WebProNews

Tag: Google IO

  • Here’s Google’s Google I/O Talk For iOS Developers

    You don’t typically associate Google developer events with iOS, but while Google I/O was largely about Android, there was a surprising amount of iOS discussion from the company last week.

    For one, the the company announced that it’s expanding app indexing (which is now a ranking signal for mobile search results) to iOS. At Google I/O, the company held a session about developing with Google on iOS.

    Here’s the official description for the session:

    If you’re an iOS developer, you might not think of looking to Google first to find the top of the line APIs and services. But Google has a lot to offer iOS developers that you may not know about. Come learn about ways we’re going to make developing on iOS easier and more powerful with Google services.

    The talk is presented by Google developer advocate Todd Kerpelman.

    At the show, Google announced that it is extending some APIs to iOS developers via Cocapods.

    Image via YouTube

  • A Closer Look At The New Android M Permissions

    Google unveiled the developer preview of Android M last week, and among the new additions are some changes to permissions.

    “Apps can trigger requests for permissions at runtime, in the right context, and users can choose whether to grant the permission,” explained Android product manager Jamal Eason. “Making permission requests right when they’re needed means users can get up and running in your app faster. Also, users have easy access to manage all their app permissions in settings. On M, as a developer, you should design your app to prompt for permissions in context and account for permissions that don’t get granted. As more devices upgrade to M, app permission behavior will be a critical development flow to test.”

    For a closer look at permissions, Google had a session dedicated specifically to this topic at Google I/O, and has since made that video available for all to watch at their leisure.

    Android developers should also check out these four videos from Google I/O.

    Image via Google

  • Google Talks App Indexing, AdWords & Analytics At Google I/O

    Google Talks App Indexing, AdWords & Analytics At Google I/O

    Google has been experimenting with app indexing for quite a while, but in recent months it has really cranked up the significance of it. Last week, it took that to even greater heights.

    App indexing is now a ranking signal in Google’s mobile search results, and last week, Google announced that it’s expanding it to iOS after previously only offering it for Android. As more Google searches are now taking place on mobile devices than on computers in ten counties, more businesses are probably going to want to consider having their own apps and making sure their content is indexed in Google’s search results.

    At Google I/O, Google had a session called “Smarter user acquisition with App Indexing, AdWords and Google Analytics”. You might want to watch that one. It’s about 40 minutes long. Here’s the official description of the session:

    Content discovery on mobile isn’t easy. Luckily, this is a familiar problem to Google. With App Indexing on both iOS and Android, you can engage users organically by surfacing app content in the search results page. And on Android specifically, you can even drive app installs for users who don’t have your app. Google’s smart mobile ads platform gives you access to AdWords, the world’s largest network, to find the right users who will install and engage with your app, plus you can gain insights through Google Analytics install attribution to know where your users came from. Discover Google’s variety of approaches to driving app discovery, growth and engagement in this session.

    You can watch the whole thing right here:

    Obviously Google I/O has provided a lot of important content for Android developers. Here’s a look at four important sessions from the event that you should check out if you get a chance. Here’s the entire opening keynote.

    Related reading:

    Mobile Apps Mean More For Search Visibility

    How To Set Up App Indexing For Ranking In Google

    Google Announces App Deep Linking With goo.gl

    Image via YouTube

  • 4 Important Google I/O Videos For Android Developers

    With Google I/O in full swing, Google has been sharing some of the presentations it has already given. There have been a ton of announcements for Android developers as usual, and of course, some lengthy discussions centered largely around them.

    Google introduced Android M in developer preview, so you’ll definitely want to check out the What’s New in Android segment:

    There are also quite a few new developer tools, so you’ll probably want to take 45 minutes to watch What’s New in Android Development tools if you haven’t already:

    You most likely want to better monetize your apps, and Google had some new features to announce on that front as well. Smarter Monetization with AdMob and Analytics dives more into that:

    And finally, a Material Design discussion:

    You can get a look at the entire opening keynote here, and keep an eye on the Googel Developers YouTube channel for additional presentations from the conference.

