Week in Review - December 19, 2015: YouTube for Good, Google+ updates, Fi for tablets

Google, Twitter and Facebook look back at 2015. YouTube introduces Donation Cards, Project Fi offers data only SIMs, new Google+ updates for desktop and iOS, and Open Live Writer now supports Blogger. Plus updates and tips for Live Streamers, YouTube Creators, Google+ Collectors, AdSense Publishers, readers, travelers and Nexus lovers.

Image: Christmas Cookies by Kristin Ausk on Flickr, shared under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license

The year in social media

• Google Year in Search (Google Trends)
• 2015: The Year on Twitter
• Facebook 2015 Year in Review

YouTube and Facebook Video

• Update: YouTube retiring webcam capture January 16th. Alternatives: your computer's webcam or camera app or a private Hangout on Air (YouTube)
• New! YouTube for Good: US Creators can support nonprofits with donation cards (YouTube)
• New! Facebook video players now run on HTML5 - bye bye Flash (Facebook Engineering Blog)
• Tip YouTube Creators: making videos isn't free! Create a budget that takes into account hidden expenses (YouTube Creator Academy)
• Tip 10 tips for video publishing from Facebook Pages (Facebook blog)

Live Streaming

• New! Live streamers: YouTube Live Chat viewer is now available in XSplit Broadcaster (XSplit)
• New! Updates to the YouTube Live Streaming API: Live Chat, Fan Funding, Sponsors - XSplit, Gameshow, Nightbot, Discord demonstrate integration uses (YouTube Engineering and Developers blog) -  Discuss in the unofficial YouTube Live Streaming community
• New! Facebook introduces Live for verified Pages (Facebook blog)
• Article Under the hood: broadcasting live video to millions (Facebook Engineering blog)
• Tip Mike Downes has been playing with Instalively live streaming (Mike Downes)

Google+

• Update Google+ iOS update with improved comments, Circle streams, notifications, follower count and more. Keep sending feedback! (Luke Wroblewski)
• Update Google+ Web Preview update: single click to +1, date stamps, more post reporting options (Luke Wroblewski)
• Tip Have questions about Google+ Collections in the new Google+? Ask Professor Sooraj! (Sooraj Wadhwa)
• Tip For people who still think Google+ is a network not worth bothering with. You are doing it wrong. (Robert Wallis)
• Tip Google+ Preview Tip: Don't accidentally share your post to a Community (John Skeats)
• Update #NotGoogle+: Improving the names process on Facebook (Facebook Newsroom) Commentary by Allen Firstenberg (tl;dr real names still required, process slightly less terrible for reported profiles)

Google for Local Businesses

• New Google My Business: new guidelines require 3rd parties to transfer ownership on request and encourage business owners to own their Local Business Pages (Tim Capper)
• Update Google My Business updates guidelines for business hours (Joy Hawkins)

Google Photos

• Tip Google Photos shared album FAQ (Google Photos help forum)
• Tip 3 steps to creating moody black & white photos (Snapseed)

Blogger

• New! Use Windows Live Writer to blog? Open Live Writer now has Blogger support! (Scott Hanselman)
• Tip Account / Blog Recovery May Involve Your Friends (Nitecruzr)
• Tip Don't Make Your Blog Victim Of Alias Blocking Malware (Nitecruzr)

AdSense

• Quick and easy solutions to policing the content on your site for AdSense compliance (AdSense)

Productivity

• New! New in Inbox: Sharing Trip Bundles and improved mobile attachments (Inbox by Gmail)
• New! The new Night Light feature in Google Play Books allows more comfortable reading as ambient light changes (Official Android blog)
• Tip Create and share a cookbook using Google Slides (Google Docs)
• New! Find cheap gas, learn busy hours and get offline directions with the new Google Maps for iPhone (Google Maps)

Project Fi, Nexus and Android

• New! Project Fi now offers data-only SIMs to current customers to get your tablet online (Project Fi)
• New! Add device protection to your Nexus 5X or 6P purchased through Project Fi (Project Fi Help Forum)
• Update The latest update for Android Marshmallow is rolling out to the Nexus 6 on Project Fi and includes Band 12 (Project Fi)
• Special offer Get $50 off the #Nexus6P when you buy before 12/30 -- Sign-up now: " (Project Fi on Twitter)
• Special offer This holiday season, use Android Pay with your Nexus and get a $20 Best Buy® e-gift card (Google)
• Tip Download individual Google Voice and Project Fi voicemails (Scott Greenstone)
• A neat visualization of distribution Android versions over time (Viktor Bohush)

Updated March 2019 to remove Google+ links