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With fall around the corner here in the U.S., our thoughts at Google Cloud are turning to … baking. Apple pies, applesauce, apple crisps-we've got it all covered.

Because, for us, when we think of apples, what comes to mind is virtualization, which is the way computer servers are divided up to be more efficient. No, really. Bear with us while we explain why. Most of the computers running the applications you use, like email and web browsing, are not just one computer. They're a set of computers, divided up into virtual computers, also called virtual machines. (There are millions upon millions of VMs in the world, so you have an idea of the scale.)

When this concept first arrived, it changed computing entirely. Instead of one computer in one physical box (remember those desktop towers we all used to have at work?), that one physical box could now hold multiple computers that members of the IT team managed through software (called a hypervisor). So the one computer that held all of the HR department's applications and files, for example, could now also hold the finance team's applications and files too, without having to buy another computer. Here's where the apples come in: If you think of a single, non-virtualized computer as a single apple, virtualization is that apple, but sliced up.

But what about virtualization in the cloud?
In the years since virtualization was invented, it's come a long way, especially as the cloud has come into the picture. Now, each of those virtual computers (known as virtual machines, or VMs) don't need to be managed by that special software on-premises, but can actually be moved to the cloud and managed there. So there are different ways a company might choose to move their VMs-usually containing most or all of the applications and data that actually run their companies-into the cloud. They might just move those apple slices as is from their grocery store package (on-prem) to a plate (the cloud).

But they might want to update those servers to work better in the cloud and be more efficient, so people get the information they need easily and quickly. In that case, they may modernize the servers-so those apple slices might now be mixed with some cinnamon and baked into a pie. You can still make out the actual slices, but they're different from raw slices and have different pros and cons. Or, the IT teams moving the virtual servers might go even further with changing and modernizing them, so now they're applesauce. You can't make out the individual servers, or slices, anymore. But they maintain the same data and information they had before, but that data can be used and accessed more easily and by more computers and users than before.

What we find at Google Cloud is that moving those sliced apples into the cloud as they are is a good place to start. They're familiar, and look like they did before, so it's a successful first step in the overall move to cloud. From an IT perspective, it's easier to keep managing those apple slices because you're already familiar with them.

But, eventually, your business might yearn for something beyond apple slices. And that's when you have to start cooking a little bit. A logical step might be to turn those virtual machines into containers instead, which is somewhat akin to baking an apple pie. There are clearly similarities you can see between the virtual machines and your new containers, but it's still different-and tastier. And, from IT's perspective, easier to manage, since there aren't as many separate tools to keep track of. Plus, containers let you pack even more applications in because you can use fewer computing resources for each container vs. those virtual servers you started with.

We see lots of different journeys to cloud and those are just two examples. For us, though, we like to help customers plan how they'll get all those servers to the cloud. So no matter what you want to do with your "apple slices," we'll figure out the best recipe for you based on your goals, requirements and constraints.

Learn more about cloud migration.

Growing up, I loved everything about Halloween: the candy, staying up past my bedtime and my small suburban town that came to life at night. But I always struggled with finding the right costume. I'd ask my friends and roam party stores for hours to no avail. One time, I even dressed up as "binary code"-I wore head-to-toe silver and wrote "Happy Halloween" in binary on my costume-in a moment of last-minute desperation.

Had I worked at Google then, I'm sure this idea would have been more popular with my peers, but it didn't quite land at the time. But thanks to the tech available today, it's much easier to come up with a great costume idea. Now, a simple search or voice command can lead me to thousands of ideas instantly, and show me step-by-step how to recreate them myself.

Come to think of it, technology has made so many things about Halloween easier. In celebration of that, we're sharing 13 tips and tricks from Google Nest for Halloween-whether you're trick-or-treating, hosting a party or staying in with a scary movie.

