Friday, August 31, 2012

Fab Friday is How We Like It

Author Photo



It’s Friday again, and we’ve got more videos for you. First up is a video we found by AndroidHive on using the Google Places API on Android. A nice quick intro that walks you through the basic steps.







Chris Broadfoot and Paul Saxman hung out Thursday in Sydney talking about a few of their favorite maps and why they like them. Viewers on Google Developers Live also contributed their favorites.





If you haven’t checked out Google Developers Live for awhile, it’s a great way to get live and recorded content about all sorts of Google APIs and developer platforms. Here’s the direct link to the Google Maps Developer events and videos page.



Posted by Mano Marks, Maps Developer Relations Team

10 Top Tips for Using Google+

Throughout the summer, we’ve been sharing 10 simple tips for utilizing Google+ over at Creative Sandbox. We know our agency partners juggle a lot at once, between the RFPs and last-minute campaign launches, traffic reports and research studies -- and we’ve been on the lookout for ways that Google+ can make your day a little easier.

You can check out today’s final post on Google+ -- and we wanted to share the full list here:

Get inspired



  • Follow interesting people -- See what industry experts, colleagues, peers and competitors -- as well as celebrities, photographers and your friends -- are sharing publicly. Check out these suggestions: google.com/+/whotofollow


  • Host focus groups -- Get immediate feedback and insights from consumers via a Hangout. Have a face-to-face conversation online, as if you were in the same room.


  • See how your work gets shared -- See the earned media effects of a campaign by entering a URL or YouTube video into Ripples, which show how posts are shared and reshared on Google+. 


  • Review portfolios -- Can’t visit every job fair? Host a Hangout to give live feedback on advertising and marketing students’ work. Announce ahead of time on your Page.


Make communication easy



  • Meet with clients -- Connect with your clients on a Hangout to review new initiatives, get feedback on creative or even hold a planning meeting. Utilize Screenshare or Google Docs to jointly view proposals.


  • Manage projects -- Trying to keep everyone informed on your most recent project? Keep the team in the loop by creating a Circle just for everyone involved.


  • Communicate with clients -- Organize your contacts by client or even industry in Circles so you can share insights with the most relevant audience.


Build your brand



  • Lead the way -- Host a Hangout On Air featuring influencers in your agency to shine a spotlight on research, share case studies or provide insights on trends.


  • Show and tell -- Have a piece of stellar creative you’ve completed or a great insight you just discovered? Share it on your Page and start a discussion with others who might learn from your experience. 


  • Be seen on search -- Give your stamp of approval to articles, videos and research that you would recommend with the +1 button. Your friends will see your recommendations when they search.


Want more? Download the full booklet and share it with your coworkers -- or even hang it at your desk! And if you have your own tips and tricks for using Google+ as an agency, share them today over at Creative Sandbox with hashtag #g+toptips.

Posted by Becky Bowman, Google+ for Business

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Doodles

Get a Doodles Homepage !

Validating Land Cover Datasets with Geo-Wiki.org




This guest post is by Dr. Steffen Fritz, and Ian McCallum, researchers for the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, an international research organization that conducts policy-oriented research on global problems.  



During the last decade, scientists have created several global land cover datasets. Comparison studies show that there are large spatial discrepancies between these products. One reason for these discrepancies is the lack of sufficient ground data for developing and validating these products. To address this issue, we have created the crowdsourcing tool Geo-Wiki.org, a web application using the Google Earth API and Google Earth plug-in. We chose Google Earth largely because of Google Earth’s navigation functionalities, including the ability to adjust the globe’s tilt and see the structure of the Earth’s surface, a significant advantage in recognizing land cover.







In a nutshell, volunteers can:


  • view disagreement maps derived from three recent global land cover datasets

  • select among available high resolution images as well as upload or view geo-tagged pictures (e.g. http://confluence.org), and

  • determine which land cover type is found on the ground and decide which dataset is correct.



We record the results in a spatial database.







Geo-Wiki.org adds data to Google Earth in many ways. A MapServer provides raster data that are overlaid above Google Earth imagery using  KmlGroundOverlays. Vector data such as current pixel outlines are generated with JavaScript by creating and adding place marks with custom styles. Point data such as members or confluence points are loaded asynchronously as KML and simply added to Google Earth.