    Image via Google

  • Google Launches App Invites Toolkit To Help Developers Get More Users

    While in beta, Google has a new toolkit for mobile app developers called App Invites, which enables them to provide users with…you guessed it. They’re making it available to both Android and iOS app developers. Launch partners include UrbanSitter, Yummly, The CW, Coinbase and Picsart.

    According to Google, App Invites let developers increase reach, deep link new users to custom experiences, and tap into users’ devices and Google-wide contacts as a source to drive referrals.

    “If you’re looking to drive usage and grow a mobile app, you’re probably testing out referrals, recommendations, and the user onboarding experience,” writes product manager Ranjith Jayaram in a blog post. “These product flows are resource-intensive to design, build, and optimize. What if you could use a set of tools that help your users share your app, and get more of the right people to download and use your app? What if you could craft a more personalized onboarding experience in your new user’s journey?”

    Well, that’s where App Invites come in.

    “Google’s new App Invites will accelerate our organic growth even further, giving people the opportunity to proactively invite their friends to join our mission of beautifying the world!” said Arusiak Kanetsyan, Director of Content and Communication at PicsArt who has relied mainly on word-of-mouth for its growth.

    With the beta tookit, developers can tap into SMS and email invites via the user’s phone and Google contacts, and it will recommend the closest contacts to share the app with as well as suggest a preferred method of delivery. Also included is an install button in the email invites and faster Android install flows. New Android users will be able to click App Invite and download the app straight from the Play Store without having to use browser windows. You can also offer custom discount codes or content for personalization and measure app invites with Google Analytics custom reports.

    If you want to utilize the toolkit, go here.

    Image via Google

  • ICYMI: Here’s The Entire Google I/O 2015 Keynote

    Google made a ton of announcements at its annual Google I/O conference on Thursday. It did stream the keynote live, but in case you didn’t get a chance to tune in, but still wish to see it in its entirety, it’s now available on YouTube for your viewing pleasure.

    Among the announcements: Android M, Android Pay, a new Photos app, a new Internet of Things platform, a new virtual reality platform, HBO Now for Android/Chromecast, and a ton of stuff for Android developers.

    Enjoy.

    Image via Google

  • Android Developers Get A Bunch Of Tools For Promoting, Measuring & Monetizing Apps

    Google made a plethora of announcements at Google I/O on Thursday. These include a bunch of new things to help mobile app developers better measure, promote and monetize their apps. Let’s run through these.

    First off, Google announced that it has built partnerships with over 20 ad networks including InMobi and Millennial Media since launching iOS conversion tracking late last year. Data integration with all of these has led to what Google calls a comprehensive view of app value across networks. Soon, you’ll be able to “postback” conversions to referring networks in order to optimize traffic via one SDK.

    Google also announced the ability to integrate app install and event data from key third party measurement partners into AdWords. It’s working with third parties like Adjust, Appsflyer, Apsalar, Kochava, and Tune, and has increased measurement accuracy between different trackers in AdWords.

    The company also announced Universal App Campaigns, which is a new campaign type that lets advertisers reach people across Google Search, the AdMob network, mobile sites, YouTube, and Google Play and setting up install ads from AdWords or the Google Play Developer Console.

    “Just provide us with a few inputs about your app — what your ad creative will say, the audience you wish to reach, and how much you want to spend — we’ll do the rest for you,” says Jonathan Alferness, Vice President, Product Management. ” “Behind the scenes, our ad creation and bidding engines will help maximize performance for your campaigns so you can spend more time building and enhancing your apps. Search Ads on Google Play and Universal App Campaigns will be rolled out to developers and advertisers in the coming months.”

    Google recently launched an Audience Builder Tool for AdMob, which is powered by Google Analytics. At Google I/O, it announced a new feature that lets you define a list of users and show ads to them while hiding ads from the rest of your users. This lets you show ads to casual users, but hide them from more engaged users, though that’s just one scenario.

