Yossi Matias9 minutes ago

We are excited to have now Top Charts in Google Trends. A sort-of monthly "zeitgeist" going back in time. 1    0 Powered by socialditto

So far, you can look at charts for: Actors, Animals, Athletes, Authors, Baseball Players, Baseball Teams, Basketball Players, Basketball Teams, Books, Business People, Car Companies, Cars, Chemical Elements, Cities, Cocktails, Colleges/Universities, Countries/Regions, DJs, Dog Breeds, Drinks, Energy Companies, Fashion Brands, Financial Companies, Foods, Games, Government Bodies, Kids’ TV, Medications, Movies, Musical Artists, People, Politicians, Quick Service Restaurants, Reality Shows, Retail Companies, Scientists, Soccer Players, Soccer Teams, Software Technologies, Songs, Space Objects, Sports Cars, Sports Teams, TV Shows, Teen Pop Artists, US Governors, and Whiskeys.

Each category lets you dive into a top ten list, with information about each subject, including how long they’ve been in the chart, the change by month, and when they peaked. You can also explore interest over time, regional interest and related terms for each subject.

Right now, the feature is only available in the U.S., but Google says more countries are coming soon.

You’re supposed to be able to just talk to Google without clicking any buttons, and ask it questions, and otherwise perform searches. You’ve been able to use Voice Search from the desktop by clicking the microphone icon for some time, but now you shouldn’t have to click.

Unfortunately, that functionality isn’t quite available, but the Chrome update that is supposed to bring it to users has gone live, along with the makings of said functionality.

When you update to version 27.0.1453.93, you can click the microphone icon, and it will ask you if you want Google to start listening, so you shouldn’t have to click any longer. The problem is that Google is not responding to queries after that, unless you click the mic icon as usual. It does at least speak answers back to you now. You can also continue the “conversation” in a natural way (at least on some queries), and Google will understand that you’re still talking about the same subject.

Danny Sullivan uses the example of asking, “How tall is Barack Obama?” then asking, “How tall is he?” Google delivers without missing a step. It understands that “he” is Barack Obama. But you still have to click the mic icon.

In the demo at Google I/O, Google illustrated that you would be able to say, “Okay, Google,” and conduct your search from there (not unlike the famous “Okay, Glass” command).

Right now, Google may be listening to what you’re saying, but it’s not quite up to the Star Trek experience just yet.

In the demo, Google refers to the “Okay, Google” command as “hot wording”. There does not appear to be a setting in Chrome to set a hot word.

The feature is also a bit buggy, as people are seeing “no internet connection” sometimes even when they have internet connections:

This is actually happening a lot.

[via 9to5Google]

“In this session we’ll walk you through a series of techniques you can use to make your app and content shine on Google,” Google says in session description. “Using these techniques you can connect more directly with new and existing users on Google Search.”

How can Google be confident with their SERPs, when relying on inherently subjective signals that influence which sites display (i.e. using human ‘quality raters’ to evaluate entire domains without the context of the search query itself)?

Cutts notes that the quality raters do in fact see the search itself, so they’re not seeing the results out of context.

On the philosophy that there are subjective signals, Cutts says, “I would agree with that. I think people who think that search engines are completely objective ignore the fact that every search engine has its own philosophy. Every search engine has its own set of algorithms, and those algorithms encode the ranking philosophy of that search engine, and some algorithms will veer more towards diversity. Some might show Wikipedia more. Every search engine is going to have different ideas about what the ideal set of search results is. And there is no scientifically provable best way to rank websites, so it’s always going to be a little bit subjective.”

“I think on the bright side, what we do is we try to listen to outside feedback,” he continues. “We have people like Amit Singhal who have been ranking and dealing with information retrieval for longer than a lot of SEOs have been alive (if you’re a young SEO, you know). He got his PhD in information retrieval, and a lot of us have been working on it for a long time, and so I think we have a relatively fine-tuned sense of when people will get angry, [or] of when they’ll be unhappy.”

