Author Archives: Google LatLong

Pride 2017: Show love, show progress, #ShowUp

Growing up in Chandigarh, India, a small, conservative city about five hours north of New Delhi, I knew early on that something about me was different. After undergrad, I moved to Champaign, IL to get a master’s degree in engineering, leaving behind the hustle and bustle of India for a small, quiet university town in the Midwest. My newfound independence abroad gave me the space to confront and accept my difference—and come out as gay.

During my first summer in the U.S., I visited Boystown in Chicago, one of the most famous gay neighborhoods in the country. It was a bright summer day and the streets were packed with smiling, laughing people from across the LGBTQ community. It was only a matter of seconds before my friends and I got caught up in the excitement and camaraderie of the place. For the first time, I felt I could be myself.

When I joined Google, I was excited to find a community of LGBTQ Googlers and allies who celebrate Pride across the world, and not just by marching in parades (although we do lots of that, too). As a company, we want to make sure our products help LGBTQ people feel they can be themselves, whether they’re in Chandigarh or Chicago.

lgbt_parade.png
From displaying Pride parade routes in Maps, to the fifth consecutive year of YouTube’s #ProudToBe campaign, 2017 was all about connecting people with local Pride events and sharing experiences across the globe.

In addition to #ProudToBe, which encourages people to share their stories and connect with others around the world, YouTube made a number of commitments to continue supporting the LGBTQ community and shared a video celebrating Pride and all the great LGBTQ YouTube Creators.

#ProudToBe: Celebrate Brave Voices this Pride

Google My Business made it easier for merchants worldwide to let people know their business is “LGBTQ-friendly” or a “Transgender Safe Space.” Once merchants opt into these attributes, they’re shown on business listings in Google Maps and Search to signal to potential visitors that their establishment respects and treats all people equally.

LGBT_highlight mobile_1850.png

In New York, Senator Chuck Schumer announced a $1 million Google.org grant to record critical moments in LGBTQ history, including the night of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising. The Stonewall Uprising is important to the ongoing road to civil rights for LGBTQ communities around the world—and its message is as resonant and necessary today as it was in 1969.

Schumer-pride.jpg
US Senator Chuck Schumer announcing a Google.org grant to the LGBT Community Center of New York City in support of the Stonewall National Monument

And we launched #ShowUp, a project designed to help people take action in support of the LGBTQ community at a local level. By entering their zip code on the #ShowUp homepage, people can find the nearest parades, marches and LGBTQ-supporting nonprofits in their communities. The campaign also aims to chart progress in LGBTQ rights across eight U.S. cities by recording individual stories about why showing up matters.

#ShowUp Stories: Lily | Birmingham, AL

Boystown made me feel safe to be myself. All people deserve to feel this way. At Google, we hope that, by  connecting people with local events and sharing experiences across the globe, Google can help even a few more LGBTQ people feel safe to be themselves.

Source: Google LatLong


Google Earth, class is now in session

So much of what students learn in the classroom—from social studies to history, science and literature—relates to a geographic place on Earth. Recently, we announced a new version of Google Earth, and since then, educators have been telling us what a valuable tool Google Earth is for their students. They use the “I’m feeling lucky” feature to inspire writing exercises, do research exercises with Knowledge Cards, and explore satellite imagery and cloud strata with their students. Now, to make it even easier for teachers to use Google Earth in the classroom, we’ve created a new “Education” category in the Voyager section, which includes new stories—complete with classroom activities—from National Geographic Society, PBS Education, HHMI Biointeractive and Mission Blue.

Edu-category600px.gif
Just click the new "Education" category on the Voyager homepage for new stories, complete with classroom activities for teachers

The National Geographic Society stories take students on adventures following explorers through the Middle East, India, and coral reefs. To supplement the experience, National Geographic Society created idea for activities that highlight a range of geographical concepts, such as interpreting land forms and comparing map projections.

  • EarthVoyager_NationalGeographic2.png
    Join one leg of a 21,000-mile cultural journey with National Geographic Fellow Paul Salopek in Africa.
  • EarthVoyager_NationalGeographic1.png
    Explore the last Pristine Seas with Dr. Enric Sala as he works to restore the health and productivity of our planet's oceans.
  • EarthVoyager_NationalGeographic3.png
    National Geographic Society created activities showing how Google Earth can be used in the classroom.

