fidzu : Google

iOS 14 has launched, and with it comes new features that make it easier to access some of the Google apps you use most often. Starting today, you can add a Google Search Widget to your Home Screen to let you find information even faster. You can also set Chrome as your default browser app on your iPhone or iPad, and in the coming days, you'll be able to set Gmail as your default email app.

Find it even faster with new iOS Home Screen Widget for the Google app

In iOS 14, you can add Widgets to your Home Screen so you can access apps more quickly or get information at a glance. Starting today, we're giving you lightning-fast access to Search with a Widget in two sizes: one with just Search, and one with shortcuts to three additional ways to search, depending on your preference.

The Google app is a great way to find relevant and helpful information on your iPhone or iPad-- from web pages and quick answers to images, products, news, even life-size AR animals. And you can choose from several different ways to search, including typing, talking, or using your camera with Lens.

With the Quick Search Widget, you can search for anything, right from your Home Screen. The Shortcuts Widget includes a quick Search bar and additional search modes: Lens, which lets you search what you see through your camera; Voice Search if you don't feel like typing; and Incognito mode for an extra layer of privacy.

To set up Search as a Home Screen Widget, first make sure you have the Google app downloaded from the App Store. Then follow these steps:

1. Press and hold on the home screen of your iPhone or iPad

2. Tap the plus icon on the upper left corner to open the widget gallery

3. Search for & tap the Google app

4. Swipe right/left to select the widget size

5. Tap "Add Widget"

6. Place the widget and tap "Done" at the upper right corner

Set Chrome and Gmail as your default browser and email app

If you set Chrome as your default browser, when you open a link from another app, it will open in Chrome. Similarly, if you set Gmail as your default email app, any time you tap on an email icon on the web, it will open the Gmail app.

With Chrome and Gmail, you can:

Chrome

• Sync Chrome on your computer or tablet to automatically access your bookmarks, saved passwords and payment methods, settings, and recently opened tabs

• Get answers quickly with personalized search results from Google that instantly appear as you type

• Browse safely with advanced protection from threats like phishing and dangerous websites

• Easily view and open your tabs with an uncluttered tab grid design

Gmail

• Easily retract an email right after you send it with undo send

• Write emails faster with Smart Compose or respond to emails quickly with Smart Reply

• Schedule emails to send at a later time or date with schedule send

• Protect sensitive information from unauthorized access, set an expiration date for messages or remove options to forward, copy, print, and download with confidential mode

To set Chrome and Gmail as your default browser and email apps, first, make sure you have both Chrome and Gmail downloaded from the App Store. Then follow these steps:

Chrome

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad, scroll down until you see "Chrome" and tap on it

2. Tap on "Default Browser App"

3. Choose "Chrome"

Gmail

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad, scroll down until you see "Gmail" and tap on it

2. Tap on "Default Mail App"

3. Choose "Gmail"

Now that you're set up with Google on iOS 14, take it for a spin! And stay tuned for more Google Widgets in the coming weeks to make your iPhone even more helpful.

Researchers around the world have used modelling techniques to find patterns in data and map the spread of COVID-19, in order to combat the disease. Modelling a complex global event is challenging, particularly when there are many variables-human behavior, evolving science and policy, and socio-economic issues-as well as unknowns about the virus itself. Teams across Google are contributing tools and resources to the broader scientific community of epidemiologists, analysts and researchers who are working to address the health and economic impacts of the virus.

Organizing the world's data for epidemiological researchers

Lack of access to useful high-quality data has posed a significant challenge, and much of the publicly available data is scattered, incomplete, or compiled in many different formats. To help researchers spend more of their time understanding the disease instead of wrangling data, we've developed a set of tools and processes to make it simpler for researchers to discover and work with normalized high-quality public datasets.

With the help of Google Cloud, we developed a COVID-19 Open Data repository-a comprehensive, open-source resource of COVID-19 epidemiological data and related variables like economic indicators or population statistics from over 50 countries. Each data source contains information on its origin, and how it's processed so that researchers can confirm its validity and reliability. It can also be used with Data Commons, BigQuery datasets, as well as other initiatives which aggregate regional datasets.

This repository also includes two Google datasets developed to help researchers study the impact of the disease in a privacy-preserving manner. In April, we began publishing the COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports, which provide anonymized insights into movement trends to understand the impact of policies like shelter in place. These reports have been downloaded over 16 million times and are now updated three times a week in 64 languages, with localized insights covering 12,000 regions, cities and counties for 135 countries. Groups including the OECD, World Bank and Bruegel have used these reports in their research, and the insights inform strategies like how public health could safely unwind social distancing policies.

The latest addition to the repository is the Search Trends symptoms dataset, which aggregates anonymized search trends for over 400 symptoms. This will help researchers better understand the spread of COVID-19 and its potential secondary health impacts.

Tools for managing complex prediction modeling

The data that models rely upon may be imperfect due a range of factors, including a lack of widespread testing or inconsistent reporting. That's why COVID-19 models need to account for uncertainty in order for their predictions to be reliable and useful. To help address this challenge, we're providing researchers examples of how to implement bespoke epidemiological models using TensorFlow Probability (TFP), a library for building probabilistic models that can measure confidence in their own predictions. With TFP, researchers can use a range of data sources with different granularities, properties, or confidence levels, and factor that uncertainty into the overall prediction models. This could be particularly useful in fine-tuning the increasingly complex models that epidemiologists are using to understand the spread of COVID-19, particularly in gaining city or county-level insights when only state or national-level datasets exist.

While models can help predict what happens next, researchers and policymakers are also turning to simulations to better understand the potential impact of their interventions. Simulating these "what if" scenarios involve calculating highly variable social interactions at a massive scale. Simulators can help trial different social distancing techniques and gauge how changes to the movement of people may impact the spread of disease.

Google researchers have developed an open-source agent-based simulator that utilizes real-world data to simulate populations to help public health organizations fine tune their exposure notification parameters. For example, the simulator can consider different disease and transmission characteristics, the number of places people visit, as well as the time spent in those locations. We also contributed to Oxford's agent-based simulator by factoring in real world mobility and representative models of interactions within different workplace sectors to understand the effect of an exposure notification app on the COVID-19 pandemic.

The scientific and developer community are working on important work to understand and manage the pandemic. Whether it's by contributing to open source initiatives or funding data science projects and providing Google.org Fellows, we're committed to collaborating with researchers on efforts to build a more equitable and resilient future.

