It’s summertime, summertime, sum sum summertime! The sun is shining, temperatures are rising and there are sexy new options for advertisers. Plus updates for YouTubers, business owners, webmasters and anyone interested in Google’s messaging options.
- Hangouts on Air will be going away in 2019. That’s not new news, but YouTube has brought that to more folks’ attention by adding a notice when you click the Start Broadcasting button. YouTube suggests you use their simple webcam live streaming, but that lacks screen sharing and the option to have others join you in the broadcast. I’ve shared some suggestions for alternatives here.
- YouTube held YouTube Analytics Day, to introduce everyone to the new YouTube Analytics in Studio. Hopefully you gave it a try and submitted feedback about what classic features you are missing in YouTube Studio. Classic YouTube Analytics will be going away, so it’s important to let YouTube know what features you need.
- Google has introduced “AR Beauty Try-On” a new augmented reality ad on YouTube, which lets viewers try out lipstick and other cosmetics while they are watching makeup tutorials. If you think your channel would be a good fit, it’s available through Famebit by YouTube.
- There is also a new Live Stream “Display & Video 360” ad format that lets brands promote their live streams in Google display ads. “ People can preview your live stream, watch full screen, and exit when they’re done, giving them full control over how they interact with your content.” This format is in limited beta, and if you are interested you should contact your Display & Video 360 account manager.
- And if all the new advertising options seem confusing, check out the new Create with Google site, which gives resources and tips for using Google’s platforms and tools, including YouTube and ARCore, to create your next advertising campaign. I personally find it annoying that “Create” and “Creators” has been co-opted for advertisers, but I guess that’s what pays the bills.
- It’s now easier to present with Google Slides. You can easily resize the upcoming slides and speaker notes, and navigate with new keyboard shortcuts.
- Just in time for summer parties. YouTube and Universal Music Group worked together to remaster more than 100 classic music videos, from a range of artists, including Tom Petty, Beastie Boys, Kiss, Lady Gaga, Janet Jackson and many more.
- Google Search Console is removing the “preferred domain” setting. You can still tell Google which URL to use, by using a sitemap, canonical tags ("rel=canonical"), or 301 redirects from removed URLs.
- If you are still using Flash on your website, it’s really time for an update. Chrome 76 will have Flash disabled by default. Users can enable Flash in their Chrome Settings (chrome://settings/content/flash), but most people probably won’t do that. Adobe will stop updating and distributing the Flash Player at the end of 2020, but why wait? Get rid of any Flash widgets, gadgets, games or video players on your site sooner, rather than later.
- The official Google Chromebook App hub is aimed at educators and students, but it links apps and provides tips useful for any Chromebook user.
- Google shared "some ideas for approaching oversight of content-sharing platforms" based on their experiences. They called for Clarity (create and enforce clear content policies), Suitability (different platforms and services will need different policies), Transparency (to promote accountability), Flexibility (no “one-size-fits-all mandates”), Overall Quality (recognition of progress towards reducing the visibility of problematic content), and Cooperation (international coordination of broad principals and practices). The target audience for this seems to be government regulatory bodies and lawmakers. Google clearly wants to be a leader in helping define any regulations that affect their “content-sharing platforms” like YouTube.
- The Verge’s Casey Newton published another expose of poor working conditions for Facebook’s content moderators, this time in Florida. They are employed by Cognizant, which is accused of misleading potential hires about the nature of the work. And the working conditions are grim, even beyond having to view violent and disturbing content day-in day-out. Worth reading to learn about what’s happening behind the scenes.
- Last December, Google provided more details about their messaging strategy. There’s Hangouts Meet & Chat for businesses and Duo for consumer video calling. Allo, the messaging app with built-in Google Assistant, didn’t make the cut. Instead they are focusing on RCS Chat, an “upgraded” form of SMS. The drawback is that RCS must be enabled by phone carriers. Google is working with them, but it has been taking a long time and still isn’t available to many users. But that will be changing. Starting next month, Android users in the UK and France will be able to opt in to RCS provided directly by Google, which should speed up adoption.
- It’s now easier for developers create bots for Hangouts Chat using Dialogflow. And Google is building a blog catalog inside Chat to make it easier to find bots. Chat is currently only available to G Suite users, but consumer users will eventually be migrated to Chat from the classic Hangouts platform.
- Another week, another negative news story that Google had to respond to. This week, the Wall Street Journal published an investigation into the millions of fake business listings on Google Maps, some of which were originally real listings that were hijacked by scammers. Google responded by outlining the steps they have been taking to fight fake listings, which included more than 3 million business profiles removed last year. If you see a fake business on Google Maps, you can flag the business for removal. Multiple misleading or fraudulent business listings can be submitted at once using the Business Redressal Complaint Form.
- Google also posted an overview of Google My Business features that business owners can use to connect with customers. If you have a US business on Google Maps, you can also download and order signs, stickers, posters and social images in a Google My Business Marketing Kit.
- Lyrics site Genius told the Wall Street Journal that they had caught Google displaying lyrics copied from their site in the Google search results. Their claim is based on embedded hidden code in the lyrics text that use Morse Code to spell out “red handed”. That code appeared in the Google search version. It turns out that Google gets their lyrics from third party LyricFind, which has admitted to having content copied from Genius in their database. It’s not clear if there is any legal liability here, since neither Genius, nor LyricFind, nor Google are the copyright holders.
- As most of you readers probably know, I’m a Google Gold Product Expert for AdSense, Blogger, YouTube, Hangouts and Google Fi. If you are wondering what that’s like, check out this interview with Google My Business Gold Product Expert Ben Fisher.
Read on for more updates and tips for video creators, business owners, webmasters and more.
YouTube and Video Creation
Go Live
Social Media: Facebook and Instagram
Social Media: Twitter
Other Social Media
Google Photos and Photo Sharing
Google for Businesses
Bloggers and Webmasters
AdSense and Advertising
Hangouts, Meetings and Messaging
Made by Google, Android, Google Fi
Productivity
Privacy and Security
More around the web
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