac and Windows (and soon Chrome OS), so you can watch videos in a floating window whatever you are doing on your computer.There is evidence Facebook was aware that it was providing inaccurate video viewership metrics for over a year. Thos metrics not only mislead …

If you embed videos on your website or blog, and get the embed code from the video watch page, you may have noticed that YouTube no longer lets you choose to disable related videos from displaying at the end of the video.

YouTube has updated the embedded video player so you can't completely turn off related videos and you can't disable the video title or channel avatar from displaying. You can, however, limit the related videos that display to videos on the same channel.

This change was announced in the YouTube Developer documentation in August, but it was pretty much unnoticed until its implementation now.


The good news is that you can use the "rel" parameter to limit the related videos shown to those on the same channel as the embedded video. So if you watch one of my videos embedded on my site, I can set it so that the related videos you are shown are all mine too.

How to use the "rel" parameter to limit related videos to videos on the same YouTube chann…

This was a sad week for us avid Plussers, as Google announced the consumer version of Google+ will be shut down next year. There was good news too with new Google hardware with integrated AI and Assistant, new Photos features and shiny new look and name for the Google Product Experts program. This week’s update is a bit of a monster, so I've divided it into sections.

The shutdown of Google+

I am still working on a detailed write-up up my thoughts on the demise of Google+, but here’s an overview of what’s happening: on Monday, Google announced they had discovered (and fixed) a bug that may have revealed some user Google+ profile information to developers. Oh, and because of low usage and the “significant challenges in creating and maintaining a successful Google+ product that meets consumers’ expectations” the consumer version of Google+ will shut down by August 2019. The official Google+ Page didn’t make even a minimal announcement until the next day. There have been no details ab…

YouTube has clarified that the YouTube Partner Program requires channels to have original and relevant content. Even you upload public domain movies or "fair use" video compilations, you need to "add value" to monetize that content.
YouTube started a review process for YouTube Partner Program applications in 2017. Formerly there wasn't a review of a channel's content before monetization was enabled, and acceptance was usually fast and automatic.

With the new reviews, a number of channels have had their application rejected for the ambiguously-named "Duplication".


Information provided to rejected Partner Program applicants on their Monetization Settings tab focused on copyright issues, which didn't always seem to apply to the creator's channel. And while it is possible to reapply after 30 days, YouTube didn't provide any guidance about what steps could be taken to improve the likelihood an application would be approved.

Now YouTube has…

Monday is a holiday across most of the US (Columbus Day, Indigenous Peoples’ Day or Discoverer’s Day) and Canada (Thanksgiving). If you have the day off, I hope you have fair weather, and family and good friends to celebrate with. And be sure to check out this week's great opportunities for creators, and tips and updates for webmasters, business owners, YouTubers and more.
Google’s Project Stream is looking for gamers to help to improve streaming in Chrome on desktop. They recruiting participants in the US to play the soon-to-be-released Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. If you’re selected, you’ll have free access to the game until mid-January. Apply now!If you are looking for something a bit different from a .com domain for your website, you can now register a .page domain through Google at get.pageThe Google Podcasts Creator Program is now open for applications and looking for new voices. They are looking for applicants from a “range of geographies, backgrounds, views, voices and style…

This week Google celebrated their 20th birthday with new search features, historical overviews, plus tips, tricks and Easter eggs. Plus there are updates for Chrome, Hangouts, Project Fi and much more.
Google has noticed people sometimes search for information about a topic over the course of several days. To help you save and organize your searches, Google is using what it calls the “Topic Layer” to help understand what you are looking for. There are new Activity Cards that show pages you’ve already visited and previous searches you’ve done on a topic. You can add links from an Activity Card into a Collection, a way to keep track of groups of links. And Google will “intelligently show subtopics” related to your search. A common reason to save and organize your searches over the course of a few days or weeks is when you are planning a vacation. Google is updating “Your Trips”, to make it easier to organize travel plans still in the works and resume planning where you last left off.Goo…

Happy autumn everyone! There are updates this week for gamers, parents, and businesses and more.
The big news this week is that three years after its launch, the stand-alone YouTube Gaming will be retired, as gaming content and featurs features are integrated into YouTube proper. The new home for YouTube Gaming (youtube.com/gaming) with personalized content is live, as are new individual game pages. YouTube expects this will bring more viewers to gamers’ content. The stand-alone YouTube Gaming apps will be retired in March 2019. You can now add third-party video conferencing to your Google Calendar events. You are no longer limited to Hangouts Classic or Hangouts Meet (for G Suite accounts). You can now link Webex, GoToMeeting, UberConference or Vonage to your account to set up a video call participants can join by clicking a link on their calendar.Up until this week parents could only manage the activity of their kids too young to create their own Google account. Now Google Family L…