Wednesday, August 29, 2012

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



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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.