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300 'search' stories May 2011 - January 2014

Amusing video depicts Google as a weary person answering dumb questions

Ben Lovejoy Jan 14 2014 - 6:04 am PT

If you’ve ever cringed as you’ve watched someone type facebook.com into the Google searchbar, you’ll likely enjoy this two-minute video depicting how a human version of google might react to some common searches …

[protected-iframe id=”7d1b6c2c7bbc2a2d9319b5adafb8a7cf-22427743-13611283″ info=”http://www.collegehumor.com/e/6947898″ width=”600″ height=”369″ frameborder=”0″ webkitallowfullscreen=”” allowfullscreen=””]

No Flash? talk to College Humor and check out a classic, below in YouTube:

Need some images? Now you can keep it legal, with Google Images usage rights filter

Ben Lovejoy Jan 14 2014 - 3:50 am PT

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There’s a commonly-held myth that any image found in Google images is fair game for anyone who wants to use it. In reality, most images are copyrighted by default and usage generally requires permission – especially for commercial use.

Google’s Matt Cutts has tweeted that you can now filter images by usage rights. If you want to find images you can use commercially, for example, just do your search, click Search Tools and then select ‘labelled for commercial use’ from the pull-down.

It’s not immediately apparent how Google identifies the permissions associated with an image. We’ve reached out to Google and will update when we have a response.

Google updates Search apps on iOS & Android w/ voice support for German, Japanese, and French

Chance Miller Dec 5 2013 - 12:54 pm PT

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Google this afternoon announced an update to its Search apps on both Android and iOS that includes voice search support for three addition languages. In a blog post, the company announced that the app can now understand French, German, and Japanese. In addition to being able understand the new languages and give text results, the Search app can also now give spoken answers back in those languages.

To try it out, simply tap the microphone in the search box and ask for anything you’re looking for. If you need some coffee in Munich, just say “Wo bekomme ich Kaffee in München?” to get a list of local options. Wondering what the height of the Eiffel tower is? Get a quick answer by asking, “Quelle est la hauteur de la Tour Eiffel?”. Maybe you need to know who invented the transistor ? Try asking in Japanese for “トランジスタを発明したのはだれ？”

Google says it will continue to work on adding even more languages to its Search app and that this is just the beginning of its efforts.

The Google Search app update is available for free in both the iOS App Store and on Google Play.
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Google rolling out support for Gmail and Google Calendar data export

Zac Hall Dec 5 2013 - 8:36 am PT

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Google is rolling out support to its take out service for exporting email and appointment data from its Gmail and Google Calendar services, the company announced today.

While Google often supports data exporting when sunsetting a service, the company says in this instance it’s simply allowing users the ability to better archive personal data and switch to other services with less friction.
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Google releases “OK Google” Chrome extension for hands-free voice search on the desktop

Jordan Kahn Nov 26 2013 - 1:23 pm PT

5 Comments

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNBBijn4JuY]

Google announced today on Google+ that it’s releasing a new extension for Chrome that will enable hands-free activation of the voice search features it rolled out earlier this year. Google announced the conversational voice search features for Chrome back in May and has been updating it on various platforms since, but previously users had to actually click a microphone icon to activate voice search on the desktop.

Now, like on Android 4.4 devices and within the Google Now mobile apps, using the extension users will be able to simply say “OK Google” to initiate a search:
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Microsoft Store now selling attractive ‘Scroogled’ gear just in time for the holidays

Seth Weintraub Nov 20 2013 - 12:23 pm PT

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You want to get these for every member of your Google-paranoid family for the holidays. Oh, Microsoft. [$8 Microsoft Store]

Don’t want a mug? Microsoft has some propaganda apparel for you:

Click to enlarge

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Twitter announces upcoming Android app update with new search filters (update: available now)

Sarah Guarino Nov 19 2013 - 2:30 pm PT

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Update: the new version is available now.

Today Twitter has announced they will be updating their official app for Android, making it easier to discover what is happening on the microblogging network. The update adds new search filters that allow you to quickly navigate to specific people and Tweets. The filters also allow you to toggle between all relevant Tweets and only the most popular “top Tweets.”