With PBS Education, classrooms can go back in time and track the paths of famous explorers, from Lewis and Clark to the Vikings. As students follow along, they, in turn, become modern-day explorers.

  • EarthVoyager_PBS1.png
    Trace the waterways of the American West with Lewis and Clark
  • EarthVoyager_PBS3.png
    Teachers using PBS Education’s Age of Encounters can ask students: How do you think these ships chose their ocean routes?
  • EarthVoyager_PBS4.png
    PBS Education’s Vikings teaches about the Vikings who were exploring the sea 500 years before Christopher Colombus

HHMI Biointeractive and Mission Blue created Voyager stories more geared towards science and math. With HHMI Biointeractive, students join “Scientists at Work” as they investigate important problems, from endangered coral reefs to the Ebola outbreak. And Mission Blue’s story teaches students about the unique oceanographic conditions of Costa Rica thermal dome. Short videos and questions embedded in the stories will help guide students with their own scientific research.

  • GoogleVoyager-ScientistsatWork.png
    Spanning Oregon to Mozambique, students can learn about science in the field with HHMI Biointeractive
  • GoogleVoyager-Fossils.png
    Students can learn how scientists measure mammal extinctions, using fossils spanning millions of years.
  • EarthVoyager_MissionBlue.png
    Explore  the Costa Rica Thermal Dome Hope Spot where you can follow marine biologists in the field tagging turtles, tracking sharks and more.

Educators everywhere can find classroom activities (created by teachers, for teachers) at our new Google Earth Education website, and easily share locations and stories directly to Google Classroom. In addition, this week Google Earth will become an Additional Service for Google for Education users, which can be managed by IT administrators through the Google Admin console.

Google Earth was built to inspire curious minds to explore, learn and care about our vast, fragile planet. With these updates, we’re excited to make it easier for the next generation to see the world from a new perspective.

Source: Google LatLong


Google Earth, class is now in session

So much of what students learn in the classroom—from social studies to history, science and literature—relates to a geographic place on Earth. Recently, we announced a new version of Google Earth, and since then, educators have been telling us what a valuable tool Google Earth is for their students. They use the “I’m feeling lucky” feature to inspire writing exercises, do research exercises with Knowledge Cards, and explore satellite imagery and cloud strata with their students. Now, to make it even easier for teachers to use Google Earth in the classroom, we’ve created a new “Education” category in the Voyager section, which includes new stories—complete with classroom activities—from National Geographic Society, PBS Education, HHMI Biointeractive and Mission Blue.

Edu-category600px.gif
Just click the new "Education" category on the Voyager homepage for new stories, complete with classroom activities for teachers

The National Geographic Society stories take students on adventures following explorers through the Middle East, India, and coral reefs. To supplement the experience, National Geographic Society created idea for activities that highlight a range of geographical concepts, such as interpreting land forms and comparing map projections.

  • EarthVoyager_NationalGeographic2.png
    Join one leg of a 21,000-mile cultural journey with National Geographic Fellow Paul Salopek in Africa.
  • EarthVoyager_NationalGeographic1.png
    Explore the last Pristine Seas with Dr. Enric Sala as he works to restore the health and productivity of our planet's oceans.
  • EarthVoyager_NationalGeographic3.png
    National Geographic Society created activities showing how Google Earth can be used in the classroom.

With PBS Education, classrooms can go back in time and track the paths of famous explorers, from Lewis and Clark to the Vikings. As students follow along, they, in turn, become modern-day explorers.

  • EarthVoyager_PBS1.png
    Trace the waterways of the American West with Lewis and Clark
  • EarthVoyager_PBS3.png
    Teachers using PBS Education’s Age of Encounters can ask students: How do you think these ships chose their ocean routes?
  • EarthVoyager_PBS4.png
    PBS Education’s Vikings teaches about the Vikings who were exploring the sea 500 years before Christopher Colombus

HHMI Biointeractive and Mission Blue created Voyager stories more geared towards science and math. With HHMI Biointeractive, students join “Scientists at Work” as they investigate important problems, from endangered coral reefs to the Ebola outbreak. And Mission Blue’s story teaches students about the unique oceanographic conditions of Costa Rica thermal dome. Short videos and questions embedded in the stories will help guide students with their own scientific research.

