Hey—we've moved. Visit
The Keyword
for all the latest news and stories from Google
Official Blog
Insights from Googlers into our products, technology, and the Google culture
Be who you are. Love who you love. #prideforeveryone
June 23, 2016
Everyone has the fundamental right to express who they are, yet all too often we bear witness to hatred and violence directed at people who peacefully and lovingly pursue happiness. The mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, earlier this month is a horrifying example.
Google’s mission has always been to make information universally accessible. And within that mission lies the belief that the more knowledge we have, the more tolerant, inclusive and respectful the world ultimately will be.
Pride is a time when those who have access to vibrant LGBTQ communities take to the streets to celebrate the freedom to live and love. Yet there are still multitudes of lesbian, gay, bi, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in the U.S. and around the world who are lonely and ostracized—who cannot participate in Pride due to strict anti-LGBTQ laws or social stigma.
To bridge this gap, we've created
#prideforeveryone
—a virtual reality Pride experience that anyone can access. For the past several weeks, Googlers from 25 countries have been marching in their local Pride parades to document the truly global face of the LGBTQ community in 360 degrees. This VR montage, available via YouTube 360 and Google Cardboard, is the result.
Google has a long track record of leadership in LGBTQ rights, including taking a stand
against discrimination in sports
at the Sochi Olympic games, becoming
one of the first companies to provide full coverage of transgender employee healthcare
, and
standing up for same-sex and domestic partner rights
and benefits in places around the world where they may not otherwise exist.
Even in the U.S., where we’ve achieved greater levels of equality, only
52 percent of the LGBTQ population
have ever participated in a parade. Transgender people face legislation that effectively dehumanizes them. In Orlando, the LGBTQ community bore the brunt of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. This is simply wrong.
With #prideforeveryone, we stand prouder than ever in our embrace of the LGBTQ community. As always, we invite others to stand with us.
A 360 camera is anchored on a moving float in the São Paulo Pride parade. The trans flag and a
crowd of more than 2 million people
can be seen in the background.
Posted by Arjan Dijk, VP Growth Marketing and Executive Sponsor of Gayglers
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNpXCcjrZkYUeEk4Niy9uOb-lyW0l9djXM1-PtL84Re_uvq5nsDVIrBgy-nbmcDdgKmoAFSnOCYvcu-KCSUa4Qf2BUxKmbMs-6cqunwjiauGduwnxp5p5C08EXji1BZtyf3D_N/s1600/Pride.jpg
Arjan Dijk
VP Growth Marketing and Executive Sponsor of Gayglers
Celebrating and advancing entrepreneurship around the world
June 23, 2016
All around the world, entrepreneurs are creating thriving businesses. In London, Josh Babarinde created
Cracked It
, a social enterprise that trains at-risk youth to repair cracked smartphone screens, giving them an alternative to crime. In Seoul, Yeram Kwon is transforming the CPR training experience with improved, smarter manikins through
HeartiSense
. And in Israel, Oded Ben-Dov created
Sesame Enable
, the first touch-free smartphone designed for people who have limited or no use of their hands due to disabilities.
As a company created by two graduate students in a garage, we know just how powerful an entrepreneur with an idea can be. We also know there’s more that companies, governments, and communities can do to help those entrepreneurs succeed. That’s why we
created
Google for Entrepreneurs
nearly four years ago—to support startup communities around the world and connect entrepreneurs to resources and to each other.
This week, we’re excited to participate in and sponsor the
Global Entrepreneurship Summit
, hosted by President Barack Obama and the U.S. government, building upon summits previously hosted by the governments of Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Morocco, and Kenya. The summit showcases entrepreneurs and investors from around the world who are creating new opportunities for investment, partnership, and collaboration. Our CEO Sundar Pichai is speaking at Friday’s closing session, and a number of other Google leaders will be there to discuss the state of entrepreneurship around the world and ways that we can all support startups and encourage innovation.
Helping entrepreneurs succeed also means building and investing resources in the communities where they live and work. That’s why Google for Entrepreneurs partners with more than 50 organizations worldwide, and runs six
Campus
spaces—in London, Tel Aviv, Seoul, Madrid, Warsaw, and São Paulo—where local entrepreneurs can work and learn. Altogether, we work with entrepreneurs in 125 countries, who have raised more than $1 billion in funding and created 5,000+ new jobs.
