Tag Archives: Google Search

Happy Earth Day, world!

The Earth is more than 4.543 billion years old, home to more than 8.7 million species—and still the only known planet in the universe known to harbor life. That’s right, we’re pretty special.? So on Earth Day, let’s all celebrate our planet and learn about ways to help preserve it.

Today’s Earth Day Doodle tells the story of a friendly fox whose bad dream about about climate change jolts it into action. The fox goes on a quest to care for the Earth—meeting some familiar faces along the way.

Clicking through to Google Search, you’ll see a list of quick and easy tips to help you do your part in saving the planet. Whether it’s planting a tree, conserving energy or carpooling on your way to work, no act is too small.

Now by searching for “Earth Day” or a similar query, you’ll see a carousel of posts on Google with info on Earth Day events, museum exhibits from Oakland to Switzerland, and history of how Earth Day came to be from the History Channel.

made with code — Teen girls coding at a Change is Made with Code event in New York City

Sometimes a call to action can help motivate your friends and family to get involved and learn about ways to protect the environment. In this spirit, Google’s Made with Code has launched a new environment coding project that calls on teen girls to code a statement about environmental issues they care about. By learning and using the Blockly coding language, these young coders can code personalized statements in support of the critical work of the World Wildlife Fund, The Ocean Agency and the Jane Goodall Institute.

Coded statements made on madewithcode.com in support of The Ocean Agency, NGO’s World Wildlife Fund and the Jane Goodall Institute

We’ve always supported advocates who are working to protect our environment, and we’re committed to do our part to run Google in a way that works for the planet. We recently shared that we’ll reach 100 percent renewable energy this year, and we continue to push ourselves to run the most energy efficient data centers in the world. You can learn more about these efforts in our Environmental Report.

In the words of Jane Goodall in the new Google Earth: "Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved."

Source: Search

The High Five: this week in sweet and sparkly searches

You made it through your week, but Earth has made it through billions of years. High five, Earth. Here’s a look at a rainbow of top trending Google searches from the week of April 17.

What a time to be alive

Starbucks has a new (temporary) spirit animal: the unicorn. Described as “sweet and fruity transforming to pleasantly sour,” the Unicorn Frappuccino has whipped up a mix of reactions from sweet tooths, neiiiggghhh (is that the sound a unicorn makes?)-sayers and even Starbucks employees. Coming in cold with 59g of sugar (the equivalent of three Twinkies), the Unicorn Frappucino also has people wondering “What flavor is the unicorn frappuccino?” and “Where can I get the unicorn frappuccino?” The drink caused so much buzz this week that search interest in “unicorn” spiked 3x over coffee searches.

NBA Playoffs

The NBA Playoffs are here. Some teams might be Cavalier, others are Bulling over their opponents, while a couple teams seem to be Pacing themselves to bring the Thunder later. Who will get Bucked out of the playoffs and who will Rocket toward the finals? Basketball fans are watching the scores like a Hawk, Spurring them to search, “What are the NBA playoff scores?” and “What are the playoff games tonight?”

Earth to Google

This Saturday is Earth Day, and people are looking for ways to contribute and get outside. Search interest in “tree planting” spikes every April, and people also search for for National Parks, like Yellowstone and Yosemite. Others are curious about the history of Earth Day, with questions like “When did the first international earth day occur?” and “Who founded international earth day?”

Kids these days

As if high school wasn’t complicated/awkward/stressful enough, students are now expected to come up with a “promposal”—an elaborate gesture to ask someone to prom. High schoolers are looking for clever ideas with Google searches for “promposal puns” and “cute promposal ideas.” Some are even themed, like “Disney promposal” or “basketball promposal.” It’s a whole new world in high school these days—hope your prom is a slam dunk, kids.

Future tennis star

Serena Williams served some big news this week—she’s pregnant. The announcement, made on Snapchat, left fans wondering “Who is the father of Serena Williams’ baby?” and “How far along is Serena Williams?” The father is her fiancé Alexis Ohanian, and she is 20 weeks along, which means she won the Australian Open while she was pregnant … whoa, baby.