  • GoogleVoyager-ScientistsatWork.png
    Spanning Oregon to Mozambique, students can learn about science in the field with HHMI Biointeractive
  • GoogleVoyager-Fossils.png
    Students can learn how scientists measure mammal extinctions, using fossils spanning millions of years.
  • EarthVoyager_MissionBlue.png
    Explore  the Costa Rica Thermal Dome Hope Spot where you can follow marine biologists in the field tagging turtles, tracking sharks and more.

Educators everywhere can find classroom activities (created by teachers, for teachers) at our new Google Earth Education website, and easily share locations and stories directly to Google Classroom. In addition, this week Google Earth will become an Additional Service for Google for Education users, which can be managed by IT administrators through the Google Admin console.

Google Earth was built to inspire curious minds to explore, learn and care about our vast, fragile planet. With these updates, we’re excited to make it easier for the next generation to see the world from a new perspective.

Source: Google LatLong


Using machine learning to help people make smart decisions about solar energy

 A few years ago, when my family was first deciding whether or not to go solar, I remember driving around the neighborhood, looking at all the solar arrays on nearby rooftops. It made me realize: Wow, solar isn’t some futuristic concept, it’s already part of the fabric of my town! Seeing that others around me were already benefiting from solar helped me decide to do the same.

We want to make it easy for people to make informed decisions about whether to invest in solar. Project Sunroof already shows you solar potential and cost saving for more than 60 million individual homes. Today we’re adding a new feature, Project Sunroof Data Explorer, which shows a map of existing solar installations in neighborhoods throughout the United States. Now instead of driving street to street, it’s a little easier to see if houses around you and communities nearby have already gone solar.
one
Click on “existing arrays” in the upper right corner to see number of existing installations in your region

This feature combines machine learning with imagery from Google Maps and Google Earth to provide an estimate of how many houses in an area have solar. We started by taking in high-resolution imagery of rooftops and manually identifying solar installations. We then used that data as the initial training set for our algorithm. After many iterations, our machine learning algorithms can now automatically find and identify installations in the imagery (both photovoltaic panels, which produce electricity, and solar hot water heaters). Even for machines, practice makes perfect!

2

So far we’ve identified around 700,000 installations in the U.S. and over time, as we continue to train the algorithms and apply improvements, we will be able to find and show more installations. We hope that this new feature will provide policy makers, communities and individuals with more information to help make smarter decisions in their transition to cleaner power sources.

Source: Google LatLong


Dive into World Oceans Day with Google Earth and Maps

This World Oceans Day, explore our oceans and learn from experts leading marine conservation efforts around the world with Street View and Google Earth.

We hope these stories and sights will inspire you to get involved and help protect our vast and fragile oceans. So jump on in, the water’s fine!Start your underwater adventure in Voyager. With the Ocean Agency, tour Raja Ampat, Indonesia’s rich marine center containing 76 percent of the world’s coral species and 36 percent of the world’s reef fish species—more than any other marine region in the world. Then head to the Gulf of California with Dr. Sylvia Earle to see leaping mobula rays and learn about efforts to combat shark finning. Finally, head south to swim alongside the playful sea lions of the Galápagos Islands, one of the most biodiverse and unique places on the planet.

  • carousel1_raja1.png
  • carousel2_raja2.png
  • carousel3_raja3.png
  • carousel4_mb1.png
  • carousel5_mb2.png
  • carousel6_mb3.png
  • carousel7_gala1.png
  • carousel8_gala2.png
  • carousel9_gala3.png

Once you’ve gotten your sea legs in Voyager, sail on over to Street View for even more beautiful blues. Go tete-a-tete with turtles in the Great Barrier Reef off Heron Island, Australia, snorkel through colorful coral in DA Bai Shah, Taiwan, and enroll yourself in a school of fish in Bali.

We hope these stories and sights will inspire you to get involved and help protect our vast and fragile oceans. So jump on in, the water’s fine!

Photo credit for header image of Raja Ampat: Jayne Jenkins

Source: Google LatLong


Let’s clear the air: mapping our environment for our health

How hot will it be today? What is the traffic for my commute to work? Where’s the nearest grocery store? Every day we use data about the world around us to make decisions. One useful dataset is air pollution data, which contains much-needed information that can help us understand how to live healthier lives, build smarter and more sustainable cities, and reduce climate-changing greenhouse gases in both urban and rural areas.

