Notable in its absence is Currents, the successor to Google+. No new logo, and no mention in recent announcements about Google’s online workspace vision. While it did become available to all G Suite users in July, it doesn’t appear to have had any other updates beyond the removal of old Google+ features. That doesn’t look good.
Beyond the rebranding there are a number of new Meet features rolling out, including the redesigned Android app, breakout rooms, new security features and more.
Plus there are updates for YouTubers, webmasters, businesses and more.
YouTube
- YouTube Premium subscribers can test out new features. If you are interested, check out the link and see which tests are currently available.
- YouTube is testing a reminder in comments to “encourage respectful interactions.” If YouTube detects that you’ve written a potentially offensive comment, a reminder will pop up that will “give you a moment to reflect on your comment” and revise if you wish.
- YouTube is testing a way for creators to tag and track products they feature in a video. At some point in the future you might be able to shop while watching YouTube vids.
- YouTube NextUp is back on again, with applications for NextUp Japan due by October 27. Its creator camp will be held in December and January. This is the first in-person event YouTube is offering since the pandemic started.
More Creator Updates
- Spotify now lets artists, podcasters (or anyone) create Promo Cards. Use the Promo Cards for Artists site to create new cards featuring an artist, album, song, or podcast show or episode. No login required. The promo card can be downloaded and shared on social media.
- Patreon has apologized for recent site performance issues and outages. They say a team is working to make the site more stable
Webmasters and Bloggers
- AdSense is updating custom channels and URL channels for reports. They have a new look, and the “Targeting” checkbox has been removed, as advertisers no longer use them for targeted ad placement.
- Google is bringing Web Stories to “Discover”. The Google app for Android and iOS has a Discover tab with content it thinks you would like to see. The new Stories carousel will be visible to users in the US, India and Brazil at the top of Discover. To create Stories, Google suggests free web tools MakeStories and Newsroom AI, or Google’s own Web Story editor for WordPress.
- Danny Sullivan, Google’s Public Liaison for Search, has a new explainer for how Google Search autocomplete predictions are generated. What’s interesting is that they not only try to prevent offensive autocompletes, but also try to make sure that people don’t take the predictions as assertions of facts or opinions.
Communication
- Google Chat now shows read receipts for 1:1 conversations, and will be getting new security features and integration with Docs.
- There are now 3 different Google Workspace tiers of Meet features for smaller businesses. The good news is that it’s no longer necessary to have an Enterprise account to record Meet video meetings. And business accounts will soon be getting new features like breakout rooms, hand raising, and more.
- The updated version of the Google Meet Android app is rolling out. It has the same interface as Meet in the Gmail app.
- This week Meet launched breakout rooms for Enterprise for Education. You can create up to 100 breakout rooms for a call. Other features rolling out to Enterprise for Education customers include Polling, Q&A, and Attendance Reports. Breakout rooms will eventually be available to some non-Education Google Workspace users.
- Meet will be deeply integrated with Google’s workspace, with picture-in-picture coming to Gmail, Chat, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Plus there are new security features coming to prevent abusive participants from joining meetings.
- Google Fi, Google’s mobile service, now offers Samsung 5G phones (on sale!), in addition to the Pixel 4a(5G) and Pixel 5. See the announcement for Fi’s 5G coverage map.
Productivity
- Ben Collins has a nice overview of Area 120’s Google Tables, a new workflow tool. (Found via Paolo Amoroso’s excellent Practicing Google newsletter)
- You can now star threads in the new Google Groups. This was available in classic Groups, but it’s not clear if the conversations you starred in classic will automatically be available in new Groups (I just get a 500 error when I try to view my starred conversations).
Security
- Chrome has new security features. If it detects you are using a compromised password, it will take you to the password change page for that site. Enhanced safe browsing, which proactively protects you against phishing and malware sites is coming to Android. And on iOS devices Chrome Password manager lets you autofill saved passwords in iOS apps.
- Google is getting more proactive about alerting you to potential security issues with your account. Soon they will display an alert within the Google app you are using on your mobile device.
Social Media
- Instagram turned 10 this week, and you can take a look at how it evolved over the years. Plus they launched a few new features. You can view a map and calendar of all your Stories in your Stories archive. Reels now lets you save sounds to create with and find and share Reels that use the same audio, plus see trending songs. They also launched new anti-bullying features, expanding comment warnings and hiding more problematic comments.
- Facebook Creator Studio now lets you A/B test post variations before they are published.
- Pinterest is now integrated with Microsoft Collections in Edge. See suggestions from Pinterest related to your Collections, and export back to Pinterest.
- Twitter is testing a new “suggested follows” option on Android. When you follow someone, Twitter will recommend a group of “relevant” accounts with a single tap.
- With President Trump’s COVID-19 diagnosis, Twitter posted a reminder that it’s against policy to wish other users death, serious harm, or fatal disease.That has brought on some backlash from users who point out that this policy has not been consistently enforced, to put it mildly.
Things to see and do
- This weekend is (virtual) NYC Comic-con. You can watch panels and announcements on YouTube.
- October 16-18 is the Save our Stages Fest (#SOSFest), a fundraiser to support independent concert venues in the US. YouTube Music is partnering with the National Independent Venue Association to live stream original performances with a number of artists.
- Zoomtopia 2020, Zoom’s annual user conference, is October 14-15. Zoom has a guide to the virtual event, which includes more than 90 sessions. Register for free.
Image: Photo by Matt Hardy from Pexels. Free to use.
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