Source: Search

The High Five: the least taxing thing you’ll read all week

Flower crowns at the ready

Coachella, the Southern California music festival, kicks off this weekend. Festival-goers are wondering, “What should I pack for Coachella?” and “When does Coachella release set times?” Non-festival goers are asking, “What is Coachella?” Whether you’re into crop tops or fringe, Radiohead or Lady Gaga, Valencia or Nashville Instagram filter … there’s something for everyone.

United Airlines experiences some turbulence

After a United Airlines passenger was forcibly removed from an overbooked flight to make room for a crew member, the public was outraged and didn’t hold back on social media. People turned to Google to ask "Why did United Airlines remove passengers?" But they were most interested in how it was affecting the airline's bottom line. Three of the top five related queries tried to assess "How much did United stock drop?"

Hunting for Easter eggs and having a (matzah) ball

Easter and Passover celebrations are happening this week. In addition to searching for instructions on how to dye Easter eggs, people are wondering “How do you say Happy Passover?” and “Is Easter Monday a holiday?” Not in the U.S., sadly—so go easy on those Cadbury eggs.

Pics or it didn’t happen

In honor of National Siblings Day, people dug up old family photos (whether adorable, awkward or filled with braces), and shared them on social media. Spurred by this frenzy, people searched for “national sibling day captions,” “funny national sibling day quotes,” and even “only child on national siblings day.”

Nothing is certain, except …

Your taxes are due. But procrastinators have been rewarded this year—people have three more days than usual to complete their taxes. So in addition to asking "when is tax day in 2017?" searchers are curious about the reason for this year's extended deadline. The answer? When April 15 falls on a weekend, the deadline is moved to the following Monday. But April 17 is Emancipation Day, a legal holiday in D.C., giving everyone an extra day to file.

Source: Search

The High Five: the least taxing thing you’ll read all week

Flower crowns at the ready

United Airlines experiences some turbulence

Hunting for Easter eggs and having a (matzah) ball

Pics or it didn’t happen

Nothing is certain, except …

Source: Search

Now Image Search can jump-start your search for style

Image Search is full of pics to help you find inspiration—whether it’s places to travel, items to purchase or shots of your favorite celebs, art and memes. But when it comes to fashion, it’s hard to know where to start. That’s why today, we’re introducing a new feature called “style ideas” in the Google app for Android and mobile web, which will surely help boost your search style IQ. Now while perusing fashion product images, Image Search will surface a grid of inspirational lifestyle images and outfits that showcase how the product can be worn in real life.

With style ideas, you can see real-life options of what bag and jeans look stellar with those red high heels you’ve been eyeing. Or if running gear is more your speed, no sweat—workout ensemble ideas are just a tap away.

As an added bonus, you’ll also see an expanded carousel for “similar items” while searching for apparel products. That means whether you’re researching shorts and sneakers or checking out sunglasses and handbags, you’ll be able to find product offerings that may suit your tastes. Uncovering a bargain option without sacrificing style is now accessible right from Image Search.

With these new features, Image Search may be your best new accessory. Or at least a useful tool to find apparel that suits your style and your wallet.

Source: Search

The High Five: baseball and (maybe) an extinct tiger are back again

This week tiger aficionados got a curveball, a Pepsi ad struck out and a Supreme Court nomination made it to the final inning. Oh, and Major League Baseball is back for the season. Here’s a look at five of the top trending Google searches from the week of April 3.

Play ball!

Sports fans stepped up to the search plate this week. With baseball season now officially underway, fans were eager to find out how their teams were doing on Opening Day. Red Sox, Cubs, Orioles and Cardinals scores were the most searched.

