(Cross-posted from the YouTube Blog)
Governments, heads of state, and leaders from around the world are on YouTube, including the Pope, the Royal Family, and Queen Rania and presidents from the United States to France, South Korea to Estonia. Today we're especially pleased to announce that the Iraqi Government has launched a dedicated YouTube channel, at youtube.com/iraqigov. Learn more from Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki:
Earlier this year, I visited Baghdad as a guest of the U.S. State Department to engage in conversations about the role of technology in Iraq. In discussions with elected officials, private companies and NGOs, I routinely heard the desire to connect with fellow citizens, Iraqis outside the country's borders, and cultures across the world. But it wasn't just the Iraqi Government who expressed an interest in YouTube — I was pleasantly surprised by the high level of awareness from a wide variety of Iraqis. One young student told us she uses YouTube to understand what is really happening in her country based on the variety of opinions, citizen journalism and news reports uploaded to the site. There was little difference between her examples and those we often hear in other countries, which speaks to both the global community on YouTube and the universality of the video experience.
Just this past week, our CEO Eric Schmidt traveled to Iraq to meet with government officials there about the challenge and opportunities they face. While in Iraq, Eric shot this video for Citizentube:
We hope that by launching on YouTube, the Iraqi Government and their citizens will also find it easy to use YouTube to engage in such conversations, and bring their proceedings, policies and ideas to a larger audience around the world.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Wednesday, 25 November 2009
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Introducing Google for the Public Sector
(Cross-posted with the Google Public Policy Blog)
On the heels of last week's Gov 2.0 Summit in Washington, D.C., we're excited to launch Google for the Public Sector, a one-stop shop of tools and tips that local, state and federal government officials can use to help promote transparency and increase citizen participation.
The site helps government agencies:
- Make your website, and the information it offers, easier to find. For example, in less than 50 technical staff hours, Arizona's Government Information Technology Agency made hundreds of thousands of public records and other webpages "crawlable" to search engines and visible in Google search results.
- Visualize your information and tell your story in Google Earth & Maps to the hundreds of millions of people who use them. The State Department runs an interactive Google Map of Secretary Clinton's travels, which shows where she has been and includes photos and videos.
- Use the power of online video to engage millions of potential viewers and give constituents a voice. In the U.S. alone, the Senate, House of Representatives, White House, and federal government, among others, all have YouTube channels.
Wednesday, 29 April 2009
Live stream on YouTube: the President's First 100 Days News Conference
(Cross-posted from the YouTube Blog)
The first three months of the Obama Administration have brought the new American President unprecedented challenges. Back in November, when he was elected, everyone knew the economy and the Middle East would be critical issues for Obama to attack early on. But like every president before him, he's had to deal with the unexpected as well: who could have predicted pirates off the Somali Coast or swine flu?
As citizens and pundits from all political perspectives analyze the President's first 100 days in office today, Obama himself will address the nation tonight on the 100-day anniversary of his inauguration -- and we're going to carry a live stream of the conference from the White House YouTube channel. Be sure to tune in at 8pm EDT to watch it live.
We're also featuring commentary and analysis from top news organizations on our homepage today. Hear Karl Rove grade the President on Fox News. Get a re-cap from Al-Jazeera on what Obama has accomplished in his opening act. Watch the Washington Post talk with Americans in DC about their early impressions of the new President.
You can join in the conversation by making a video: How is the Obama Administration doing, and what advice would you give the President moving forward? Upload your thoughts to YouTube and add them as a video response to this Citizentube video, and we'll feature some of them on our News page tomorrow.
Finally, don't forget to come to youtube.com/whitehouse at 8pm EDT to watch President Obama address the nation.
The first three months of the Obama Administration have brought the new American President unprecedented challenges. Back in November, when he was elected, everyone knew the economy and the Middle East would be critical issues for Obama to attack early on. But like every president before him, he's had to deal with the unexpected as well: who could have predicted pirates off the Somali Coast or swine flu?
As citizens and pundits from all political perspectives analyze the President's first 100 days in office today, Obama himself will address the nation tonight on the 100-day anniversary of his inauguration -- and we're going to carry a live stream of the conference from the White House YouTube channel. Be sure to tune in at 8pm EDT to watch it live.
We're also featuring commentary and analysis from top news organizations on our homepage today. Hear Karl Rove grade the President on Fox News. Get a re-cap from Al-Jazeera on what Obama has accomplished in his opening act. Watch the Washington Post talk with Americans in DC about their early impressions of the new President.
You can join in the conversation by making a video: How is the Obama Administration doing, and what advice would you give the President moving forward? Upload your thoughts to YouTube and add them as a video response to this Citizentube video, and we'll feature some of them on our News page tomorrow.
Finally, don't forget to come to youtube.com/whitehouse at 8pm EDT to watch President Obama address the nation.
Monday, 6 April 2009
India's 15th general election: tools for citizen empowerment
(Cross-posted from the Google India Blog)
At Google, we believe information is fundamentally empowering. While all of our technologies demonstrate a commitment to this guiding principle, information is especially important when a society comes together to participate in democratic elections. Beginning ten days from today, more than 700 million eligible voters in India will over the course of four weeks have the opportunity to participate in the largest democratic event in human history — India's 15th general election.
Today, along with a wide range of partners, we are happy to announce the launch of the Google India Elections Centre — available in English and in Hindi.
People from across India can use the centre to do the following:
This project would not have been possible without the shared vision of a broad coalition of partners: the Association for Democratic Reforms, HT Media Limited, Indicus Analytics, the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, the Liberty Institute, and PRS Legislative Services. These groups are the true champions of promoting a more transparent democracy, and we're privileged to be able to shine a light on their work on the occasion of India's 15th Lok Sabha polls.