One of the main challenges we faced developing Geo-Wiki.org was the rapid handling of the large global datasets we wanted to visualize. To solve this, we chose the open source PostgreSQL relational database with a PostGIS extension to allow for spatial queries. The database stores the user details, user validations and the pixel polygons of the three global land cover data sets. Although the global land cover maps can be viewed as a semi-transparent layer on Google Earth, the bounding coordinates of each pixel are stored in the database. This representation was chosen in order to quickly retrieve the outlines of the pixels and their attributes at any given point on the Earth’s land surface.







In addition to the Google Earth API, Geo-Wiki.org uses the following technologies: Apache2 web server, PHP 5.2, MapServer, GeoServer, GDAL/OGR, PostgreSQL+PostGIS, JavaScript/AJAX.



We have recently launched a Geo-Wiki.org competition to raise awareness of the tool and to encourage community involvement in environmental monitoring.


How One Online Food Retailer Increased E-commerce Sales By 70% In Key Regions

LaTienda is an award-winning, family-owned business supporting artisanal firms in Spain. The firm works with small family-run businesses, many of which are dedicated to centuries-old food-making traditions. 



With warehouses in Williamsburg, Virginia and Alicante, Spain, the company ships hundreds of thousands of orders throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.









LaTienda’s brand equity is built on its fundamental commitment to the customer experience. They guarantee a positive experience for its customers – quality products delivered in excellent condition, or they will replace or refund the purchase. 



Overall, they had been seeing great success with their online orders, though they wanted to continue looking for opportunities to grow sales. To assist with this, they worked with WebStrategies, located nearby in Virginia. 




They knew that a key product category in particular required more expensive shipping methods if it was too far from LaTienda’s Virginia warehouse. Their challenge was to understand the impact on sales of varying shipping rates for this subset of products. 


LaTienda grouped visitors into two regions: Region A visitors were close enough to the warehouse to always get reasonable shipping costs. Region B visitors were everywhere else, and had to use a more expensive shipping method for the key product category.


WebStrategies wanted to measure the impact on sales whenever one of the key products was placed in the cart. To measure this, they installed Event Tracking to the “Add To Cart” buttons on every product page. 


They then used Advanced Segments Custom Reports to separate visitors in Region A from Region B, and drilled down to view performance by product category. Sure enough, visitors from Region B were found to be 48% less likely to purchase if they placed an item from the key product category in their cart, which raised total shipping costs. 


To combat this effect, LaTienda.com implemented a less expensive, flat rate shipping model in region B and monitored sales. After the test, the rate at which Region B visitors completed the shopping cart were found to have increased by nearly 70%.


Just to be sure, they checked to see if there was a similar increase in conversion rate for Region A visitors, and found that it did not fluctuate more than 3.4% over the same time period. The analysis confirmed that product shipping rates greatly impacted shopping cart behavior, and used data to measure the results of a key business decision. 


Check out the full case study as a PDF download, and see additional success stories in our analytics case studies and success stories section.



Posted by the Google Analytics Team



Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Multi-Channel Funnels: Webinar, Checklist, Tips & Tricks

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Full Submissions for Google Places API Developer Challenge Now Open!

Earlier this month we announced the Google Places API Developer Challenge, a 10-week application development event designed to spur the creation of applications focused on civic needs. We’re excited to see how you can find solutions to critical needs in areas such as transit, community engagement, education and city management by combining publicly available data sets with the power of the Google Places API. The developers of the winning applications will receive a VIP experience at Google I/O 2013.



