Tag Archives: Google

Google Indexing Ajax?

Kelly Abbott | November 8, 2011 - 4:35 pm

A certain rumor started circulating a week ago about how Google is now capable of indexing rendered Javascript. I received a notification from a customer of ours. My immediate reaction was skepticism and then optimism. If any company could pull that trick off it’d be Google. However, our own @jonnyjon did some research on this and it turns out that the claims, while accurate, are not precise. Here’s what Jon found.

  • Google is not currently indexing Echo stream client content (which is how we built all of our products at realtidbits)
  • Google is indexing Facebook comments when the comment widget is embedded via <iframe> or XFBML (which creates a dynamic iframe)
  • When you embed the Facebook comments widget via iframe or XFBML setting the content is rendered within an iframe as HTML not dynamic javascript AJAX
  • I don’t see any evidence that Google is in fact indexing Facebook comments served up via AJAX only static html that is rendered from an iframe
  • Google’s recent statement that they “can now index some dynamic comments” is true but very misleading they can only crawl javascript that creates a dynamic iframe
  • Displaying echo in an iframe was debated a while back but eventually rejected in light of backplane and having multiple widgets on a page all work together.
This last point is a good one and points to our philosophy on how and why we built our realtidbits products the way we did. By tapping into backplane, we may lose SEO bump but gain an engagement bump. Backplane-enabled apps allows us to break down the barriers between content silos from a widget-level to site-level and indeed to web-level. I’ve written more about realtidbits’ reason for being here where you can see how the products are envisioned.
One last note, we realize that SEO is important. We’re prototyping search engine indexible components for all Echo stream content. It’s a simple process, really. And one we have in beta with a few customers already. When we’re confident it does as it should, we’ll release it for all Echo ecosystem partners to license. Stay tuned.
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‘Think Quarterly’ Printed Matter

Kelly Abbott | March 24, 2011 - 5:58 am

If you’re lucky enough to be doing business with Google and you’re doing it in the UK, then you might just be lucky enough to get an actual physical copy of the inaugural issue today. Say it with me, now… “Want!”

 

 

TCOLondon x Google ‘Think Quarterly’ | The Church of London – Creative Agency.

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Think Quarterly – Google’s New Rag

Kelly Abbott | March 24, 2011 - 5:47 am


Think Quarterly - Inaugural Issue

Think Quarterly is a new Magazine from Google UK. The inaugural edition is available online in a fullscreen flash player. It’s also available in a mobile version. This issue features articles on the theme of data (data overload seems to be foremost on their minds). This the magazine’s twitter feed features some insights/data that only Google can know such as “Globally, we spend 2.9 billion hours on YouTube in a month. That’s 326,294 years! @youtube” and “More children aged between two and five can use a smartphone (19%) than can tie their own shoelaces (9%).”

Think Quarterly.

 

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Google One Pass

Kelly Abbott | February 19, 2011 - 7:14 am

Google One Pass.

We’ve been looking for a better way to monetize the experience over at CompleteGuides.net. We’re giving serious consideration to Google’s One Pass.

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It’s not what you know, it’s who you know and what they know

Kelly Abbott | February 19, 2011 - 6:53 am

Official Google Blog: An update to Google Social Search.

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Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Beyond Times and Arial – The New Web Safe Fonts

Kelly Abbott | February 19, 2011 - 6:49 am

Google Fonts

Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Beyond Times and Arial – The New Web Safe Fonts.

Google Web Fonts now serves roughly 50 million daily requests[1], across roughly 800,000 unique websites[2]. and is growing at about 30% each month.

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The Complete Android Guide

Kelly Abbott | September 15, 2010 - 9:31 am

Today we published The Complete Android Guide by Kevin Purdy a writer at Lifehacker and our friend. This book is the second in our Complete Guides series. The first was The Complete Guide to Google Wave by Gina Trapani and Adam Pash. By way of introducing our audience I’ll say a few things about what the book entails. Then we’ll describe how we are publishing it (our backstory on how we want to see tech book publishing evolve). But first, why?

Why Complete Guides?

We’re fans of technology. Like most geeks we want to know more about the things we use every day. Whether they are low or high tech, it doesn’t matter. In the same way that we only use 10% of our brains, we have noticed that we only use a small percentage of what our technology is capable of. Hence, The Complete Android Guide. Hence, The Complete Guide to Google Wave. These are products many people use every day. It’s a shame that they go so under-utilized. The love one has for one’s gadgets knows no bounds. As corny as it may sound, The Complete Guides series is a manifestation of that love.

How Complete Guides?

We are following the model that Gina established with the first book. Publish the book in three formats simultaneously:

  1. Online as a destination with free and open access with Creative Commons DRM-Free copyright terms.
  2. Inexpensive electronic versions available via download also with Creative Commons, DRM-Free copyright terms.
  3. A slight more expensive Print-on-Demand version available via Lulu.com also with Creative Commons, DRM-Free copyright terms.

We partnered with MindTouch to create a publishing platform that has two significant advantages for us and for the reader (indeed we do not make a distinction between ourselves and the reader because we are fans of our own products).

Read-Write-Edit-Publish

While our Authors get the credit and share revenues for the books, we get a ton of feedback from fans, followers and visitors. The site itself is a collaborative platform where we have had the help of over 50 volunteers in proofing the book, recommending content, and generally giving their seal of approval.

New Technology, New Publishing Platform

The platform itself allows us to create the digital and print version of the book ver efficiently. Unlike most books about technology, our version is guaranteed to be up to date because the effort to turn our live content on the site into static content in eBook and print formats is so effortless. It literally takes us less than an hour to turn the entire book online into a print-ready file for Lulu.For ePub it takes a bit longer. But compared to other publishers of technology books, our turnaround time is lightning fast when you consider that most books take 3-6 months to go through a single publishing cycle. We imagine turning around a new copy of the book within a week of any new major product revision. As fast as Google updates Android, so go the data-crunching wizardry of our MindTouch-powered publishing platform.