We're hopeful not only that the elections centre will further a culture that seeks access to information, but that it will also yield positive changes in voting patterns during the upcoming polls.
Please visit the site, select your constituency, and get started! Spread the word about what you learn and, of course, don't forget to visit the polls.
At Google, we believe information is fundamentally empowering. While all of our technologies demonstrate a commitment to this guiding principle, information is especially important when a society comes together to participate in democratic elections. Beginning ten days from today, more than 700 million eligible voters in India will over the course of four weeks have the opportunity to participate in the largest democratic event in human history — India's 15th general election.
Today, along with a wide range of partners, we are happy to announce the launch of the Google India Elections Centre — available in English and in Hindi.
People from across India can use the centre to do the following:
- Confirm their voter registration status
- Discover their polling location
- View their constituency on a map
- Consume relevant election-related news, blogs, videos, and quotations
- Evaluate the status of development in their constituency across a range of indicators
- Learn about the background of their Member of Parliament and this year's candidates
This project would not have been possible without the shared vision of a broad coalition of partners: the Association for Democratic Reforms, HT Media Limited, Indicus Analytics, the Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy, the Liberty Institute, and PRS Legislative Services. These groups are the true champions of promoting a more transparent democracy, and we're privileged to be able to shine a light on their work on the occasion of India's 15th Lok Sabha polls.
We're hopeful not only that the elections centre will further a culture that seeks access to information, but that it will also yield positive changes in voting patterns during the upcoming polls.
Please visit the site, select your constituency, and get started! Spread the word about what you learn and, of course, don't forget to visit the polls.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
Back to the energy future
In 1979 President Jimmy Carter installed 32 solar hot water panels on the roof of the White House. Recently a Googler from our Washington D.C. office asked the question, "What ever happened to the Carter panels?" After a little digging, we were able to track down the original panels to Unity College, an environmental college in Maine, and bring one of them back to Washington D.C.
So what ever happened to the panels? It turns out that during President Reagan's administration the solar hot water panels were removed from the White House in 1986 and placed in storage. In 1992, Unity College located the panels and transferred them from a General Services Administration warehouse to their campus in Maine. After restoration,16 panels provided their cafeteria with hot water for the next 12 years. In cooperation with Unity College, Google was able to bring one of these panels down to our Washington DC office for display throughout the next year.
At the panels' dedication in 1979, Jimmy Carter stated:
"This dependence on foreign sources of oil is of great concern to all of us. In the year 2000, this solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here supplying cheap, efficient energy. A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people." (To watch video of the dedication, check out this trailer for a movie about the panels).
As we welcome our new U.S. president to office this week, we wanted to share this piece of this history with you. Google is committed to a clean energy future and we hope that you will join us in supporting the creation and adoption of renewable energy technology — what could still be one of the greatest and most exciting adventures for all of us.
Check out these photos of the panels at Unity College and at Google's Washington DC office.
So what ever happened to the panels? It turns out that during President Reagan's administration the solar hot water panels were removed from the White House in 1986 and placed in storage. In 1992, Unity College located the panels and transferred them from a General Services Administration warehouse to their campus in Maine. After restoration,16 panels provided their cafeteria with hot water for the next 12 years. In cooperation with Unity College, Google was able to bring one of these panels down to our Washington DC office for display throughout the next year.
At the panels' dedication in 1979, Jimmy Carter stated:
"This dependence on foreign sources of oil is of great concern to all of us. In the year 2000, this solar water heater behind me, which is being dedicated today, will still be here supplying cheap, efficient energy. A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people." (To watch video of the dedication, check out this trailer for a movie about the panels).
As we welcome our new U.S. president to office this week, we wanted to share this piece of this history with you. Google is committed to a clean energy future and we hope that you will join us in supporting the creation and adoption of renewable energy technology — what could still be one of the greatest and most exciting adventures for all of us.
Check out these photos of the panels at Unity College and at Google's Washington DC office.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Search findings from the U.S. presidential inauguration
Today, Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America. As we observed throughout the presidential campaign, many people in the U.S. turned to Google Search to find information. During the inauguration, top queries included live inauguration coverage, inauguration day 2009 streaming, listen to inauguration live, and many others.
However, interest in the inauguration was not only confined to the United States. Twelve percent of inauguration-related queries came from outside the United States as thousands worldwide used Google to find ways to watch the event. From Latin America, we received queries like toma de posesion de Barack Obama en vivo (inauguration of Barack Obama live -- Spanish) and posse de Obama (inauguration of Obama -- Portuguese). Similarly in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, people interested in the inauguration searched for amtseinführung (inauguration -- German), inauguratie (inauguration -- Dutch), investidura (inauguration -- Spanish), ברק אובמה (Barack introduction -- Hebrew), اوباما (Obama -- Arabic), and investiture (inauguration -- French). And even though it was very early in their day, users in Asia and Australia were still interested in watching the festivities, with queries like 奥巴马就职典礼直播 (Obama inauguration broadcast -- Chinese) and inauguration timetable.
While President Obama was certainly the central player in today's events, searchers were also interested in the other people who took part in the ceremony. In particular, people wanted more information on the religious leaders who spoke: Dr. Rick Warren, who gave the invocation, and Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who gave the benediction. Additionally, there was a lot of interest in some of the artists who performed: Aretha Franklin, Elizabeth Alexander, and Yo-Yo Ma. They also sought to know more about Senator Dianne Feinstein, who presided over the ceremony as chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., who swore in President Obama. (Click on the images to see a larger version.)