In the last few months, we've seen the amount of time people use gaming apps on their Chromebooks nearly triple. So, we've worked with our partners to expand our gaming offerings. We're increasing the breadth of high quality games on the Google Play Store and are also enhancing Chromebooks' gaming credentials with support for hugely popular titles on Stadia and through GeForce NOW.

A new premium gaming section on Google Play

The Google Play Store on Chromebooks now has a Premium gaming section that makes it easier for you to discover exciting games designed for Chromebook. These include favorites like Incredibox, Gamedev Tycoon and Bridge Constructor Portal.

Score special perks on popular hits

With special gaming perks that come with your Chromebook, you can be a winner even before you play. Enjoy hits like House of Da Vinci and Project Highrise on us or try out special bundles on favorites like Fallout Shelter. Visit chromebook.com/perks from your Chromebook to find and redeem these offers and more.

Instantly play your favorite games with Stadia and GeForce NOW

Playing high quality video games on your Chromebook is now easier than ever. With Stadia, you can instantly stream and play games like PUBG, Destiny 2 and more on your Chromebook¹ without waiting for installation, downloads or updates. Chromebook users also get three months of Stadia Pro free², giving you access to more than 20 popular titles to play. Visit chromebook.com/perks to redeem the offer and get playing.

NVIDIA GeForce NOW, which launched on Chromebooks last month, makes it easy to instantly play your favorite PC games across different game libraries including Steam, Uplay store and more. Visit play.geforcenow.com to subscribe to the service and enjoy favorites like Fortnite, Apex LegendsTM, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, DOTA 2 and more.

Controllers to enhance your gaming experience

Pick up your perfect teammate for gaming on Chromebooks from our Works with Chromebook-certified controllers. Take control of Stadia gameplay with the Stadia controller or try out Logitech F710 and F310 wireless gamepads to play games from the Play Store on your Chromebook.

We're working to bring more updates in the coming months to make Chromebooks even better for work and play-watch this space for more. In the meantime, check out our app showcase on chromebook.com, where you just might find your new favorite game.

¹Chromebooks launched before June 2017 may not provide an optimal gameplay experience. Find here a list of devices launched before then.

²This offer is only available to Chromebooks launched June 2017 onwards. Please see here for a list of devices launched before June 2017. Stadia Pro is $9.99/mo after trial, cancel anytime. Terms apply.

In our new reality of live events-whether it's sports, concerts, or performances-we enjoy the excitement from the comfort and safety of our own homes. Over-the-top (OTT) streaming has become even more important during this time, offering viewers access to relevant information and entertainment on a variety of devices. But delivering a great viewing experience during live events can be especially challenging for the ads ecosystem, since there can be millions of concurrent viewers, unknown commercial break times, and ad request spikes that occur simultaneously. This can make it difficult for the ads ecosystem to scale with the high demand of viewership spikes, which can lead to choppy ads, repetitive ads, or house or slate placeholder ads-all resulting in a poor user experience.

With an uptick in live streaming as more sports events resume globally, we're announcing new features in Google Ad Manager's Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) to help programmers, distributors, and sports leagues power their live events with seamless, broadcast-quality ads across screens. This includes working closely with our partners, like Asahi Television Broadcasting Corporation (ABC TV), Major League Baseball (MLB), NASCAR, SonyLiv, Univision, World Surf League, and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to power their live sports events with relevant ads.

Deliver high-quality ad experiences at scale with DAI Prefetch

Google Ad Manager's DAI, which is the first server-side ad insertion (SSAI) solution to be accredited by the Media Rating Council (MRC) for its client-initiated impression measurement of video ads on live and on-demand content, is launching DAI Prefetch for live events. This feature uses a 2-staged approach, first allowing partners to prefetch a portion of their next ad break, say the first ad for each viewer, at the end of the prior ad break. Then, when the ad break begins, Ad Manager serves the first ad that was prefetched and in parallel fetches the subsequent ads based on information such as ad break duration or custom parameters related to events in a game like a goal or touchdown. DAI Prefetch distributes ad requests more evenly and accommodates longer ad decisioning times, which helps solve for surges in traffic during live events. This enables partners to deliver a high-quality ad experience to millions of concurrent viewers while maximizing fill rates and revenue, and increases the ability for the broader ads ecosystem to handle the scale of large live events.

Sports partners globally like SonyLiv, World Surf League, and ABC TV (JP) are using Dynamic Ad Insertion with prefetch to successfully monetize their live events. SonyLiv uses DAI to deliver ads to its livestream viewers across screens, including for its India tour of West Indies 2019 cricket match. World Surf League uses DAI Prefetch to deliver seamless, innovative ad experiences for its live surfing events. And ABC TV uses DAI and DAI Prefetch to power ads for livestream events, including their Japanese National High School Baseball Championship Tournament known as Summer Koshien.

"We were able to use DAI to provide a quality user experience and absolutely no buffering-even with sudden traffic spikes during the live event," says Yasuharu Ikeda, Section Chief of Content Strategy Department, General Programming Division at ABC TV.

Grow demand with Early Break Notification API

We're also launching an Early Break Notification API in Ad Manager's DAI to make it easier for partners to use real-time ad break data to monetize live events. This API lets partners send ad break data to Ad Manager, such as program information from SCTE-35 or custom parameters, in advance of an ad break so that they can deliver relevant ads and adhere to brand safety requirements. Data may include program ID, break number, or custom parameters such as whether the ad break is at half-time or the end of a game. This enables partners to deliver ads based on these circumstances, such as a food delivery ad, sponsorship ad, or an ad based on who won the game. Sending ad break data in advance also provides additional ad decisioning time across programmatic demand sources, which is especially important during live events and can help partners increase fill rates. Partners can use DAI Prefetch and Early Break Notification API together to optimize for a great viewing experience while maximizing yield.

Resuming live streamed sports with our partners

Google Ad Manager's DAI has already delivered relevant ads to more than 1 million concurrent livestream viewers at the same time during multiple events, including during the recent UEFA Champions League final, which was broadcast by Univision and four of our other partners across three continents.¹ Now, as sports return and viewership grows as live streamed games become the primary way for fans to watch sporting events, we're working closely with our partners to help them continue to deliver broadcast-quality viewing experiences with DAI.

Partners like NASCAR, WWE, Univision, and MLB are using DAI to power ads for their live sporting events. For example, NASCAR Digital Media uses DAI to deliver ads for its in-car camera streams on NASCAR.com during live races including the Daytona 500. WWE is planning to expand its use of DAI to power live events on its network. Univision is using DAI for its live broadcasts of UEFA League games and other sporting events. And MLB is using DAI on MLB.tv to power out-of-market live streamed games.

