- There is now a timeline for the shutdown of the Google+ API. While it will stop working entirely on March 7th, there may be “intermittent failures” as early as January 28th. If you are a blog owner or webmaster, it’s time to remove any Google+ plugins such as Google+ badges, +1, share or follow buttons, and embedded posts. The API will also stop working for social media management services like Buffer and Hootsuite.
- Romain Vialard has shared instructions for exporting all the data from a Google+ Community and importing into Firebase.
- The New York Times reported that Facebook “gave some of the world’s largest technology companies more intrusive access to users’ personal data than it has disclosed, effectively exempting those business partners from its usual privacy rules.” Those partners included big tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Spotify, Neflix and Yahoo, which in some cases could access private messages and friends lists. Now it isn’t clear that they did access any of that information, and Facebook says that users gave permission by using Facebook login or otherwise linking their Facebook accounts to those other sites. The question remains whether users understood what they were consenting to.
- Tumblr posted a clarification of their new “most adult content not permitted” policy that included examples of images with nudity that would be allowed. Gizmodo (and others) re-posted those permitted examples, and they were immediately flagged and hidden by Tumblr’s filters. Tumblr does say that they will continue to improve the automated tools, with the help of users flagging non-permitted content and appealing incorrectly flagged content.
- Google Account Settings (myaccount.google.com) got a new Material Design makeover and improved navigation, making it easier to find your privacy and security settings
- YouTube on desktop now has a Library page with your watch history, watch later playlist, purchases and more.
- You can find the YouTube desktop keyboard navigation shortcuts by clicking your channel icon at top right, and selecting “Keyboard Shortcuts” from the menu.
- YouTube now lets you add stereo music or narration to VR videos, so you can have both the immersive spatial audio in addition to the music or voice-over.
- YouTube is supporting journalism through the Google News Initiative (GNI). News organizations from around the world submitted proposals, and this week YouTube announced 87 funded projects from 23 countries. Projects include expanding newsroom video operations, and new ways of reporting news through video, training citizen journalists, rights management and more.
- Google Photos albums can now hold up to 20,000 images, up from 10,000 images. That’s a big deal if you’re using the “Live Albums” option to automatically create albums of specific people or pets.
- The Gboard keyboard for Android now supports more than 500 language varieties using more than 40 writing systems, from Abkhaz to Zulu.
Some Christmas fun
- If you like to track Santa’s whereabouts using the NORAD Santa Tracker, you’ll be happy to know that it will continue tracking even in the face of the partial US government shutdown.
- Santa is now sharing his location with you in the Google Maps app!
- You can call Santa on your Google Home or using Google Assistant on your favorite device
- Go Home Alone Again with the Google Assistant—ya filthy animal
- If you are in the US, there is still the chance to get a free copy of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey for PC. Sign up for Project Stream before the end of it’s test period on January 15th (not Christmas, but it is fun).
- Google Fi has shared a gift - a game for everyone, and a special present for Fi customers.
- Test your search trends knowledge with Google’s Game of the Year ‘18
Image: Christmas wreath on my door, by me. Merry Christmas!
