AdSense for mobile content now integrated with DoubleClick Mobile
Last week we launched our new mobile image ads, which give mobile web publishers the flexibility to display image ads in addition to text ads on their sites. As of today, AdSense for mobile content publishers who have configured their sites to display mobile image ads can now have ads served to their sites from DoubleClick Mobile. This means more advertisers for AdSense for mobile content publishers, more inventory for DoubleClick Mobile advertisers, and more ad relevance for browsers of the mobile web.
Read our press release to find out more.
New mobile image ads
The mobile ads team is happy to announce the launch of mobile image ads. These look like standard image ads for desktop web pages but they are smaller to fit on mobile screens and they run on the mobile content network. Take a look at the mobile image ads example page to see samples. Also, watch the video below to see my interview with Sanjay Agarwal, a mobile ads engineer, and his demo. Note that all mobile image ads are keyword-targeted, are priced on a cost-per-click basis, and must link to a mobile web page.
For advertisers, mobile image ads serve as a branding tool and have shown to have good clickthrough rates. Advertisers using mobile image ads will also benefit because we only show one image ad per mobile page. For publishers, mobile image ads provide added flexibility. They can now choose to show text ads, image ads, or a mix of both and Google will dynamically return the ad that we expect will perform best at the time the ad is shown. Publishers who are already using AdSense for mobile content just need to update their AdSense code to start displaying mobile ads on their site.
For those of you who are mobile web surfers, mobile image ads provide a new way to interact with mobile content. Contextual targeting keeps ads relevant, and with only one mobile image ad shown per page, you can uninhibitedly browse mobile websites while clicking only on the ads that interest you.
Mobile image ads are currently available in Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, the UK, and the US. As always, leave questions and comments below or on our YouTube channel.
Android Developers Have Risen to the Challenge
I'm thrilled to share the news that developers from over 70 countries submitted 1,788 entries to the Android Developer Challenge!
Here are a few facts that I thought were interesting. When we announced the Android Developer Challenge back in January, developers started submitting entries right away but it wasn't until the April 14 deadline approached that the flood really began. The rate of submissions spiked in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, reaching as high as 170+ submissions per hour.
What I find truly amazing is how global the interest in the challenge has been. Developers from the United States submitted one-third of the total applications while the rest came from countries such as Germany, Japan, China, India, Canada, France, UK, and many others. The entries are also very diverse representing many application areas, from games to social-networking applications, to utilities, to productivity and developer tools, and many more. On behalf of the Open Handset Alliance, I want to thank everyone who has submitted entries to the challenge. We look forward to reviewing all of them.
Now that the applications are in, over 100 judges will soon receive judging packets and laptops that we've preloaded with all the submissions, for a consistent, fair environment to judge the submissions. The majority of the judges are from member companies of the Open Handset Alliance, in addition to non-alliance mobile industry experts who have all graciously volunteered their time. I'd like to thank these judges too for all the time they will be putting into this.
In May, we'll be informing the 50 Semi-finalists who will be awarded $25,000 each. Until then, the team and I will have our hands full.
Now available: orkut on your mobile phone
Have you ever wanted to check if your buddy responded to your scrap about this evening's plans, but not been close to a computer? Do you wish you could pass the time on your long commute home by browsing through your friends' profiles?
Fret no more -- if you have a web-enabled phone and a data plan, just point your mobile web browser to m.orkut.com, and stay connected to your friends anytime, anywhere.
We understand that often your phone's data network isn't as fast as your computer's, so in designing orkut for mobile we focused on offering the features that are most useful when you're on the move, instead of replicating all the desktop features. For example, we've made it easy to send, receive, and respond to scraps on our mobile interface so that you can step away from your computer and have conversations on the go. From your phone, simply click the new "Reply" link to respond directly to a scrap from your friend. You can also read recent updates from your friends, view upcoming birthdays, look up and add friends, and accept friend requests.
After you try out orkut for mobile, we'd love to hear what you think. From the m.orkut.com homepage, click on the "help" link at the bottom of the screen to send us your feedback.
Happy mobile orkuting!
Do you have nomophobia?