“For example, with Panda, we were actually working on trying to spot low-quality content – the sort of thing that’s in between the quality team and the webspam team, and the sort of low quality that’s not quite spam, but almost spam,” he says. “We were working on that for months, and thinking about that for months before we started to see the larger public get a little bit angry about that. So I think we do have to say to ourselves, like any engineering organization, it’s possible for people to be wrong. It’s possible for us to show not enough domain diversity or too much domain diversity. That’s why it’s important that we listen to what people say from outside Google, and hear that feedback as well.”

On the Panda front, Cutts did reveal recently that the algorithm might be a little more forgiving, going forward, than it has been in the past. So there’s that.

“Behind every successful AdWords campaign are well planned out keywords and ad groups,” says AdWords product manager Deepti Bhatnagar. “In the past, you may have relied on tools like the Keyword Tool and Traffic Estimator to identify new keywords and ad groups, get traffic estimates, and choose competitive bids and budgets. Over time however, we’ve heard from you that having two tools for search campaign building was cumbersome.”

“We’re constantly working to simplify the process of building campaigns, and today we’re happy to announce the launch of a new tool, Keyword Planner, which combines the functionality of the Keyword Tool and Traffic Estimator into a smooth, integrated workflow,” says Bhatnagar. “You can use Keyword Planner to find new keyword and ad group ideas, get performance estimates for them to find the bid and budget that are right for you, and then add them to your campaigns.”

The tool also comes with some new features, including the ability to find new keyword and ad group ideas by “multiplying” keywords (combining two or more lists to generate new keywords. It will now let you target individual cities and regions within a country.

It also lets you add keyword and group ideas to a “plan,” which Google describes as a shopping cart of ideas that you can add to a current or new campaign.

For more on plans and on the tool in general, read this.

The Keyword Tool and Traffic Estimator will be sunsetting in about sixty days.

One of those things is the rise of mobile apps and app stores like Google Play. If you have a mobile app, you are presented with the challenge of getting it in front of people, and ideally doing so while they’re using their mobile device. Little is known about the Google Play search engine, however. In fact, this is the first time the company has even discussed the Google Play search or discovery engines publicly.

On day three of the event, Google Play’s Ankit Jain opened up about this stuff in a session called “Getting Discovered on Google Play”.

One of the first questions asked of the audience at the beginning of the session is, “How many of you would like to make even more money on Google Play? If your answer to this question is yes, you should probably watch this.

“As an Android application developer, your goal is to get your app discovered,” Google says in the video description. “Google Play’s goal is to surface the most relevant content for Android users. In this session, we discuss best practices for app creators in view of both goals. We will demonstrate, through concrete examples, best practices to help your application rise above others in the Google Play Store. We will discuss the signals that go into creating the top and trending lists, personalized recommendations, and Google Play Search. Come hear the inside story from the person who leads search & discovery on Google Play.”

Android has seen 900 million activations.

Google still has a long way to go, however, when it comes to maps, specifically indoor maps. The search giant already has quite a few indoor maps, but as it says, this is the next frontier.

“Mapping streets and buildings is the hard part,” Google says. “But the even harder part is mapping indoors. Not only is Google acquiring floor plans for major buildings and venues, but we’re also working out ways to provide positioning data inside those buildings. When GPS doesn’t work, how do you find your place on the map?”

Sarah Peterson and Waleed Kadous talk about just that in this Google I/O session, which Google has now made available to the general public:

According to the report, the event will be “product-related.” Of course, that’s a rather unspecific description, and could mean a variety of things.

Yahoo to hold a product-related news event in New York City on Monday; CEO Marissa Mayer to speak at event. $YHOO

— CNBC (@CNBC) May 17, 2013

This announcement does come on the heels of reports that Yahoo was in “serious” talks to buy or invest in Tumblr. That report indicated that Marissa Mayer has been in close talks with Tumblr CEO David Karp, but that Facebook may also be poised to throw their hat in the ring. any acquisition of Tumblr would be an expensive one – valuations put the company at upwards of $1 billion.