Mapping air pollution at street level

Mapping air pollution at street level

Today, with our partners at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Aclima, we’re sharing the first results of an endeavor we started in 2015: to measure air quality using Aclima equipment mounted on Google Street View cars. You can now see maps for Oakland, CA, released by EDF, of nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and black carbon—pollutants emitted from cars, trucks and other sources that can affect our health and our climate.

Image 1
Black carbon particles come from burning fuel, especially diesel, wood and coal. High exposure is associated with heart attacks, stroke and some forms of cancer. Air quality data from Google/Aclima; analysis by Apte et al/EDF. Colors on the map do not correlate to colors on the Air Quality Index.

Zooming in, you can see street-level details that show how pollution can change block by block. For example, the area where the Bay Bridge meets the I-80, a major freeway, has sustained higher pollution levels due to vehicles speeding up to cross under I-80 and merge onto the bridge. These insights can help community groups like the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project get a better understanding of local air quality and assist regulators like the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in identifying opportunities to achieve greater air quality improvements. This kind of information can also be applied to other cities, who are trying to understand local air quality patterns and implement solutions that improve the local environment.

Image 3
Zoom-in of black carbon in Oakland, where you can see block-by-block air quality. Air quality data from Google/Aclima; analysis by Apte et al/EDF. Colors on the map do not correlate to colors on the Air Quality Index.

We hope Bay Area residents use this resource toexplore air quality in Oakland, and find out how you can do your part to improve it. Scientists canrequest access to the validated data now. You can also learn more about the science behind these maps in the journalEnvironmental Science & Technology, authored by a scientific team led by Dr. Joshua Apte, at the University of Texas-Austin.

Today’s news follows our 2014 project with EDF tomap methane leaks, and our2015 announcement with Aclima to map air quality in Los Angeles, San Francisco and the Central Valley communities. We’re excited to share the data that made this science possible with more researchers.

With nearly 3 million measurements and 14,000 miles captured in the course of a year, this is one of the largest air quality datasets ever published, and demonstrates the potential of  neighborhood-level air quality mapping. This map makes the invisible, visible, so that we can breathe better and live healthier. It helps us understand how clean (or not clean) our air is, so that we can make changes to improve it.

Source: Google LatLong


Searching for art just got better. Where will you start?

While some are drawn to the strong brushstrokes of Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, others prefer gazing at the gilded glory of Klimt’s The Kiss, but one thing is certain: people love art. In fact, each month, there are more than 500 million art-related searches on Google. Now whether you’re a casual fan or a true culture vulture, Google can help you become an art expert. Starting today, when you search for art-related things, you’ll have access to more relevant results and the ability to dive deeper into topics of interest. We’ve also added a new feature in Street View (think digital museum guide!) that gives you key insights about the artworks on your virtual museum visits.

Explore more art right from Google Search

To help make your search for art a masterpiece, the Google Arts & Culture team joined forces with Google Search engineers to improve how our systems understand and recognize artworks, the places you can see them in person, the artists who made them, the materials they used, the art period they belong to and the connections among all these.

Now when you search an artist like Gustav Klimt, you’ll see an interactive Knowledge Panel that will highlight ways you can explore on a deeper level, like seeing a collection of the artist’s works or even scrolling through the museums where you can view the paintings on the wall. And for some pieces, you can click through to see picture-perfect high-resolution imagery right from Google Arts & Culture.

searching for art

Google Arts & Culture, your virtual museum guide

You can visit hundreds of museums around the world right from your laptop with Google Maps and Google Arts & Culture. And starting today your virtual Street View tour is more informative on desktop and in the Chrome browser on mobile. Now as you walk through the rooms of the museums on Google Maps you’ll see clear and useful annotations on the wall next to each piece. Clicking on these annotations will bring you to a new page with more information provided by hundreds of the world’s renowned museums. You’ll also be able to zoom into high-resolution imagery—getting you closer to these iconic works than you ever thought possible.

To create this feature, we put our visual recognition software to work. Similar to how machine learning technology in Google Photos allows you to search for things in your gallery, this software scanned the walls of participating museums all over the world, identifying and categorizing more than 15,000 works.