What is The Complete Android Guide?

I have an iPhone. But after reading this book, I’m on the fence. If ever an iPhone user wanted a reason to switch, he will find it in this book. Quite simply, the Android phone is an amazing product. Yes, Apple changed the game when they introduced the iPhone 3 years ago. But Android is quickly gaining popularity and it’s no wonder. You can do a lot more for a lot less. Wow.

While book is written from the perspective of a new Android user, every chapter covers a feature set from intro to advanced uses. There are 16 chapter in all, plus 7 bonus tutorial chapters on nifty things you probably hadn’t considered doing before.

Additionally, because Android is available on so many carriers and for so many phone manufacturers, the book serves all the above. The samples, screenshots and tutorials consider that Android users are not all experiencing the same thing. When we know the difference between Verizon and T-Mobile, we tell you. When there’s a difference between the Samsung Galaxy S and the HTC EVO, we tell you.

So, if you have an Android phone and you want to show all your iPhone-toting friend what a Droid does better? Buy the book. Learn the lessons. Go forth. Conquer.

Friend, Follow, and Frequent

For frequent updates from the book (tips, tutorials, ideas, news) follow @completeandroid on twitter or join the Fan page on Facebook.

For updates from Complete Guides about our books and authors follow @icompleteme on twitter or join the Fan page on Facebook.

If you’re an author and want to write about technology you use everyday, email me.

If you’re a fan of technology and you want to contribute to our existing books, visit completeguides.net, sign up, share, comment, rate and generally make use of the platform.

From left: Adam Pash, Somebody, Kevin Purdy, Gina Trapani, Somebody else

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Google Drops Support for IE 5&6

Kelly Abbott | February 2, 2010 - 2:13 pm

Also in the mail this morning is a nastygram from Google to Microsoft. Why it came to me is somewhat a mystery. Therefore I feel I must relay its contents. They are:

Dear Google Apps admin,​
In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology.  This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5.  As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.
We plan to begin phasing out support of these older browsers on the Google Docs suite and the Google Sites editor on March 1, 2010.  After that point, certain functionality within these applications may have higher latency and may not work correctly in these older browsers. Later in 2010, we will start to phase out support for these browsers for Google Mail and Google Calendar.
Google Apps will continue to support Internet Explorer 7.0 and above, Firefox 3.0 and above, Google Chrome 4.0 and above, and Safari 3.0 and above.
Starting this week, users on these older browsers will see a message in Google Docs and the Google Sites editor explaining this change and asking them to upgrade their browser.  We will also alert you again closer to March 1 to remind you of this change.
In 2009, the Google Apps team delivered more than 100 improvements to enhance your product experience.  We are aiming to beat that in 2010 and continue to deliver the best and most innovative collaboration products for businesses.
Thank you for your continued support!
Sincerely,
The Google Apps team

Dear Google Apps admin,​

In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology.  This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5.  As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 as well as other older browsers that are not supported by their own manufacturers.

We plan to begin phasing out support of these older browsers on the Google Docs suite and the Google Sites editor on March 1, 2010.  After that point, certain functionality within these applications may have higher latency and may not work correctly in these older browsers. Later in 2010, we will start to phase out support for these browsers for Google Mail and Google Calendar.

Google Apps will continue to support Internet Explorer 7.0 and above, Firefox 3.0 and above, Google Chrome 4.0 and above, and Safari 3.0 and above.

Starting this week, users on these older browsers will see a message in Google Docs and the Google Sites editor explaining this change and asking them to upgrade their browser.  We will also alert you again closer to March 1 to remind you of this change.

In 2009, the Google Apps team delivered more than 100 improvements to enhance your product experience.  We are aiming to beat that in 2010 and continue to deliver the best and most innovative collaboration products for businesses.

Thank you for your continued support!

Sincerely,

The Google Apps team

The writing on the wall here is that Google isn’t happy about supporting the few of us who have not upgraded because it poses a serious security threat. Our own Jon Gallagher backs up the claim that any of our clients doing business online should seriously consider dropping support for IE6 and below explicitly. We’re glad Google is helping us tell this story too. While the Google apps ecosystem is catering to a more tech-savvy and security-conscious group online. What’s more it’s planting a flag firmly in the ground for the open-source alternatives in Firefox and Safari. The browser wars go on. But as more of our work is done online, less of it will be done with Microsoft.

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The Complete Guide to Google Wave – the eBook published by 3ones

Kelly Abbott | November 17, 2009 - 4:52 pm
Book Cover

Book Cover

With much pride in our work, we announce the arrival of our first published eBook, the Complete Guide to Google Wave, by Gina Trapani with Adam Pash. It’s the first book published about Google Wave. The book is also free to share. Free as in freedom. Free as in, download, share, copy, recycle, re-mix and re-factor. It’s  yours, yours, yours, and yours. You’re all welcome.

Published the Wiki Way

The guide went live a few weeks ago as a wiki first. Gina and Adam continue to write it and edit it. Which is to say, it’s no longer just a book but a truly collaborative book that exists online. If you buy a PDF copy, download it to your kindle or desktop and enjoy. If someone loans you a copy, do the same. But remember…

Credits:

If you think our work was valuable, show it by contributing to the wiki, buying the eBook, or both.

Watch this Space

We’ll be using our site to tell the complete story behind the Complete Guide to Google Wave. We have planned releasing four editions over the next twelve months. As we explore the economics of this open publishing model during that time we’ll share our insights into the business of book publishing in the eBook/Wiki era.

Enjoy!

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