Weekly Update - January 4, 2020: We are 5, YouTube, CCPA

This week my “Weekly Update” turns 5! It started off as just a short list of links, mostly to posts I had made on Google+. Over the years it expanded in scope, and I started writing up a summary of the week’s updates and changes. Thank you for reading!

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As we are just a few days into the new year, there aren’t many updates this week.

• ICYMI: for a look at the changes in 2019, check out my annual review of updates for creators using YouTube, Blogger, AdSense, Hangouts, Google+, and other Google products. Plus I posted my personal reflections on the year.
• 2020 is upon us, and with it, new regulations. The mostly-finished (!) California Consumer Privacy Act goes into effect: make sure your website is ready, and check your AdSense settings. This is bound to cause ripple effects, as businesses, like Mozilla, are making changes available to all users, no matter the location. Facebook, of course, has special privacy information just for Californians - they will never sell my data (sure), but they share it with a *lot* of other entities.
• This month YouTube makes changes to the features available on content “made for kids” - if you are confused, this video is meant to answer frequent questions.
• In the US, copyrighted works from 1924 entered the public domain. That includes some classic books, movies, and music.
• AdSense is updating the Google Publisher Restrictions to make clearer what is meant by “online gambling”. If that may affect your website, keep an eye out for the update, sometime in January.
• A reminder from my fellow Blogger Product Expert Adam, that by trying out the new Blogger and submitting feedback, this is your chance to help influence how the interface will work for years to come!
• YouTube’s Creator Insider posted their own “Rewind” for 2019, covering their most popular videos of the year, plus some related background and updates.
• Facebook has added some new features to Instant Articles for publishers making it easier for readers to view other headlines from the same publisher and improved placement of “call to action” buttons and ads. There is now also support for Instant Article links in Facebook Stories.

Read on for more news, updates and tips for business owners, webmasters and more.

Image: Balloons in Party Colors by Atturi_Mantysaari on Pixabay, Free for commercial use

Upcoming

• January 6: Last day to submit your photos to Flickr Your Best Shot 2019
• January 15: Apply to be an Adobe Creative Resident
• Early 2020: AdSense discontinuing mobile apps

YouTube and Video Creation

• Last Newsflash of 2019! (Creator Insider)
• 2019 REWIND: Creator Insider Style! (Creator Insider)
• YouTube Says It Made “Wrong Call” In Removal Of Hundreds Of Cryptocurrency Videos (TubeFilter)
• FAQ: How do videos get into the YouTube Kids app? (TeamYouTube)

Go Live

• How Twitch started to lose its grip on video game streaming (Engadget)

Social Media: Facebook and Instagram

• With Instagram Layout you can capture and share multiple photos in your Story (Instagram)
• Facebook Introduces Enhancements to Instant Articles for Publishers (Facebook Newsroom)
• Facebook Removes Option to Create a Messenger Account Without a Facebook Profile (Social Media Today)

Other Social Media

• Snapchat's Coming 'Bitmoji TV' Will Feature Your Bitmoji Character in an Animated Series (Social Media Today)

Google Photos and Photo Sharing

• AI: Diving into Portrait mode improvements (Nackblog)

Google for Businesses

• GMB Clarifies Guidelines on Virtual Offices (Sterling Sky)
• Does Getting a Google My Business Suspension Impact Ranking? (Joy Hawkins)
• Protect Your Restaurants Google Listing from Menu Provider Hijack (Online Ownership)
• Can I Stop People From Adding Images to My Google My Business (GMB) Listing? (Sterling Sky)
• Do Businesses Really Use Google My Business Posts? A Case Study (Moz)

Bloggers and Webmasters

• Crowdsourcing the "New Blogger" (Too Clever By Half)
• URL inspection: What SEOs need to know #AskGoogleWebmasters (Google Webmasters on YouTube)
• Common SEO Questions - Holiday Special #AskGoogleWebmasters (Google Webmasters on YouTube)
• SEO year in review 2019: Zero-click searches, BERT, local spam and more (Search Engine Land)
• English Google Webmaster Central office-hours from December 27, 2019 (Google Webmasters on YouTube)

AdSense and Advertising

• Google Ads to end customer support via social Jan 1, 2020 (Search Engine Land)

Made by Google, Android, Google Fi

• Chrome OS 80: How to sideload Android apps to a Chromebook (About Chromebooks)

Productivity

• Google News is killing off digital magazines, refunds all active subscriptions (Android Police)

Privacy and Security

• Mozilla: All Firefox users get California's CCPA privacy rights to delete personal data | ZDNet

More around the web

• Preserving Open Source Software with GitHub's Arctic Vault (GitHub)
• The Old Internet Died And We Watched And Did Nothing (BuzzFeed News)
• The Cost Of Being A Woman Who Covers Video Games (Kotaku)
• Using AI to improve breast cancer screening (Google)
• Reflections and resolutions for a healthier 2020 (Google)