Weekly Update - November 14, 2020: Photos, Docs, YouTube

TANSTAAFL is the word of the week. Next year Google will start counting new Google Photos uploads, Docs, and Sheets towards your account’s storage quota. In other news, Twitch’s lack of copyright enforcement tools is hurting creators. And YouTube will be skipping a celebratory “Rewind” video this year. Plus there are updates for private video sharing on YouTube, a new “Google Search Central” site for webmasters, new Chat features and more.

This week

• Tomorrow, November 15, I will be hosting a blogging basics workshop through Tangi. It’s free, but you need to sign up in the Tangi mobile app, which is unfortunately not currently available in the EU or Brazil. I hope to see some of you there!
• Happy Diwali! Celebrate the Indian festival of lights online: Google Arts & Culture has a virtual Diwali experience with AR lamps and firecrackers; video tutorial platform Tangi has a Diwali creator challenge sponsored by Mason & Co chocolate, and there are new Diwali AR filters on Instagram.
• If you are a prolific content creator, check out this part-time job opportunity with the Google Web Creators team. You would be creating content, helping build community and trying out new tools and formats.

Google Storage

• Starting June 1, 2021, all photos backed up to Google Photos after that date - no matter the quality setting - will count towards your Google storage quota (15 GB free). The same is true for any Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms or Jamboards created or edited after that date. This does not affect YouTube, Blogger or Google Sites; photos and videos backed up prior to June 1; or photos and videos backed up from a Pixel 1-5.
  
  You’ll find more details at the link, including how to see how much storage you have left in your account. Note that this move probably should not have come as a complete surprise, as people upload 4.3 million GB to Gmail, Drive and Photos every day and storage isn’t free, even if it is cheap.

YouTube and Video

• There will be no YouTube Rewind this year. Rewind is YouTube’s annual celebration of top creators and trends of the past year. They noted "2020 has been different. And it doesn't feel right to carry on as if it weren't." I am a bit disappointed they aren’t using this as an opportunity to celebrate the performers, teachers, and others who turned to YouTube when things shut down, but it’s understandable they aren’t doing that. Rewind has come under fire the past few years, and I’m hoping this is an opportunity to rethink the format.
• Twitch streamers are deleting all their clips and videos on demand to comply with vague copyright notices. Notably, Twitch doesn’t tell streamers *which* of their videos have copyright-infringing music when the copyright holder files a takedown notice. The problem seems to be that Twitch doesn’t have processes in place for handling large numbers of copyright complaints, as they have received in the past few months. As noted on The Verge “Twitch is operating the same way YouTube was in 2007, sending strikes to streamers when they receive word of infringement from rights holders. But Soundtrack isn’t Content ID, and to the labels, it doesn’t address the core problems with copyrighted music on Twitch.”
• The settings to share private YouTube videos are now in YouTube Studio, making it much easier to share. Learn how to share private YouTube videos.
• YouTube had a live workshop about how to “Go Live” on desktop and mobile. There are a lot of useful suggestions!
• YouTube’s Creator Insider also has 6 tips for audience retention. Tell a story and keep it lively!
• The new Google Pixel 5 has significantly increased video quality and “Cinematic Pan”. Learn more about the Pixel’s improved camera features from Product Manager Isaac Reynolds.
• There are more personalized “My Mix” playlists in YouTube Music, with tunes to accompany your everyday activities.

Webmasters and bloggers

• The Google Web Stories for WordPress plugin now lets you easily select text-aware fonts, add high-quality GIFs and caption your videos.
• “Google Webmasters” is now “Google Search Central” with a new site and mascot

Communication

• You can now pin your most important conversations and rooms in Google Chat. While creating new conversations and rooms in Chat is currently limited to Google Workspace users, if you have been added as an external member to a Chat room, you may see some of your Hangouts conversations appearing there.
• Google Chat now also has a button to easily create a new Calendar event with the conversation participants.

Social Sites

• Google Groups now lets you assign custom roles for moderating, posting and viewing content.
• Instagram has added Reels (short videos) and Shop tabs to the mobile home screen..
• Flickr looks at how well the newish Explore tab is working, and has tips for getting your content features.
• Facebook will be using Machine Learning to improve content moderation. The system will help prioritize content by virality, severity, and likelihood it is breaking the rules, so human moderators review the potentially worst offenders first.

Productivity

• Learn how to create a new Google Contact Group Label from inside Gmail with this new tutorial from Gmail Product Expert Somnath.

More

• Teespring’s Digital Launcher is now available to all creators, so you can easily sell downloadable files (wallpapers, ebooks and more) to your fans.
• There are new AR Australian animals you can meet through Google’s mobile app. Take a video of yourself hanging out with a koala or kangaroo!
• Google’s 360 Expeditions Tours are moving to Google Arts & Culture. This should make the VR tours more available to students and everyone else.

Image by Pashminu Mansukhani from Pixabay. Free for commercial use.