Upcoming
- January 2019: Picasa Web Album Data API Turned Down, including Picasa slide show widget
- January 7: Google Calendar SMS notifications removed
- January 8: Free Flickr accounts will be limited to 1000 photos or videos
- January 15: Annotations removed from YouTube videos
- January 15: YouTube “Shows” playlists converted to regular playlists, “Movies” become standard videos
- January 31: YouTube Video Credits removed
YouTube and Video Creation
- YouTube desktop release notes [12/6] (YouTube)
- YouTube desktop release notes [12/14] (YouTube)
- Subs De-spam, YT's Transparency Report, Better funnel metrics in Studio & MORE | YouTube Newsflash (Creator Insider)
- Add stereo music or narration to VR videos (YouTube Engineering and Developers blog)
- Google denies altering YouTube code to break Microsoft Edge (The Verge)
- Google News Initiative (GNI) YouTube innovation funding: supporting 87 news organizations in 23 countries to build video capabilities and innovate with new formats (YouTube)
- The problem with YouTube Rewind (Marques Brownlee)
Go Live
Google+
- Update on the Google+ API for developers and website owners
- Google+ APIs shutting down March 7, 2019 (Google Developers)
- Google+ community migration to Firebase tutorial (Romain Vialard)
Other social media
- Becoming an influencer: fake it til you make it (The Atlantic)
- Snapchat launches Lens Challenges akin to TikTok, Instagram (The Verge)
- Tumblr clarifies their new content policy (Tumblr)
- Tumblr’s porn filter flags its own examples of “permitted” nudity (Gizmodo)
- Archivists Say Tumblr IP Banned Them For Trying to Preserve Adult Content (Motherboard)
- Twitter is relaunching the reverse-chronological feed as an option for all users starting today (The Verge)
- New Ways to Interact on Instagram: Music and interactive stickers in Stories (Instagram)
- A timeline of Facebook’s scandals in 2018 (BuzzFeed News)
- As Facebook raised a privacy wall, it carved an opening for tech giants (New York Times)
- Let’s Clear Up a Few Things About Facebook’s Partners (Facebook Newsroom)
- Facebook defends allowing third parties access to user messages (TechCrunch)
- Facebook “partner” arrangements: Are they as bad as they look? (Ars Technica)
- Apps are revealing your private information to Facebook and you probably don’t know it (BuzzFeed News)
- Privacy Badger rolls out new ways to fight Facebook tracking (EFF)
- Facebook still hasn’t launched a big privacy feature that Mark Zuckerberg promised more than seven months ago (recode)
Google Photos and Mobile Photography
- Google Photos bumps album limit up to 20,000 pictures and videos (Android Police)
- Creative Commons CEO Ryan Merkley talks about photography, licensing options, and CC Search (Flickr Blog)
Google for businesses
- Google My Business launch: Insights for Branded Searches (GMB)
- Google My Business launch: Items in Product Editor added by merchants (GMB)
- Stop Spamming Businesses Google #StopCrapOnTheMap Event (Online Ownership)
Bloggers and Webmasters
- Google Webmaster Central Office Hours Hangout (December 21) (Google Webmasters)
AdSense and advertising
- 2018 rewind: A look back at the top stories, moments and research with Google Ad Manager (Google Ad Manager)
- A Look Back at 2018 with Google Marketing Platform (Google Marketing Platform)
Hangouts and Messaging
Made by Google, Android, Google Fi
- Android Pie à la mode: Security & Privacy (Google Online Security Blog)
- Ending the year on a Fi note (Google)
- In reviews we trust — Making Google Play ratings and reviews more trustworthy (ANdroid Developers)
- Wrapping up for 2018 with Google Play and Android (Android Developers)
Productivity
- Share files more easily with non-Google accounts in Drive Beta (G Suite Updates)
- Mapping stories with a new Street View Trekker (Google)
- For the holidays and beyond, your travel planning guide is here (Google)
- Gboard now supports >500 language varieties on Android, 90% of the world can type in their first language (Google)
- Google Assistant notes and lists are live for some, still no Keep integration though (Android Police)
- Chrome for Android Update (Chrome 71) (Chrome Releases)
Privacy and Security
- Android Pie à la mode: Security & Privacy (Google Online Security Blog)
- Google Account settings get a makeover: new Material Design look, more visible security options, summaries of your account information (via Android Police)
- Microsoft issues emergency update to fix critical IE flaw under active exploit (Ars Technica)
More around the web
- Gladys West, a Pioneer of GPS Technology, Receives One of the Air Force's Highest Honors (Mental Floss)
- Spotify settles $1.6 Billion lawsuit for copyright infringement (Complex)
- Internal sources say googler uprising has killed Google's plans to launch a censored, spying Chinese search engine (BoingBoing)
- To stop terror content online, tech companies need to work together (Google)
- Using data and Machine Learning to better track wildfire and assess its threat levels (Google)
- How Google worked to make AI for everyone in 2018 (Google)
- Google AI Principles updates, six months in (Google)
- Verizon Media Group will replace the Oath brand, which includes Yahoo and AOL (Verizon)
Updated March 2019 to remove Google+ and YouTube forum links
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Spam and personal attacks are not allowed. Any comment may be removed at my own discretion ~ Peggy