Application submissions begin now and will continue through the end of October. The winning applications will be announced in mid-December. The judging and selection of applications will be performed by a distinguished panel of luminaries with backgrounds in geospatial technology, application development, and civic innovation, and they include:

  • Bill Oates, Chief Information Officer, City of Boston

  • John Tolva, Chief Technology Officer, City of Chicago

  • Jay Nath, Chief Innovation Officer, City of San Francisco

  • Adel W. Ebeid, Chief Innovation Officer, City of Philadelphia

  • Mark Headd, Chief Data Officer, City of Philadelphia, and former Government Relations Director at Code for America

  • John Geraci, Founder of DIYcity.org and Outside.in

  • Adam DuVander, Executive Editor at ProgrammableWeb

  • Jeanne M. Holm, Chief Knowledge Architect at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab and Chair of NASA’s Knowledge Management Team

  • Laurenellen McCann, National Policy Manager, Sunlight Foundation

  • Ed Parsons, Geospatial Technologist for Google

  • Paul Rademacher, Creator of the First Google Maps API Mashup and Creator of Stratocam

  • Rob Gray, Global Marketing Manager, Google Earth and Maps



To hear more about the types of applications that cities need, check out the video above featuring Ed Parsons (Google’s Geospatial Technologist), Jay Nath, (CIO of San Francisco), John Tolva, (CTO of Chicago), Rachel Sterne (Chief Digital Officer of NYC), and Andrew Collinge (Intelligence Office of the Greater London Authority).



Developers have always impressed us with their innovative uses of the Google Places API, and we're excited to see that energy focused on helping our communities. If you have any questions or concerns about the API, please join our developer community on Stack Overflow. We look forward to seeing all of your great ideas and meeting the winners at Google I/O.



SearchFree.net


New options for the Maps Ad Unit


Editor's note: re post from Geo Developers Blog.



Our developers often ask about opportunities for monetizing sites that use the Google Maps API. For years we've provided a way to add AdSense to their maps via the Maps Ad Unit, and today we're adding two new extensions to that feature. This means more choices for ads with your maps and an improved experience for your users.



The first extension adds six new ad formats that request a link unit rather than direct ads. Link units display a list of topics that are relevant to the content of your page. When a user clicks a topic, Google will show a page of related ads. Since link units can take up less screen space than direct ads they’re a great option to consider when you have limited space.



The second new extension allows you to customize the design of the Maps Ad Unit. We now support custom colors for the ad unit's background, border, link, text and URL. This enables you to set a color scheme that complements the design of your site.







You can now test-drive these new features with the demo. While the demo illustrates only a subset of the supported formats with a limited number of predefined styles and on-map positioning, you have much more creative freedom over your own ad unit.






When you are ready to try this on your own site please see the developer documentation and Maps API reference for instructions on how to use these features with your ad unit.





New options for the Maps Ad Unit


Our developers often ask about opportunities for monetizing sites that use the Google Maps API. For years we've provided a way to add AdSense to their maps via the Maps Ad Unit, and today we're adding two new extensions to that feature.  This means more choices for ads with your maps and an improved experience for your users.



The first extension adds six new ad formats that request a link unit rather than direct ads. Link units display a list of topics that are relevant to the content of your page.  When a user clicks a topic, Google will show a page of related ads. Since link units can take up less screen space than direct ads they’re a great option to consider when you have limited space.



The second new extension allows you to customize the design of the Maps Ad Unit. We now support custom colors for the ad unit's background, border, link, text and URL. This enables you to set a color scheme that complements the design of your site.









You can now test-drive these new features with the demo below. While the demo illustrates only a subset of the supported formats with a limited number of predefined styles and on-map positioning, you have much more creative freedom over your own ad unit.



When you are ready to try this on your own site please see the developer documentation and Maps API reference for instructions on how to use these features with your ad unit.




Hangouts in Google Calendar events


Users with an active Google+ profile can add a Google+ Hangout to calendar events. Invited guests can join the hangout by clicking on “Join hangout” on the event details page. These hangouts will respect any restrictions in the administrator control panel.



Release track:

Rapid



Editions included:

Google Apps for Business, Government and Education



For more information:

http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2012/08/bringing-google-to-work.html

http://support.google.com/calendar/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2690797



whatsnew.googleapps.com


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Scheduled Release track features update 8/28/12


Gmail: 1:1 Video chat in Gmail has been upgraded and is now powered by Google+ Hangouts. If both sides have created a Google+ profile you will get the full Hangouts experience including the ability to add up to nine other people to the conversation, screen sharing and integrated Google Docs collaboration.



The following features are intended for release to these domains on September 4th:

No new features.