    It also announced that its mediation tool now supports 40 partners with 15 networks added in the past year. The newest partner is Tencent GDT.

    Also new is AdMob Reservations, which aims to support app sales teams, who can take ad campaign bookings from advertisers they work with directly, upload creatives, and manage the delivery of campaigns for free.

    In the coming months, AdMob will introduce Native Ads Express, which lets you take advantage of native ads without any custom engineering on your part.

    “We know there are many developers who don’t have the resource to design a custom native ad that matches their app, but still want the flexibility that native ads offer,” says Alferness. “With this feature you can simply define the style of your ad using CSS, and AdMob serves the ad adhering to your specs. You can update the ad’s appearance on the fly by adjusting the CSS, so there’s no need to change your app’s native code when you want to test a different look. We have ads from millions of advertisers that can be styled in the way you want.”

    AdMob is also being integrated into Android Studio so you can create AdMob ad units as you build your app.

    Back to the Developer Console. There, you’ll soon be able to get new insights like how many users visit your Store listing, install your app, and make purchases.

    Play Store also now supports A/B testing for Store listings. You’ll be able to run experiments with different versions of text and graphics to see what works best. You’ll also be able to test your app automatically on real devices with Cloud Test Lab, which is being integrated with Developer Console. That’s coming in a pilot, which will be rolling out gradually.

    “For each APK you upload to an alpha or beta channel, Google Play will execute fully automated testing of your app against physical devices matching your app targeting criteria and output a report with a detailed analysis of issues, including screenshots and logs,” explains product manager Ellie Powers. “Google Cloud Test Lab will roll out to all developers later this year; you can sign-up to become a tester in the Developer Console now.”

    Developers are also getting the ability to create their own unique homepages on Google Play to promote their entire app catalogs. You can upload graphics, explain your company, and feature specific apps.

    There’s also a new search results experience aimed at helping guide users with broad interests:

    For games, Google will be adding new reports, player segments, game metrics, and event types to Player Analytics in the coming months.

    Finally, Google is adding a way for users to more easily find content in its various categories that is family-friendly. Users will see a star with a smiley face on it where they can get curated family-friendly picks.

    Images via Google

  • Google Unveils Its New Photos App At Google I/O

    At Google I/O on Thursday, Google unveiled its new Google Photos app, which removes what little friction its old one may have had (by untying it from Google+) and giving users unlimited storage to store a “lifetime” of photos and videos.

    As with the existing app, photos are automatically backed up and synced.

    “And when we say a lifetime of memories, we really mean it,” says head of Google Photos Anil Sabharwal. “With Google Photos, you can now backup and store unlimited, high-quality photos and videos, for free. We maintain the original resolution up to 16MP for photos, and 1080p high-definition for videos, and store compressed versions of the photos and videos in beautiful, print-quality resolution.”

    “Google Photos automatically organizes your memories by the people, places, and things that matter,” Sabharwal adds. “You don’t have to tag or label any of them, and you don’t need to laboriously create albums. When you want to find a particular shot, with a simple search you can instantly find any photo—whether it’s your dog, your daughter’s birthday party, or your favorite beach in Santa Barbara. And all of this auto-grouping is private, for your eyes only.”

    Of course the app comes with photo enhancement features and lets you create collages, animations, movies with soundtracks, etc. There’s also an assistant view, which will suggest new things made with your photos and videos (like collages or stories based on recent trips) not unlike some of the features Google’s current Photos app provides.

    You can share photos using the service of your choice, and can even share sets of photos or entire albums.

    From the looks of it, the new app takes the best of the Google+ photos experience and completely removes the + from the equation, while giving users an all around nice photo storage and sharing solution.

    The app will be available today on Android, iOS, and the web.

    Images via Google

  • Google Opens Inbox Email Product To All (Including Apps For Work Users)

    With the annual Google I/O conference firmly underway, the announcements are flowing like water. One of those is that Inbox by Gmail is now open to everyone.

