Search Stories 101

Back in February we ran our "Parisian Love" ad during the Super Bowl – created from a few Google searches and a little music. We heard from many people that it would be great if there was a way that anyone could tell their own story and share it with the world.

So today, we're happy to release the Search Stories Video Creator tool that allows you to quickly and easily create your own search story. Give the number of adventures that students have to tell stories about, we think you'll have some winners to share. We've been excited to see some of the ones that have already come in from students, like this one:

So whether it's feeling the need for speed in Arizona, building a bridge in Guatemala, or going on a date with a vampire, give it a try and share your search story with the world!

Posted by Jeff Aguero, Product Marketing Manager

Happy Holidays!

2009 has been a year filled with lots of product changes, many scholarship opportunities, programs and competitions geared specifically for students. We've had so much fun working on ways to improve our connection to and relationship with students like you. So thanks for subscribing to our blog, following us on Twitter, and becoming fans on Facebook. We can't wait for all that's in store for 2010, and in the meantime -- Happy Holidays.


Posted by Miriam Schneider, Education marketing team

Happy holidays from the Picasa team: more photos, fewer wires

Because we know students take a lot of pictures and appreciate great deals, we wanted to let you know about a special offer from Picasa. We made extra storage for Gmail and Picasa Web Albums more affordable about a month ago, and now we've partnered with Eye-Fi to make it even easier to get your photos into the cloud.

Eye-Fi offers WiFi-enabled memory cards that make your existing camera wireless, so it's easy to upload photos and videos right to Picasa Web Albums or straight to your computer -- no cables required. For a limited time, when you buy 200 GB of Google paid storage for $50, you'll get a free Eye-Fi card (a $95 value) with free shipping.

Visit picasa.google.com/eyefi.html to get yours today, and happy holidays from the Picasa team!

Posted by Zach Yeskel, Product Marketing Manager

Street View trike competition university finalists

Last month we asked you to nominate your campus to be photographed for Street View on Google Maps. We were inundated with more than 25,000 suggestions across all categories, and university campuses made up 44% of all suggestions!

We've narrowed the top suggested locations to a few finalists and there is now just one week left in the voting period. Cast your vote for your favorite place within each category to tell us which locations you'd most like to see on Google Maps. The university finalists are:

• Arizona State University
• Michigan State University
• Princeton University
• Rochester Institute of Technology
• Stanford University

Visit www.google.com/trike to vote and see the other finalists! You can vote as many times as you like until the deadline at 11:59pm PST on Monday, November 30th. We'll then work on getting all the winners into Google Maps, and of course we'll work closely with the relevant organizations to collect images of any privately-owned locations.

If voting for Street View trike finalists gets you excited about how much you love Google Maps, be sure to check out our new Google Maps tips for life to help you save time, look smart, and manage your travels efficiently.

Posted by Laura Melahn, Google Maps Team

Flying (and landing) in a WiFi Wonderland

Yesterday we announced an expansion of our Virgin America WiFi sponsorship to also include 47 airports. Both programs will offer free WiFi through January 15, 2010 and will cover more than 10 million passengers traveling this holiday season. There's no Google account or credit card required to log on, but we'll be offering the option to try out a Google product and also offer the chance to donate to one of three charities; we'll be matching donations up to $250,000.

We hope that this makes travel to be with friends and family that much better this holiday season.

You can learn more about the program at http://www.freeholidaywifi.com

Posted by Jeff Aguero, Product Marketing Manager

A holiday gift from Virgin America and Google!

In case you didn't see our announcement yesterday, Google is partnering with Virgin America to provide free WiFi on every Virgin America flight between November 10, 2009 and January 15, 2010. Travel can be hectic during the holidays, so at least this way you can spend your time in the air staying connected to friends and family or getting some last-minute cramming in for your Chem final.

You can find out more about our partnership, where Virgin America flies and how the in-flight WiFi service works at www.freeholidaywifi.com.

Posted by Jeff Aguero, Product Marketing Manager

Driving the Solar System with Google

[From time to time we invite guests to blog about initiatives of interest, and are very pleased to have Stephen Savage join us here again. Stephen is Arizona State University's Geo-Archaeological Information Applications Lab IT Manager of the Archaeological Research Institute at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. You might remember his previous posts about Exploring exploplanets using Google Earth's API or his work on the Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land.]

For years, astronauts and rocket scientists at NASA and JPL have had all the fun. Billions of people on Earth have seen pictures of Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmidt driving their "dune buggy" on the Moon. Billions more have seen pictures of NASA's Mars landers, Spirit and Opportunity. We've all wished we could be the ones to take these incredible toys out for a spin on the Red Planet or the Moon.

