Weekly Update - April 1, 2017: YouTube Monetization, Google+, and some Foolishness

It's been an eventful week. Here are my top updates:

• YouTube has been fine tuning their ad systems to address advertiser concerns, which may be causing fluctuations in revenue for YouTube Partners. YouTube recommends creators make sure that videos “are aligned with the advertiser friendly content guidelines” and pledged to make the review process around appeals even faster (although it didn’t help that there was a bug (now fixed) that prevented submitting an appeal on some demonetized videos.)
• Location sharing moved from Google+ to Google Maps
• Twitter no longer counts @ usernames towards the 140 character post limit, plus they have ditched the egg. In response, some people have asked “Does anyone at Twitter even use Twitter?”
• And, naturally, coming into the first day of April, there have been a lot of unusual software and hardware launches. So far my favorites are the Chromebook Groupie Stick,the T-Mobile ONEsie, and Ms Pacman in Google Maps. Plus you should definitely check out the current progress of the Reddit Place. There are a few more examples collected below :) 

Plus there are tips and updates for YouTube, Google+, AdSense, Webmasters, Live Streamers, Business Owners and more.

Image: Detail from Laughing Fool, ca. 1500, possibly by Jacob Cornelis van Oostsanen (Public Domain)

Upcoming

• 31 March: Google Map Maker closed
• 4 April: Google Webmaster Central office hours hangout
• 6 April: #AskAdSense office hours
• 7 April: Google Webmaster Central office hours hangout
• 10 April: Deadline to apply for Sundance Institute + YouTube New Voices Lab
• 15 April: Deadline to apply for YouTube Nextup 2017 (US, Canada, UK)
• 17 April: Google Spaces shuts down
• 20 April: Update your Google Drive plug-in for Microsoft Office
• 25 April: Most Hangouts video call apps will be retired
• 2 May: YouTube Annotations editor retired
• 22 May: Carrier SMS removed from Google Hangouts
• 23 May: Google announcing the latest Analytics, DoubleClick and Ads innovations
• 26 June: Google Talk retired, replaced by Hangouts

YouTube and Video Creation

• For updates on advertisers and advertising on YouTube, see the "AdSense and Advertising" section below.
• YouTube Partners: are you seeing a drop or fluctuations in revenue? Check your videos (YouTube)
• YouTube is planning on doubling the size of the audio library (Creator Insider)
• Enjoy your personal concert with VR videos on YouTube (YouTube Blog)
• Could you tell a story in 6 seconds? (Think with Google)
• YouTube Subscriber Counts Now Update in Real Time (Channel & Watch Pages) (Preston McNair)

Go Live

• Facebook opens up 360° live streaming to all people and pages (Facebook media blog)
• Fundraising with Facebook Live (Facebook Media Blog)
• Twitter expanding pre-roll ads to Periscope live videos (Twitter Blog)
• Periscope update: Two new ways to get more insight into your audience (Periscope blog)

Google+

• Location sharing has been removed from Google+, now part of Google Maps (Daniel Börresen)
• This Month On G+: March Edition (Google+)
• Google+ iOS 6.6.1 update: community management, bug fixes (Rupert Wood)
• Google+ Community Management Best Practices: Full vs Limited Member (Paul Snedden)
• Simple tips for creating quality posts in your Google+ Collections (Azlin Bloor)
• Google+ Collections 101 Panel Recorded Video & Presentation (Faith tan)
• Best Tips and Tricks from the Google+ Collections Community This Week (Nina Trankova)

Other social media

• Did the "Like" button ruin the internet? Or, fond memories of the old Google Reader (The Atlantic)
• Inside Twitter’s Obsessive Quest to Ditch the Egg (FastCompany)
• Twitter stops counting usernames in replies against 140 character limit (9to5Google)
• Twitter changed its direct messaging product to try to protect users from spam and abuse (recode)
• The new Twitter @-replies are giving me an ulcer (Sarah Jeong @ Motherboard)
• Twitter is being unbundled before our eyes (The Verge)
• Facebook introduces personal fundraising tools, donate buttons in Facebook Live for Pages (TechCrunch)
• Facebook​ introduces a new camera with special effects, Stories, Snapchat-like Direct sharing (Facebook blog)

