Peggy K's Creator News

Can it really almost be June? Where has the time gone? You may want to spend time this weekend backing up photos and videos to your Google Photos account. On June 1st all newly uploaded images (except those backed up by eligible Pixel phones) will start counting towards your storage quota. Google will also  help you find blurry and large files, and estimate how long your storage will last. New and updated Docs, Slides, Sheets, Jamboards and Forms will also count toward your limit. You can use your Google account Storage Manager to clean up your Google Drive files and Gmail messages. What else is happening to your Google account June 1: If your YouTube channel is in the YouTube Partner Program, and you are outside the United States, you need to submit your US Tax information by May 31. Google will start withholding taxes on earnings from US viewers. If you do not submit your tax details, Google will withhold 30% of your entire earnings. The new YouTube Terms of Service will be go

You may want to pour a cup of coffee, because there is a lot of news this week. There are updates from Google I/O for Docs, Meet, Photos, Lens and more. Chrome is testing out a sort-of RSS feed reader. And YouTube is improving estimated earnings reporting and other Studio features. This past week was Google I/O , the annual developers conference. Last year’s event was cancelled, and this year it was entirely virtual. As of this writing you can still go on an I/O adventure , collect swag, watch demos, learn about Google’s updates for developers, and play a few games. If you have a website, be sure to check out the Web/Chrome dome. Or if that is too silly for you, you can get most of the content on the Google I/O website . Google I/O highlights Collaboration and productivity : Smart Canvas is a new improved design for Google Workspace applications. This means more flexible and “smart” formats, and deeper integration between products. And yes, most of these features

This week there are updates for YouTubers, web creators and more. Note: if you received an email yesterday that one or more of your Blogger posts were removed for violating the “Malware and Viruses”, as of this writing Blogger is working on a fix.  Upcoming May 18-20: are you ready for Google I/O ? Register to set up your schedule and sign up for networking and other live events. Or if you rather just watch on YouTube, the Keynote live stream begins at 9:40AM on May 18th. Be sure to check out the official playlists of scheduled Google I/O Keynotes and I/O Sessions . I’m looking forward to the Google Search Central sessions: Prepare for the page Experience update , Immersive storytelling on the we b, What’s new in Search and Core Web Vitals AMA . May 27: Google Marketing Livestream will look at the “Future of marketing”, including how to use privacy-safe techniques for measurement of advertising pe

Happy Mother’s Day weekend to all you moms! I hope you are able to celebrate with your kids, even if only online.   This week there are tips and tutorials for YouTubers, bloggers and other web creators and social media mavens. Tutorial Use a different identity for your YouTube channel than you use for other Google services - no Brand Account required (although you may still want to use one). Top Updates Google celebrated World Password Day by explaining how they go beyond passwords to keep your account safe. Notably, Google will soon be automatically enrolling accounts in two-step verification if they are “appropriately configured”. There will be an option to opt out . Google’s free Password Manager also now lets you import up to 1000 passwords at a time. The YouTube Shorts camera is now available to all channels in the US . New features include a “Shorts” section on your Channel home, viewers can watch Shorts in their subscription feed, and they are t

You can now easily create a YouTube channel identity that is different from your Google account identity without having to use a Brand Account.  You can use your real name and serious photo for your Google profile, which is used across Google products like Gmail, Chat, Meet and Drive. Then on the same account use a different name and icon exclusively for your YouTube channel.  If you have had your YouTube channel for more than a decade, you will recall this was how YouTube identity worked before Google+ integration . Linking to  Google+ Pages (now Brand Accounts) were introduced as way to have a YouTube identity separate from your main Google account identity. But Brand Accounts work similarly to Google accounts. An important note:  if your channel has a verification check mark, changing the channel name will remove the badge. You would then need to reapply under the current eligibility criteria, which requires at least 100,000 subscribers.  

This week is a quiet one in the Googleverse (unless you count YouTube’s dispute with Roku) . Top updates: Spotify has launched paid podcast subscriptions, and creators keep 100% of the revenue (until 2023). If you are in the US and your podcast is hosted on Spotify’s Anchor, you can apply for the waitlist. If you use the Twitter Android app, you can now create a “Space”, Twitter’s Clubhouse-like audio chatroom. Zoom has launched a new “Immersive View”, similar to the Microsoft Teams “Together Mode”. Now a webinar panel can actually look more like they are together on a panel. Read on for more updates and tips. Upcoming Google Web Creators virtual Web Stories workshop is May 6. Registration is required and space is limited. I’ll be there! The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University is hosting “Reimagine the Internet” , a free virtual conference May 10-14. Register now for access.