"With sports back in full swing, we're using Dynamic Ad Insertion to deliver high-quality, relevant ad experiences to our fans across screens, whether they're watching MLB.tv on TV, mobile or web," says Jason Gaedtke, Chief Technology Officer, MLB.

To help our partners continue to identify the best way to use Dynamic Ad Insertion to power their live events, we've published a DAI best practice guide, which offers implementation and live event best practices. As more live events resume, we'll be ready to provide our partners with advanced technology, global support, and best practices to grow their businesses.

¹ Google Ad Manager Internal Data, Global, August 2019 - August 2020

Having grown up with a Marine veteran father, and then marrying a commissioned Air Force officer, I know firsthand the challenges that spouses and families face when it comes to military life. One month before my wedding, I learned that my partner would be relocating for his role in the military. Though my career was flourishing, I needed to quickly find a new role, in a new office, with a completely different culture. Though it all worked out in the end, my spouse and I had to live apart for some time, making the first few months of our marriage a little more challenging than your typical newlywed experience.

These days, I'm proud to work at Google, a company that supports transitioning service members, veterans, and military spouses in meaningful ways every day, whether they are looking to grow their skills, find a job, or start a business. One of those ways is with Google committing to offering paid leave benefits up to 5 days to military spouses and domestic partners experiencing changes of location due to military orders or those preparing for a deployment or activation. We recently conducted research surveying more than 1,500 military spouses to learn more about the military spouse experience. Below are some of our key learnings from the survey, which was conducted in partnership with Hiring our Heroes, a nationwide initiative of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, with the support of a Google.org grant. As I read through this report, I related to so much of what these spouses said, and saw their stories reflected in my own.

COVID-19 has changed a lot about the way we work, in a very short period of time. And even though the landscape of work has changed, this research remains relevant as so many Americans are looking to adjust to the new normal of remote work, while still others are seeking out opportunities to up-skill, re-skill or start new businesses.

Many military spouses face challenges when looking for work, but we always get creative to make career and business choices that work for us and our families. Some want to open their own businesses, in an attempt to maximize flexibility and portability. While 76 percent of military spouses indicated that they were interested in starting a business, fewer had actually made the leap into business ownership.

Those who had already started their own businesses often did so with an initial investment of less than $1,000, but felt that aside from raising capital, they lacked skills in marketing and social media to maximize their business potential.

To help military spouses learn the skills they need to help their businesses succeed, we've worked with Hiring our Heroes to curate a series of custom-made minicourses in the Primer app for military spouses, on topics like running a business and maximizing productivity while maintaining work-life balance. These new minicourses build on a series Grow with Google launched last year.

Whether starting a business, finding a new position or exploring training and education opportunities, military spouses said they often felt overwhelmed and unsure of how to get started. While the outpouring of support for the military spouse community has been incredibly positive, navigating the vast array of government, nonprofit and corporate programs designed to support our community sometimes creates anxiety and confusion.

That's why Google is continuing our work with Hiring our Heroes by launching the MilSpouse Career Roadmap. This interactive hub combines a variety of tools and resources that support military spouses in building careers that move with them, like Google's remote work search feature, and education and employment resources provided by the Department of Defense's Spouse Education and Career Opportunities office.

More than 80 percent of survey respondents said they would pursue additional training and education to build careers that were portable. To help, we've made Google.org grants to support scholarships through Syracuse University's Institute for Veterans and Military Families to make Google's IT Professional Certificate available to military spouses to get them the skills they need to find work in a fast-growing field.

Audri Vergara, a mom who left her career to become a stay-at-home parent, is one heartening example from the research. Though working at home and taking care of her son kept Audri busy, she decided to complete the Google IT Professional Certificate through the Institute for Veterans and Military Families. Afterwhich, Audri was able to boost her resume and find a new full-time position where she uses skills from the certificate program.

I hope that Google's research and actions to support military families will continue to support people like Audri while also encouraging other organizations to help empower military spouses, too. To learn more about Grow with Google's tools and resources for the military community, visit grow.google/militaryspouses.

Since launching the Google News Initiative in 2018, we've worked with news organizations of all sizes as they've adapted to the challenges of an increasingly digital world, which has impacted their business models and consumer behavior. Programs like our GNI Labs have helped publishers tackle specific business challenges, like digital subscriptions, advertising and data, while tools like News Consumer Insights have helped thousands of newsrooms grow their audiences online.

During this time, we've learned from our partners that the shift to digital doesn't happen overnight. It takes months and even years of hard work to attract and develop digitally-minded talent, adopt data-driven thinking and build an audience-first culture. Through the GNI, we want to support publishers with this transition.

That's why today, we're introducing a global program to help news publishers navigate the complexity of digital transformation. The GNI Digital Growth Program is a free program aimed at helping small and mid-sized news publishers around the world develop the capabilities required to accelerate the growth of their businesses online. The program is informed by the lessons learned from GNI projects and programs, and was built in collaboration with industry experts including FT Strategies, FTI Consulting and Mather Economics, plus news industry associations including INMA, Local Media Association and WAN-IFRA.

The GNI Digital Growth Program will initially focus on five topic areas: Reader Revenue, Audience Development, Advertising Revenue, Data and Product. Our curriculum includes playbooks full of real-world examples, interactive exercises to help solve business problems, workshops to bring these lessons to life and Labs to provide hands-on advisory support. At first, we're focusing on our Reader Revenue pillar, with other topic areas coming over the next few months. Participating publishers can anticipate access to:

• A comprehensive playbook that offers publishers strategies and real-world examples to help with building and optimizing a reader revenue model

• A set of interactive exercises, including an Opportunity Sizing exercise to help publishers estimate their potential reader revenue opportunity, a User Funnel diagnostic to identify areas for improvement across key reader revenue performance metrics and a Goal Setting exercise to build a plan for long-term reader revenue growth

• Workshops led by top industry experts offering business recommendations

• GNI Labs which provide a group of publishers with personalized support and one-on-one coaching from our industry partners

Publishers can access the free playbooks and exercises at any time on our online hub. The workshops are available on a first-come-first-served basis, while Labs will be available upon application. To sign up for our first series of workshops, please visit our GNI Digital Growth Program page.

This program builds on our recently launched edition in Europe. We've now expanded to ten languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Polish, German, Korean, Japanese and Bahasa Indonesia. And as the curriculum evolves over time, we will introduce specialty sessions for publishers, such as Print-to-Digital Transformation and Digital Startups.

Google has long invested in supporting news organizations as they adapt their business models in an evolving media landscape. That's why widely sharing our findings with the news industry has always been a cornerstone of the Google News Initiative's approach. Through the GNI Digital Growth Program, we look forward to working with more news companies to think differently about their digital business, unlock new revenue opportunities and build sustainable growth online.