Release track:

Scheduled



Editions included:

Google Apps, Google Apps for Business, Government and Education



For more information:

http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2012/07/video-chat-with-whole-team-with.html

http://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1279090



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Bringing Google+ to work: Preview of enterprise features


We have now launched a preview of Google+ premium features in the administrator control

panel. Admins can setup default restrictions that will allow users in the domain to freely

exchange ideas and share information while keeping company information private.



Post Restrictions: Admins can set all new posts to be restricted within the domain by

default. Unless a user deliberately chooses to remove this restriction on a post, it cannot

ever be reshared outside the domain by anyone. External users cannot be added via

comments either. Note that a restricted post will always remain restricted. A post can only

be made public when it is first created.



Restricted Hangouts: When this feature is turned on, external users will only be able to join

a Hangout to which they are explicitly invited to. Everyone in the domain will always be

able to join any Hangout as long as they have the URL. Note that this is a default. Users can

always make Hangouts public.



Editions included:

Google Apps for Business, Government and Education



Languages Supported:

All languages



For more information:

http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2012/08/bringing-google-to-work.html

http://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2677328

http://support.google.com/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2677329

http://support.google.com/plus/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2705802



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Get To Your Data Faster: Announcing Shortcuts In Google Analytics


We’re pleased to announce the addition of Shortcuts to Google Analytics. Shortcuts help you get to the exact view you want of your data in GA in record time. Rather than having to go through the "find report, add segment, change, sort" process daily, with Shortcuts you can do it once, save it, and come back to it in a single click.


How to create a Shortcut





Creating Shortcuts is simple. When viewing a standard or custom report in Google Analytics, click on the “Shortcut” button found on the report’s Utility Bar:










Then, give your new Shortcut a name:










Once named, you'll be taken straight to your report in the new "Shortcuts" section in the "Home" tab. Your report configuration has been stored, and your report shows up on the left side of the screen.





The following information is saved as part of a Shortcut:


  • Standard or custom report for context

  • Currently viewed tab on the report

  • Sort order

  • Advanced segments

  • Graphed metric



Notably not saved is the date range and sample size. This is because they are very dependent on the data you are looking at.


Using Shortcuts





In the "Home" tab in Google Analytics, there is a new section called "Shortcuts". Here, you can find all of the shortcuts you’ve created, and navigate to each one. Clicking a Shortcut will "reset" the segments that are applied - so you know you'll always see the same customization every time you use a Shortcut.










If you make any changes while viewing a Shortcut and you want to have those changes persist for the next time you view the Shortcut, just click on “Save” from the report’s Utility Bar:







Managing Shortcuts





You can easily manage your Shortcuts from the Overview page, found under the Shortcuts navigation on the “Home” tab. From this page, you can also delete any of your created Shortcuts:







What else should you know?



  • Shortcuts can be emailed and exported like any other standard report.


    • Deleting a Shortcut will remove that report from any scheduled emails, as with deleting a custom report.


  • Shortcuts apply at the profile level, like the rest of reports in Google Analytics.



This is a continued step in making your experience with Google Analytics as efficient as possible. We hope you find Shortcuts a useful feature.  





Posted by Andrew Seguin, Google Analytics Team




Mac OS X Hompage

With random endless changing OS X Mountain Lion Backgrounds

Safari
Safari is the default browser on Mac OS X. A while ago it was also ported to Windows. It’s one of the finest browsers around, but sadly underused. If you belong to the Safari-minority, this section is for you.
  1. If you’ve got a Mac, open the Safari dropdown menu and select Preferences… at the top-left of the browser.
  2. If you’ve got Windows, open the Edit dropdown menu and select Preferences… at the top-left of the browser.
Both in Windows and Mac, you can change your homepage in the General tab. You can choose how to open new pages — blank, or with a homepage — and type in the address of your favorite site. Additionally, you can also choose to use the address of the page you’re currently visiting.

While you’re at it, you can also tell Safari what to do upon opening new tabs. Top Sites, one of the best features in Safari, is default, but perhaps you still prefer to use your homepage.