    The product was unveiled last fall as “the inbox that works for you”. It has been available on an invitation-only basis ever since. I had the good fortune of getting one fairly early, and I can’t say I was particularly fond of it. It didn’t take me long to switch back to Gmail. That said, a lot of people do seem to like it.

    Now, a lot more people are going to have a chance to see what they think. It’s also getting some new features.

    One new addition is that of Trip Bundles, which display all your emails about a trip in one bundle and the most important details, such as flight times and hotel reservation numbers will be available as soon as you open Inbox.

    Also new are an Undo Send feature, which as Google points out, is the first time this has been available on your phone, as well as a swipe to delete function and custom signatures.

    Another new feature shows the reminders you set in Keep in Inbox. Also, when someone emails you a to-do, Inbox may sugges adding a reminder so you don’t forget. And when you get an email from HotelTonight or Eat24, you can open your reservations and food orders with in their app from Inbox.

    In addition to making Inbox available for all users, Google is expanding the early adopter program to all Google Apps for Work customers.

    Image via Google

  • Google Unveils Android M Developer Preview & Tools At Google I/O

    At Google I/O on Thursday, Google announced a developer preview of the next version of Android, the M Release as well as related tools.

    Google says the release focuses on improving the core user experience of Android, including thousands of bug fixes and making big changes to the fundamentals.

    For one, users are getting more control over permissions.

    “Apps can trigger requests for permissions at runtime, in the right context, and users can choose whether to grant the permission,” explains Android product manager Jamal Eason. “Making permission requests right when they’re needed means users can get up and running in your app faster. Also, users have easy access to manage all their app permissions in settings. On M, as a developer, you should design your app to prompt for permissions in context and account for permissions that don’t get granted. As more devices upgrade to M, app permission behavior will be a critical development flow to test.”

    Continuing the theme of some of other announcements the company has made this week, it’s also making it easier to link between apps. Developers can now add an autoVerify attribute to the app manifest so users can be linked deep into their native app without any disambiguation prompt.

    There are also battery life improvements, most notably through a new feature called Doze.

    “With M, Android uses significant motion detection to learn if a device has been left unattended for a while,” says Eason. “In this state, Android will exponentially back off background activity, trading off a little bit of app freshness for longer battery life. Consider how this may affect your app; for instance, if you’re building a chat app, you may want to make use of high priority messages to wake your app when the device is dozing.”

    Google announced Android Pay at the event, and this includes support for fingerprint security on M.

    M also provides a new feature called Now on Tap, which is basically a new way to interact with Google Now. You can ask it for help related to the various information it provides, and developers can implement Google’s App Indexing for search to let users discover and re-engage with apps through the new feature.

    Aparna Chennapragada, Director of Product Management, talks more about this feature in a blog post on the Inside Search blog:

    We’re working to make Google Now a little smarter in the upcoming Android M release, so you can ask it to assist you with whatever you’re doing—right in the moment, anywhere on your phone. With “Now on tap,” you can simply tap and hold the home button for assistance without having to leave what you’re doing—whether you’re in an app or on a website. For example, if a friend emails you about seeing the new movie Tomorrowland, you can invoke Google Now without leaving your app, to quickly see the ratings, watch a trailer, or even buy tickets—then get right back to what you were doing.

    If you’re chatting with a friend about where to get dinner, Google can bring you quick info about the place your friend recommends. You’ll also see other apps on your phone, like OpenTable or Yelp, so you can easily make a reservation, read reviews or check out the menu. When you tap and hold the home button, Google gives you options that are a best guess of what might be helpful to you in the moment. But if you need something specific, you can also get Google to help by saying “Ok Google” from any screen, and any app. For example, if you’re listening to Twenty One Pilots on Spotify, you can say “Ok Google, who’s the lead singer” and get your answer right away.

    As far as new developer tools, Google announced the launch of the Android Studio v1.3 preview, the Android Design Support Library, and Google Play Services v7.5.