Croatia, the country of a thousand islands, is well known for its spectacular beaches and national parks, and as one of the sunniest places in Europe. But it also has a rich cultural history, with one of the highest counts of items on UNESCO's List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Google Arts & Culture partnered with the Croatian National Tourist Board, the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb and the Museum Alka of Sinjto let the world experience the colors and sounds of Croatia. Learn about the local crafts, dance like there is no music, join best-in-class festivals or learn about the national delicacy strukli.

1. The Crafts

It's the little things that give a place a distinct personality. In virtually every gift shop and souvenir stand in Croatia, the sweet biscuits called licitars are ubiquitous. The bright red, decorated hearts, birds and other shapes aren't just colorful mementos-they're part of Croatia's intangible cultural heritage and a symbol of the country itself. Another tradition that survived centuries is the skill of handcrafting wooden toys. They are ubiquitous to the region, so much that in 2009, the traditional manufacturing of children's wooden toys in the Hrvatsko Zagorje region of Croatia was inscribed to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Check out the whole toy-making process.

2. The Fashion

When people think of the cultural heritage of Croatia, they often look to centuries-old traditions being kept alive by a small handful of practitioners. Croatia is vibrant with colors and traditional regional costumes, from Dalmatia's floral handkerchiefs to Gorjani's hats literally made out of flowers. Historical men's fashion includes Alkar lancers, whose dark blue uniforms and plumes in their hats will take you back in time to the Ottoman Empire. And for an unforgettable celebration of color, there is nothing quite like the Rijeka Carnival. A new wave of young Croatian designers is taking inspiration from the country's rich history of folk arts and crafts and applying it to contemporary fashion and accessories. See herehow Croatian crafts are influencing today's design and fashion.

3. The Festivals

Croatia is rich in music festivals, historic reenactments and religious festivities. Throughout the year, but especially in the spring and summer, annual festivities celebrate Croatia's local, regional and national traditions. There is the loud and empowering Bell Ringers' Pageant in Kastav, a historic Alka Tournament in Sinj, the beautifully costumed Spring Procession of Ljelje and the hilarious donkey race in Tribunj. On the opposite side of the country, on far-off Korčula Island, the locals cultivate the saber dance, a choreographed mock sword battle between two kings fighting for the love of a princess-quite a spectacle to see!

4. The Places

Though Croatia is full of beautiful beaches and vibrant cities, the country's foundations rest on dry stonewalls, which dates as far back as the 9th century BCE. That was when the ancient Liburnians began to erect defensive hill forts and walls using stone but no mortar or other binding material. They were such good builders that remnants of these constructions remain even today. Bavljenac Island has the densest concentration of dry stone walls, and when viewed from above it looks like a giant fingertip.

Curious to see more? Stroll around these top five locations and immerse yourself in the lush naturescapes of the country. Alternatively, check out g.co/travelcroatia, download the Android or iOS app or visit Google Arts & Culture. Uživaj!

This week, Google announced that we've eliminated our entire carbon legacy since the company was founded, as well as our most ambitious sustainability goal yet-we aim to operate on 24/7 carbon-free energy in all our data centres and campuses worldwide by 2030.

That means that every email you send through Gmail, every question you ask Google Search and every YouTube video you watch is already carbon neutral. In the future, our services will be supplied only by carbon-free energy every hour of every day.

Here in Europe, the European Commission has set its sights on another ambitious goal with the European Green deal: to make Europe the world's first carbon-neutral continent, reduce emissions, drive clean growth and create green jobs.

We applaud this vision. Dating back to the first energy-efficient data centre we built in Belgium in 2007, we've made many investments to support Europe's leadership in clean energy and climate policy. Today, at the GreenTech festival in Berlin, our CEO Sundar Pichai shared how we will support Europe's green vision further, in three main ways:

• We'll drive billions of euros in investment and thousands of new green jobs in Europe
• We'll help European business and partners increase energy efficiency through AI
• We'll boost innovation in cities and support European nonprofits with a €10 million Google.org Impact Challenge

We'll also support public policies that strengthen global action on climate through the Paris Agreement, help create carbon-free electricity systems, and ensure that the clean energy transition provides economic opportunity for all. Indeed, we know that strong public policy action is critical to making carbon-free solutions available to everyone, helping all communities prosper equally.

Investing in green infrastructure and creating thousands of jobs

By 2025, we expect to anchor over €2 billion of investment in new carbon-free energy generation projects and green infrastructure in Europe, helping to develop new technologies to make round-the-clock carbon-free energy cheaper and more widely available. This will help create more than 2,000 new clean energy jobs in Europe by 2025.

This comes on top of other investments we've made in Europe. Between 2007-2018, Google invested approximately €7 billion in constructing some of the world's most energy-efficient data centres in Europe, supporting 9,600 full-time jobs across Europe each year on average. And last year, we announced we would purchase energy from 10 new renewable energy infrastructure projects, which spurred more than €1 billion of investment in renewable energy in Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, and created approximately 1,000 jobs in the process.

In the coming decade we'll invest in green skills training in Europe. For example, we're partnering with SolarPower Europe to host introductory courses on careers in the solar industry, to support their goal of driving more than half a million solar jobs in Europe and power 20 percent of Europe's electricity demand with solar by 2030.

Helping other business and organisations increase energy efficiency with AI

We're committed to creating tools, sharing expertise and investing in technologies that help others in the transition to a carbon-free world. We'll do even more to help our partners increase energy efficiency and reduce waste.

Using machine learning, we've reduced by 30 percent the energy needed for cooling our data centres. Now, we're making this proven cloud technology solution available for use by commercial buildings and industrial facilities around the world-such as airports, shopping malls and other data centres, helping them reduce their own carbon impact.

For example, by using Google AI to analyse large data sets and forecast demand, the French retailer Carrefour managed to drastically reduce food waste. The German electric utility company E.ON is using Cloud Data Analytics to help energy managers make decisions that reduce costs and CO2 footprint.

Boosting innovation, helping cities and local governments, supporting reforestation

Nonprofits, civil society organisations, and universities play a critical role in mitigating the effects of climate change. We've seen the positive impact of funding innovative ideas and leaders, such as U.K.-based Carbon Tracker's partnership with WattTime and others to track global carbon emissions from satellite imagery.