Our support of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit is another way we hope to help entrepreneurs build and create the technology that will shape our future. To the 1,500 attendees joining from around the world, we warmly welcome you to Silicon Valley and hope to meet you! If you’re attending the Summit, please stop by the Google for Entrepreneurs lounge, where you can sign up for 1:1 mentorship from dozens of Googlers and industry experts, explore product demos, and more. We’re also hosting an interactive portal experience to connect attendees from the event to entrepreneurs around the world at Campus London, Campus Seoul,
Centraal
in Mexico, and in Iraq and Afghanistan. And for those that can’t join us in person, you can catch the action via
live stream
.
Posted by Mary Grove, Director, Google for Entrepreneurs
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoJVubi4uEs-URA1YcKHj3-o6wTA_CWUm9rFtg8Ohajj7lxa6kmQd1Zz6RDqs70ZpC77jMN8VkBapb2tIfbdr-GLJfm-AXZG8PSrS-ZSY4FPCOl6iIYbatKgmVI9r_5QmsSeWH/s1600/GES.jpg
Picture this: you woke up today with a headache. It’s been getting worse all day, and you aren’t sure if you should be worried or not. So you open
the Google app
and start searching for your symptoms. After 20 minutes digging through health forums, chances are you're overwhelmed by all the complicated medical terms and breaking out in a sweat—whether that’s related to the headache or the overdose of info is unclear!
You’re not alone. Roughly 1 percent of searches on Google (think:
millions!
) are symptom-related. But health content on the web can be difficult to navigate, and tends to lead people from mild symptoms to scary and unlikely conditions, which can cause unnecessary anxiety and stress.
So starting in the coming days, when you ask Google about symptoms like “
headache on one side
,” we’ll show you a list of related conditions (“headache,” “migraine,” “tension headache,” “cluster headache,” “sinusitis,” and “common cold”). For individual symptoms like “
headache
,” we’ll also give you an overview description along with information on self-treatment options and what might warrant a doctor’s visit. By doing this, our goal is to help you to navigate and explore health conditions related to your symptoms, and quickly get to the point where you can do more in-depth research on the web or talk to a health professional.
We create the list of symptoms by looking for health conditions mentioned in web results, and then checking them against high-quality medical information we’ve collected from doctors for our
Knowledge Graph
. We worked with a team of medical doctors to carefully review the individual symptom information, and experts at Harvard Medical School and Mayo Clinic evaluated related conditions for a representative sample of searches to help improve the lists we show.
That said, symptom search (like all medical information on Google) is intended for informational purposes only, and you should always consult a doctor for medical advice. We rely on search results, and we reflect what’s on the web. Because of this, your feedback is especially important to us; we’ll use it to keep improving the results we show. You’ll notice in the weeks following launch that when we show symptom search we’ll automatically ask you if the results are helpful.
We’re rolling this update out on mobile over the next few days, in English in the U.S. to start. Over time, we hope to cover more symptoms, and we also want to extend this to other languages and internationally. So the next time you’re worried about your “
child with knee pain
” (even though it’s probably just growing pains), or have some symptoms you’re too embarrassed to run by your roommate, a Google search will be a helpful place to start.
Posted by Veronica Pinchin, Product Manager
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY_bp5PM5KDLp7fnX21NMlbcSwvm3U2t0jLSH6bRq_sXk9WhsFj1frDnqfnA03Oh2n_9nlC7p6OMnAu43UBi-fj1kyvi8FbGZEgipSY7Lomjpc9HQHg0ipRF_jRlwz_Zc2-mul/s1600/Symptoms.jpg
Showing support on World Refugee Day
June 20, 2016
When Walaa posted a picture on social media that spoke out against violence in his hometown of Jairoud, Syria, it earned him three months of violent detention. He fled the country with his family through Turkey and into Greece, where they now live in a refugee camp near the Macedonian border.
Though the Internet played a role in his flight from Syria, connectivity has played a crucial role in helping him rebuild his life in Greece. While living in Greek refugee camps, Walaa used YouTube to learn English, and his language skills are now so good that he’s served as a community advocate and translator. He says he’s far from done: next, he hopes to learn Greek.
As refugees across Europe adapt to new contexts, access to information and education are crucial to help them develop the skills they need. Last fall we encouraged you to donate to a public matching campaign to help refugees access not only basic humanitarian aid, but also resources to create a bridge to their new communities. Since then we’ve helped the
International Rescue Committee
build an
online information hub
for refugees,
Mercy Corps
develop
Translation Cards
to allow field workers to communicate across languages more easily, partner with
NetHope
to install low-cost WiFi in refugee camps, and support refugee education through
Kiron
, a nonprofit providing refugee-tailored university courses available both online and offline.