During the last nine years, the growth of the Internet has changed the way the world seeks information. From President Bush's first inaugural address in 2001 to his second in 2005, the number of inauguration-related searches increased by more than a factor of ten. From 2005 to today's address, the number grew even more. Few of the 2001 queries requested "video," and none requested streaming. By 2005, a few queries such as inauguration audio and streaming video of inauguration appeared. Today, technology has become so prevalant that queries such as YouTube live inauguration, live blogging inauguration, inaugural podcast, and Obama inaugural speech mp3 formed one-third of all inauguration-related queries.
Finally, this graph demonstrates one other interesting search pattern that we saw: the overall query volume of Google searches dropped in the U.S. from the time President Obama took the oath of office until the end of his inaugural speech, demonstrating that all eyes were on today's festivities.
However, interest in the inauguration was not only confined to the United States. Twelve percent of inauguration-related queries came from outside the United States as thousands worldwide used Google to find ways to watch the event. From Latin America, we received queries like toma de posesion de Barack Obama en vivo (inauguration of Barack Obama live -- Spanish) and posse de Obama (inauguration of Obama -- Portuguese). Similarly in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, people interested in the inauguration searched for amtseinführung (inauguration -- German), inauguratie (inauguration -- Dutch), investidura (inauguration -- Spanish), ברק אובמה (Barack introduction -- Hebrew), اوباما (Obama -- Arabic), and investiture (inauguration -- French). And even though it was very early in their day, users in Asia and Australia were still interested in watching the festivities, with queries like 奥巴马就职典礼直播 (Obama inauguration broadcast -- Chinese) and inauguration timetable.
While President Obama was certainly the central player in today's events, searchers were also interested in the other people who took part in the ceremony. In particular, people wanted more information on the religious leaders who spoke: Dr. Rick Warren, who gave the invocation, and Reverend Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, who gave the benediction. Additionally, there was a lot of interest in some of the artists who performed: Aretha Franklin, Elizabeth Alexander, and Yo-Yo Ma. They also sought to know more about Senator Dianne Feinstein, who presided over the ceremony as chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., who swore in President Obama. (Click on the images to see a larger version.)
During the last nine years, the growth of the Internet has changed the way the world seeks information. From President Bush's first inaugural address in 2001 to his second in 2005, the number of inauguration-related searches increased by more than a factor of ten. From 2005 to today's address, the number grew even more. Few of the 2001 queries requested "video," and none requested streaming. By 2005, a few queries such as inauguration audio and streaming video of inauguration appeared. Today, technology has become so prevalant that queries such as YouTube live inauguration, live blogging inauguration, inaugural podcast, and Obama inaugural speech mp3 formed one-third of all inauguration-related queries.
Finally, this graph demonstrates one other interesting search pattern that we saw: the overall query volume of Google searches dropped in the U.S. from the time President Obama took the oath of office until the end of his inaugural speech, demonstrating that all eyes were on today's festivities.
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Top searches on Election Day (part 3)
The long, long election campaign season culminated today as people made their choices on hundreds of statewide and local contests as well as the race for the next U.S. president. We've kept an eye on Google Hot Trends to decipher what may be meaningful, as well as searches that are "business as usual" on Google. This is the third and final update for today. - Ed.
As of 12 am EST:
Even when looking ahead to entertainment after a marathon post-election season, Americans can't stop pondering politics just yet. Two of the top 100 at this hour are for upcoming films [valkyrie] (the true story of an attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler), and [frost nixon], a dramatic re-telling of Richard Nixon's 1977 TV interview with David Frost. Both films were promoted during commercial breaks in wall-to-wall coverage tonight.
Finally, eager voters (presumably of all persuasions) seem to be looking forward to a new era of [obama jokes].
Top searches on Election Day (part 2)
The long, long election campaign season culminates today as people make their choices on hundreds of statewide and local contests as well as the race for the next U.S. president. Throughout the day, we're keeping an eye on Google Hot Trends to decipher what may be meaningful, as well as what's "business as usual" in Google searches. We'll post updates as interesting trends turn up. - Ed.
As of 6 pm EST:
The election is still top of mind (by a long shot) for most Google searchers at this hour: 87 out of 100 of the fastest-rising terms on Google Hot Trends are still election-related. Since polls are now winding down in the Eastern time zone, people are seeking more info on [voter turnout], [who is ahead in the polls], and other outcomes. And that includes news outlets: fully 25% of the top 100 are seeking the latest [election news]. Searches for news sources run the gamut from [hannity.com] or [slate]; and people are seeking broader coverage, too, on everything from [foxnews.com] to [cnn newsroom] and [msnbc politics]). Of course, a big player in election commentary this season, (Comedy Central's [indecision 2008]) now seems to be a staple. In the far west, California voters are seeking out [prop 8 results], the heavily-funded (on both sides) initiative regarding gay marriage.
And in the Midwest, Chicago-area searchers are keen to get [metra schedule] information, which should help them get to polls -- or maybe to Grant Park for this evening's massive event planned for Senator Obama.
Top searches on Election Day (part 1)
The long, long election campaign season culminates today as people make their choices on hundreds of statewide and local contests as well as the race for the next U.S. president. Throughout the day, we're keeping an eye on Google Hot Trends to decipher what may be meaningful, as well as what's "business as usual" in Google searches. We'll post updates as interesting trends turn up. - Ed.
As of 12 noon EST:
No fewer than 87 of the top 100 fastest-rising terms relate to the election right now. Of these, 10 relate to searches for state information, including [florida sample ballot], [ohio ballot issues 2008] and [where to vote in texas].