Searching for art just got better. Where will you start?

Discovering the art world has never been easier on Google, and we hope this inspires you to brush up on your art knowledge. So take a moment. Dive in. Who knows—with a stroke of luck, you may find yourself drawn...to art!

Source: Google LatLong


Google for Brazil: Building a more inclusive internet for everyone, everywhere

Brazilians love the internet. With more than 139 million people online, Brazil ranks among the top five internet populations in the world. Brazilians are also heavy users of Google products, from Search and Android to YouTube and Maps to Photos and Waze. And Brazil is an innovation hub for Google. Our engineering team in Belo Horizonte has made remarkable contributions to our products globally, such as improving health-related searches.

But we know there is still a lot of work to do in Brazil and elsewhere to make technology work better for more people. So today at our Google for Brazil event in São Paulo, we made several announcements about how we're working to make the internet more inclusive and to make our products work better for people in Brazil—and around the world.

Google Duo audio calling

Last year we created Google Duo to bring simple, high-quality video calling to users on Android and iOS. Now we’re adding audio-only calling in Duo. So in those moments when video calling isn't an option—like when you’re about to hop on a crowded bus or have a poor network connection—you can stay connected with family and friends through audio calling. Duo audio calls work well on all connection speeds and won't eat up your data. This feature will be available starting today first in Brazil, and we'll be rolling it out to users around the world in the coming days.

Google Allo file sharing and Smart Smiley in Brazilian Portuguese

Since launching Google Allo last September, users in countries like Brazil have requested the ability to share documents in group chats. Starting today, Android users everywhere will be able to share documents and other files (.pdf, .docs, .apk, .zip, and mp3) with friends on Allo. And for users in Brazil, we're also rolling out Smart Smiley in Portuguese, which uses machine learning to help you find the right emoji faster. Tap the Smart Smiley icon on the compose bar, and the app will suggest relevant emojis and stickers to help you finish your thought.

ALLO-GIF-FEIJOADA_750px.gif

Google Photos: Faster backup and sharing, no matter the connection

We built Google Photos to help people store, organize and share photos and videos in a hassle-free way. But it can sometimes be difficult to back up and share photos and videos, especially when you're on the go and don't have an internet connection. So today we're rolling out two new features to make backup and sharing easier on low connectivity. Now on Android your photos will back up automatically in a lightweight preview quality if you aren't able to back up in high quality, and still look great on a smartphone. And when a good Wi-Fi connection becomes available, your backed up photos will be replaced with high-quality versions. We’re also making it easier to share many photos at once even on low connectivity. Never mind if you're at the beach or hiking in the mountains, with Google Photos on Android and iOS you can now share pictures quickly even with a spotty connection by sending first in low resolution so friends and family can view them right away. They'll later update in higher resolution when connectivity permits.

It can be hard to find time to organize your pictures, so Google Photos automatically creates animations, movies, collages, and albums. For movies, Google Photos will select the best moments, put them together with professional-style transitions, and set it all to music. With Brazil in mind, we recently rolled out a great example of these kinds of movies—your best photos from Carnival, set to a soundtrack of samba.

Maps location sharing

We're adding a new location sharing feature in Google Maps that lets you tell your friends and family where you are and when you’ll arrive at your destination. You have complete control over whether you share your location, who you share it with, and how long you share it. You can stop sharing at any time. No more "where are you now?" messages back and forth. To manage your location sharing settings across Google products go to the "Your personal info" section of My Account and select Location Sharing.

Compartilhamento-de-local_750px.gif

Posts on Google

Last year we started experimenting with allowing people and places to post directly on Google Search. We started out with the U.S. election and have completed dozens of other experiments around the world. Starting today, in the U.S. and Brazil, we’re taking it to the next step and opening up the application process so that organizations and people within specific categories can post directly on Google.

Now, when you search for museums, sports teams, sports leagues, movies and, in Brazil for now, musicians, you can find content from that participating organization or person, right on Google. So if you’re searching for the Henry Ford Museum in the U.S. or for Vanessa da Mata in Brazil, you'll see updates directly from the source with relevant information, like new exhibits, timely updates and interesting facts. Beyond these categories in the U.S. and Brazil, we’ll continue to experiment globally and look forward to making Search even more useful and timely.