A recent article in the Evening Standard introduced a "new, peculiarly 21st century affliction" called nomophobia or "no mobile phobia," which is exactly what it sounds like - the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. Besides citing research that claims up to 53% of mobile phone users feel great anxiety when their phones run out of battery life or have no network coverage, the article also suggests ways to avoid nomophobia, such as carrying a charger at all times or remembering your most important phone numbers.
So are you a nomophobe? If you are, you're not alone. I suspect that many of us on the Google mobile team are nomophobes too!
Better Know Your Mobile: Using My Location and Traffic features on Google Maps
We've found that a lot of you that use our services like Google Maps for mobile haven't yet tried some of the great features that are available. Well, those days are hopefully coming to an end. Today we're launching a new video series to help you Better Know Your Mobile by showing you some cool tips and tricks for getting information on the go.
If you've ever wondered how to get the most out of Maps for mobile, then this post is for you. These first two videos highlight the My Location and Traffic view features of Maps for mobile. Stuck in terra incognita? Check out the My Location video to learn how you can quickly find yourself on the map. Once you know your approximate location, you can also figure out whether there's traffic nearby using the Traffic feature. We'll even show you exactly what the different traffic colors actually mean.
If there are any features you'd like to learn more about, give us a shout on the blog or video comments - we'll be rolling out more videos in the near future. To browse all of our videos, hop over to the Google mobile help channel. While you're at it, bookmark that channel to catch new videos about using Google mobile.
Android Developer Challenge Judges
We have received a few inquiries regarding the judges who will be evaluating entries to the Android Developer Challenge (ADC). All Entries will be judged by a panel of experts in the fields of mobile devices, cellular telecommunications, software development, and/or technology innovation ("Judges"). Google will select the Judges from the member organizations of the Open Handset Alliance, Google and/or mobile experts.
As a reminder, the deadline for the Android Developer Challenge is April 14, 2008. We're really looking forward to seeing what you've created so make sure you submit in time. Good luck!
Android University
Spring is on the way, and temperatures are rising. We're no exception, and things are starting to heat up over here in Android-land, too.
The Android Developer Challenge deadline is approaching quickly. Wow, that's strange to me. On one hand, we've come so far that the first announcement back on November 12 seems like a prior geologic era, but on the other hand it seems like the Challenge just started! But it's been five months, so it's time to finish your code, polish your UI, and submit your application. Remember to submit by midnight on April 14th, PST (GMT-8).
But after the Challenge, what's next? Well, on the 28th and 29th of May we have Google I/O. This is the biggest Google developer event of the year, and you can bet that the Androids will be there in numbers.
Here are the sessions we've prepared on Android.
Besides the technical sessions, there will be a Fireside Chat with as many members of the Android team as we can rustle up, and an Android section in the demo and coding area. (Personally, I'm looking forward to that the most: it's shaping up to be a code festival of mammoth proportions.) If you need a break from Android, there are also tons of sessions on other developer technologies from Google, too.
We intend this to be the premier developer event for Android, this year. If you only go to one Android event, we humbly suggest that you consider this one. Early-bird registration ends TODAY (April 4th), so be sure to sign up soon.
I'll see you there!
The Android Developer Challenge deadline is approaching quickly. Wow, that's strange to me. On one hand, we've come so far that the first announcement back on November 12 seems like a prior geologic era, but on the other hand it seems like the Challenge just started! But it's been five months, so it's time to finish your code, polish your UI, and submit your application. Remember to submit by midnight on April 14th, PST (GMT-8).
But after the Challenge, what's next? Well, on the 28th and 29th of May we have Google I/O. This is the biggest Google developer event of the year, and you can bet that the Androids will be there in numbers.
Here are the sessions we've prepared on Android.
- Android 101: Building an Application
- Anatomy & Physiology of an Android
- Dalvik Internals
- Inside the Android Application Framework
- Building Great UIs with Android
- Internationalizing Android Applications
- Location, Location, Location
- Mobile Mashups
Besides the technical sessions, there will be a Fireside Chat with as many members of the Android team as we can rustle up, and an Android section in the demo and coding area. (Personally, I'm looking forward to that the most: it's shaping up to be a code festival of mammoth proportions.) If you need a break from Android, there are also tons of sessions on other developer technologies from Google, too.