Now, thanks to Google, you can do the next best thing -- you can drive a virtual rover model on Google's Mars or Moon (or a skateboard on Earth), and experience the real topography of these places. We at ASU developed a "Drive the Solar System" website where you can explore how the power of Google Mars, Google Moon and Google Earth has been brought to the web. You can put your rover or skateboard down anyplace on Mars, the Moon or Earth and drive it anywhere you want to go. Explore the Apollo landing sites or Olympus Mons, the largest volcanic cone in the solar system. Drive down the Valles Marinaris, the canyon on Mars that dwarfs Arizona's Grand Canyon, or kick-flip your skateboard down the Amazon. And that's not all. You can visit all the other planets and the largest moons in the Solar System too.

But you can do more than drive or look at these strange new worlds -- you can also look at these places in depth with detailed information about each place you can visit included.

So if you've ever wanted to be an astronaut, visit http://gaialab.asu.edu/SolarSystem and see what you've been missing!

Posted by Stephen Savage, Geo-Archaeological Information Applications Lab IT Manager, Archaeological Research Institute, School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University

Driving the Solar System with Google

[From time to time we invite guests to blog about initiatives of interest, and are very pleased to have Stephen Savage join us here again. Stephen is Arizona State University's Geo-Archaeological Information Applications Lab IT Manager of the Archaeological Research Institute at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. You might remember his previous posts about Exploring exploplanets using Google Earth's API or his work on the Digital Archaeological Atlas of the Holy Land.]

For years, astronauts and rocket scientists at NASA and JPL have had all the fun. Billions of people on Earth have seen pictures of Apollo 17 astronauts Gene Cernan and Harrison Schmidt driving their "dune buggy" on the Moon. Billions more have seen pictures of NASA's Mars landers, Spirit and Opportunity. We've all wished we could be the ones to take these incredible toys out for a spin on the Red Planet or the Moon.

Now, thanks to Google, you can do the next best thing -- you can drive a virtual rover model on Google's Mars or Moon (or a skateboard on Earth), and experience the real topography of these places. We at ASU developed a "Drive the Solar System" website where you can explore how the power of Google Mars, Google Moon and Google Earth has been brought to the web. You can put your rover or skateboard down anyplace on Mars, the Moon or Earth and drive it anywhere you want to go. Explore the Apollo landing sites or Olympus Mons, the largest volcanic cone in the solar system. Drive down the Valles Marinaris, the canyon on Mars that dwarfs Arizona's Grand Canyon, or kick-flip your skateboard down the Amazon. And that's not all. You can visit all the other planets and the largest moons in the Solar System too.

But you can do more than drive or look at these strange new worlds -- you can also look at these places in depth with detailed information about each place you can visit included.

So if you've ever wanted to be an astronaut, visit http://gaialab.asu.edu/SolarSystem and see what you've been missing!

Posted by Stephen Savage, Geo-Archaeological Information Applications Lab IT Manager, Archaeological Research Institute, School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University

Jumpstart your school year with Google

Salone is a rising senior at Stanford University and has spent her summer interning with the Search Marketing team in Mountain View.

As summer jobs wrap up and stores abound with "Back to School" sales, the end of summer vacation is imminent. For me, the end of August means registering for classes, endless packing sessions, shopping trips to buy a growing list of "essentials," and the inevitable jitters that accompany the start of a new academic year.

Whether you've been dying to get back to school or suffering from the end of summer blues, we at Google put together some study tips to help you jumpstart your school year. From getting a head start on your reading and research interests with Google Books and Google Scholar to slicing and dicing your research with timeline or wonderwheel, we hope these tips help you stay on top of your classes and get the most out of Google. But don't fret - we know that back to school is also about catching up with your friends after a long summer. So take some time out of your busy class schedule and plan some downtime with Google, too.

Good luck and here's to a great first semester!

Posted by Salone Kapur, Associate Product Marketing Manager Intern, Search Marketing Team

Save on school gear when you shop with Google Checkout

Google Checkout is happy to announce our Back-to-School promotion. Starting today through September 1, enjoy $5, $10, or $20 off your school necessities from hundreds of participating merchants.

You can visit the Back-to-School promotion page, where you will find special offers from participating merchants and suggested products to help you stay ahead of the curve this fall.

You can also search for your favorite back to school items on Google.com and look for one of the Google Checkout promotion badges. School shopping has never been easier with Google Checkout to help save you time and money!

Posted by Anjali Vaidya, Associate Product Marketing Manager Google Checkout