Filters will also allow you to filter by different media types, such as photos and videos. There’s also an option to see Tweets only from the people you follow. The update includes includes a new timeline in the Discover tab that makes it easier to see what’s currently trending. This trending timeline will show topics that are associated with nearby events and TV shows.

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Google Now for Android updated with new cards, improved traffic, and more

Mike Beasley Nov 13 2013 - 5:06 pm PT

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Google announced via its Android Google+ page today that the Google Now service has been updated with three new card types: news, website updates, and TV and movie recommendations.

The news topics card shows recent articles from news sites across the web on select topics. The website updates card can monitor your favorite sites and let you know when new content is available on those sites (like a new post on your favorite Tech News site). The last of the new cards is the “what to watch” card, which can recommend movies and TV shows you might enjoy.

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Google Glass will get stereo headphones and lots of new music features demonstrated by Young Guru

Seth Weintraub Nov 12 2013 - 6:15 am PT

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5XoAkOuWdM

In its Explorer Story: Young Guru [through Google Glass], Google shows a lot of new features of the Google Glass upgrade and expected upgrades including the hardware addition of the stereo headphones.

We discussed Google Music hidden in the XE11 update yesterday but we’re seeing the Shazam type of song recognition, and some nice translation work as well.

Can’t wait! via

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Just in time for the holidays: Google Shopping Paid Listing Ads in 8 more countries

Jordan Kahn Nov 7 2013 - 10:42 am PT

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Google just announced that it’s rolling out Google Shopping– a.k.a paid product listing ads that appear in search results– in eight new countries. Starting today, Google users in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Turkey will be begin seeing what Google says are highly relevant ads that also include “rich product information” like images and pricing.

The Product Listing Ads appear in Google Search results as ‘Sponsored’ listings for queries that include “commercial intent.” But Google notes that it will also show product listings when it has “enough relevant products to match that user’s query.”

Users in the countries mentioned above should begin seeing the ads above text ads on the right side of search results starting today.

Google Drive for iOS updated with multiple account support, printing

Mark Gurman Nov 7 2013 - 9:23 am PT

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Following the significant revamp of Google’s iOS Search app earlier this week, the search company updated its Google Drive application for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch with several new features.

What’s New in Version 2.1.0

– Multiple Account Support. You can now switch between personal, work, or any other Google account
– Single Sign In: Sign in once to Google Drive and you’ll automatically be signed in to apps like YouTube, Google Maps, Chrome, and G+
– Print your files now with Google Cloud Print or AirPrint
– iOS 7 Support

Notably, users can now have multiple accounts on Drive for iOS and the app supports single-sign-on across Google apps on iOS. Also new is increased compatibility for iOS 7 and printing either via AirPrint or Google Cloud Print.

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Glass XE11 update adds commands to search Google Calendar, get directions home, & more

Jordan Kahn Nov 7 2013 - 8:37 am PT

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Google today announced its XE11 update for Google Glass and highlighted a few of the new features on its Google+ page for the wearable. New for Google Glass is the ability to search Google Calendar with commands like “my agenda” and “what am I doing in November?” Google noted that “Calendar search works for Google Calendar users with Gmail and private search enabled.”

The update also includes a highly requested feature from users in the XE11 update: the ability to get directions home or to work with voice commands:

It’s even easier to find your way home. Tell Google Maps where you live and work and you can refer to their locations by “home” or “work” on Glass. It’s part of Google’s personalized search so when you ask Glass for directions home, it’ll know what you mean. To get started, insert your home and work address in Google Maps or Google Now (iOS instructions) and then try it out on Glass. From the home screen, say “ok glass, get directions to home.

New Glass users will notice a redesigned Glass setup tutorial in XE11 (pictured above) that Google says will show users how to swipe and connect Glass to the companion smartphone app. You’ll also now see a “Start screencast” shortcut in the notification drawer of your connected Android device making it easier to quickly start screencasting Glass to your smartphone.