We intend this to be the premier developer event for Android, this year. If you only go to one Android event, we humbly suggest that you consider this one. Early-bird registration ends TODAY (April 4th), so be sure to sign up soon.
I'll see you there!
Android's First 5 Months
Originally by Sung Hu Kim, Product Marketing Manager for Android, Google mobile team
As some of you may have heard, Wireless Week has chosen the Open Handset Alliance and Android for its Emerging Technology Award, noting that "Android's potential promises openness and innovation, perhaps changing not only the mobile Internet but the Internet itself."
We at Google would like to congratulate all the members of the Open Handset Alliance and the fantastic Android developer community for this well deserved recognition. Android's growing momentum is the result of an amazing effort and collaboration among many different people.
Coincidentally, this week marks five months since the Open Handset Alliance and Android first went public. A lot has happened in this short period of time. Among the things of note:
These have been an exciting first 5 months, and we look forward to making the coming months even better.
As some of you may have heard, Wireless Week has chosen the Open Handset Alliance and Android for its Emerging Technology Award, noting that "Android's potential promises openness and innovation, perhaps changing not only the mobile Internet but the Internet itself."
We at Google would like to congratulate all the members of the Open Handset Alliance and the fantastic Android developer community for this well deserved recognition. Android's growing momentum is the result of an amazing effort and collaboration among many different people.
Coincidentally, this week marks five months since the Open Handset Alliance and Android first went public. A lot has happened in this short period of time. Among the things of note:
- We released an early look at the Android software development kit (SDK), allowing anyone to learn and start creating apps for the platform.
- Feedback from developers has contributed to numerous fixes, improvements, new tools, and major updates to the SDK, the latest version of which you can find here.
- Google announced the Android Developer Challenge, which will provide $10 million in total awards for the best Android apps—and the first phase has nearly wrapped up. (Be sure to get your submissions in by April 14!)
- Several companies gave the first working demonstrations of Android in February.
These have been an exciting first 5 months, and we look forward to making the coming months even better.
Android's First Five Months
As some of you may have heard, Wireless Week has chosen the Open Handset Alliance and Android for its Emerging Technology Award, noting that "Android's potential promises openness and innovation, perhaps changing not only the mobile Internet but the Internet itself."
We at Google would like to congratulate all the members of the Open Handset Alliance and the fantastic Android developer community for this well-deserved recognition. Android's growing momentum is the result of an amazing effort and collaboration among many different people.
Coincidentally, this week marks five months since the Open Handset Alliance and Android first went public. A lot has happened in this short period of time. Among the things of note:
- We released an early look at the Android software development kit (SDK), allowing anyone to learn and start creating apps for the platform.
- Feedback from developers has contributed to numerous fixes, improvements, new tools, and major updates to the SDK, the latest version of which you can find here.
- Google announced the Android Developer Challenge, which will provide $10 million in total awards for the best Android apps -- and the first phase has nearly wrapped up. (Be sure to get your submissions in by April 14!)
- Several companies gave the first working demonstrations of Android in February.
Picasa Web Albums for Windows Mobile
When Joe Walnes showed off the shiny AJAX interface on the iPhone version of Picasa Web Albums I started thinking - can we make an AJAX interface work on new Windows Mobile devices? After all, Internet Explorer Mobile supports many of the advanced browser features that we used to build the iPhone version. Joe and I wanted to give it a try so we got to work. Today we're pleased to tell owners of Windows Mobile 6 touchscreen devices that you can now enjoy a much faster and slicker way of browsing Picasa Web Albums on your phone.
Working with Windows Mobile also meant that we could add some cool features using the newly announced Google Gears for mobile, which gives web applications the ability to work even when there is no internet connection available. This means that you can view albums of your choice offline. Gears also lets you add a Picasa icon to your Program Files folder so you can have faster access to your favorite photos. If you'd like to learn more about how we leveraged Google Gears for mobile, watch Dion Almaer's interview with Joe.
To try out Picasa Web Albums on your WinMo 6 touchscreen phone, just go to picasaweb.google.com on your Internet Explorer Mobile browser. Let us know what you think!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)