    Eason says of the Android Studio preview, “Most notable is a much requested feature from our Android NDK & game developers: code editing and debugging for C/C++ code. Based on JetBrains Clion platform, the Android Studio NDK plugin provides features such as refactoring and code completion for C/C++ code alongside your Java code. Java and C/C++ code support is integrated into one development experience free of charge for Android app developers. Update to Android Studio v1.3 via the Canary channel and let us know what you think.”

    “Making Material design apps gets even easier with the new Android Design support library,” he says. “We have packaged a set a key design components (e.g floating action button, snackbar, navigation view, motion enabled Toolbars) that are backward compatible to API 7 and can be added to your app to create a modern, great looking Android app without building everything from scratch.”

    The new version of Google Play Services includes Smart Lock for Passwords, new APIs for Google Cloud Messaging and Google Cast, and the Google Maps API on Android Wear devices.

    The Android M preview obviously includes an updated SDK. You can find out more about all of it here.

    Images via Google

  • 3 Discussions From Google I/O About Getting Your Product To More People

    Google has been uploading video content from last month’s Google I/O event for weeks, and most recently has been sharing one-on-one discussions with various executives.

    Following are three conversations, roughly a half hour each, talking about getting people to use your product. If you have a cool app, but are struggling to get it in front of people, you might want to listen to what these people have to say.

    First up is former Wildfire CEO Victoria Ransom.

    Next is Tinder Founder and CEO Sean Rad:

    Here’s former Quick Office CEO and Google Partnerships Director Alan Masarek:

    Image via YouTube

  • Effective Distribution On The Chrome Web Store

    We’ve been sharing a few interesting sessions from Google I/O last month, as the company has been making them available on YouTube. Last week saw a slew of them uploaded, but Google just added a bunch more.

    Here, we looked at one about having an effective presence on Google Play. Now, here’s one for anyone that has developed or is developing an app or extension for Chrome.

    “The Web Store is a place where Chrome users can find and install hosted and packaged apps, extensions and themes,” Google says. “This session will focus on various aspects of effective distribution through the Web Store, including publishing, monitoring user feedback, monetization and tracking statistics.”

    You can find a ton of videos from the event on the Google Developers YouTube channel.

    Image via YouTube

  • More On Making Money With Google Play

    More On Making Money With Google Play

    If you thought Google was done posting videos from Google I/O sessions last week, think again. They’ve uploaded a new batch to YouTube about a variety of developer topics, mostly related to developing for Google’s various platforms.

    For those trying to make some money through apps on Google Play, this one should be of particular interest. It’s a panel on “How to get, keep and monetize users on Google Play.”

    Panelists include Soundwave CEO Brendan O’Driscoll, FrontBack CEO Frederic Della Faille, and ZenStudios VP Mel Kirkland. It’s moderated by Shabih Rizvi.

    The session is described as an overview of Google Play and a panel discussion with developers on user acquisition, engagement, and monetization.

    If you’re interested in making money on Google Play (which I assume you are if you’re on this page), you’ll probably also want to check out this other video Google uploaded recently called “Making Money on Google Play”.

    Image via YouTube

  • How To Make Money On Google Play

    How To Make Money On Google Play

    As you probably know, Google I/O was last week, and Google has uploaded tons of video from the event, including developer sessions on various topics. Over the weekend, the company posted a slew of them to YouTube, including discussions about Instant Buy and the future of apps and search.

    On a more basic level, developers simply want to know how to make money on Google Play. Google had a session on that too.

    “Developers are finding great success on Google Play,” Google says in the description. “In this session, we’ll review developer success stories and the drivers of revenue, and we’ll share tips for developers to get the most out of Google Play.”

    The speakers are Brahim Elbouchikhi and Bob Meese.

    Image via YouTube

  • Google Gets You Acquainted With Instant Buy

    Google Gets You Acquainted With Instant Buy

    At Google I/O last year, Google launched the Google Wallet Instant Buy API to simplify mobile shopping, and help sellers get more conversions buy speeding up the checkout process. It was originally launched for Android, but Google expanded it to iOS earlier this month ahead of Google I/O 2014.