Soda ad canned

This week, there was backlash against Pepsi’s new ad featuring model Kendall Jenner. Many called the ad “tone deaf” in light of recent protests and the political climate. Searchers were curious about which advertising agency was behind the ad, and asked “why did Pepsi apologize?” and “why did Pepsi pull the ad?”

Extinct … we think?

An animal strongly resembling the Tasmanian tiger, which was thought to be extinct, was sighted this week—and experts and scientists are in an uproooooaaaarrr. Now people want to know “What year did a Tasmanian tiger become extinct?” (answer: 1936) and “Is it possible that Tasmanian tigers still exist?” (answer: TBD).

Going nuclear

Today Judge Neil Gorsuch was confirmed as the 113th justice of the Supreme Court. Leading up to the confirmation, there was a lot of talk of the “nuclear option.” The term is still a mystery to many, who searched to find out “When was the last time the nuclear option was used?” and “Who came up with the nuclear option?”

And the winner is…

Nominations for MTV Movie and TV awards (that’s right, TV is included for the first time this year!) were announced this week. Of the nominated movies and TV shows, “Get Out” and “Atlanta” were most searched. People were curious about who’s hosting this year’s show and the award categories—so if you have strong feelings about this year’s “Tearjerker,” or “Best Fight Against the System,” cast your vote before May 7.

Source: Search

Fact Check now available in Google Search and News around the world

Google was built to help people find useful information by surfacing the great content that publishers and sites create. This access to high quality information is what drives people to use the web and for contributors to continue to engage and invest in it.

However, with thousands of new articles published online every minute of every day, the amount of content confronting people online can be overwhelming. And unfortunately, not all of it is factual or true, making it hard for people to distinguish fact from fiction. That’s why last October, along with our partners at Jigsaw, we announced that in a few countries we would start enabling publishers to show a “Fact Check” tag in Google News for news stories. This label identifies articles that include information fact checked by news publishers and fact-checking organizations.

After assessing feedback from both users and publishers, we’re making the Fact Check label in Google News available everywhere, and expanding it into Search globally in all languages. For the first time, when you conduct a search on Google that returns an authoritative result containing fact checks for one or more public claims, you will see that information clearly on the search results page. The snippet will display information on the claim, who made the claim, and the fact check of that particular claim.

This information won’t be available for every search result, and there may be search result pages where different publishers checked the same claim and reached different conclusions. These fact checks are not Google’s and are presented so people can make more informed judgements. Even though differing conclusions may be presented, we think it’s still helpful for people to understand the degree of consensus around a particular claim and have clear information on which sources agree. As we make fact checks more visible in Search results, we believe people will have an easier time reviewing and assessing these fact checks, and making their own informed opinions.

For publishers to be included in this feature, they must be using the Schema.org ClaimReview markup on the specific pages where they fact check public statements (documentation here), or they can use the Share the Facts widget developed by the Duke University Reporters Lab and Jigsaw. Only publishers that are algorithmically determined to be an authoritative source of information will qualify for inclusion. Finally, the content must adhere to the general policies that apply to all structured data markup, the Google News Publisher criteria for fact checks, and the standards for accountability and transparency, readability or proper site representation as articulated in our Google News General Guidelines. If a publisher or fact check claim does not meet these standards or honor these policies, we may, at our discretion, ignore that site's markup.

This effort wouldn’t be possible without the help of other organizations and the fact check community, which has grown to 115 organizations. To find out more about this new feature, visit the Help Center.

Source: Search

Throwing your dog a bone: Google now works purr-fectly for your furry friends

At Google, we aim to make our products available for everyone, everywhere. Today, we’re extending that goal to our finest, most faithful (and four-legged) friends. On the Google app for iOS, you can now use 3D Touch on the app icon or head to settings and select I’m Feeling Woof or I’m Feeling Meow to let your dogs and cats get info on topics they care about—whether that means squeaky toys or a bowl of milk! With I’m Feeling Woof and I’m Feeling Meow on the Google app, canines and felines alike can surf pet-friendly info with just a press of their paw.