We practical Americans are keen to be rewarded for our participation, too: [free stuff for voting] refers to the giveaways some retailers are offering citizens who stop in. One ubiquitous coffee purveyor is called out in particular: [starbucks free coffee], [starbucks election] and [starbucks vote] are clear indicators of the caffeine boost people anticipate needing today.
Keen-eyed citizens are also on the lookout for information on [voting lines] and [voting problems] as well as a better understanding of [how does the electoral college work]. And lest you think it's all about the major parties, at this hour Independent Party candidate [ralph nader] is #59, and Libertarian [bob barr] is #98.
And the excitement of the day boils over: #92 on the current Hot Trends is [when will we know who is president]. Google can't say for sure; we'll keep watching along with you.
In addition to today's searches, we also took a look at the top campaign-related queries during the general election season: Sept. 1-Nov. 4. Here they are:
Top Political Personas
Obama
Palin
McCain
Tina Fey
Joe Biden
Chuck Norris
Cindy McCain
Bristol Palin
SNL Palin
Colin Powell
Top Political Topics
debate
Social Security
presidential debate
polls
voter registration
gas prices
oil prices
FDIC
electoral college
Socialism
Top Political News Sources
Drudge
Huffington Post
Gallup
Real Clear Politics
Rasmussen
Rush Limbaugh
Politico
538
CNN Politics
Daily Kos
Tuesday, 4 November 2008
Wrapup: Google election info
Tomorrow, Americans across the country will vote (or finish voting), and we want you to find as much information as you'd like concerning this historic 2008 election. Here are three steps for getting the full scoop:
1) Get informed
To use Google tools that will help inform you before you cast your vote, visit our 2008 Election site. Watch campaign videos on YouTube, catch a glimpse of the best political map mashups -- including historical voting results -- on Google Maps, see what the candidates had to say via these In Quotes and Audio Indexing tools, and add the Presidential Candidates gadget to your iGoogle page.
2) Vote
Find out where to vote on our U.S. Voter Info site (on your mobile phone, head to m.google.com/elections). We hope your boss has given you at least an hour off to vote, and if you're so inclined, bring a video camera with you to the polls to capture your voting experience on YouTube's Video Your Vote channel. We're using Google Maps to track these videos across the country -- and to see where polling problems might be occurring during the day. In addition, we're featuring all political videos on the homepage - including videos made especially for Election Day by both the McCain and Obama campaigns.
3) Watch results
On the front page of Google News, you'll find a Google Map showing real-time popular and electoral vote counts. And we'll be providing results from the presidential, Senate, House, and gubernatorial races as they are reported by the Associated Press.
On the Elections section page, you can see more detailed results. At the top of the righthand column there are summaries of the presidential race and the races for majority control in the Senate and House (beneath the summaries you can select a state in the pull-down menu). For each state we display the breakdown in votes for the presidency, governor (where there is a race), and for each Senate and House seat that's up.
You can also access news and results as they occur on the Google Maps Elections Gallery (you can even embed the results onto your own site), or via the Elections section of Google News. Finally, you can follow the presidential election and see a summary of the popular and electoral votes by visiting news.google.com on your iPhone or Android mobile phone.
Update: Added new features available on Google News.
Update: Letters to the Next President project
When I introduced the Letters to the Next President writing project last month, 962 middle and high school students had published their letters. Since then, thousands of new letters have been written and published (there are now more than 5,200 total).
High school juniors and seniors from rural Alaska have voiced their concerns about gas prices and paying for college. Ninth and tenth graders from Brooklyn, NY have written persuasive pieces on war and global warming.
Although most of these students are too young to vote in tomorrow's presidential election, they've proven that they can participate in the democratic process by expressing their concerns and hopes for our country. You can read their letters at Letters2President.org and hear some of their thoughts in this video.
High school juniors and seniors from rural Alaska have voiced their concerns about gas prices and paying for college. Ninth and tenth graders from Brooklyn, NY have written persuasive pieces on war and global warming.
Although most of these students are too young to vote in tomorrow's presidential election, they've proven that they can participate in the democratic process by expressing their concerns and hopes for our country. You can read their letters at Letters2President.org and hear some of their thoughts in this video.
Thursday, 30 October 2008
Voting tools for volunteers on the go
(Cross-posted from the Google Mobile Blog)
With the U.S. elections less than a week away, voting drives are ramping up. Political parties and non-partisan groups alike are sending out volunteers to encourage citizens to vote on November 4. To make sure these volunteers have the same voter info tools available to them on their phone as on their computer, we've now launched a mobile voting locator tool on m.google.com/elections. (Click here to send this to your phone.)
Now, volunteers can type in the home address of any registered voter and find his or her voting location, whether they're in an office making phone calls, working from a booth set up outdoors, or going door to door. While on the go, they can use Google Maps for mobile to find their next address or display directions to voting locations.
Of course, between talking to potential voters, volunteers can check out the Elections section in Google News for mobile for the latest updates (go here on your phone), or just search for a nearby coffee shop to stay warm.
With the U.S. elections less than a week away, voting drives are ramping up. Political parties and non-partisan groups alike are sending out volunteers to encourage citizens to vote on November 4. To make sure these volunteers have the same voter info tools available to them on their phone as on their computer, we've now launched a mobile voting locator tool on m.google.com/elections. (Click here to send this to your phone.)
Now, volunteers can type in the home address of any registered voter and find his or her voting location, whether they're in an office making phone calls, working from a booth set up outdoors, or going door to door. While on the go, they can use Google Maps for mobile to find their next address or display directions to voting locations.
