Peggy K's Creator News

The summer is winding down, kids are going back to school and I’m feeling like the past few months have just flown by. There are updates this week for web publishers, YouTubers and more. This week Google announced their new phones, with AI everywhere; Google Meet started replacing legacy Duo calling with Meet calls; the Google Search August core update is meant to show less made-for-Search sites; YouTube is testing several new features; Threads launched creator insights and more. 🎧 Listen to this week’s newsletter Top news and updates this week Try: Google Drive document scanner Google Pixel 9 camera and AI features Meet calls are rolling out; Duo legacy calling is going away Google Search August 2024 Core Update to highlight “genuinely useful content” YouTube Super Chat likes and replies The YouTube Membership Join button sparkles when mentioned YouTube is testing AI-generated live chat summaries YouTube is testing discovery feeds with mixed formats Google Search AI Overviews will...

In 2022 Google announced that they were "upgrading the Duo experience to include all Google Meet features." This has been a slow process, with the new integrated Meet app having two functionalities: legacy Duo calling and Meet meetings. This has been pretty confusing, especially since calling and meetings have different features. But now Meet calling is going to be much more like Meet meetings, and some Duo features will be going away. The new calling experience will replace the old calling experience ("legacy calls") over the next few months. You will only have the new calling experience if everyone in the call has been updated. Feature availability will be different for users with personal Google Accounts and Google Workspace work or school accounts. I'm focusing on the changes personal account users will see. You can get a full detailed overview of all the upcoming changes here . What's new in Meet calling? Meet's new calling layout and features are...

  This week’s focus is on end-to-end encryption in video and chat apps. Consider what’s more important to you — more privacy or more features? Plus there are updates for YouTubers, social media mavens and more. Want weekly updates in your email inbox? Subscribe to my newsletter. End-to-End Encryption in Video Conferencing and Messaging Why would you want end-to-end encryption of your messages? That prevents your messaging platform provider, malicious actors, hostile governments (Meta started with accounts in Ukraine and Russia), law enforcement, or anyone from accessing the content of your messages. It can also help businesses comply with data privacy requirements. Why wouldn’t you want it? Many features in video calling platforms are managed through Google’s or Zoom’s or Microsoft’s servers, so aren’t available in end-to-end encrypted calls. And it can be technically confusing .  The Google Duo app icon and name are updating to Google Meet . The original Google Me...

This week the big news is that Google’s two video calling services, Duo and Meet, will be merging. As a Meet and Duo user I’m actually looking forward to this update, assuming it goes as described. Mobile video is where it's at, with easier to find YouTube Shorts analytics data, and a bunch of new features coming to Facebook and Instagram Reels. Plus there are updates for AdSense Publishers, Twitterers, Redditors and more. Subscribe to continue to get the Weekly Update in your email inbox. June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month Come Through! for PRIDE 2022 on YouTube : Come Through! For Pride Shorts Challenge (see the link for details), YouTube Pride destination (with history, “ Pride Anthems ” playlist on YouTube Music Pinterest inspires you to be who you are through “We Belong Here” campaign for Pride : highlighting Pinners, We Belong Here landing page. Pride Together: Celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community on TikTok : highlighting LGBTQIA+ community members and businesses, LA Pride s...

Google's two video platforms, Duo and Meet, are merging. Duo won't be losing any features, but will get Meet features, and will be renamed Meet on mobile. Meet will still be Meet on the web and in Gmail.  It's complicated.  Why the change? Google says : As part of our continued investment in helping people stay connected, and to adapt to evolving user needs, we’re upgrading the Duo experience to include all Google Meet features. This integrated experience will provide users with a single solution for both video calling and meetings with people across their lives.  Google has promised that current Google Duo features will not be going away .  Dave Citron, director of product for Google's video products,  explained to The Verge : “The Duo mobile app had a lot of sophistication, especially under the hood [...] Especially in emerging markets, where network connectivity was sparse or highly variable.” On the web, ...

Are you confused by Google's communication options?  Not sure about the difference between Hangouts, Chat, Meet, Messages, Voice and Duo?  This week I  chatted with Michael Daniels and Heather Kraafter on Tinkering with Tech  about why it may not be as confusing as it may seem.  The way I look at it, there are two ways to communicate:  For conversations and video calls that are mobile first and only require a phone number, you use Google's "consumer" options:  Duo for video and Messages (with RCS/chat features) for text.  For conversations and video calls that are web or desktop first, and require a Google or Google Workspace account, you use Google's "business" options: Meet for video and Chat for text.  Chat's "Rooms" will soon become "Spaces", so that Chat will just be for chatting. You can access Meet and Chat on mobile and Duo and Messages on the web. But the most feature-rich experience is on the web for Meet and Chat ...

This week there are some great new features, tips, and learning opportunities for creators. Some highlights include new metrics in YouTube Analytics, a new Explore page in Google Photos on desktop, the option to sync your Google Recorder recordings to your Google account, and Twitter Spaces becoming (partially) available on Android devices. There’s lots more, so read on! New tutorial : Use Google Meet’s “green room” to c heck your mic and camera before joining the video call . Reminder : AdSense Link Units will be retired March 10. Check your website or blog to see if you need to remove or replace the Link Unit ad code YouTube YouTube introduced two new metrics in Analytics: new viewers and returning viewers .This can help you better understand your channel’s audience. Note that “returning viewers” may not include viewers who use a private browser, who deleted their watch history or who haven’t watched your channel in over a year. ...

2020 was the year of the video meeting. As millions of people stayed home, and school, work, socializing and entertainment moved online, there was an urgent need for improved video calling platforms. Zoom became a household name. And there was a bit of an arms race between Google Meet and Duo, Microsoft Teams, Facebook Messenger and other platforms as they quickly added new video call features. Google Hangouts is entering the final months before it’s retired . Google Meet (formerly Hangouts Meet) has replaced Hangouts video calling , and text conversations will be migrated to Google Chat  (formerly Hangouts Chat) in the first half of 2021. Phone calls and text messaging will not be migrated from Hangouts to Chat. Users in the United States can sign up for a free Google Voice account and use the Google Voice app, or pay for Google Fi mobile service with integration with Android Messages for a similar experience. And to make sure there is a “coherent vision”, Google brought developm...