Stay cool everyone!
Show who you are
- Google has introduced People Cards in the Google Search results. The idea is that someone searching for your name will see a “virtual visiting card” with information about you, including your Google profile photo, links to your website and social media profiles, and contact information. Google search will show multiple Cards in the results if there are multiple people with the same name. Currently this is only available to users in India with their language set to English. Learn more.
- Instagram will start “asking people to confirm who’s behind an account when [they] see a pattern of potential inauthentic behavior”. They say most accounts will not be affected.
- Twitter has added a translate button on profile bios in a language different from your language settings. Available only in the iOS and Android mobile app.
Bloggers and Webmasters
- In the latest update from Blogger about the transition to the new interface, we got a bit of background on why they can’t just keep the legacy interface around: “The legacy interface runs on very old technical infrastructure that is about to be turned off.” There is more at the link about recent updates and how Blogger uses your feedback.
- Google Webmasters is running a “virtual unconference” on August 26. This isn’t just watching presentations. Participants choose which sessions to attend and become an active part of. Apply by August 19th.
- Google Webmasters Rich Results Test tool can now check Article structured data on your website.Learn more about Rich Results and Google Search Console.
- WordPress 5.5 is now available, with lazy loading images, the option for auto-updates to plugins and themes, and more.
Advertising
- AdSense is removing Western Union as a payment option. It is no longer possible to select Western Union for payments. If you are currently receiving payments via Western Union, you will have to switch to a different payment method by early next year. AdSense will let you know when that change is required, but they recommend doing so sooner, rather than later.
- If you run ads on your website, and are using IAB Europe’s Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) v.1.0, you need to update your code to TCF v.2.0 (see the troubleshooting information for assistance). As an alternative you can use the Google Ad Manager or AdSense Ad Technology Provider tools.
Communication
- Google Meet now lets you choose to view yourself during a video meeting.
- G Suite for Education users will be able to automatically block people if they reject a “knock” (request to join) twice. And if participants are ejected, they will not be able to rejoin the meeting.This update is available only for G Suite for Education and G Suite Enterprise for Education users.
- Google announced a timeline for the launch of new Meet video call features for G Suite for Education In September there will be new moderator controls, a larger 7x7 grid view, and Jamboard collaboration. Scheduled for October is background blurring and replacement, attendance tracking, and breakout rooms. And later will be hand-raising and Q&A tools. Breakout rooms and attendance tracking will launch for G Suite Enterprise for Education only. However, I think it’s likely some of these features will be available for G Suite for Business and personal accounts. Telegram has launched video calls. The calls are end-to-end encrypted, and group calling will be available in the coming months.
Video Creators
You can now use the Vimeo Create tool to create and publish videos to Pinterest.
Jukin Media has launched a self-service program that makes it easy to license any of the 65,000 viral video clips it manages. If you are interested, check out their FAQ.
Productivity
- The new G Suite “Home for Work” is rolling out on the web and Android devices.Gmail is the central hub, with new integration with Meet, Chat and Rooms. You can open and co-edit a document with your team without leaving Gmail. And there are new tools like integration with Google Tasks. This is currently for G Suite users only. Learn how to use the new integrated Gmail.
Business
- Google has made it easier to update your business information in Google Maps and Search, and is providing more stats and insights to help you understand how your business is performing.
- Facebook Pages for businesses and creators can now create paid online events through Facebook Live. Your Page must be in a supported country that meets the partner monetization policies to start charging for online events. Facebook will not collect any fee from the paid events for at least the next year.
Chrome
- Good news if you are currently using the Hangouts Chrome app (or any other Chrome app), they just got a reprieve. Support for Chrome apps for Windows, MacOS and Linux has been extended to June 2021, and for Chromebooks until June 2022. This gives developers and users another year before the Chrome apps are retired. Note that this does not affect Chrome Extensions, which will not be going away.
- Google is running an experiment in Chrome 86, where a subset of users will have the full URL of a web page hidden. Only the domain will show by default, although the full URL can be viewed on hover, and you can turn the experiment off if you always want to see the full URL in the address bar.
More
- The Google Lookout app for the visually impaired can now read food labels and scan documents. The app is available in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish on Android 6.0+ devices with at least 2GB RAM.
- Google collaborated with the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) to send earthquake alerts directly to Android devices in California. It uses the ShakeAlert early warning system for the west coast of the US. And all Android phones can be part of the Android Earthquake Alerts System to help detect earthquakes around the world.
- Twitter now lets you limit who can reply to your Tweets. You can limit replies to the people you follow, the people you mention in the Tweet, or no one at all. This doesn’t prevent anyone from retweeting or sharing.
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