In addition to Walaa, we’ve heard from other refugees who are finding ways to adjust thanks to Internet and education access. For example, Ahmed is an Iraqi computer scientist now living in Berlin. While waiting for his residence permit, he began teaching coding classes at refugee welcome centers as part of
Project Reconnect
, an initiative we launched with NetHope to equip NGOs with Chromebooks. Kashif, who traveled through seven countries from a small Pakistani town to Berlin, is studying online with Kiron and dreams of working as an engineer at NASA.
Ahmed giving CODE.org classes to young refugees through the Chromebooks in a refugee center in Berlin
On World Refugee Day, we hope you’ll take time
to hear stories
of more refugees who are working so hard to rebuild their lives.
We also want to thank everyone across the globe who
donated
last year, and encourage you to continue to support our partners in their critical work. Though the impact of this refugee crisis will be felt for many years to come, we’ll continue to look for ways to contribute.
Posted by Jacquelline Fuller, Director of Google.org
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihNy5IS6yFXQq4Lx5smu95lU1_IfYqEv0fEuomlvhPPnf8oq3xd-5JX7vnixNcWEhK5luUrxe4fiKFBphCAl_B3vTyuGK8fmJuve7Cl78x9XS5pSd92ilR-7lutxZ4ysuKAsYs/s1600/Reconnect_hero.jpg
Digital Love Letters for fathers who are incarcerated
June 17, 2016
This past Mother's Day, we shared
#LoveLetters
, a partnership among nonprofits to give the children of incarcerated parents a chance to have their voices heard. Today, in celebration of Father’s Day, you can watch Love Letters for incarcerated fathers. This work is part of our continued commitment to
raising awareness about racial injustice
, and to
bearing witness
to the human costs of mass incarceration.
The costs of mass incarceration have disproportionately affected the lives of Black men. From 1980 to 2007, about
one in three
of the 25.4 million adults arrested for drugs was African-American. And if that current trend continues, one in three Black boys born today can expect to spend time in prison during his lifetime. All in all, we’re now at a point where there are
more African-American men incarcerated
in the U.S. than the total prison populations of India, Argentina, Canada, Lebanon, Germany, Finland, Israel and England combined.
Children share digital “Love Letters” for their fathers who are incarcerated
Many of these men are also fathers—and their children have suffered greatly. The loss of a father to incarceration
adversely
affects children’s educational, social and emotional well-being, even decades later.
Children with an incarcerated parent
are three times more likely to have behavioral problems or depression, and at least twice as likely to suffer from learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, and anxiety.
This is what Love Letters conveys: the hurt of the children left behind—and the enduring bond between a child and a parent despite the barrier of prison walls. So for Father's Day, we worked with the NGOs
Pops the Club
and
Place4Grace
to encourage children and youth in California to share their love letters to their fathers behind bars. We're also working with the California Department of Corrections to share the video with fathers behind bars throughout the state.
To learn about criminal justice reform legislation now going through Congress, visit
sentencingproject.org
,
vera.org
, or
brennancenter.org
. As David Drummond, Alphabet’s vice president of corporate development, said at an event this week: “We like disruption, and if there’s a system worth disrupting, it’s the criminal justice system.” We hope that by raising awareness about the impact of mass incarceration on children and families, we can help to change it. Please join us in this effort—watch the video and share with #LoveLetters on social media.
Posted by Malika Saada Saar, Public Policy and Government Relations Senior Counsel – Civil and Human Rights
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQSwPssPVgTYC4DyB884X8DN3ipsnRFxPfl5nWNip8fgp8rYweeX5BOXoJf1dcp9WMsDUQvF-r1Q8XdJtsuhExOkxygcjxJ19BCNb2cd-uopT4MGxsw2GuMN_IEiUQ1QVDu8x/s1600/LoveLetters.jpg
Tango: See more with a new kind of phone
June 9, 2016
Your phone can help you navigate from one side of the country to the other, help you share memories with friends, or even identify the song that's playing right now. But it can’t answer basic (and important) questions like, “Where’s the nearest building exit?” or “Will this couch actually fit in my apartment?” That’s because while your phone may know where you are in the world, it doesn’t know where you are in the room.
But, for the past three years, the Project Tango team has been working to help devices understand physical space and motion more like people do. Today we’re taking the next step with the first Tango-enabled phone (Lenovo’s
PHAB2 Pro
). We’re also graduating the effort from Project Tango to, simply, Tango.
Tango helps you answer a new set of questions about your world through specialized hardware and apps. Some of the coolest apps that work with Tango are the ones that overlay digital objects on top of your surroundings. For example if you’re shopping for a new bed, Tango lets you view your bedroom through your phone and visualize different options—even walk around the virtual furniture like it’s actually there.