To help further support Europe's green pioneers, we're launching a new Google.org Impact Challenge. We're making available €10 million for the most promising European ideas and projects that support increased access to, or use of, renewable energy, decarbonization of transportation, improved air quality, natural resource planning and protection, or circular economy and design. Applications are open today. Recipients will receive up to €2 million in funding and in some cases support from the Google.org Impact Challenge Accelerator. They will be selected by independent experts, including Greentech founder Nico Rosberg, scientist Dr. Maggie Adderin-Pocock, Director General of the Finnish Environment Institute Lea Kauppi, and Former Irish Minister for the Environment John Gormley.

In addition, we've pledged to help 500 cities and local governments globally reduce an aggregate of one gigaton (that's 1 billion tons) of carbon emissions per year by 2030-more than a country the size of Germany emits. This adds to the €2.7 million from Google.org we committed last year to support European cities in implementing climate action plans. For example, with funding from the Google.org ICLEI Action Fund, the Birmingham-based nonprofit Centre for Sustainable Energy is launching an open-source, city-wide data set, along with tools to model decarbonization options for buildings in the city and other interventions.

Finally, as part of our work to remove carbon from the atmosphere, we're launching a science-based reforestation program and pledging $1 million in funding from Google.org to develop tools that will help increase the likelihood of success for ecosystem restoration projects around the world, including in Northern Spain.

We're optimistic that this can be a decisive decade for climate action. We're committed to supporting Europe's ambition to become the first carbon-neutral continent and to playing our part to move the world closer to a carbon-free future.

Welcome to the latest installment of our blog series "My Path to Google." These are real stories from Googlers, interns, and alumni highlighting how they got to Google, what their roles are like and even some tips on how to prepare for interviews.

In today's post, meet Zain Kamal Masri from our Dubai office and learn about some of the many paths to joining the Google marketing team. You'll also find out why she once carried a Street View trekker through the ancient city of Petra.

What first sparked your interest in working at Google?

When I was a university student, I participated in the Google Ad Grants Online Marketing Challenge, where students get real-world experience creating online marketing campaigns for nonprofits. I created my first-ever Google Ads campaign and experienced how the web can help any nonprofit, business or individual reach a global audience.

I wanted to learn more about Google products, which led me to take part in Google AdCamp. I competed in a team-based advertising challenge: we went through a market and consumer analysis, developed a creative strategy and presented a final proposal to sales product experts.

This motivated me to apply for an internship with Google's marketing team while I completed my master's degree. One of my internship highlights was helping capture the ancient city of Petra, Jordan for Street View-you can catch a glimpse of me carrying the Street View trekker (a device with a built-in 360-degree camera, hard drive and batteries to capture Street View imagery) in the launch film which was narrated by Queen Rania!

Tell us about becoming a full-time Googler.

After completing my internship, a full-time role became available and I applied right away. While I was super nervous, I was (and continue to be) passionate about working at Google. I tried my best to reframe my nervousness as excitement and hoped that my passion and dedication would shine through. When I received the job offer email, I had to read it several times to fully register what I was reading. I felt so proud and immediately called my parents to share the good news. They were over the moon!

What do you wish you'd known when you started the process?

Google has a wealth of programs for students and fresh graduates to gain experience and knowledge. I wish I knew more about the Associate Product Marketing Manager (APMM) program back when I was a student. As an APMM, you become part of a diverse community of the next generation of marketers and can access unique opportunities like rotations, bootcamps and mentorship.

What resources did you use to prepare for your interview or role?

Reading through the Google Arabia blog was extremely helpful as it gave me a deeper perspective on Google's role in the Arab world and the top priorities and products in the region. It also helped to browse through the global Keyword blog and social channels.

What's your role at Google now?

I am currently the Head of Brand and Reputation at Google in the Middle East and North Africa. My role focuses on programs like Maharat min Google, which is a digital skills education program that helps youth, especially women, gain the skills they need to succeed in an increasingly digital economy. As part of the program, we created a series of short films that follow the journeys of six Arab women who have become entrepreneurs, women's rights advocates and groundbreaking YouTube creators. We've trained more than 800,000 individuals, of which 50 percent are women, and 54 percent have found a job or grown in their business or career as a result of the program.

What inspires you to log in every day?

As part of my role, I manage Google Doodles for the Arab world. My main focus has been increasing female representation. Some of my personal favorite Doodles include Doria Shafik (one of the leading activists who helped women in Egypt win the right to vote) and Zaha Hadid (first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize).

Convenience and safety are important when you're deciding how to shop-in fact, we've seen Google searches for "curbside pickup" and "safe shopping" increase tenfold in the last few months. And while you may want to support the stores nearby that have opened their doors, figuring out the best way to do so can be challenging. Which stores have reopened? Do they have the item you want in stock? Do they offer any services to minimize contact and time in store for shoppers?

We want to help take away some of the unknowns when it comes to shopping in person. Here are a few ways we've improved Shopping results on Google Search, to help you safely and easily support the stores in your community.

Filter to see what's locally available

Want to see an item in person before purchasing, or can't wait for shipping and delivery? Whatever you're looking for, whether it's a new laptop for working from home, a baby jacket for fall or a grill for backyard barbeques, Google makes it easy for you to see what's available locally. Simply tap the Shopping tab, and select the Nearby filter at the top of the page or add "near me" to your search to view product options available from stores located near you.

Compare hours, locations and inventory before you go

It's now easier to see what's in stores near you before committing to going in person, with a map view and list of stores in the area. You can check each business's opening and closing hours, as well as how far each store is from you. You'll also get a preview of the items they sell that match what you searched for, with a carousel you can scroll through to see pictures and prices of the available products.

Safely pick up what you need with curbside or in-store pickup

If you're worried about how to shop safely, we make it easy to see which stores offer ways to minimize contact while shopping with labels to indicate if shops offer curbside or in-store pickup.

If you're concerned an item will be out of stock when you get to the store, you can just click to call and speak with someone to confirm inventory. There's also a direct link to navigation to get you there right away if you're in a rush.

Shopping in person comes with new challenges these days, but luckily stores are making it easier to adjust. And if you're a local business interested in helping shoppers find your store hours, locations, products, and pickup options on Google, you can create or update your Google My Business profile or upload your local product feed through Google Merchant Center.

We'll keep working to provide more helpful answers to your shopping questions and needs, so that you can safely and easily pick up what you're looking for while supporting the stores in your community.

I never considered myself an addict until the day I found myself huddled under my covers at four in the afternoon, hungover and wishing my surroundings would disappear. This wasn't the first time that had happened-in fact, it had become a weekly occurrence-but as I curled up into a ball, feeling pathetic and utterly alone, I realized I had no other options. I grabbed my phone from my nightstand and searched "rehab centers near me."