Opera
Opera is – sadly – one of the lesser used browsers, even though it’s got remarkable charms and has introduced numerous innovations in the browser market. If you’re amongst the fine men and women using this slick competitor, this section is for you.
  1. At the top of the browser, open the Tools dropdown menu and select Preferences.
  2. In the General tab, you can configure your homepage. Either type in the address you want to use, or choose to use the currently active page as homepage.
Alternatively, you can configure Opera to launch with a blank page, the startup dialog, or with the tabs of last time’s session.


Firefox and Firefox-based Browsers
Firefox is not just the acclaimed geek-browser anymore. These days, it’s the most used browser in the internet market. As such, that is where we’ll start. Note that any menu-names might have to be translated to your own language, but any changes should be obvious.

How to Set Browser Home Page ?
In the top left of your browser, open the Edit menu and select Preferences.
In the Main tab, you can change your default homepage.
You can also configure Firefox to load with a blank page, or to restore your last session.

When you start typing in the text-field, Firefox will make suggestions based on your history. Alternatively, you can also use the address of the webpage currently active in your browser, one of your bookmarks, or restore the default Firefox Start page.

You can add multiple home pages — which will launch in tabs upon opening firefox — by putting vertical slashes between the links. (e.g. “http://mac--desk.blogspot.com | http://www.google.com”)

This will work with Firefox, but also with Firefox-based browsers, like Flock, Wyzo, and many others.


Internet Explorer (IE7 and IE8)
Microsoft’s Internet Explorer might be loathed by many, but one can’t ignore the fact that it takes a worthy second as most used browser. And thus we go on. The differences between Internet Explorer 7 and 8 are superfluous for this tutorial.

Option 1
In the top right of your screen, open the Tools dropdown menu and select Internet Options.
In the General tab, you’ll be able to set the browser home page to one of your liking. Similar to Firefox, you can use the address of the currently active page, the default start page, or a blank page.
If you want Internet Explorer to open multiple pages upon launch, you  need to type the different addresses in the text-box, below each other.

Option 2
There’s a second way to configure your home page. First, surf to the webpage you want to use.
Next, open the dropdown menu next to the Home button, and select Add or Change Home Page…
A new window will pop up. You can choose to replace your current home page by the current address, or to add the webpage to your current bookmarks.
In Internet Explorer 8, you can also use the current tab set (all your open pages) as homepages.


Google Chrome
Chrome‘s one of the new guys on the block, but a relatively popular browser, taking in account its short time with us. If you like Google’s browser of simplicity, this part is for you.
In the top-right corner of the browser, open the wrench dropdown menu and select Options. Go to the Basics tab, here you can configure your homepage.

Option 1
Make sure that ‘Open the following pages’ is selected in the startup section near the top of the page.
In the box below, you can add multiple web addresses to be opened upon browser launch. If you want to open a blank page, you’ll have to enter ‘about:blank’, manually.

Option 2
Make sure that the ‘Open the home page’ is selected in the startup section near the top of the page.
In the Home Page section, you’ve got two options. Either use the New Tab Page — which is selected by default — or enter a custom address in the text-field.

A more dynamic mobile reading experience


Last year we introduced mobile templates on Blogger, and Dynamic Views for the desktop. Since then, over 2 million blogs have started using Dynamic Views on desktop, and users have asked us for more mobile features. So today, we’re bringing the speed and advanced reading experience of Dynamic Views to mobile.  Configuring your blog to use a Dynamic View on mobile will result in a reading experience that mirrors the desktop, but is optimized for mobile.

To configure a Dynamic View for mobile on your blog, select the "Template" tab, and then click on the settings cog under the “Mobile” preview.  






If you’re currently using Dynamic Views on the desktop and have the “Default” mobile template selected, you don’t need to do anything -- your blog will automatically start using the mobile optimized view when viewed from a compatible mobile browser. For more information, see Blogger Help.








Currently, only the “Classic” view, which is best suited for small screens, will be shown on mobile. Tablets with large screens will get the full desktop experience. As with the older mobile templates, supported browsers are WebKit-based browsers (such as Android Browser, Chrome for Android and iOS, and Mobile Safari).  