    Businesses can include a “Buy with Google” button on their mobile sites and apps, making use of the API, and enabling customers to quickly complete the checkout process.

    At I/O last week, Google held a session about the API for developers, and posted the video online over the weekend. Here’s the description:

    One of the top barriers to mobile commerce remains friction during checkout. Google Wallet Instant Buy brings two click checkout to all major platforms: Android, mobile web, and iOS. Besides cross platform support, since last year we have been busy making Instant Buy even better. We’ve worked with developers to make it even easier to integrate and monetize physical goods and services on Android. We’ve listened to buyers and have made using Instant Buy a simpler experience. Whether you are looking to improve your existing app or build the next great mobile commerce app, you’ll want to learn about Instant Buy and how it has improved conversions and sales for developers who are already using it.

    Michael Galpin and Prakash Hariramani are the speakers.

    Image via Google

  • Android TV Unveiled at Google I/O

    Android TV Unveiled at Google I/O

    Google unveiled its successor to Google TV today at the I/O keynote – and as expected it’s called Android TV.

    Although previously believed to be some sort of set-top box (like an Apple TV), Android TV is instead a software platform meant to be baked into various smart TVs and set-top boxes from third-party manufacturers.

    As you would expect, you’ll be able to control Android TV with your Android smartphones and tablets, as well as with voice search. It’ll also work with the newly-released Android Gear smartwatches.

    “Android TV brings all that you love about Android apps and games to your living room. Android is baked directly into your TV-watching experience, through a set-top box or as part of your TV. You can use voice search to find a live TV show, a good flick from Google Play, or a music video on YouTube. Plus, because it’s Android, you’ll be able to play your favorite Android games, reimagined for TV and with a gamepad. Android TV, which, like Chromecast, supports Google Cast technology, will ship with products from a range of consumer electronics companies later this year,” says Google.

    The games thing is a new focus for Google in their attempt to take over the biggest screen in your house. Users will be able to play their favorite Android games via their tablets and smartphones, as well as a gamepad, and beam them straight up to their TVs.

    Google has this information for developers:

    In addition to Google Cast apps that send content to the TV, you can now build immersive native apps and console-style games on Android TV devices. These native apps work with TV remotes and gamepads, even if you don’t have your phone handy. The Android L Developer Preview SDK includes the new Leanback support library that allows you to design smoother, simpler, living room apps.

    And this is just the beginning. In the fall, new APIs will allow you to cast directly to these apps, so users can control the app with the phone, the remote, or even their Android Wear watch. You’ll also start seeing Android TV set-top boxes, consoles and televisions from Sony, TP Vision, Sharp, Asus, Razer and more.

    Google’s never been very successful in taking over your living room, but it looks like they’re giving it another full-on shot.

    Image via Google, Android TV

  • Google Smart Watch Specs Leaked [Rumor]

    Earlier this month, it was rumored that LG would be making both the Nexus 6 and a smart watch for Google this year. Based on prior releases, we could reasonably assume what the Nexus 6 would look like, but the smart watch remained a mystery. While we still know next to nothing about the device, a leak has shared a few details on Google’s upcoming wearable.

    Over on Twitter, @evleaks shared some of the specs for Google and LG’s upcoming smart watch this afternoon. The leak says that device will feature a 1.65-inch 280×280 IPS LCD display, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage. The CPU is still be to determined, though, so we don’t know how powerful this thing is going to be.

    As for the actual design of the watch, we don’t know that either. It could possibly look like the prototype smart watch Motorola was working on, but it’s unlikely. LG and Google are going to want their smart watch to have a premium look and feel, and a rubber strap just isn’t going to cut it anymore.

    So, when are we going to see Google’s smart watch? According to @evleaks, Google will unveil the device at Google I/O on June 25. Knowing Google, everybody in attendance will likely get one. From there, it will likely be made available on the Google Play Store a few days later.