I'd been dealing with major depression for years, and up until that moment I thought I had tried everything to find a cure. Special diets, an alphabet soup of antidepressant regimens, group therapy, solo therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, ketamine infusions. The only thing I hadn't tried was sobriety. Drugs and alcohol were my only escape. I couldn't fathom giving up the one thing that freed myself from the darkest grips of my own mind.

My Google search surfaced a number of local treatment centers, and after making some calls, I found one with a program that could help me. That was more than two years ago. Since then, thanks to hard work that continues today, I've remained sober and depression-free.

Most people in recovery would agree: you can't do it alone. It's a reciprocal relationship-my recovery community helps to keep me sober, and my sobriety allows me to play an active role in that community. Twelve-step programs, new habits and the support of others with similar experiences provide a foundation, and then I can build a life I never thought was possible to live when depression controlled my every moment.

That foundation has carried me through COVID-19. Staying sober during a global pandemic is a bit of a paradox. During a time when people are more isolated than ever before, turning to substances to self-soothe seems like a natural response. And the data backs that up: Google searches for "how to get clean" reached an all-time high in June, and "how to get sober" surged in June and then again in August. In the past 30 days, searches for "rehab near me" hit their second-highest peak in recorded history.

And yet sobriety-in an era where it's harder than ever to stay sober-is precisely what's gotten me through this time. Staying sober has let me be present with my emotions, to face my anxieties and difficulties head-on. While I can't numb my feelings, I can protect my mental health. My recovery practice has allowed me to do just that: Daily gratitude lists remind me how fortunate I still am, my sponsor regularly offers wisdom and advice, my peers hold space for my challenges and I do the same for them.

In the throes of my own crisis, the first place I turned to for help was Google. I ended up at a rehab center that profoundly transformed the way I move through the world. Last September, as part of National Recovery Month, Google made these resources even easier to find with its Recover Together site. This year, Google is adding even more features, including a mapping tool that allows you to search for local support groups by simply typing in your zip code. Of course, the search results also include virtual meetings, now that many programs have moved online.

I'm proud to work for a company that prioritizes an issue that affects an estimated one in eight American adults and their loved ones. I'm proud to work for a company where I can take time from my day to attend 12-step meetings, no questions asked, and where I can bring my whole self to work and speak freely about my struggles. And I'm proud to work for a company that celebrates my experience as one of triumph rather than shame. That's committed to reducing the stigma around addiction by providing resources for people like me.

Recovery doesn't happen in a vacuum. I can't do it all by myself, which is why I'm sharing my story today. I hope that even one person who has fought similar battles will read what I have to say and realize that they, too, aren't in this alone.

The digital video boom is here. As people spend more time at home and the need for relevant, fresh content is at an all time high, the shift from linear to digital video is accelerating.

On YouTube in particular, over 2 billion people globally are gravitating toward timely content, from live entertainment like Post Malone's livestreamed living room concerts to transformative current events like rallying cries for racial justice from creators. They are also favoring the TV screen-with watch time growing across regions. In the US for example, watch time on YouTube and YouTube TV on TV screens jumped 80 percent year over year.

Leading brands are making the most of YouTube's massive reach and deeply relevant content to build brand awareness, and ultimately, drive results at scale. Today, we're sharing new ways to help advertisers achieve these goals, including expanded reach planning solutions and advanced contextual targeting-a new and better way to show up in the right contexts for your customers.

Expanded tools to drive efficient reach and fuel your awareness strategy on YouTube

More viewership and the right mix of tools to reach a growing audience means that YouTube can offer incremental reach for the same budget. In the US, our relationship with Nielsen helps advertisers find the right mix. On average, advertisers saw that shifting just 20% of spend from TV to YouTube generated a 25% increase to the total campaign reach within their target audience, lowering the cost per reach point by almost 20%, across 21 Share Shift studies we've commissioned from Nielsen.¹ To help global marketers, we are expanding our evaluation of Nielsen's Total Ad Ratings to the UK and Italy.

When marketers include YouTube to drive efficient reach, they are seeing it pay off in real business results. Katie Haniffy, Head of Media, PepsiCo Beverages, turned to YouTube to drive scale and extend reach of Pepsi's "Gift it Forward" Holiday campaign. The creative, starring Cardi B, celebrated the gifting mindset during the holiday season. "We knew YouTube had to play a critical role in 'Gift it Forward' as it continues to deliver strong performance across the beverage portfolio. The 'Gift it Forward' campaign did not disappoint-YouTube drove new brand buyers during the holiday season to the unique audience we wanted to reach."

To help you easily plan campaign strategies that take advantage of this incremental reach beyond TV, soon we are also expanding TV data in Reach Planner to more countries, including France, Spain and Vietnam.

Additionally, if you're looking to plan YouTube with other online video partners, we're enabling reach planning capabilities across your entire campaign in Display & Video 360 including YouTube, auction and programmatic deals.

Use Video reach campaigns for a simpler way to buy efficient reach across ad formats.

Since launch, we've seen when advertisers combine skippable in-stream ads and bumpers into one campaign optimized for unique reach, they see higher lifts in Brand Awareness than advertisers who bought either format on its own.⁴ Marion Carpentier, Omni Business Leader at French men's wear brand, Jules, says "By combining multiple formats into one campaign on YouTube, we were not only able to reach incremental audiences at a more optimal frequency compared to other video partners, but were able to drive a relative brand lift of 4.9 percent."

A new way to show up in the right contexts for your brand

YouTube's ability to drive mass reach means we can also deliver scale in specific contexts that matter for consumers and your brand. To make it easier to discover the content that's best for you, today we are announcing YouTube dynamic lineups-powered by advanced contextual targeting.

Advanced contextual targeting is the next generation of content targeting on YouTube. It uses Google's machine learning to better understand each channel on YouTube, including analysis of video imagery, sound, speech and text.

This allows us to create lineups⁵ that are scalable across content based on specific topics, cultural moments or popularity. For example, in addition to home or lifestyle lineups in most markets, you can find more nuanced choices like "home and garden" and "home improvement." This means better access to customers with unique interests and needs-all with the brand suitability controls that are most important for your business.

It also means you're able to drive greater impact for your brand. A recent study conducted by Google and Ipsos in the US found that video advertising based on consumer interest and intent has significantly more impact than demo-with a 32 percent higher lift in ad recall and 100 percent higher lift in purchase intent.

Complement your audience strategy with dynamic lineups to maximize reach.

Early adopters like OMD are seeing strong results using YouTube dynamic lineups to complement their existing audience strategies. Chrissie Hanson, Global Chief Strategy Officer at OMD says, "Using lineups powered by advanced contextual targeting delivers a more relevant and empathetic understanding of audiences. This in turn serves to drive more relevant reach and efficiencies for our customers, as part of a broader program that leverages audiences and other tactics across YouTube."