We hope your readers enjoy the modern, compelling experience that this mobile update provides.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Google App Engine Tips and Tutorials on Google Developers Live

Have you ever wanted to use a new feature of Google App Engine, but were uncertain of how to get started? Documentation and sample applications are a great way to start learning about App Engine, but sometimes a more interactive approach can make all the difference. 



Google Developers Live is exactly that. Each week, members of our Developer Relations Team host a Google+ Hangout or event to discuss a feature or tip. You can get expert answers to your questions, live. In addition to the live session, these talks are recorded and available on YouTube for you to view whenever you want.



We’ve hosted sessions on using Google Cloud SQL, Google Cloud Endpoints, and other Google Cloud Platform services like Google Compute Engine. Have a topic you’d like to learn more about? Let us know by filling out this questionnaire.

- Posted by the Google App Engine Team


Go Mobile with Google - Create a Mobile Site for Free


With an estimated 70 million mobile Internet users in the country, Mobile Internet is taking off in India. And to help your business get ahead in this mobile era - we at Google India are very excited to launch a new initiative called ‘Let’s talk Mo’.



With Indian smartphone users spending over 72 mins daily on the mobile web (89% of them are searching for information*), the user-experience is not optimized for the mobile screen as most Indian websites are still designed for the PC experience. That’s why starting today, Google is giving Indian businesses two options: (1) Create a mobile optimized site for Free (2) Test how user friendly is your existing mobile site. We have launched a dedicated website that provides all the tools and resources that businesses need to have a presence on the mobile platform.

[*Source: Nielsen Informate Insights for smartphone users 2012]







On the Let’s Talk Mo website, businesses will be able to see how their sites look on a smartphone using the GoMoMeter tool and get personalized recommendations for creating a more user friendly experience. You can also choose from a range of partners who provide a Do It Yourself (DIY) tool to create a mobile site free of cost. The site also provides information on current mobile trends, best practices, case studies and various other resources to help businesses develop a successful mobile presence.



What's more, whether you are an advertiser, agency or a publisher, we have customized guides tailored to your specific requirements.



With more and more people using their mobile phones to explore the web, it makes sense for businesses to have a website optimized for mobile, sooner than later.



So, visit letstalkmo.com and get mobile ready!




Monday, August 27, 2012

Release Schedule for AdWords API


In response to your feedback, we are pleased to announce that starting at the end of September 2012, new major versions of the AdWords API will be released according to a published schedule. These major releases will occur 3 times per year: at the end of February, in the middle of June and at the end of September. Exact release dates may vary.



A major release is one that starts the sunset clock on previous releases. An example of this is the recent v201206 release which started the sunset clock on the v201109 and v201109_1 releases. We will also continue to release minor versions to deliver new features as required. Minor versions are optional and are source code compatible. Minor versions are delivered as dot releases and an example of this is the v201109_1 dot release.



We believe that delivering new API releases to a published schedule will allow you, the API users, to better plan and allocate resources, not just for performing required API updates but also for innovating and implementing new features and continuously developing your tools and platforms. It also provides us with a more stable and more frequent vehicle for delivering new features.



Each new major release will trigger the deprecation of the previous major release. Exact deprecation timelines will be announced with each major release.



If you have any questions about this announcement please post on the forum or attend one of the AdWords API Office Hours Hangouts.




Some Changes to DoubleClick Ad Planner


We are constantly evaluating our products to make sure that we are investing in tools that create the most value for our customers. Sometimes this requires making some changes...as we will be with DoubleClick Ad Planner. Starting on September 5, 2012, DoubleClick Ad Planner will become a tool dedicated to researching placements across the 2 million sites comprising the Google Display Network. Our goal will be to make this a best-in-class planning product for the GDN. It will also get a new name: the Google Display Network Ad Planner.

In order to maintain the highest level of quality planning data and to invest in new functionality, we will also need to discontinue some existing features. You will start to see, for example, that certain filters and demographic data will no longer be available in Ad Planner.

Next Steps



  • Please visit our Ad Planner Help Center for a full list of changes.

  • If there is any data or media plans that you will need after this change that will no longer be available, please export and save them before September 5th.



Thanks for your support and understanding as we continue to focus on developing new monetization features for publishers and advertisers.

Posted by Vincent Lacey, Product Manager