Of course, between talking to potential voters, volunteers can check out the Elections section in Google News for mobile for the latest updates (go here on your phone), or just search for a nearby coffee shop to stay warm.
Video your vote on Election Day
If you've been paying even passing attention to the 2008 election, you know that without a doubt this is the most documented election in history. On YouTube, average citizens have posted millions of videos chronicling their experiences and opinions about the 2008 election. Never before has the campaign trail been sliced, diced, clipped, mashed-up, and exposed in so many ways — and never before have voters been the ones in control of the content.
The YouTube team is shining a spotlight on election documentation with the Video Your Vote program. In partnership with PBS, we're asking you to submit videos of your voting experiences to the Video Your Vote channel. The idea is simple: we want this to be the most transparent election day in history, so that the world can see — through the eyes of voters — just how the election transpired.
This is important because not only will there be more people voting in this election than ever before, but there undoubtedly will be bumps along the way: long lines, broken machines, confusion over the registration process, and even voter intimidation and fraud are all unfortunate election realities. Video can help document where problems occur in a more compelling and concrete way than other media. By documenting your voting experience, you can help make this a more transparent election.
On the Video Your Vote channel, PBS's program The News Hour with Jim Lehrer is providing educational information about voting in America, with a particular nod to election reform issues. You can also learn what the laws of your state say (or don't say) about bringing a video camera to the polls (in most states, it's okay to document your own experience respectfully). Learn more in this call-out video that correspondent Judy Woodruff made (it's on the YouTube homepage):
With hundreds of thousands of voters casting their ballots before Election Day, we're already seeing videos coming in. From excitement from first-time voters to videos of long lines at the polling places or touch-screen problems in the field, voters are already documenting their experiences. Join them to video your vote!
The YouTube team is shining a spotlight on election documentation with the Video Your Vote program. In partnership with PBS, we're asking you to submit videos of your voting experiences to the Video Your Vote channel. The idea is simple: we want this to be the most transparent election day in history, so that the world can see — through the eyes of voters — just how the election transpired.
This is important because not only will there be more people voting in this election than ever before, but there undoubtedly will be bumps along the way: long lines, broken machines, confusion over the registration process, and even voter intimidation and fraud are all unfortunate election realities. Video can help document where problems occur in a more compelling and concrete way than other media. By documenting your voting experience, you can help make this a more transparent election.
On the Video Your Vote channel, PBS's program The News Hour with Jim Lehrer is providing educational information about voting in America, with a particular nod to election reform issues. You can also learn what the laws of your state say (or don't say) about bringing a video camera to the polls (in most states, it's okay to document your own experience respectfully). Learn more in this call-out video that correspondent Judy Woodruff made (it's on the YouTube homepage):
With hundreds of thousands of voters casting their ballots before Election Day, we're already seeing videos coming in. From excitement from first-time voters to videos of long lines at the polling places or touch-screen problems in the field, voters are already documenting their experiences. Join them to video your vote!
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Take a Vote Hour
In less than two weeks, every vote will count as Americans decide who will become the next U.S. president. During the last national election in 2004, 20 percent of registered voters who didn't make it to the polls said that they were "too busy" or had conflicting work schedules (2004 U.S. Census).
The Vote Hour is an independent, bipartisan effort among CEOs across America to publicly announce their support for employees to step away from their desks and take an hour to cast a ballot. Just a few of those leaders appear in the video below, encouraging their employees to take a Vote Hour on November 4th.
We hope more business leaders across the country will join the movement, add their names and their encouragement to the effort. Employees can send emails to their bosses to encourage them to participate as well.
So spread the word to your friends, families and colleagues to take a Vote Hour. And most importantly, don't forget to vote yourself. It's the most important job you have on Election Day.
The Vote Hour is an independent, bipartisan effort among CEOs across America to publicly announce their support for employees to step away from their desks and take an hour to cast a ballot. Just a few of those leaders appear in the video below, encouraging their employees to take a Vote Hour on November 4th.
We hope more business leaders across the country will join the movement, add their names and their encouragement to the effort. Employees can send emails to their bosses to encourage them to participate as well.
So spread the word to your friends, families and colleagues to take a Vote Hour. And most importantly, don't forget to vote yourself. It's the most important job you have on Election Day.
Saturday, 25 October 2008
Five years of quotes in Google News
We first launched quote extraction in Google News in April, offering you a way to browse quotations extracted from the past 30 days of news. While a great tool to see what people are saying on important topics and how they compare, it was missing something.
Today we are pleased to announce the launch of a 5-year quotes index. This expanded coverage lets you explore what Governor Palin said before she was a VP nominee, or Senator Obama before he was a presidential candidate. The InQuotes lab page is also much improved and now provides comparisons over time on issues like the economy or the war in Iraq.
Not interested in politics? Try the 'Custom' edition to select the people and topics of your choice. Baseball fans, for example, might enjoy Joe Maddon vs Charlie Manuel.
Today we are pleased to announce the launch of a 5-year quotes index. This expanded coverage lets you explore what Governor Palin said before she was a VP nominee, or Senator Obama before he was a presidential candidate. The InQuotes lab page is also much improved and now provides comparisons over time on issues like the economy or the war in Iraq.
Not interested in politics? Try the 'Custom' edition to select the people and topics of your choice. Baseball fans, for example, might enjoy Joe Maddon vs Charlie Manuel.
Thursday, 23 October 2008
What do students want to tell the next president?
Two weeks ago, I spent a day with Dr. Ellen Shelton and her 11th grade Advanced Placement English students at Tupelo High School in Tupelo, Mississippi. Ellen's students are participating in Letters to the Next President: Writing Our Future, an online writing and publishing project sponsored by Google and the National Writing Project.
