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
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