March is done, and April is upon us. Happy Easter weekend to you who celebrate! This week we said hello to new features in Google+ and YouTube, and goodbye to Picasa, plus much more.
Image: Pi-easter-eggs-2168521 by zhrefch on Flickr (Public Domain)
- Google+ introduced a new features that lets you subscribe to highlights from Communities and Collections. Instead of getting notified of all new posts, you will get a daily digest of the “top” new content.
- Google+ is also continuing to work towards making the same features available across all platforms. Both Android and iOS Google+ apps now let Community moderators remove, report, ban and optionally remove recent content with just a few clicks.
- YouTube will be launching an ads policy compliance confirmation checkbox for monetizing videos - no more accidentally (or “accidentally”) monetizing non-advertiser friendly content. This puts the burden on Creators to make sure that their videos follow the Partner Program policies, rather than counting on YouTube to not display ads on videos that shouldn’t have them.
- The Picasa desktop app can no longer go online, upload or download images. Google officially stopped supporting Picasa two years ago, so this change shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. At least for the time being you can use Picasa as an offline photo organizer and editor. If this affects you, check out the guide from the experts over in the Picasa help forum for switching to Google Photos.
- Google and Apple have both introduced duling tablets aimed at students and the education market. Google announced Chromebook tablets, with an emphasis on security, easy controls for administrators, durability and a wide range of apps. Meanwhile Apple hosted an education event where they announced a new iPad with Pencil support, and a new suite of apps aimed at students and teachers. Apple emphasizes the creative possibilities using their hardware. It looks like the price will be about the same, so the question is which hardware and software ecosystem schools choose to adopt.
- YouTube had one of the biggest gaming live stream events of all time. elrubiusOMG, a Spanish gamer, organized a global Fortnite tournament. At one point his livestream had 1.1 million concurrent viewers. And across the 99 channels that participated, there were more than 42 million live views. That's not the biggest live stream audience - the Space X rocket launches can have more than 2 million viewers - but it tops other gaming live streams.
Image: Pi-easter-eggs-2168521 by zhrefch on Flickr (Public Domain)
Upcoming:
- 3 April: Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout
- 4 April: H&M Show: Learn about VidIQ with Rob Wilson
- 6 April: Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout
- 11 April: H&M Show: Learn about Google Voice with Dencil Smith
- mid-April: updated YouTube firearms policy goes into effect
YouTube and Video Creation
- The YouTube Android app video player now automatically adapts to the shape of the video you're watching (YouTube)
- YouTube will be launching an ads policy compliance confirmation checkbox for monetizing videos (Creator Insider)
- How YouTube notifications work (Creator Insider)
- YouTube introduces new Silver and Gold Creator Awards, for eligible channels that play by the rules (YouTube)
- Add a Manager to your YouTube Channel (video)
- AVI technology will improve your streaming video by 30 percent (CNET)
- YouTube and Pinterest Influencers Almost Never Disclose Marketing Relationships (WIRED)
- PornHub is being touted as a real, possible YouTube alternative (Polygon)
Go Live
- Fortnite livestream with 100 YouTubers draws in more than 1M viewers (Polygon)
- Periscope introduces Timestamps, to share the best part of a live broadcast or replay (Periscope)
- Get insider tips on YouTube Live: new features, notifications, making money and more (Creator Insider)
- Unlock your stream’s full potential with Extensions, now on Twitch mobile apps (Twitch Blog)
Google+
- New Google+ feature: subscribe to highlights from Communities and Collections (Leo Deegan)
- Google+ mobile update: Community moderators can remove, report, ban and optionally remove recent content with just a couple of clicks (Leo Deegan)
- Add a Manager to your Google+ Page (video)
- Top Google+ #CreateConnections Tips from cook and food writer maria nasir (Rachel Bakker)
Other social media
- Social Media Use 2018: Demographics and Statistics (Pew Internet)
- Bitly introduces HTTPS for all Bitlinks; adds SSO and account permission options for Enterprise (Bitly)
- Facebook scraped call, text message data for years from Android phones [Updated] (Ars Technica)
- It’s Time to Make Our Privacy Tools Easier to Find (Facebook Newsroom)
- Fact Check: Your Call and SMS History(Facebook Newsroom)
- It was not consent, it was concealment by Facebook (TechCrunch)
- Facebook Wants Security Researchers to Hunt Down Apps That Misuse User Data (Bleeping Computer)
- PSA: Instagram Uses All Your Facebook Data, Too (Buzzfeed)
Google Photos and Mobile Photography
- The Picasa desktop app can no longer go online, upload or download images (Picasa)
- Google Clips can now take high-resolution photos (The Verge)
Google for businesses
- Google Pushes Full Release of New Location Dashboard & Improved Q & A Notifications (Mike Blumenthal)
- The “Business Description” Returns to Google My Business: What You Need To Know (Sterling Sky)
- H&M Show: Learn about Google Local Guides with William Rock
Bloggers and Webmasters
- Google has started migrating sites to mobile-first search indexing (Google Webmasters)
- Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout (March 27) (Google Webmasters)
- I am John Mueller, Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google. AMA. (r/TechSEO)
AdSense and advertising
- AdSense and the Better Ads Standards (AdSense)
- How AdSense policies and enforcement work (AdSense)
- Waze officially launches its ad program for small businesses (TechCrunch)
- Google Partners 'Discover' - Digital Transformation: Audience
Hangouts and Messaging
- Get your messages seen and keep up on your chats (Skype blog)
Made by Google, Android, Project Fi
- Google is blocking uncertified devices from running Google apps, but it will make an exception for custom ROMs (The Verge)
- Google Home and Bluetooth speakers make the perfect pair (Google Blog)
- Wear OS by Google developer preview (Android Developers Blog)
Productivity
- Set YouTube videos to auto-play in your Google Slides presentation (Google Docs)
- Google Maps learns 39 new languages (Google Blog)
- Google launches more realistic text-to-speech service powered by DeepMind’s AI (The Verge)
- Google acquires Tenor to make it easier to find and share GIFs (Google Blog)
- New ways to read more with audiobooks from Google Play (Google Blog)
- Google Play helps you find what to watch and where to watch it (Google Blog)
- Bing Launches More Intelligent Search Features (Bing Blog)
Tablets and Education
- Chromebook tablets for versatile learning (Google Blog)
- Apple wants to sell more iPads to schools, but Google already owns the education market (Recode)
- The 5 biggest announcements from the Apple education event (The Verge)
- Apple leans on multimedia to convince schools that iPads are better than Chromebooks (The Verge)
- Apple’s bringing digital book creations to the Pages app on the iPad (The Verge)
- Apple remembered iWork exists (The Verge)
Privacy and Security
More around the web
- Microsoft to ban 'offensive language' from Skype, Xbox, Office (CSO Online)
- Who Does She Think She Is? (Laurie Penny)
- What I Learned From the Fall of Ellen Pao (Dame Magazine)
- Google x-ray project shows AI won’t replace doctors any time soon (MIT Technology Review)
- Please stop calling dopamine the ‘pleasure chemical’ (The Verge)Chinese police are using AI to ticket people for jaywalking (Daily Dot)
Updated March 2019 to remove Google+ links
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