Weekly Update - March 7, 2020: Coronavirus-related Policies, Hangouts Meet Premium, Pixel Feature Drop

This week felt like it was all about coronavirus: there were more cancelled conferences (including Google I/O) and policy updates from Google, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to try to help prevent the spread of misinformation. Google is offering premium Hangouts Meet features to all G Suite customers. And there are a bunch of neat new features for Pixel phones.

If you are in Nashville, uBreakiFix and Asurian are offering free screen repairs for Google, Apple and Samsung phones through March.

Coronavirus-related updates

The in-person portion of Google Cloud Next ‘20 has been cancelled, and the conference has been transformed into Google Cloud Next ‘20: Digital Connect. It will still take place April 6-8, and will be a “free, global, digital-first, multi-day event connecting our attendees to Next ’20 content and each other through streamed keynotes, breakout sessions, interactive learning and digital “ask an expert” sessions with Google teams.” There are sessions ranging from using AI and machine learning for your organization to data analysis and using G Suite tools for productivity and collaboration. You can register now.
Google I/O - scheduled for mid-May - was also cancelled this week.Google says they will “explore other ways to evolve Google I/O to best connect with our developer community.” I’m hoping for online sessions.
The in-person portion of the Adobe Summit - scheduled for the last week in March - has also been cancelled, and instead will be an online event. There aren’t any details yet on how that will be managed, or if it will be free.
Google and YouTube have clarified their policies around content and ads relating to the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). YouTube is removing videos that promise a cure, highlighting authoritative news channels in search, and not allowing monetization of videos with any sort of coronavirus-related content (although they may rethink that). Google Ads is also blocking ads that try to re and there is a SOS alert in Google search where you can find information and resources.
It’s not just Google that is implementing policy changes. Both Facebook and Twitter shared the steps they are taking to try to prevent the spread of misinformation around the coronavirus.
Reddit is hosting a series of AMAs with health experts about COVID-19

Product Updates

Google is offering “premium” Hangouts Meet features to all G Suite customers until July 1st. These features include video calls with up to 250 participants, recording meetings to Google Drive, and live streaming within your organization. These features are usually only available to Enterprise level accounts, but for the next few months will be available to Education, Basic and Business G Suite Accounts. While only G Suite users can schedule or initiate a Meet video call, invitees don’t even need a Google account to join the meeting.
If you use the Android YouTube app, you can now filter your subscription feed to see one channel’s latest updates at a time.
Google will be switching to mobile-first indexing for all websites in September. Google recommends you make sure your site’s content shown on mobile is the same (including text, images, videos, links) as on your desktop site, and that meta data (titles and descriptions, robots meta tags) and all structured data is the same. Check out Google’s mobile-first indexing best practices to make sure your site is ready.
Google Assistant can now read web pages aloud in 42 languages. If you have a website, and do not want the Assistant to be able to read it, add the “nopagereadalound” meta tag to your site.
New features are rolling out to Pixel phones: There are new AR effects for Google Duo, more emoji, and customizable Rules based on WiFi network or physical location. Live Caption is now available to Pixel 2 phones. Plus Pixel 4 users will be able to access Google Pay using the power button, and in the UK and Australia are getting crash detection in the Personal Safety app. Check out the link for more details.

Read on for more tips and updates for video conferencing, YouTube creators, webmasters and more.

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Image: Colorful powders, street market Nepal from Pexels from Pixabay on Canva (free to use). Monday, March 9 is Holi, the Hindu Festival of Colors. Do a Google search for Holi, and you’ll find events near you and a cute surprise.

Upcoming

March 12: Deadline to apply for YouTube NextUp for Beauty Creators India
March 16-17: Game Developers Conference postponed. Google for Games at GDC will be offering a “digital experience”.
March 29-April 2: Adobe Summit 2020 – Digital Experience Conference (Online event)

Made by Google, Android, Google Fi

Productivity

G Suite and Adobe team up to keep creative professionals in sync(Google Cloud)
Adobe and Google Cloud Announce an Integration for Creative Cloud and Gmail (Adobe)
Easier access to web pages: Let the Assistant read it aloud (Google)
Chrome 80 update for Android , Desktop, and Chrome OS (Chrome Releases)
What’s new in Chrome OS: Ambient EQ and a new way to watch Netflix (Google)

Privacy and Security

More around the web

Getting Closer on Dot Org? (Mozilla)
Under Lockdown and Quarantine, China’s Punk Rock Bands Are Taking the Mosh Pit Online (Hyperallergic)
Coronavirus: How we’re helping (Google)
A Crash Course in Remote Management (Automattic)
Fighting the “Misinformation Apocalypse” with Hany Farid (Nackblog)
Hey Google, tell me about an inspiring woman (Google)

Peggy K's Creator News

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