With a Tango-enabled phone, you also have a toy box, a solar system, and a pet shop in your pocket. You can play with a huge set of dominoes, explore the planets, defend yourself from invading aliens, or feed your virtual dog—all through your phone. The best part is that you don’t have to clean up afterwards.
In the future, we hope Tango can help you navigate a mall, museum or place you’ve never been. Tango can overlay directions to your destination, then provide more info once you arrive. We've already started to work on this—we previewed it in February with the
National Art Museum of Catalunya
, and we plan to bring select locations online later this year.
Whether you’re shopping, playing, or just finding your way around, Tango helps you explore the world in a new way. There are already lots of
great apps
exploring these new capabilities, and as Tango finds its way into more devices, there will be more to come. If you’d like to learn more, visit the
Tango website
, or tune in to
Nat and Lo
for a behind-the-scenes look at Tango.
Posted by Johnny Lee, Director of Engineering
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtn_I0csrbRVAfY4TsQ08Qkz2Buc_Cl3FfB4CJegTbpf93_UIc1ADvsyloVQzvV8piJfnesh6RvzOqfxs5TzpwInJvyps2HFPLP0Y_keD8xyLxPYpwovIDy2pHSQO94ZIX8MKl/s1600/dinogif.gif
Celebrating My Account's first birthday with improvements and new controls
June 1, 2016
A year ago today
, we launched
My Account
, a hub that gives you quick access to controls for safeguarding your data and protecting your privacy on Google. My Account puts privacy and security tools in one place, including long-standing features like Ads Settings and newer ones like the
Privacy
and
Security
Checkups. Collectively, these tools make it easy for you to control your privacy and security from any device.
In the past year, more than one billion people around the world have used My Account. Now, on the first anniversary of its launch, we're excited to introduce three new features to easily access your controls and protect your data.
A helping hand when you lose your phone
We entrust our phones with some of our most personal data: texts from loved ones, family photos, work emails, bank account information, and more. In the wrong hands, that data could cause trouble. Unfortunately,
millions of phones
are stolen every year in the U.S. alone, and countless more are lost in taxis, cafes, and couch cushions around the world. But when your phone goes missing, it’s not always easy to figure out where to start, who to call, or how to keep your information safe.
Find your phone
is a new feature that will help you if your phone is ever lost or stolen. In a few simple steps, you can not only locate your phone, but also lock and call it, secure your account, leave a callback number on the screen, and more. The feature can be used to find lost Android and iOS devices, and soon, you’ll also be able to access it by searching Google for “I lost my phone.”
New ways to access My Account
People are increasingly using their voices to navigate apps and services—for example, mobile voice searches on Google have tripled in the past two years. So, we’re making it easier to get to My Account just by using your voice. In the latest Google app you can simply say, “Ok Google, show me my Google account,” and we’ll take you right there. This is available today in English, with other languages coming soon.
We’re also making it easier than ever to find My Account by searching Google. Coming soon, you’ll be able to simply search for your own name, and if you’re signed in, you’ll see a shortcut to My Account.
When you entrust your data to Google, you should expect powerful security and privacy controls. These features are just the latest in our ongoing efforts to protect you and your personal information. We'll continue to make updates based on your feedback.
Posted by Guemmy Kim, Product Manager, Account Controls and Settings
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinvyKzFk_hGspuvP3Sgp59-C6VnBsh3-QbC4QPX9xMMHyOofIuMhfGweT2GehQIhL0Fo6QtpcmV6bPeKYECAn8MRLy_V0XHVQOuRvEIfjKAE1GYrRJ9KVt1ZgM05WhupB3zf4M/s1600/Security.jpg
Labels
accessibility
41
acquisition
26
ads
131
Africa
19
Android
58
apps
419
April 1
4
Asia
39
books + book search
48
commerce
12
computing history
7
crisis response
33
culture
12
developers
120
diversity
35
doodles
68
education and research
144
entrepreneurs at Google
14
Europe
46
faster web
16
free expression
61
google.org
73
googleplus
50
googlers and culture
202
green
102
Latin America
18
maps and earth
194
mobile
124
online safety
19
open source
19
photos
39
policy and issues
139
politics
71
privacy
66
recruiting and hiring
32
scholarships
31
search
505
search quality
24
search trends
118
security
36
small business
31
user experience and usability
41
youtube and video
140
Archive
2016
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2011
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2010
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2009
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2008
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2007
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2006
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2005
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2004
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Feed
Google
on
Follow @google
Follow
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.
Follow