Lastly, Google has removed a feature from Glass with XE11. You’ll no longer be able to activate Google Search with a long press of the touchpad because many users were apparently triggering it accidentally:
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Google Search iOS app gets massive update w/ ‘OK Google’ handsfree voice search, notifications, reminders, much more

Jordan Kahn Nov 5 2013 - 8:46 am PT

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[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Ey0AufD9g]

The Google Search iOS app has received a huge update today that brings a number of new features including the ability to activate voice search handsfree. Users on iPhone 4S or later can now simply say “OK Google” to begin a voice search, much like what users have been able to do with Google Now on Android devices for quite some time.

Version 3.1.0 now includes notifications for upcoming events, flights and public transit. For example, the Google Search app will provide notifications for delayed flights, tell you how long you have to catch the last train, and remind you of upcoming appointments . You can also now set reminders within the app:

Ask Google to remember things for you. Just say
• “Remind me to buy coffee beans at Starbucks,” or
• “Remind me to check out the fair this weekend”
and Google will remind you at the right time or place

In addition, Google says users can now set reminders for when their favorite musicians, tv shows, actors or celebrities are releasing new content or appear in headlines. There are also new cards in the app that display info for movie and event tickets, boarding passes, reservation confirmation for rental cars, public transit and upcoming events.

The massive update also includes a redesigned homepage, new gestures for zooming and moving images, one touch sign-in for other Google apps, and “improved voiceover accessibility”. It’s certainly a big update for the Google Search app that brings it closer to the Google Now equivalent at the heart of Android.

What’s New in Version 3.1.0

Google Now gets even better with:
• Notifications – Get notified when it’s time to go
• Reminders – Never forget to put out the trash
• New cards – See tickets, boarding passes, & more
• Handsfree voice – Just say “OK Google” to search*
* requires iPhone 4s or later

Notifications deliver info before you open the app:
• When to leave for your next appointment or event
• If your flight is running late
• How to catch the last train home

Ask Google to remember things for you. Just say
• “Remind me to buy coffee beans at Starbucks,” or
• “Remind me to check out the fair this weekend”
and Google will remind you at the right time or place.

You can also ask to be reminded when your favorite:
• Musicians release a new album
• TV show has a new episode
• Actors star in a new movie
• Celebrities and politicians make headlines
Just search and press the “remind me” button.

New cards organize the info you care about:
• Tickets for movies, concerts and events
• Boarding passes for your flights
• Reservation confirmations for car rentals
• Warnings when your last train home leaves
• Lists of upcoming local events

And finally, search is better than ever with:
• A redesigned and simplified homepage
• Gestures to zoom or throw away images
• One touch sign in if you use other Google apps
• Improved voiceover accessibility

Android 4.4 KitKat is full of hidden gems, here are some of the best

David Beren Nov 1 2013 - 12:36 pm PT

7 Comments

Google’s low-key press announcement yesterday focused on the launch of KitKat and the Nexus 5, but didn’t offer much detail or highlight some of the hidden gems. Google has added more and more features to the Google Now assistant over the last year and with the introduction of Android 4.4, they are going even deeper with more integration. As Android head Sundar Pichai noted, Google is “bring apps and the web together.” Everyone knows what Google is best known for: search and the company is now leveraging that by beginning to look inside your apps on your Android device.

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Your name and face photo can be used in Google ads from 11th November unless you opt out

Ben Lovejoy Oct 11 2013 - 6:52 am PT

6 Comments

Google has announced a change to its terms of service that will allow the company to use your name, photo and company endorsements to be included in ads from 11th November (via the NYT).

When the new ad policy goes live Nov. 11, Google will be able to show what the company calls shared endorsements on Google sites and across the Web, on the more than two million sites in Google’s display advertising network, which are viewed by an estimated one billion people.