YouTube dynamic lineups are launching on a rolling basis starting today and will be fully available by the end of September in ten markets. They are available across both Google Ads and Display & Video 360, with more countries coming soon.

From sales to ROI-deliver the results that matter

Most importantly, efficient reach and relevant ad experiences must drive not only awareness, but also business results. Across global Marketing Mix Modeling studies we've commissioned from Nielsen, we've seen YouTube deliver the bottom line results you care about.

Check out our new awareness collection-from success stories to trends

We're sharing a new collection of resources on our Advertising Solutions Center to help you build awareness for this new world. You'll hear first-hand perspectives from companies like PepsiCo, Domino's and Jules, delve into trends driving YouTube viewership and learn about our newest product innovations built to better meet your awareness objectives. We'll continue to roll out more content on the Advertising Solutions Center in the coming weeks.

We hope these latest updates will help you build your brand for today, and create resiliency for tomorrow.

Reach out to your Google sales rep to learn more about the solutions above, including best practices on campaign set-up, how to apply for the Video reach campaigns beta and how to access YouTube dynamic lineups in your market.

---

<sup>1. Nielsen Share Shift Meta Analysis commissioned by Google including 21 NMI Share Shift US studies inclusive of YouTube in-app traffic utilizing target audiences running 1/1/19-5/5/20 across desktop, mobile and TV; across 9 demos; average total TV+YouTube budget $17.3M.
2. Nielsen Total Ad Ratings, Pepsi Holiday campaign across TV and YouTube among P18-49, 11/11/19-12/29/19
3. IRI Lift for YouTube, Pepsi TM Q4'19 Holiday Sales Impact Analysis, June 2020
4. Google Brand Lift, Global, Jan 2019 - May 2020
5. Lineups are packages of channels based on a topic, cultural moment or popularity.
6. Commissioned Nielsen MMM Meta-Analysis, 2016-2018. Base: a list of studies selected and compiled by Nielsen, consisting of all available CPG studies completed in 2016-2018 that contain YouTube Select, Other Digital, and TV results. This list includes 45 studies for US Brands across all CPG categories. ROI is "Retail ROI," defined as total incremental sales divided by total media spend. Incremental offline retail sales measured for TV represents average across all TV broadcasters.
7. Commissioned Nielsen MMM Meta-Analysis, 2016-2018. Base: a list of studies selected and compiled by Nielsen, consisting of all available CPG studies completed in 2016-2018 that contain YouTube, Other Digital, and TV results. This list includes 117 studies for German Brands across all CPG categories. ROI is "Retail ROI," defined as total incremental sales divided by total media spend. Incremental offline retail sales measured for TV represents average across all TV broadcasters.
8. Commissioned Nielsen MMM meta-analysis, 2016-2018. YouTube effectiveness was 8.4 compared to TV effectiveness of 0.19. Base: A list of studies selected and compiled by Nielsen, consisting of all available CPG studies completed in 2016-2018 that contain YouTube, Other Digital and TV results. This list includes 96 studies for Brazil Brands across all CPG categories.Incremental offline retail sales measured for TV represents average across all TV broadcasters. Effectiveness is defined as total incremental sales per 1,000 impressions. Studies were excluded if either channel had fewer than 500 impressions. The Effectiveness numbers in the claim are impression-weighted averages across all studies for each channel.
9. Commissioned Nielsen MMM meta-analysis, 2016-2018. YouTube effectiveness was $9.69 compared to TV effectiveness of $3.20. Base: A list of studies selected and compiled by Nielsen, consisting of all available CPG studies completed in 2017-2018 that contain YouTube, Other Digital and TV results. This list includes 37 studies for Japan Brands across all CPG categories.Incremental offline retail sales measured for TV represents average across all TV broadcasters. Effectiveness is defined as total incremental sales per 1,000 impressions (in USD). Studies were excluded if either channel had fewer than 500 impressions. The Effectiveness numbers in the claim are impression-weighted averages across all studies for each channel.</sup>

In the past months, we've seen a breakthrough in searches for terms such as "online graduation," "staycation" and "virtual classroom." As people form new consumption habits, a strong brand is more valuable than ever. It allows you to stand out in the marketplace at a time when customers are on the lookout for the products and services that will be part of their new routines.

Today, we're introducing a series of tools in Display & Video 360 and Campaign Manager to help you grow your brand and navigate the connected TV and digital video boom-including improved reach forecasting and measurement capabilities, more TV and video ad placements, and a solution to reach new engaged audiences on connected TV.

Real time reach forecasting that takes your deals into account

With most TV production shut down for parts of the spring and summer months, and the upfronts heavily disrupted, you may be approaching show premieres seasons with less visibility into your media plans than in years' past. While forecasting ad spend has been more difficult than ever, planning tools that are tightly connected to your media buying platform can help you assess your media plans on the go and quickly optimize your ad strategy.

We're further improving Display & Video 360's forecasting tool by adding support for programmatic deals. In a few weeks, you'll be able to include deals in your deduplicated reach estimate, which already includes open auction and YouTube. This is particularly helpful for media planners working with brands that want to connect with TV viewers because most connected TV ads are secured via deals. With this added functionality, planners will be able to more easily answer questions such as, "How much incremental reach could I get by combining a network CTV deal with YouTube reservation and open auction video ads?"

New streaming opportunities to reach your audiences where they are

Brands that can connect with their audiences as their interests and needs evolve have a head start on driving brand awareness for the long term. Buying media with a platform that gives you access to a large and varied portfolio of streaming content helps you reach these audiences in a more flexible way.

Today, Display & Video 360 provides access to the top 50 most watched ad supported connected TV apps in the US, according to Comscore. And to give you even more options to find your audience, we're making more popular YouTube inventory available in Display & Video 360. For example, we integrated YouTube TV into the list of YouTube content you can reserve and manage - accessible via the streaming TV lineup. We've also just opened up access to Masthead ads, the prominent space in YouTube's Home feed. This beta feature includes the YouTube Masthead on TV screens.

Lastly, we're exploring other innovative canvases for brands to increase awareness. For instance, media and entertainment marketers in the US are currently testing a new cinematic teaser format that fits the look and feel of Android TV's home screen.

Find new engaged connected TV audiences

Life in the new normal includes more connected TV watch time than before. To help marketers make the most of this extra reach opportunity, we've recently extended our similar audience functionality to connected TV devices in Display & Video 360. This feature allows you to find new connected TV viewers who share similarities with the audiences you already know.