It may seem unlikely that Yahoo would announce an acquisition at an event like this, but it’s not completely out of the question. It seems a bit early for a Yahoo-Tumblr product, but who knows. It’s been a while since Yahoo scheduled anything like this, so we’ll be very interested to hear what they announce next week.

[CNBC via The Next Web]

Starting today, Google will begin to roll out a few new quick actions inside Gmail, including event invite responses that link to Google Calendar, places reviews that let you rate a restaurant, for instance, right inside Gmail, and one-click actions like confirming a product or site registration via email.

“These buttons appear next to certain types of messages in your inbox and let you take action on an email without ever having to open it. For example, you can RSVP to your friend’s party invitation or rate that restaurant you went to last night all right from the inbox. You’ll be checking things off that to-do list in no time,” says Google.

Another quick action involves check-ins for flights. Although the quick action button in this scenario takes you outside of Gmail for confirmation, flight emails now feature a useful card with all the pertinent info – time of departure, terminal and gate, estimated arrival time, and whether of not the flight is on time.

Google is also asking developers to add custom actions to their emails, and they say that they hope to add many more action in the near future. Developers can go here for more info. These new actions should hit your Gmail inbox in the coming weeks.

If you’re curious about more new stuff from Google (and there’s a lot of it), check out all the news from Wednesday’s I/O conference keynote.

Last week, images of a new Google Maps redesign leaked. Last night, the sign-up page with details about new features leaked. Today, at Google I/O, Google discussed the new offering further.

First, they talked about the next generation of Google Maps for mobile coming to Android and iOS. This involves a new design

It includes a new Zagat experience, with Zagat badges in the interface for restaurants, and some Google Offers integration. If you find Starbucks, for example, you can see an offer from Starbucks, and save it for later or use it. You can take pictures and submit them to Google Maps, and they’ll instantly appear from that place.

There is also a new five point rating scale across Google Maps across mobile and desktop.

As far as directions, some new features were announced: a revamped incident experience (live coverage of incidents from around the world). You can see incident alerts in real time. Another one is dynamic re-routing. If you’re driving, and something happens ahead of you, Google will give you an early warning and give you a better route to take.

Then came a demo of new fully dedicated tablet Maps experience. There’s a new “Explore” experience, and you can find stuff to eat, drink, places to shop, places to play and be entertained, and what have you, if you’re in an unfamiliar place. This is coming to Android and iOS devices (smartphones and tablets) this summer.

Finally, came “the future of Google Maps,” which is more what we were expecting. Thee new google maps is “built for you,” has immersive imagery (which includes Google’s indoor imagery), and makes the map the user interface. It’s been rebuilt from the ground up.

It includes social features, and makes recommendations when you are looking at an area where someone you know has left a review. There is also heavier integration with public transit information and a new schedule viewer, which is dubbed “the future of getting directions”.

Again, here’s a rundown of the basic features from Google’s leaked sign-up page:

The most comprehensive map, now built for you: The new Google Maps draws you a tailored map for every search and click you make. So whatever you’re trying to find or wherever you’re trying to go, you’ll always have a map highlighting the things that matter most.

A map that gets better with use: As you search the map, star places you like and leave reviews, the map starts to adapt and can suggest things like restaurants you might enjoy or the quickest way home. In other words, the more you use the new Google Maps, the more helpful it becomes.

Google also announced that there are now one million websites using Google Maps in their sites, visited by a billion people a week.

Google Maps is up to 200 countries, as it recently added North Korea.

More from Google I/O here.

I expect a blog post will be going up soon to give you a more comprehensive look at the new Google Maps.

You should be able to go here to request an invite to the preview.