Weekly Update - November 25, 2017: Google Lens, YouTube Policy, Cyber Monday

All shopped out? Tired of turkey? Check out this week’s updates and tips. This week there are tidbits for YouTubers, live streamers, webmasters, AdSense Publishers and more.

• Google Lens (announced in May) has finally come to the Google Assistant and Google Photos on Pixel phones. Lens can identify (or at least try to identify) what your camera is pointing to, from flower species to landmarks to works of art and movie posters. It can also scan bar codes and QR codes, and save and navigate to addresses, call phone numbers and add dates to your calendar.  There's no word when or if it will be available on other devices.
• In the wake of last week’s articles pointing to disturbing and spammy content seemingly aimed at kids, YouTube announced updated policies and improved enforcement. They are age-restricting and disabling monetization on some videos, removing thousands of others, and - as of last week - had terminated 50 channels under the new policies. But major advertisers are suspending their ad campaigns on Google, and it looks like YouTube still has work to do to regain their trust.
• Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales ongoing through Monday, November 27 (deals vary by market)
• $100 Project Fi credit if you purchase the Android One Moto X4
• Google Store Black Friday deals: Home, Home Mini, Chromecast, Daydream View, Wifi
• Black Friday deals on apps, music, movies, TV and books in the Google Play store
• 2017 Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals roundup from Android Police
• Best Cyber Monday deals (not only electronics)

Image: Why did the turkey cross the road? To prove he wasn’t a chicken!
“Oakland Turkey” by Doug Letterman on Flickr (Public Domain)

Upcoming:

• 28 November: Last day to share your #WinterWonderland themed Google+ post
• 28 November: Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout
• 30 November: Google Partners Academy on Air: DataStudio: Automate Your Reporting
• 1 December: YouTube Paid Channels will be made private
• 1 December: Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout
• 11 December: Support for Google Drive for Mac/PC ends
• 13 December: AdSense on Air: AdSense Policy: all you need to know
• 14 December: YouTube In-video notifications of a Featured Video or Playlist discontinued 

YouTube and Video Creation

• YouTube updates policies and enforcement to protect families on YouTube and YouTube Kids (YouTube blog)
• Adidas, Mars Among Brands To Suspend YouTube Campaigns In Response To Inappropriate Kids Videos (Tubefilter)
• YouTube TV gets picture-in-picture support on Android Oreo (The Verge)
• YouTube Will Remove More Extremist Videos With The Aid Of Government Lists (Tubefilter)
• Tip: Use an embedded playlist with custom parameters to display YouTube videos on any TV screen or monitor (Robert Wallis)

Go Live

• Sponsorships badges in YouTube Gaming Comments are now launched for all! (BarbaraEMac)
• Periscope to give (almost) all earnings to the Super Broadcasters program (Periscope)
• Instagram now lets you ask to join your friend's live video (Instagram blog)
• Facebook Live is the new Home Shopping Network (Wired)
• JTV usernames are now yours for the taking (Twitch Blog)

Google+

• Google+ announces “Post of the Week” series (McKenna Taylor)

Other social media

• Continuing Transparency on Russian Activity (Facebook Newsroom)

Google Photos and Mobile Photography

• Use Google Assistant to take a hands free group photo (Lifehacker)

Google for businesses

• Small business owners: The free Google My Business Basics course will help you create a listing that stands out (Google Partners)
• Google Is Quietly Building a Facebook Page Killer for Local Businesses (Adweek)
• Google Local Guides introduces four new badges: Reviewer, Photographer, Trailblazer, and Fact Finder (Google Local Guides)

Bloggers and Webmasters

• Duplicate Content SEO Advice From Google (Hobo)

AdSense and advertising

• AdSense on Air: Get your website mobile ready (AdSense)
• [Infographic] Are you ready for the holiday season? (AdSense Blog)
• Google Partners Academy on Air: Smart Bidding: Embrace the Future of Marketing (Google Partners)

Hangouts and Messaging

• @DasSurma tells the tale of his journey down the rabbit hole of WebRTC to @jaffathecake on #HTTP203 (Discussion on Twitter with Chrome Developers)
• Making Visual Messaging Even Better – Introducing High Resolution Photos in Facebook Messenger (Facebook Newsroom)

Made by Google, Android, Project Fi

• Google Lens + Assistant help you learn about what you're seeing (Google Blog)
• Google Assistant adds setting to manage calendars, default accounts on Google Home (9to5Google)

Privacy and Security

• How to protect your accounts against spearphishing attacks (The Nib)
• Android devices seen covertly sending location data to Google (TechCrunch)
• Firefox will soon flag sites that have been hacked (Engadget)

More around the web

• Slaughterbots (Stop Autonomous Weapons)
• How machines are learning to hear and understand sounds beyond speech and music (Nat & Friends)
• Research Blog: Understanding Medical Conversations (Research at Google blog)
• Payphones Still Make Millions of Dollars (Motherboard)
• How an unpaid UK researcher saved the Japanese seaweed industry (Ars Technica)
• Tune in for the world’s first Google Translate music tour (Google Blog)

Updated March 2019 to remove Google+ links