Week in Review - August 6, 2016: Let the games begin!

This week chat came back to Hangout video calls, Picasa Web Albums is truly retired (and replaced with Album Archive), and Google pushes Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP).

Plus there are tips and updates for YouTube viewers, webmasters and bloggers, local business owners, map users and more.

Image: Emoji via emojipedia

Follow the 2016 Olympics in Rio on social media

• Rio 2016 Celebrations on YouTube
• Let Google be your guide to Rio de Janeiro
• Google Maps goes for the win with Rio updates
• Follow the Rio 2016 @Olympics on Twitter, Vine and Periscope
• Bringing the World to Rio: How to Experience the Olympic Games on Facebook and Instagram 
• Go bananas for the 2016 Doodle Fruit Games

Upcoming:

• 9 August: Google Webmaster Central Office Hours in English
• 10 August: Pokéfans: submit your Pokémon Collection to the Google+ #FeatureFriday contest
• 12 August: Google Webmaster Central Office Hours in English
• 16 August: Google for Work Android N Hangout on Air
• 29 August: Comments on private YouTube videos are going away

YouTube and Video Creation

• Update Comments on private YouTube videos are going away (YouTube help)
• Update YouTube Kids now works with YouTube Red: ad-free and offline videos (YouTube blog)
• Update YouTube Music v1.38 now allows removing tracks from offline mixtape, promises landscape orientation (Android Police)
• Tip YouTube channel name verification - 100,000 subs required (Preston McNair)
• Update 97% of YouTube traffic is now encrypted (Google Security Blog)
• Tip Use YouTube donation cards to raise money for any US charity (Tubefilter)
• Update Pinterest starts expanding its visual search tools to video (TechCrunch)

Go Live

• New Keep the party going with the new Mobile Host Mode update! (Twitch Blog)
• New Monetizing ‘Live’? Facebook Now Testing Mid-Roll Ads Inside Broadcasts (Tubefilter)
• New Facebook Wants To Interrupt Your Live Broadcast With Ads (Consumerist)
• Will The FTC Investigate People & Companies Paid By Facebook To Use Facebook Live? (Techdirt)

Google+ and Google Spaces

• New Find your Google+ Photos from Posts, Profile Images and Cover Art in your Google Album Archive
• New New metrics on Hangouts and changes to Google+ activity metrics (Google Apps updates blog)
• Tip Why use Google+ Collections? (Luke Wroblewski)

Other social media

• Facebook develops automated system to fight clickbait spam (Facebook blog)
• Instagram introduces Snapchat-like Stories (Instagram blog)
• Instagram taps Facebook data to sort its new 'Stories' feature (The Next Web)
• Facebook goes media-first with Snapchatesque filters (Daily Dot)

Google Photos and Mobile Photography

• Update Snapseed gets text! - and check out the tricks: tip 1, tip 2(Snapseed)
• Tip New Google Photos “Free up space” ad
• New Instagram introduces Snapchat-like Stories (Instagram blog)
• New Instagram taps Facebook data to sort its new 'Stories' feature (The Next Web)
• Update Facebook goes media-first with Snapchatesque filters (Daily Dot)

Google for businesses

• Update Google My Business Intro/Description now only displays on Google+ (Mike Blumenthal)
• Update Edit your local business's introduction in its Google About Me settings
• Tip A Google Business Page is Free, you DO NOT need to use Map Registrations (Tim Capper)
• Article The Real Problem With 'Areas of Interest' on Google Maps (CityLab)

Bloggers and Webmasters

• Tip How to set up AdSense to add advertising to your Blogger blog
• New Introducing the Google Analytics Demo Account (Google Analytics blog)
• Update AMPing up in mobile search (Google blog)
• Update Changes to the AMP report in Search Console (Google Webmasters)
• Update Google’s Instant Articles competitor is about to take over mobile search (The Verge)

AdSense and advertising

• Tip Are native ads right for your site? Download our new #AdSenseGuide to find out… (AdSense)
• TIp How to set up AdSense to add advertising to your Blogger blog

Hangouts and Mobile Messaging

• Update Chat is back in the Hangout video call interface!
• Update Hangouts iOS update 11.5 (App store)
• Update New metrics on Hangouts and changes to Google+ activity metrics (Google Apps updates blog)
• Update Skype rolls out its suite of third-party app chatbots (Engadget)

Nexus, Android, Project Fi

• Update August Android security update is rolling out to Project Fi users (Project Fi)
• Tip Learn more about Android security for businesses (Google For Work)

Productivity

• Update Gboard for iOS goes global, suggests GIFs and emoji (Google Search blog)
• Update Professional critics reviews now included in restaurant listings (Google Search blog)
• Tip Optimize your route - whether it's burrito spots or scenic stops (Maps Mania)
• Update Improvements to PDF, Microsoft Office, image file previewing in Google Drive on web (Google Apps Updates)
• Update Google Calendar gets 22 new sports-related illustrations (Gmail)
• Update Dropbox Paper enters open beta with iOS and Android apps (The Next Web)
• Update Apple Music for Android is out of beta (The Verge)

Privacy and Security

• Tip Frequent password changes are the enemy of security, FTC technologist says (Ars Technica)
• Update Notifying Android users natively when devices are added to their account to keep them secure (Google Apps Updates)
• Update 97% of YouTube traffic is now encrypted (Google Security Blog)

Updated in March 2019 to remove Google+ links