Google Photos and Mobile Photography

• How to find your videos in Google Photos 
• Deep neural networks can now transfer the style of one photo to another (The Verge)
• Facebook​ introduces a new camera with special effects, Stories, Snapchat-like Direct sharing (Facebook blog)

Google for businesses

• Exporting Data from New Google Business Insights - Online Ownership (Online Ownership)
• Google Partners “Discover” Livestream on Audiences with Tadej Udovic (Google Partners)
• Local SEO Spam Tactics Are Working: How You Can Fight Back (Casey Meraz)
• Basketball Referee Calls Lead To Death Threats & Fake Business Reviews  (Mike Blumenthal, Get Five Stars)

Bloggers and Webmasters

• Google Optimize is now free for everyone (Google Analytics Blog)

AdSense and advertising

• AdSense Publishers: how to manage the risks associated with user comments (Inside AdSense blog)
• The 'Brand Safety' Narrative Tearing Up YouTube Is Amusingly Wrong (AdvertisingAge)
• 3 Digital Ad Players Cashing In on YouTube’s Brand Safety Issues (AdWeek)
• Vevo makes its pitch to advertisers after they flee YouTube (recode)
• The redesigned Newsstand Producer ads section (Paolo Amoroso)
• The DECK ad network shutting down (Deck Network)

Hangouts and Messaging

• Facebook Messenger rolling out hour-long Live Location sharing feature (9to5Google)
• Telegram introduces voice calls, touting end-to-end encryption (Tech Crunch)
• The secret to designing eye-catching stickers for mobile messaging (Google Design)

Nexus, Android, Project Fi

• Project Fi App update N.3.3.19 (Project Fi)
• Google I/O schedule announced
• You Can Apparently Fool Samsung Galaxy S8 Facial Recognition With A Photo (Consumerist)

Productivity

• Convert text to all CAPs and more in Google Docs (G Suite Updates blog)
• Google Calendar: now optimized for iPad (Google Blog)

Privacy and Security

• How Google stops fraudulent apps from holding your device for ransom (Google Blog)

More around the web

• Google and Facebook Can’t Just Make Fake News Disappear (danah boyd)
• Information Wars: A Window into the Alternative Media Ecosystem (Kate Starbird)
• Doodle 4 Google Winner (Google)
• This is almost certainly James Comey’s Twitter account (Ashley Feinberg @ Gizmodo)
• Innovation Can Fix Government, Sure. Either That or Break It (Wired)
• This chart illustrates how AI is exploding at Google (Technology Review)
• Canada’s AI Moment (Google Canada Blog)
• Elon Musk’s Billion-Dollar Crusade to Stop the A.I. Apocalypse (Vanity Fair)
• You should appreciate germs (Bill Gates)

Foolishness

• Check Google Maps today for some Ms Pacman dot-eating action! (Google Maps)
• Reddit Place (Reddit)
• Introducing Google Wind (Google Cloud Platform)
• Towards a wordless Flickr of the Future (Flickr blog)
• All the best mobile accessories, now for your Chromebook (Google blog)
• T-Mobile ONEsie: the first full-body wearable (T-Mobile)
• Haptic Helpers: bringing you to your senses (Google VR)
• Google Play for Pets (Google Play)
• Amazon Alexa Moments: Petlexa (Amazon Echo)
• Request Rides Autonomously (Lyft)
• Duolingo launches the first Emoji language course (Duolingo)
• Study the World in Glorious 2-D with Free Flat Earth Globe (Groupon)
• The smart yard you never knew you wanted: Google Gnome (Google Store)
• Compilation: . Davide Stefanini​'s Collection covers what's new this April 1st
• Compilation :April Fools’ Day 2017: the best and worst pranks (The Verge)
• Compilation: all of Google’s April Fool’s pranks so far (The Verge)

Updated March 2019 to remove Google+ links