1. New! Enable spooky ringtones on Nest Hello.Starting today through early November, all Nest Hello users in the U.S. will have the ability to transform their doorbell chime into a cackling witch, a ghost, a vampire or a scary monster to make your front door a neighborhood destination on Halloween night. And the festive features don't stop there: Winter ringtones are coming in late November.
2. Get costume and makeup inspiration. With Nest Hub and Nest Hub Max, you can watch YouTube videos with a simple command. For costume inspiration and DIY tips, just say "Hey Google, show me DIY Halloween costume videos," or "show me Halloween makeup videos on YouTube," and scroll through the list.
3. "Hey Google, get spooky."Say this command to one of your Google Nest speakers or displays and your device will start an hour-long playlist of "spooktacular" sounds and music to greet your trick-or-treaters or party guests.
4. Enjoy your favorite scary movie.Use Chromecast to cast your favorite scary movie to your TV (media content subscriptions may be required). To take your experience up a notch, you can create a speaker group for cast-enabled speakers around your entertainment center for room-filling sound effects, too.
5. Get the family involved. If Grandma or Grandpa can't see your trick-or-treaters all dressed up, simply give them a quick video call using Nest Hub Max and Duo: "Hey Google, video call Grandma."
6. Conquer your to-do list.Busy families have lots to prep for in the lead-up to Hallow's Eve. As you remember things you have to do, just add them to a running list of reminders: "Hey Google, remind me to pick up cupcakes for school," and when you head out for the day, you'll have the reminder on your phone.
7. Add candy to your shopping list with ease.Just say, "Hey Google, create a list," which you can then name "Candy Shopping," and your Google Assistant will ask what you want to add.
8. Learn a festive new recipe.Say "Hey Google, show me recipes for pan de muerto" to your Nest Hub display and see a list of traditional Day of the Dead bread recipes to choose from and follow along, completely hands-free.
9. Protect your home from Mischief Night.Nest cameras like Nest Cam Outdoor and Nest Hello notify you when activity is detected around your house, and you can talk and listen through the Nest app to deter trespassers and TP'ers.
10. Find one-stop shopping near you.Just say, "Hey Google, show me Halloween stores nearby" to one of your smart displays to see options near you. Once you tap on one, you can say "Hey Google, call this store" to give them a ring (in the U.S., U.K., and Canada only).
11. Hear your favorite Halloween playlist in a heartbeat.Google Home Max is our smart speaker made for music lovers. Use it to blast your favorite playlist-whether your ideal Halloween tunes involve "The Monster Mash" or indie rock.
12. Set up a ghostly guest network for your party.Using Google Wifi, you can create a separate network for your party guests and give it a fun name and password, like "Hocus Pocus."
13. A party to remember, with help from our partners. Google Nest products work with over 30,000 partners in the U.S.-everything from smart lights to Wi-Fi plugs for smoke machines-so you can throw the ultimate Halloween party with a little help from tech.

In today's mobile-first world, people use a wide range of device types. As a result, app publishers who use banner ads must now serve them across a greater variety of screen sizes and layouts. While some responsive banner ad formats exist, they often produce ads that are too small and not sufficiently tailored to the height and aspect ratio of each device.

To address this, we've created a new banner type called adaptive anchor banners. These ads dynamically adjust banner sizes to deliver a creative that is ideally sized across your user's devices without the need for any custom code.

The adaptive anchor banner advantage

Adaptive anchor banners are designed to be a drop-in replacement for the industry standard 320x50 banner size and the smart banner format. Standard sized banners return the same sized creative across every screen, which often results in ads that appear too small or too large. Smart banners only support fixed heights, so they often return creative that appears too small on high-res devices.

Unlike other banner APIs on the market, adaptive anchor banners consider the device in use, the ad width you're comfortable using, and the aspect ratios and performance of all available demand. Adaptive anchor banners return creatives with the best height and aspect ratio for each device, with hard limits to prevent the wrong sizes from being served.

Your banners will look better than ever in your app, and writing custom code to handle different devices will be a task of the past. Using this format in place of standard and/or smart banners can help you maximize revenue while also making managing your ads less complex and more efficient.

Getting started with adaptive anchor banners

Adaptive anchor banners are a great option for AdMob publishers who want the simplest solution to getting the best banner ad returned across any device. This format is still in beta on Google Ad Manager, so publishers who want to try it out on that platform should reach out to their account managers or contact our support team.

Adaptive anchor banners are currently only available for anchored placements-banners locked to the top or bottom of the screen. However, AdMob is actively developing another adaptive algorithm for in-line banners placed in scroll views or within content.

To get started with adaptive anchor banners for AdMob, check out our implementation guides (iOS, Android). We walk you through when it's appropriate to use adaptive banners, implementation notes, and code examples.

We recommend testing adaptive banners against some of your existing banner ads to understand how they can help you maximize fill rates, engagement, and revenue.