If a user follows a bakery on Google Plus or gives an album four stars on the Google Play music service, for instance, that person’s name, photo and endorsement could show up in ads for that bakery or album …
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Google adds TV Show episode listings to search results

Jordan Kahn Oct 9 2013 - 9:05 am PT

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Google announced today on its Google+ page that it will now be including new information for search queries related to the TV Shows. Specifically, in addition to the Knowledge Graph info like ratings, cast, and characters that previously appeared next to search results for TV shows, you’ll now be able to see specific TV listings for episodes:

Now when searching for your favorite TV shows, you can get more information about specific episodes. For example, say that you’re wondering when the next season of The Walking Dead starts. Try searching for [the walking dead tv show] and you’ll see all episodes listed along with their air dates. The first season kicks off with an episode called “30 Days Without An Accident” on October 13, which means you only have a few days to refresh your memory by watching last season’s final episode, “Welcome to the Tombs.”

You’ll also be able to click on the title for listings to see relevant search results for that specific episode, but you will have to add “TV show” to the end of your search term like in Google’s example above in order to get the new listings to appear.

Google celebrates 15th birthday with new doodle and 1998 homepage

Ben Lovejoy Sep 27 2013 - 4:39 am PT

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As Google turns 15, it is celebrating with an animated doodle and an Easter Egg that takes us back to its birth in 1998. Simply google google in 1998 to see the page as it looked then.

The 1998 page is fully-functional, but the time travel doesn’t last long: any search conducted on the page is carried out using today’s index and with the results returned in today’s design …
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Google beginning to refund unused Google Offers

Jordan Kahn Sep 25 2013 - 6:49 am PT

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As noted by AllThingsD, Google has just started sending out notifications to customers letting them know that they will soon be receiving refunds for unused Google Offers. Offers, which are available through a standalone mobile app as well as the Google Maps and Google Wallet apps, used to force users to purchase coupons ahead of time, much like a Groupon service. Going forward, however, the Offers will act more like traditional coupons with users refunded the full cost of unused deals.

You’ll also be able an additional $4 if you opt for a Google Play credit:

An email from Google to an AllThingsD colleague this week gave her two options: Receive a refund for the full amount of two unused offers, or receive a Google Play credit for that amount, which never expires, plus an additional $4, which will expire in two years.

“Users can now easily discover and save Google Offers in the Maps app, Search, Wallet, and on sites around the Web, without having to purchase them in advance, so we’re refunding previously purchased offers that we believe haven’t been used,” a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement to AllThingsD.

Google launches new “Constitute” online tool for searching the world’s constitutions

Jordan Kahn Sep 23 2013 - 8:20 am PT

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0BsJuN0OAs

Google today announced that its Ideas think tank is teaming up with the Comparative Constitutions Project to build a new online tool called “Constitute” that aims to digitize all the world’s constitutions and make them searchable to everyone online.

Constitute enables people to browse and search constitutions via curated and tagged topics, as well as by country and year. The Comparative Constitutions Project cataloged and tagged nearly 350 themes, so people can easily find and compare specific constitutional material. This ranges from the fairly general, such as “Citizenship” and “Foreign Policy,” to the very specific, such as “Suffrage and turnouts” and “Judicial Autonomy and Power.”

Google Ideas Product Manager Sara Sinclair Brody says the company hopes the new tool will help citizens learn more about their own constitutions, but also “arm drafters with a better tool for constitution design and writing.”
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Microsoft is David battling Google’s Goliath Monopoly, says outgoing CEO Ballmer

Ben Lovejoy Sep 20 2013 - 5:11 am PT

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Photo: gamechup.com

In what must surely win some kind of award for irony, Steve ‘dead man walking’ Ballmer repeated his call for Google to face greater scrutiny from competition authorities, describing the search giant as a “monopoly.”

Speaking at an analysts briefing yesterday (via The Verge), the outgoing Microsoft CEO responded to questions about Google’s plans to generate money from online services saying:

Google does it. They have this incredible, amazing, dare I say monopoly that we are the only person left on the planet trying to compete with. We’re the only guys in the world trying.”

Microsoft of course faced numerous anti-trust suits back in the heady days of its dominance of the PC industry, and always dismissed them with the view that consumers make their own choices.