Now when pups tap on I’m Feeling Woof, no search query is too far-fetched. Man’s best friend can peruse squirrels, rawhide bones and frisbees to their hearts’ content. Let the tail-wagging commence.

On the other paw, kitties are able to search the Google app with I’m Feeling Meow—or should we say wow?! Suddenly a world of fishbowls, birds and scratching posts are just a whisker away. Fur real.

Now that the Google app for iOS is raining cats and dogs, we can turn our attention to the rest of the animal kingdom (and those who use Android)! Introducing “Google Play for Pets,” a new category of Android apps and games to keep your pet stimulated. See how Google Play for Pets benefits all types of creatures in our announcement video below. After all, who wouldn’t want apps, games, and training tools designed specially for your dog, cat or... turtle?

Introducing Google Play for Pets

We hope today’s announcements will help unlock the Internet for your favorite four-legged creatures. Now the best of Google is available for all, no matter your location—or in this case—species.

Source: Search

No more time to noodle: meet the winner of the Doodle 4 Google competition!

Doodles were drawn. Votes were tallied. And now, the time has finally come to announce the winner of this year’s Doodle 4 Google contest. With a theme as limitless as “What I see for the future…”, we knew the artwork would be out of this world—and with all the Doodles set in space, we were not disappointed! This year’s talented artists dreamed of almost everything— from a future with modernized homes and no endangered animals, to one filled with compassion, community and inventions we hadn’t even imagined yet.. Today, millions of people can enjoy the winning masterpiece, which now hangs on the Google homepage.

The winner of the 2017 Doodle 4 Google contest is Sarah Harrison from Connecticut, who sees “a peaceful future” in the years ahead. In this splendid, visionary piece, she drew a group of people from different backgrounds coming together to create one harmonious community. Here’s how she explains her art: “My future is a world where we can all learn to love each other despite our religion, gender, race, ethnicity, or sexuality. I dream of a future where everyone is safe and accepted wherever they go, whoever they are.”

An all-star group of judges—including our very own Google Doodlers— helped us select Sarah as our winner. In addition to her art being showcased on the Google homepage, Sarah will receive $30,000 toward a college scholarship, and the opportunity to meet with the Doodle team at the Googleplex in Mountain View. As an added bonus: Bunnell High School (Sarah’s home school) will receive $50,000 to spend ontechnology to help foster the next generation of STEM professionals (and who knows, maybe future Googlers, too!).

We also want to celebrate the four age-group finalists, who also submitted stellar artwork that both awed and inspired us. This group focused on diverse communities, ancient animals, new energy sources, and solutions to help minimize electronic waste. All of our age-group finalists will receive a $5,000 college scholarship to help them continue their education, a trip to the Googleplex in Mountain View to meet a few of our Doodlers, and a Chromebook to help fuel their burgeoning creativity.

From all of us at Google, thank you for Doodling with us, for sharing your dreams, and for helping us take a step into the future.

Source: Search

Book fitness classes anywhere in the U.S. on Google

Shake off those winter blues and spring into shape. Starting today you can book and pay for fitness classes throughout the U.S. on Google Maps, Google Search and the Reserve with Google website. Here’s how it works:

Visit Reserve with Google on desktop or mobile. There you can search for fitness studios near you, use filters to pinpoint exactly what you’re looking for, get recommendations for new classes, or book a spot in the session you already know and love. At checkout, you’ll even be able to take advantage of intro offers when available and buy class packages or memberships.

You can also book classes from Google Maps and Search. On Google Maps (desktop) and Google Search (mobile and desktop), just search for the studio you want and click “Reserve with Google” to see the class schedule, book, and pay.

We work with top scheduling providers, including MINDBODY, MyTime, Genbook, Full Slate, Front Desk, Appointy, and more to bring you real-time class inventory across the U.S. So whether you keep going back to a specific class at your favorite studio nearby, or want to find a great new spot while you’re traveling, Reserve with Google can help you book a workout in just a few taps.