Vanessa Animated Post.gif

We made some Brazil-specific announcements at our event in São Paulo today as well, including plans to roll out the Google Assistant in Brazilian Portuguese on Android phones running Marshmallow or Nougat. We also extended a $5 million Google.org grant to the Lemann Foundation for an exciting tech-based education project in Brazil, launched the iconic São Paulo Museum of Art on Google Arts & Culture, and announced plans to roll out Waze Carpool in Brazil later this year.

All of today's announcements were inspired by your feedback. We do extensive research in places like Brazil, and we use those insights to make new product features tailored to people's needs in mobile-first countries. The great thing about building products for the most difficult, limited internet conditions is that you end up creating great products for everyone, everywhere.

Source: Google LatLong


Google for Brazil: Building a more inclusive internet for everyone, everywhere

Google for Brazil: Building a more inclusive internet for everyone, everywhere

Brazilians love the internet. With more than 139 million people online, Brazil ranks among the top five internet populations in the world. Brazilians are also heavy users of Google products, from Search and Android to YouTube and Maps to Photos and Waze. And Brazil is an innovation hub for Google. Our engineering team in Belo Horizonte has made remarkable contributions to our products globally, such as improving health-related searches.

But we know there is still a lot of work to do in Brazil and elsewhere to make technology work better for more people. So today at our Google for Brazil event in São Paulo, we made several announcements about how we're working to make the internet more inclusive and to make our products work better for people in Brazil—and around the world.

Google Duo audio calling

Last year we created Google Duo to bring simple, high-quality video calling to users on Android and iOS. Now we’re adding audio-only calling in Duo. So in those moments when video calling isn't an option—like when you’re about to hop on a crowded bus or have a poor network connection—you can stay connected with family and friends through audio calling. Duo audio calls work well on all connection speeds and won't eat up your data. This feature will be available starting today first in Brazil, and we'll be rolling it out to users around the world in the coming days.

Google Allo file sharing and Smart Smiley in Brazilian Portuguese

Since launching Google Allo last September, users in countries like Brazil have requested the ability to share documents in group chats. Starting today, Android users everywhere will be able to share documents and other files (.pdf, .docs, .apk, .zip, and mp3) with friends on Allo. And for users in Brazil, we're also rolling out Smart Smiley in Portuguese, which uses machine learning to help you find the right emoji faster. Tap the Smart Smiley icon on the compose bar, and the app will suggest relevant emojis and stickers to help you finish your thought.

ALLO-GIF-FEIJOADA_750px.gif

Google Photos: Faster backup and sharing, no matter the connection

We built Google Photos to help people store, organize and share photos and videos in a hassle-free way. But it can sometimes be difficult to back up and share photos and videos, especially when you're on the go and don't have an internet connection. So today we're rolling out two new features to make backup and sharing easier on low connectivity. Now on Android your photos will back up automatically in a lightweight preview quality if you aren't able to back up in high quality, and still look great on a smartphone. And when a good Wi-Fi connection becomes available, your backed up photos will be replaced with high-quality versions. We’re also making it easier to share many photos at once even on low connectivity. Never mind if you're at the beach or hiking in the mountains, with Google Photos on Android and iOS you can now share pictures quickly even with a spotty connection by sending first in low resolution so friends and family can view them right away. They'll later update in higher resolution when connectivity permits.

It can be hard to find time to organize your pictures, so Google Photos automatically creates animations, movies, collages, and albums. For movies, Google Photos will select the best moments, put them together with professional-style transitions, and set it all to music. With Brazil in mind, we recently rolled out a great example of these kinds of movies—your best photos from Carnival, set to a soundtrack of samba.

Maps location sharing

We're adding a new location sharing feature in Google Maps that lets you tell your friends and family where you are and when you’ll arrive at your destination. You have complete control over whether you share your location, who you share it with, and how long you share it. You can stop sharing at any time. No more "where are you now?" messages back and forth. To manage your location sharing settings across Google products go to the "Your personal info" section of My Account and select Location Sharing.

Compartilhamento-de-local_750px.gif

Posts on Google

Last year we started experimenting with allowing people and places to post directly on Google Search. We started out with the U.S. election and have completed dozens of other experiments around the world. Starting today, in the U.S. and Brazil, we’re taking it to the next step and opening up the application process so that organizations and people within specific categories can post directly on Google.