Microsoft’s search service Bing has 17.9 percent of the US search market, a distant second to Google at 67 percent. The disparity is often greater internationally though Google does have competition from Yandex in Russia and Baidu in China.

Google patent search now includes China, Germany, Canada, and WIPO patents

Chance Miller Sep 18 2013 - 3:29 pm PT

1 Comment

In a blog post today, Google announced that its patent search service has added data from four new patent agencies. Starting today, patents from China, Germany, Canada, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) are now aggregated in the Google Patents search database. Most of the patents include artwork, as well as text descriptions, which thanks to Google Translate, are available in a variety of languages.

Last year, we launched two improvements to Google Patents: the Prior Art Finder and European Patent Office (EPO) patents. Today we’re happy to announce the addition of documents from four new patent agencies: China, Germany, Canada, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Many of these documents may provide prior art for future patent applications, and we hope their increased discoverability will improve the quality of patents in the U.S. and worldwide.

You can tryout Google Patent search on your own here.
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Google adds time & location reminders, photo uploading to ‘Google Keep’ apps

Jordan Kahn Aug 21 2013 - 10:56 am PT

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Google announced today on its Google Drive blog that it’s rolling out a new update to its Google Keep note taking app that will introduce both time and location based reminders. After updating to the latest version of the app, users will be able to select a small reminder icon at the bottom of each note and select from a time reminder to set a specific date and/or time of day, or a location-based reminder that provides suggestions for nearby destinations as you type. The feature will let users ‘snooze’ the reminders if they choose, and the update also brings a new and improved navigation drawer for the app:

Of course, sometimes plans change. If you get a reminder you’re not ready to deal with, simply snooze it to a time or place that’s better for you. It’s now even easier to get to all of your notes using the new navigation drawer, which includes a way to view all of your upcoming reminders in one place. And for people who want more separation between their home and work lives, the drawer also lets you easily switch between your accounts.

Google Keep will also now allow users to attach photos from their device’s photo gallery opposed to just being able to snap a new picture:
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Google search now includes flights, reservations, & more from Gmail, Calendar & Google+

Jordan Kahn Aug 14 2013 - 11:20 am PT

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Google announced on its blog today that it is soon rolling out the ability to view information from Gmail, Calendar, and Google+ directly in search results, providing users with a more personalized experience and an easier way to quickly look up important data across services. Some of the features have previously been available to Google Now on Android devices, but starting over the next few days English users in the US will begin seeing results for flights, reservations, and much more in Google search results on the web and mobile devices:

Ever had trouble checking your flight’s status on the go because it meant digging through your email for the flight number? Or wanted to just quickly see whether your package would arrive on time, without having to look up the tracking info first? You’ve told us it would be much easier if you could skip the fuss and just ask Google. Soon you’ll be able to find this info instantly in Google Search if it’s in your Gmail, Google Calendar or Google+. For example, just ask or type, “What’s my flight status?” or “When will my package arrive?”

The new results are triggered by queries such as “Is my flight on time?” or “my reservations” and will also work with Google’s recently introduced voice search features.

Google highlighted a few of the new results that you’ll begin seeing including flights, reservations, purchases, events, and photos from across all three services mentioned above:
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Google working on the next generation of conversational search: the virtual PA

Ben Lovejoy Aug 13 2013 - 6:17 am PT

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Photo: chromespot.com

When Google announced (and later began rolling out) conversational search back in May, the company saw that as only the start. The company’s plans for the feature take us all the way into the realms of a true virtual personal assistant.

If you haven’t yet tried conversational search in Chrome, the feature as it stands is useful but basic. Speak a search like “How old is Barack Obama?” and Chrome will speak the answer. With a person, you could then ask a series of follow-up questions like “How tall is he?”, “Who is his wife?” and “How old is she?” and they would know who you were referring to in each question. That’s the functionality Google is rolling out, remembering who or what you just asked about and interpreting pronouns appropriately.

But Google’s long-term plans are far more ambitious. In an interview with TechFlash, Google Research Fellow Jeff Dean talked to Jon Xavier about his team’s work on machine learning and neural nets to expand Google’s abilities in conversational search …
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