During the U.S. presidential campaign season, thousands of middle and high school students (ages 13-18) are writing persuasive letters and essays to the presidential candidates about the issues and concerns that they'd like the next president to address. Teachers are using Google Docs to incorporate online editing, peer review, and revisions, and students are publishing their letters online for their peers, parents, and the public to read.
At Tupelo High, Ellen's students told me that they were writing about issues such as health care, education, the economy, and the price of gas. I was impressed not only by the variety of issues they were covering, but also by how they were able to describe how these issues affect their lives as well as their family and friends. Although most of Ellen's students will be too young to vote on Nov. 4, it is heartening to know that they were making a difference by voicing their thoughts through their writing.
So far, 962 students from 46 schools have published letters on our project website, and during the next few weeks, there will be thousands more. You can also find out what issues matter to Ellen's students and students from other parts of the U.S.
Photo credit: Will White, Tupelo Hi-Times
During the U.S. presidential campaign season, thousands of middle and high school students (ages 13-18) are writing persuasive letters and essays to the presidential candidates about the issues and concerns that they'd like the next president to address. Teachers are using Google Docs to incorporate online editing, peer review, and revisions, and students are publishing their letters online for their peers, parents, and the public to read.
At Tupelo High, Ellen's students told me that they were writing about issues such as health care, education, the economy, and the price of gas. I was impressed not only by the variety of issues they were covering, but also by how they were able to describe how these issues affect their lives as well as their family and friends. Although most of Ellen's students will be too young to vote on Nov. 4, it is heartening to know that they were making a difference by voicing their thoughts through their writing.
So far, 962 students from 46 schools have published letters on our project website, and during the next few weeks, there will be thousands more. You can also find out what issues matter to Ellen's students and students from other parts of the U.S.
Photo credit: Will White, Tupelo Hi-Times
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Greater access to voting information
At Google, we pride ourselves on helping people find things on the Internet. And every four years in America, Google Trends shows that people are searching to find voting information, like how to register and where to vote.
It's hard to believe that in 2008, information so important to U.S. citizens and the democratic process isn't well organized on the web. To solve this problem, we've released our US Voter Info site, an effort to simplify and centralize voting locations and registration information.
We developed the site in the hope that it will increase voter participation. We were helped by a number of partners, including many state and local election officials, the League of Women Voters, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and others involved in the Voting Information Project.
Are you registered to vote? What's the best way to obtain an absentee ballot? When people visit the site, answers to these questions appear. And anyone with a website can provide the same information. The US Voter Info gadget places a simple search box that expands to show a full set of voter information when someone enters an address.
We are also offering a simpler way to find out where to vote. By entering a home address, citizens across the country will be able to find their polling place for election day.
To encourage political participation, we've opened up this data to third-party sites and developers through an API developed by Dan Berlin, one of our open-source engineers. We're excited to share this data, and hope that others will find it useful in encouraging citizens to vote.
Organizing information is our mission. We do that every day with web content, and we want to do the same thing with information to inform and empower voters and to help them get to the polls this election season.
It's hard to believe that in 2008, information so important to U.S. citizens and the democratic process isn't well organized on the web. To solve this problem, we've released our US Voter Info site, an effort to simplify and centralize voting locations and registration information.
We developed the site in the hope that it will increase voter participation. We were helped by a number of partners, including many state and local election officials, the League of Women Voters, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and others involved in the Voting Information Project.
Are you registered to vote? What's the best way to obtain an absentee ballot? When people visit the site, answers to these questions appear. And anyone with a website can provide the same information. The US Voter Info gadget places a simple search box that expands to show a full set of voter information when someone enters an address.
We are also offering a simpler way to find out where to vote. By entering a home address, citizens across the country will be able to find their polling place for election day.
To encourage political participation, we've opened up this data to third-party sites and developers through an API developed by Dan Berlin, one of our open-source engineers. We're excited to share this data, and hope that others will find it useful in encouraging citizens to vote.
Organizing information is our mission. We do that every day with web content, and we want to do the same thing with information to inform and empower voters and to help them get to the polls this election season.
Friday, 17 October 2008
Search findings from the third presidential debate
Last night, Republican candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama met at New York's Hofstra University for the last 2008 U.S. presidential debate. CBS News anchor Bob Schieffer moderated the format of two-minute candidate answers followed by five minutes of discussion. This format gave Senators Obama and McCain more time to debate each individual issue — and gave viewers more time to search Google for information than they did for either for their previous debate or the vice presidential debate.
Searches also clustered around [abortion], a question Schieffer posed earlier. In fact, of all the search queries emerging during the debate, Roe v. Wade was the most popular. Senator McCain's state-based approach to the issue sent many searching for more information on federalism, and subsequent discussions of partial-birth and late-term abortion prompted queries too. The conversations around nominations to the Supreme Court inspired many to search for litmus test and Justice Breyer.
While the volatile global economy and high energy prices may dominate news headlines, viewers sought more information about the topic of the evening's last question: education. People dug deeper into the issue of charter schools and school vouchers; some searched explicitly for school vouchers vs. charter schools. Senator McCain raised the example of Washington, D.C., schools, prompting many to explore the issue further, searching for Michelle Rhee, who is D.C.'s Chancellor of Public Schools. Other education-related searches included No Child Left Behind, Troops to Teachers, Head Start, and Teach for America.
A figure named "Joe" has been popular throughout the campaign: first there was Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden, and then we heard about Joe Sixpack from Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin. Now there's "Joe the plumber," who figured prominently throughout last night's debate. Viewers responded in kind, searching heavily for Joe the plumber. Some even found his real name: Joe Wurzelbacher. Other names that were dropped, discussed and then searched for large numbers: Bill Ayers and Congressman John Lewis.
