RAA Group » Google

Voicemail, the Google way with Google Voice

RAAGroup — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:39:37 +0000

Google announces Social Search with Twitter | Googling Google | ZDNet.com

RAAGroup — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:03:07 +0000

Posted by Garett Rogers @ 9:07 pm

Today at the Web 2.0 Summit, Marissa Mayer announced Google’s partnership with Twitter to bring the search engine real-time search results. Just hours before Google announced the partnership, Microsoft released their own Twitter search tool on Bing.

Instead of being simply a way to search tweets, Google is planning to improve their existing search results by incorporating real-time observations. Here is an example Marissa gave in the official blog post:

The next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you’ll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information.

This new feature isn’t available yet (whereas Bing made their Twitter search available immediately after their announcement). Google says it should be ready in “the coming months”.

Garett Rogers is employed as a programmer for iQmetrix, which specializes in retail management software for the wireless industry. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

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via blogs.zdnet.com

Google Announces Social Search

RAAGroup — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:00:37 +0000

Google’s Vice-President of Search Marissa Mayer has just made a surprise announcement at the Web 2.0 Expo: a new Google Labs feature called Social Search. They just gave a quick demo of the new feature.

While the details are still sparse, here is what we currently know (and we’re still updating, so check back for more information):

- The bottom of search results will soon have social networking information from your friends, like their Flickr photos or their status updates. It’s a blended search integration, similar to seeing news or image results.

- These are pulled from social networks connected to your Google Profile. The more that are connected, the more social information that will appear in search results.

- They have also improved searching for images using social networks. Images become more relevant using social networking data.

- It will launch in Google Labs in the next few weeks.

via mashable.com

Why or when Google Video and or YouTube for my videos?

RAAGroup — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 20:07:54 +0000

A look ahead at Google Video and YouTube
1/25/2007 06:05:00 AM
Posted by Salar Kamangar, Vice President, Product Management

In November, we officially closed our acquisition of YouTube, and since then we’ve received a number of questions about what will happen next. The summary is that Google Video and YouTube will continue to play to their respective strengths. But here’s a bit more detail:

Google’s strength — and its history — is grounded in search and in innovating technologies to make more information more available and accessible. YouTube, meanwhile, excels at being a leading content destination with a dynamic community of users who create, watch and share videos worldwide.

Google search results already include links to content that’s hosted on YouTube. Starting today, YouTube video results will appear in the Google Video search index: when you click on YouTube thumbnails, you will be taken to YouTube.com to experience the videos. Over time, Google Video will become even more comprehensive as it evolves into a service where you can search for the world’s online video content, irrespective of where it may be hosted.

This is part of Google’s overall goal to give you the highest quality search results possible. For example, some users who do a Google search for Martin Luther King, Jr. may want to find websites about him. Others may want to see images of him. And others may want to watch video footage…

YouTube, as we’ve stated previously, will remain an independent subsidiary of Google, and will continue to operate separately. Google will support YouTube by providing access to search and monetization platforms and, when/where YouTube launches internationally, to international resources. YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen and the rest of the YouTube team will continue to innovate exciting new ways for people to “broadcast themselves.”

Earlier this week, we announced one example of innovation in monetization and distribution with a new AdSense video test. We’ll be working with a wide set of content providers, grouping together high quality video content from providers with high quality ads and offering them as playlists which publishers can select from and display on their AdSense sites. (There’s more about the test on the AdSense blog.)

Today represents just the first step in our plan to bring you a comprehensive video search and content platform. We’ll provide ongoing updates as they unfold.

Google Search Options

RAAGroup — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:13:16 +0000

Google’s Search options let you slice and dice your search results, explore your search and generate different views of your results page to more easily and quickly find what you need.

Watch Video:

Learn more:

http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=142143

Google and cloud computing bring access to vital data

RAAGroup — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:51:29 +0000

South Florida Business Journal – by Jeff Zbar

As a Realtor, Dean Isenberg’s business survives on the flow of data to his BlackBerry Tour – and back out to his prospects.

If e-mail doesn’t come in, he could lose a listing or a showing. If he can’t submit a contract to a prospective buyer, a sale could be delayed – or lost. If an out-of-town buyer wants to see a home, often the quickest way is to send a virtual tour. Each service is available for free from one provider.

“You can watch up to ten companies at a time.

" src="http://images.bizjournals.com/email/cwatch/w.gif" alt="" width="13" height="13" />Google provides a lot of tools people don’t really know about,” said the Aventura-based Isenberg, who uses Google’s stable of free, Web-based products to run much of his business. “When the market turned, I saw a need for how to use free products to benefit my career.”

The American worker is growing increasingly connected, with smart phones and Wi-Fi Internet services. Yet, workers are only as connected as their ability to access or retrieve data from the road. Google delivers many of the services that small businesses rely on to work from “the cloud” or via a broadband Internet connection.

A growing number of companies are using free, cloud-based services to change the way they actually work. Hotmail and AOL Mail are examples of cloud computing. Some companies use free, Web-based social media, like blogging application WordPress, Facebook or Twitter, as marketing tools.

Executives at You can watch up to ten companies at a time.

" src="http://images.bizjournals.com/email/cwatch/w.gif" alt="" width="13" height="13" />InterAir Media, a West Palm Beach-based media buying and planning firm targeting in-flight and airport media, used to e-mail clients Excel spreadsheets with details of various media opportunities, CEO Drew Stoddard said.

Earlier this month, Stoddard created his media spreadsheets for Chicago and Minneapolis in the Google Docs spreadsheet tool. He sent a link to the spreadsheet to his clients, who can collaborate in real time – with changes there for all to see, he said.

“The ability to collaborate in-house on one document at the same time, then share it with clients is fantastic,” he noted. “We can share it with them from the beginning. And it’s free. That’s the best part.”

Free tools are increasingly pervasive throughout the office. Skype, the free voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service, provides Isenberg Web-based long-distance. Google Voice, the free telephone application, allows him to record, save as digital files or receive as transcribed documents e-mailed to his inbox any conversations and voice mail messages.

Security is strong, said Isenberg, whose company, WeTeachGoogle.com, hosts frequent seminars for Realtors, teachers and even parent-teacher organizations on using Google and online services to run small business, schools and charitable groups. Because data is stored in the cloud, a lost, stolen or damaged computer does not necessarily jeopardize data, he said.

Isenberg also scoffs at those who fear viruses or hack attacks of sensitive data coming in via the cloud.

“Encryption is more secure than in the corporate or home office,” he said.

Some remain hesitant about free, Internet-based or cloud computing. The free services often lack direct customer service, said Eric Beck, president of You can watch up to ten companies at a time.

" src="http://images.bizjournals.com/email/cwatch/w.gif" alt="" width="13" height="13" />IT Doctors, a North Miami Beach technology consulting firm. Synchronizing online data – like contacts, e-mail or calendar – among the cloud and a BlackBerry, iPhone or other smart phone sometimes can be difficult or prone to error, he said. Moreover, when Google suffers outages, as happened for several hours earlier this month, users are left without access to e-mail, documents, calendar or any other services served up via the Internet, he said.

“If I can’t get to a document for four hours, that could be a problem,” said Beck, who instead suggests his clients either install their own service or use online “hosted exchange” services for accessing e-mail, calendar and content that can start at $10 a month. “As long as you have a good server, your stuff isn’t going to go down, and it’s all accessible.”

In Boosting Your Business, Jeff Zbar covers marketing, technology and small business strategies. Contact him at jeffzbar@gmail.com or (954) 346-4393.