Peggy Ks Tips and Tricks

This week there were several big announcements of features that won’t be available for at least a few months (if not longer). There will be new options for parents to manage their young teens’ experience on YouTube, Twitter is working on Patreon-like “Super Follows” and Communities, and Zoom will be enabling live captioning for free accounts. But it’s not all forward looking. There are new features and updates for bloggers, AdSense publishers, YouTube Partners, and more. Read on for details. Upcoming in March Apply now for the Women of Publishing Leadership Series on March 16 and 17. The application deadline is March 7. AdSense will be retiring Link Ad Units on March 10 . Check the ads on your website or blog to see if they need updating. Google Chat will be retiring the electron-based stand-alone desktop app in March. They suggest using the Progressive Web App instead. Hangouts will soon stop working for Google Fi and Google Voice SMS messaging . If you are a Google Fi user with an

If you are an AdSense Publisher or YouTube Partner, you can get personalized information about your AdSense account on Your AdSense Page in the AdSense help Center.  While this information is also available in your AdSense account, it is convenient to have all the details on one page. Plus there are links to find additional information and resources. Your AdSense support page shows: Your email username Your AdSense Publisher ID Whether you have enabled Auto Ads PIN verification status , including the number of PIN attempts and number of days since your PIN was last mailed. Payments status , including form of payment. Policy issues , with a link to your account Policy Center. It also has more information about the support options AdSense offers.  Note that if you are a YouTube Partner, you can get direct support from YouTube Creator Support , even for AdSense-related  issues.  Watch the short video tutorial , or

As there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are assessing the future of in-person services and events. It may be that virtual meetups and smaller gatherings may be the way of the future.  This week YouTube announced they won’t reopen YouTube Spaces, Google Search Central will be testing a new virtual event platform, and there are a number of new features for schools coming to Google Meet video conferencing. It's a bit surprising, then, that Fundo, the virtual events platform for creators developed by Google's Area 120, is shutting down on March 31 . The platform let you easily run paid workshops and meet-and-greets with your fans. If you are a Fundo user, and have unpaid earnings, make sure your account is linked to Stripe to receive a final payment. In other news, AdSense will be retiring Link Ad Units on March 10 . If your site has a responsive link unit it will be converted to a display

Fundo, the virtual events platform developed by Google's Area 120 , is shutting down on March 31.  The platform was aimed primarily at YouTube Creators, but was open to all in September 2020. It allowed creators to easily set up paid workshops, meet-and-greets, and one-on-one meetings with fans.  Why is it shutting down? There wasn't any reason given beyond "all Area 120 projects are reviewed regularly, and while some of these experiments continue on, others may be shut down." Googlers running Area 120 projects do have the opportunity to"pitch their projects to other Google departments and product areas for potential integration," but it seems that Fundo didn't find a home. I am a bit surprised, as virtual events are the done thing at the moment. It may be that Fundo couldn't compete with video conferencing platforms like Zoom and social sites with audio and video chat like Discord and Facebook. Here's what's happening:  Scheduled events will

AdSense will be retiring link ad units on March 10, 2021. Depending on how the link units on your site are configured, they will either be replaced automatically with display ad units, or will just be blank.  The reason?  This is to modernize our available ad formats, based on the feedback from users, publishers and advertisers. Going forward, we’ll be focussing on improving and developing other ad formats to help you grow. Now is the time to review the ad units on your website or blog.  If you have responsive  link ad units, they will be converted to AdSense display ads. You don't need to do anything unless you want to change the ad format.  If you have fixed  size link ad units, the ads will stop displaying. That ad code needs to be removed or replaced with a different ad format.  If you are only using Auto Ads or Display Ads on your site, nothing will change.  What are Link Ads? Link a units were introduced in 2005 . They work differently than display ads, in that th

Happy Valentine’s weekend ❤️! I hope you are able to spend time with the people you love. This week there are updates for short vertical video creators (YouTube Shorts, Reels, TikTok), Google Photos video and photo editors, plus updates to the Google Fi VPN, Google Meet and more. To do  For a personal Valentine's Day gift ,  make a movie of the two of you in Google Photos ? With just a few clicks you can create a movie of any two people in your Photos library. February 17-18 is Learning with Google , a global live stream event where you can learn about G Suite for Education, Google Classroom and Google Meet. It's free to register. Tuesday was Safer Internet Day , and there are plenty of tips for keeping your online activity safe and secure: How Google keeps you safe online Keep your kids safe online Control y

If you are looking for a sweet (and easy) Valentine's Day gift, consider making a Valentine's movie in Google Photos. The movie can feature any two "faces" in your Google Photos library, so you can create one for your parents, your best friends, or even your pets.  You can create and edit your movie in the Google Photos mobile app or on the web on a desktop computer. No special video editing skills needed! Google Photos creates a movie that may be anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute long, in vertical (not landscape) orientation, and set to music. There are two Movie themes that are especially suitable for Valentine's Day: Love Story  Valentine's Day When I compare the output, the difference seems to be a slightly different selection of images, and different music.  Try both and see which you prefer. The movie can be edited after it's created to change the images and the music. Once you are happy with the resu

This weekend is the all-American holiday Super Bowl Sunday. It’s centered around beer and snacks, intentionally watching ads, and football I’ll be watching. This week’s updates include a new option to check your audio and video before joining a Meet meeting, improved video calls in both Meet and Zoom on Chromebooks, and the announcement that Google Chat app for Mac and Windows will stop working next month (to be replaced by the Chrome PWA). Plus there are tips for website publishers, YouTubers and web surfers. Upcoming On Sunday, join OnEBoard for the Premiere of the collaborative movie “Winter Festive” . Sunday is the Super Bowl. If you want the ads, check out YouTube AdBlitz . Or you can watch sports content on YouTube’s updated sports portal at www.youtube.com/sports . And Facebook Messenger has big-game-themed camera filters and stickers. February 17-18 is Learning with Google , a global live stream event where you can learn about G Suite for Education, Google Classroom and Goog

The new YouTube Studio allows you to add managers and editors who can help you manage your channel  without giving them access to your entire account. There are a number of different access levels, from just viewing the information, to managing everything. Originally these new permissions were only available to channels on Google accounts. That option is now also available to channels on Brand Accounts*.  What's the catch? If you switch your channel from Brand Account permissions to Studio Permissions, your current managers will be removed from the Brand Account. And none of the new permission levels give someone else full access to the channel. YouTube has a handy table that compares different permission levels . I'll go through the differences so you can choose what's best for your channel.  Brand Account Permissions YouTube Studio Channel Permissions Move from Brand Account permissions to Studio p