And finally, here's a summary of sorts: these queries show the biggest overall spikes in search activity throughout the entire 90-minute debate.
Searches also clustered around [abortion], a question Schieffer posed earlier. In fact, of all the search queries emerging during the debate, Roe v. Wade was the most popular. Senator McCain's state-based approach to the issue sent many searching for more information on federalism, and subsequent discussions of partial-birth and late-term abortion prompted queries too. The conversations around nominations to the Supreme Court inspired many to search for litmus test and Justice Breyer.
While the volatile global economy and high energy prices may dominate news headlines, viewers sought more information about the topic of the evening's last question: education. People dug deeper into the issue of charter schools and school vouchers; some searched explicitly for school vouchers vs. charter schools. Senator McCain raised the example of Washington, D.C., schools, prompting many to explore the issue further, searching for Michelle Rhee, who is D.C.'s Chancellor of Public Schools. Other education-related searches included No Child Left Behind, Troops to Teachers, Head Start, and Teach for America.
A figure named "Joe" has been popular throughout the campaign: first there was Democratic VP candidate Joe Biden, and then we heard about Joe Sixpack from Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin. Now there's "Joe the plumber," who figured prominently throughout last night's debate. Viewers responded in kind, searching heavily for Joe the plumber. Some even found his real name: Joe Wurzelbacher. Other names that were dropped, discussed and then searched for large numbers: Bill Ayers and Congressman John Lewis.And finally, here's a summary of sorts: these queries show the biggest overall spikes in search activity throughout the entire 90-minute debate.
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
The Presidential debate: Expanding the town hall
As we promised, here's an update on the search patterns we observed during last night's presidential debate. While a few lucky citizens were able to ask the candidates questions directly, millions of others used Google to find their answers.
Similar to last Thursday, people sought to understand the meaning of several words mentioned in the debate: morass, commodity, junket, cynicism, and cronyism to name a few. In the chart below you can see four of the most popular queries during the debate. People were quite interested in both Meg Whitman and Warren Buffett, who were mentioned as potential candidates for the Secretary of Treasury, but the biggest rising query was Senator McCain's paraphrasing of Theodore Roosevelt's motto. Both candidates spoke against genocide while discussing the role of the United States as a peacekeeper, and as we saw in the vice presidential debate, nuclear energy and weapons were prominent topics.
Queries occurred as the candidates talked, but
the query volume dropped after 90-minute debate ended.
Queries for the presidential candidates form a higher fraction of all queries in swing states.
We also were curious how queries for Senator Biden and Governor Palin during their debate compared to queries for Senators McCain and Obama last night. As you see here, searches on the candidates during the VP debate came out on top:
Queries containing "Biden" and "Palin" had higher peaks during last week's debate
than did "McCain" and "Obama" queries last night.
Using Google Hot Trends you can see some of the more interesting things people were researching during this debate. Visit Google Election Trends to learn about longer-term election-related Google search queries, and read our previous post for the earlier VP debate queries.
Similar to last Thursday, people sought to understand the meaning of several words mentioned in the debate: morass, commodity, junket, cynicism, and cronyism to name a few. In the chart below you can see four of the most popular queries during the debate. People were quite interested in both Meg Whitman and Warren Buffett, who were mentioned as potential candidates for the Secretary of Treasury, but the biggest rising query was Senator McCain's paraphrasing of Theodore Roosevelt's motto. Both candidates spoke against genocide while discussing the role of the United States as a peacekeeper, and as we saw in the vice presidential debate, nuclear energy and weapons were prominent topics.
Queries occurred as the candidates talked, but the query volume dropped after 90-minute debate ended.
Here's an additional view on queries for each of the candidates, charting queries from swing states (which had no more than a 5% gap between votes for George Bush and John Kerry in the 2004 election) and non-swing states. Swing states generated proportionally more queries for the candidates than non-swing states. Both candidates peaked at the end of the debate, with McCain showing a larger spike while Obama has a larger overall volume.
Queries for the presidential candidates form a higher fraction of all queries in swing states.We also were curious how queries for Senator Biden and Governor Palin during their debate compared to queries for Senators McCain and Obama last night. As you see here, searches on the candidates during the VP debate came out on top:
Queries containing "Biden" and "Palin" had higher peaks during last week's debatethan did "McCain" and "Obama" queries last night.
Using Google Hot Trends you can see some of the more interesting things people were researching during this debate. Visit Google Election Trends to learn about longer-term election-related Google search queries, and read our previous post for the earlier VP debate queries.
Monday, 6 October 2008
The VP debate: Candidates, questions, and queries
If information is the currency of democracy, as Thomas Jefferson allegedly said, then during last Thursday's vice-presidential debate between Senator Biden and Governor Palin a lot of people used Google Search to get a bit wealthier, metaphorically speaking. Using Google Hot Trends, we can see some of the more interesting things that people were researching, and you can do the same to follow along yourself during tomorrow night's second presidential debate (9 PM ET). But first, here's what people were curious about during the VP match.
Many people were simply interested in understanding the meaning of particular terms. Governor Palin called Senator McCain a "maverick" several times, sending many viewers to Google to query definition of maverick, what is a maverick, and define:maverick.
As the debaters spoke, voters queried for more information.
When Biden mentioned that the "theocracy controls the security apparatus" in Iran, users searched for the meaning of theocracy — as they did when he spoke of the windfall profits tax.