    It will be interesting to see if LG unveils its own smart watch before then as it may give us some insight into Google’s device. After all, most Nexus hardware is based off of existing hardware with a few tweaks here and there to conform to Google’s own design language.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Google I/O To Take Place June 25-26, Tickets To Be Sold Through Lottery System

    Every year, the Google faithful from around the world gather in San Francisco to hear what’s next for everybody’s favorite monolithic tech giant at Google I/O. To get in, you need to buy a ticket, but said tickets usually sell out within minutes. Google will be changing that this year.

    Sundar Pichai took to Google Plus on Wednesday to announce that Google I/O would be returning to the Moscone Center on June 25. The event will run until the next day and will once again be live streamed all around the world to individuals and Google I/O Extended community events.

    Interestingly enough, Google will be doing away with its first come first serve ticket sales system this year. In previous years, Google has had to put up with complaints from developers who encountered errors and problems that prevented them from obtaining tickets despite them being on the Web site as soon as it opened. Google has also had to contend with scalpers that buy tickets in bulk and sell them back to developers at double or triple the original cost.

    To prevent all that from happening this year, Google will be implementing the only fair solution – a lottery system. Here’s how it will go down:

    …this year we’re making some changes to registration, so you won’t need to scramble the second registration opens. We’ll be implementing a new system, where you can submit your interest to attend Google I/O 2014. Successful applicants will then be randomly selected and notified shortly thereafter.

    Pichai says that Google will begin sharing more details on Google I/O 2014 next month. In the meantime, you might want to check out previous coverage from Google I/O 2013 to relive all the magical moments from last year’s developer conference.

    Image via Google Developers/YouTube

  • Google’s New Conversational Voice Search Is Here (Kind Of)

    UPDATE: When asked about the “Okay, Google” feature, Google’s Matt Cutts tells us, “I think that will take a little while longer, but Chrome updates move along quickly.”

    Update 2: While we should be able to expect the “hotwording” functionality in the future, a Google spokesperson only offered, “Conversational search has started rolling out on Google.com in the latest version of Chrome. You can just click the mic in the search box, ask your question in a natural way, and get spoken answers.”

    At Google I/O last week, Google announced that it was bringing conversational search to the desktop. Voice search features available to mobile users are coming to the desktop via Chrome.

    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:

    No Internet Connection

    This is actually happening a lot.

    [via 9to5Google]

  • Google Talks Google+ And Search For 40 Minutes [Video]

    Google gave a presentation about Google+ and Search at Google I/O last week. With Google’s “social layer” becoming a bigger part of search and the larger Google ecosystem, this is probably one marketers will want to check out.

    “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.”

  • Google Announces ‘Open Bidder’ Real-Time Bidding Platform

    Google introduced a new real-time bidding platform called Open Bidder at Google I/O. It’s currently in beta status, and requires users to apply for testing.

    It’s described as a customizable toolkit for building real-time bidding applications, and combines Google Cloud Platform with DoubleClick’s real-time bidding.

    Google’s Open Bidder Team says in a blog post, “Currently, companies interested in building their own real-time bidding technology face significant barriers to overcome, including: Development and maintenance of a scalable and secure infrastructure for their bidder; Development of a robust system to apply bidding logic to incoming bid requests; Development of a bidder with sufficient latency at scale to meet real-time bidding requirements.”

    “Open Bidder removes these barriers by providing a customizable bidder toolkit with a reference implementation that developers can adapt to plug in their own bidding logic and data,” the team explains. “Additionally, we provide an administration console for managing bidder and load balancer instances within Google Compute Engine. With Open Bidder buyers can significantly lower the latency of their bidders by leveraging Google Compute Engine’s scale, speed, and proximity to DoubleClick Ad Exchange. Now buyers can focus on developing new and innovative bidding logic instead of worrying about the complexity of scaling to over 250,000 qps while responding in under 100ms.”

    Google has been working on the project for over year, and has been testing it in the alpha phase, but it’s now it’s ready for beta. If you want in on it, you can apply here.

    Documentation for Open Bidder is available here.