Now, when you search for museums, sports teams, sports leagues, movies and, in Brazil for now, musicians, you can find content from that participating organization or person, right on Google. So if you’re searching for the Henry Ford Museum in the U.S. or for Vanessa da Mata in Brazil, you'll see updates directly from the source with relevant information, like new exhibits, timely updates and interesting facts. Beyond these categories in the U.S. and Brazil, we’ll continue to experiment globally and look forward to making Search even more useful and timely.

Vanessa Animated Post.gif

We made some Brazil-specific announcements at our event in São Paulo today as well, including plans to roll out the Google Assistant in Brazilian Portuguese on Android phones running Marshmallow or Nougat. We also extended a $5 million Google.org grant to the Lemann Foundation for an exciting tech-based education project in Brazil, launched the iconic São Paulo Museum of Art on Google Arts & Culture, and announced plans to roll out Waze Carpool in Brazil later this year.

All of today's announcements were inspired by your feedback. We do extensive research in places like Brazil, and we use those insights to make new product features tailored to people's needs in mobile-first countries. The great thing about building products for the most difficult, limited internet conditions is that you end up creating great products for everyone, everywhere.

Source: Google LatLong


Shedding light on solar potential in all 50 U.S. States

Solar power is an abundant, low carbon source of electricity, but historically it has been more expensive than traditional electricity. With solar costs dropping dramatically, many people are starting to ask: does solar power make sense on my rooftop? In my town or state?  Since its initial launch in 2015, Project Sunroofhas used imagery from Google Maps and Google Earth, 3D modeling and machine learning to help answer those questions accurately and at scale. For every building included in the data, Project Sunroof calculates the amount of sunlight received by each portion of the roof over the course of a year, taking into account weather patterns, position of the sun in the sky at different times of year, and shade from nearby obstructions like trees and tall buildings. Finally, the estimated sunlight is translated into energy production using industry standard models for solar installation performance.

sunroof image 1
Project Sunroof county-level coverage from 2015 - 2017

Today, Project Sunroof is helping answer those questions for more places than ever, with an expansion that brings Project Sunroof’s data coverage to every state in the U.S, with a total of approximately 60 million buildings analyzed. The expanded data reveals some fascinating insights about the solar energy opportunity nationwide:


  • Seventy-nine percent of all rooftops analyzed are technically viable for solar, meaning those rooftops have enough unshaded area for solar panels.

  • Over 90 percent of homes in Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico are technically viable, while states like Pennsylvania, Maine and Minnesota reach just above 60 percent viability.

  • Houston, TX has the most solar potential of any U.S. city in the Project Sunroof data, with an estimated 18,940 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of rooftop solar generation potential per year. Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Antonio, and New York follow Houston for the top 5 solar potential cities -- see the full top 10 list in the chart below.
Sunroof image 2

To put the rooftop solar potential into perspective, the average U.S. home consumes 10,812 kilowatt-hours (kWh) a year according to EIA. There are one million kWh in one gigawatt-hour (GWh). One GWh of energy is enough to supply power to 90 homes for an entire year.

If the top ten cities above reached their full rooftop solar potential, they'd produce enough energy to power 8 million homes across the US.
Sunroof image 3
Sample of Project Sunroof solar energy potential map

This also means that if you've been thinking about going solar, there's a much better chance there's Project Sunroof data for your area. The Project Sunroof data explorer tool allows anyone to explore rooftop solar potential across U.S. zip codes, cities, counties and states. If you’re looking to learn about the solar and financial savings potential for your homes, the Project Sunroof savings estimator tool now covers 40x more buildings in the U.S. than when we launched it in 2015.

Sunroof Image 4
Visualization of solar potential at the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA.

Almost 10 years ago, Google became an early adopter of rooftop solar, installing a 1.6 megawatt (MW) solar array at our headquarters in Mountain View, CA—the largest corporate solar installation of its kind at the time. Today, Project Sunroof combines Google’s longstanding interest in sustainability and renewable energy with unique, high-quality information about the potential of rooftop solar power. We’re proud to be expanding coverage of this project to help more people decide if solar makes sense for you.  

Source: Google LatLong