Getting these definitions got a bit tougher when the candidates couldn't even agree on pronunciation. Discussion about a certain type of energy caused a flurry of queries: nucular vs nuclear, nuclear pronunciation, palin nucular, and even nukular. And when Senator Biden talked about the "7,000 madrasses built along [the Pakistani-Afghan] border", the queries ranged from madrass, madrases, madrasa, and even madras, a major city in India that's most definitely not on the Pakistani-Afghan border.
Governor Palin's claim that "Israel is in jeopardy of course when we're dealing with Ahmadinejad as a leader of Iran" led viewers to try to learn more about this leader even if they could not spell his name. They searched for [Achmadinijad], [Akmadinijad], [Akmadinajad], and the correct Ahmadinejad. Some did not even try, instead looking for [president Iran] and [Iran leader]. The Governor also referred to General McKiernan, the U.S. military leader in Afghanistan, as "McClellan", sending viewers in search of McClellan, general in Afghanistan, General McClellan Afghanistan, and general Afghanistan surge. Some searchers eventually did find the correct general, but not that many.
Historical references abounded. When Senator Biden claimed "This is the most important election you will ever, ever have voted in, any of you, since 1932", some people wanted to know what it was about the 1932 presidential campaign between Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt that was so special. And twice as many them wanted to know about that "shining city on a hill", a phrase from Ronald Reagan's farewell address that was originally coined in 1630 by John Winthrop.
When Senator Biden offered a civics lesson ("Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that's the Executive Branch") many people checked, and learned that Article I of the Constitution describes the legislative branch of the U.S. government. The executive branch is described in Article II. Others just searched directly for the role of vice president and vice president duties.
People searched on clean coal and took a look at Senator Biden's position (as the candidate asked them to) with queries like Biden clean coal.
These are some of the more interesting queries, but which were the most popular ones? Among the candidates, Senator Biden was a big winner. Searches on him soared more than 70-fold, compared to a week earlier. Governor Palin, much more of a search favorite in the weeks leading up to the debate, only saw a 6x jump, but her volume outpaced Senator Biden's.
Searches for the VP candidates peaked near the debate's end.
Beyond names, two search terms which triggered the most searches were [nuclear] (a 130x spike compared to a week earlier) and [maverick] (70x). [Register to vote] was also quite popular; we even have a special site for that.
The Commission on Presidential Debates, which hosts the debates, has stated its objective as providing "the best possible information to viewers and listeners". From Google's perspective — the little search box on viewers' and listeners' computers and mobile phones — the vice presidential debate did a pretty darn good job.
We'll give you an update on tomorrow night's debate later this week. In the meantime, keep an eye on the most recent queries yourself on Google Hot Trends; they change frequently and will start to reflect the debate's talking points soon after it finishes.
Many people were simply interested in understanding the meaning of particular terms. Governor Palin called Senator McCain a "maverick" several times, sending many viewers to Google to query definition of maverick, what is a maverick, and define:maverick.
As the debaters spoke, voters queried for more information.When Biden mentioned that the "theocracy controls the security apparatus" in Iran, users searched for the meaning of theocracy — as they did when he spoke of the windfall profits tax.
Getting these definitions got a bit tougher when the candidates couldn't even agree on pronunciation. Discussion about a certain type of energy caused a flurry of queries: nucular vs nuclear, nuclear pronunciation, palin nucular, and even nukular. And when Senator Biden talked about the "7,000 madrasses built along [the Pakistani-Afghan] border", the queries ranged from madrass, madrases, madrasa, and even madras, a major city in India that's most definitely not on the Pakistani-Afghan border.
Governor Palin's claim that "Israel is in jeopardy of course when we're dealing with Ahmadinejad as a leader of Iran" led viewers to try to learn more about this leader even if they could not spell his name. They searched for [Achmadinijad], [Akmadinijad], [Akmadinajad], and the correct Ahmadinejad. Some did not even try, instead looking for [president Iran] and [Iran leader]. The Governor also referred to General McKiernan, the U.S. military leader in Afghanistan, as "McClellan", sending viewers in search of McClellan, general in Afghanistan, General McClellan Afghanistan, and general Afghanistan surge. Some searchers eventually did find the correct general, but not that many.
Historical references abounded. When Senator Biden claimed "This is the most important election you will ever, ever have voted in, any of you, since 1932", some people wanted to know what it was about the 1932 presidential campaign between Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt that was so special. And twice as many them wanted to know about that "shining city on a hill", a phrase from Ronald Reagan's farewell address that was originally coined in 1630 by John Winthrop.
When Senator Biden offered a civics lesson ("Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that's the Executive Branch") many people checked, and learned that Article I of the Constitution describes the legislative branch of the U.S. government. The executive branch is described in Article II. Others just searched directly for the role of vice president and vice president duties.
People searched on clean coal and took a look at Senator Biden's position (as the candidate asked them to) with queries like Biden clean coal.
These are some of the more interesting queries, but which were the most popular ones? Among the candidates, Senator Biden was a big winner. Searches on him soared more than 70-fold, compared to a week earlier. Governor Palin, much more of a search favorite in the weeks leading up to the debate, only saw a 6x jump, but her volume outpaced Senator Biden's.
Searches for the VP candidates peaked near the debate's end.The Commission on Presidential Debates, which hosts the debates, has stated its objective as providing "the best possible information to viewers and listeners". From Google's perspective — the little search box on viewers' and listeners' computers and mobile phones — the vice presidential debate did a pretty darn good job.
We'll give you an update on tomorrow night's debate later this week. In the meantime, keep an eye on the most recent queries yourself on Google Hot Trends; they change frequently and will start to reflect the debate's talking points soon after it finishes.
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