For example, if you're an auto brand who has seen success in reaching "Truck & SUV Enthusiasts" with Google affinity audiences, you will now be able to easily reach additional connected TV viewers who have similar attributes to this group. Or if you know that people who use your mobile app are more likely to schedule a test drive, you can show your ads to connected TV viewers who have similarities with your app users.

Similar audiences can be used to extend your reach across connected TV inventory sources in Display & Video 360.

Durable reach measurement in Display & Video 360 and Campaign Manager

Marketers are on the hook to connect marketing spend with tangible results. This includes being able to provide a clear picture of any ad campaign's reach and frequency performance. To give marketers an accurate and durable view of how they reach people across Display & Video 360 and Campaign Manager, we're increasing our investment in Unique Reach solutions.

First, we've launched Unique Reach Audience reporting. This report further extends unique reach measurement to include demographic insights. So while you could already answer the question 'How many unique users did my ad reach?', you can now also answer the question 'How many unique users within a particular demographic did my ad reach?'

Second, using the IAB's Identifier for Advertising (IFA) standard, we've added Unique Reach support for connected TV devices. This capability gives brands a more precise understanding of the impact of ads on connected TVs and better articulates their contribution to the overall reach and frequency performance of digital advertising.

Building for the future, we're continuing to replace cookie-based reach with Unique Reach across our products. Next up, frequency distribution and viewable reach measurement will soon be based off of Unique Reach. This will help you report on these metrics even when cookies aren't available.

To learn more ways to build your brand in this new world, check out this new collection of resources on our Advertising Solutions Center.

This bulletin includes coordinated influence operation campaigns terminated on our platforms in July of 2020. We will continue to update this bulletin with data from Q3 as it becomes available. It was last updated on Sept 15, 2020.

July

We terminated 1 advertising account and 7 YouTube channels as part of our actions against a coordinated influence operation linked to Ecuador. The campaign was linked to the PR firm Estraterra, and posted content in Spanish about former Ecuador government employees. These findings are consistent with similar findings reported by Facebook.

We terminated 299 YouTube channels as part of our ongoing investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to China. These channels mostly uploaded spammy content in Chinese about music, entertainment, and lifestyle. A very small subset uploaded content in Chinese about COVID-19 and current events in Hong Kong. These findings are consistent with our previous reports in the Q2 TAG bulletin.

Every day for the past 47 years, my mother-in-law, who my kids and I love to call Nana, wakes up, has her required cup of cafecito and gets ready to go to work. She's a hairstylist and the owner of Carmen's Beauty Salon in Imperial Beach, California, and she wouldn't give it up for anything in the world. She's seen her regulars for decades, cutting and styling their hair through weddings, graduations and more.

Today, we're announcing a $3 million Google.org grant to the Hispanics in Philanthropy PowerUp Fund, to directly support hundreds of Latino-owned small businesses with access to capital and the training they need to successfully recover and continue to grow. This grant builds on Google's $180 million commitment to support minority- and women-led small businesses across the country through the Grow with Google Small Business Fund and Google.org Grants Program.

We're also providing free tools and training to help any Latino-owned businesses adapt and grow through Grow with Google's "Paso a Paso" workshops and online training programs. Businesses can sign up for our new Google Ads workshop in Spanish, a special panel featuring resilient Latino entrepreneurs via OnAir En Español and continue their digital marketing training with Primer app minicourses in English or Spanish. We're expanding our Digital Coaches program and kicking off a partnership with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce so Latino-owned businesses can get more localized support in their communities.

Beyond helping small businesses, we have lots more in store during Hispanic Heritage Month at Google. I encourage you to explore our updated Latino Cultures in the U.S. collection within Google Arts & Culture, where J. Balvin can share with you the untold story behind Fernando Botero's "July 20th." Also, be on the lookout for our collaboration with Pop-Up Magazine, where we'll celebrate Latinos across the country through virtual storytelling and art.

You'll also see us spotlighting Latino businesses around the country in our new "Buscándole" national campaign encouraging people to support neighborhood businesses. And today's Doodle features Felicitas Mendez, a Puerto Rican American civil rights pioneer who was a small business owner herself. Combined, we hope all these efforts can not only celebrate the Latino community during Hispanic Heritage Month, but also help members of our community thrive for the long term.

The common thread between J.Balvin,Ellie Goulding, FKA twigs, Grimes, Matty Healy from The 1975 and Chaeyoung from TWICE beyond being global music icons? They're all starring in the new season of Google Arts & Culture's Art Zoom series, which takes viewers on a guided tour of some of the world's most famous masterpieces through the narration of famous musicians. Through Google's "gigapixel" Art Camera-a robotic camera custom-made to create the highest possible resolution images of paintings-you can zoom into an artwork at brushstroke-level detail and explore its hidden depths.

This second season, our musical guides invite you to embark on a world tour across art history starting from the European Renaissance with Bruegel's daunting vision of hell to Botero's modern Colombia and Youngkuk's Korean mountains.

• Journey through Renaissance Belgium with Grimes, who takes us on a lively exploration of Pieter Bruegel the Elder's "The Fall of Rebel Angels"-an apocalyptic yet comic vision of monsters invading Earth as angels struggle to repel them.

• Join FKA twigs' expedition to brighter spaces as she takes on Artemisia Gentileschi's "Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy." She observes Mary Magdalene as she appears to enjoy a moment of peaceful oblivion.

• Explore love, peace and calm with Ellie Goulding through her musings on "escapism" in Julie Mehretu's piece to "strength" with Yves Klein and "chaos" with Cy Twombly.
  

• Fast forward in time with Matty Healy to the 20th century. Starting in Italy, we dive into Piet Mondrian's "Grande composizione A con nero, rosso, grigio, giallo e blu." Healy sees this abstract masterpiece as an "infinite portal" of interpretations, taking us beyond the real world into the corners of our mind.
  

• Transport to Medellin, Colombia with J.Balvin, who shares the untold story behind Fernando Botero's "July 20th." Beyond the joyful colors, he sheds light on the gloomy faces of the painting's characters, and the role of art as a safe space in dark times.
  

• Travel to Korea, with TWICE lead-singer Chaeyoung hiking to the top of Yoo Youngkuk's "Mountain," where she questions his interpretation of nature, one made of strong colors, shades, flowy lines and touchable textures.
  

Ready for more? Check out the first season featuring Jarvis Cocker and Feist to Maggie Rogers, Lolo Zouaï and Girl in Red. Explore Art Zoom online at g.co/ArtZoom, or download our free app on Android or iOS.