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Doodle 4 Google is an annual program that invites US students K-12 to use their artistic talents to think big and redesign the Google homepage logo for millions to see. This year, students are asked to exercise their creative imaginations around the theme, "My Best Day Ever..." One talented student artist will see their artwork appear on the Google homepage, receive a $30,000 college scholarship, and a $50,000 technology grant among other cool prizes. So get doodling kids!

The entries are judged by a panel of Guest Judges that help decide who the winning Doodle 4 Google is. Google staffers will also help narrow the field before the general American public begins voting. Five national finalists will be named on May 22, and the grand prize winner’s doodle will appear the following day on the Google homepage.

Among this year’s guest judges:
Katie Couric — Journalist and TV-personality
Deborah Feingold — Photographer
Brian Henson — Chairman of The Jim Henson Company, director, producer, writer and puppeteer
Kazu Kibuishi — Author and illustrator of the Amulet graphic novel series
Aly Raisman — Captain of the U.S. women's gymnastics team, Olympic bronze and gold medalist
Chris Sanders — Writer and director of Lilo & Stitch and How to Train your Dragon
Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson — Drummer, DJ and member of The Roots
Pendelton Ward — Creator of the animated series Adventure Time

Find out more and get an entry form at http://www.google.com/doodle4google

A look at sports icon David Beckham's international appeal on the web via a pretty nice video courtesy of Google+. The spot is similar to other videos from "The Web is What You Make of It" ad campaign, the film shows off a suite of Google+ products that all allow Beckham to connect with fans all over the world.
The song in the commercial is David Guetta, "Without You."

Credits:
Agency: Whirled
Client: Google Plus
Director/Writer: Scott T. Chan
Producer: Bobbie Wang
Exec. Producer: Andrew Schulte
Art Director: Chris Crutchfield
Clips courtesy of UNICEF, Fremantle Media, TelegraphTV, Pepsi, ACMilan (youtube.com/ACMilan), Sainsbury's. Music courtesy of EMI Music.

Google continues to roll out beautiful ads with the latest from ad agency Venables Bell & Partners. "Enhancing Navigation". Music is a cover of the song Highways by Joe Purdy.

For a driver, in-car technology brings several benefits, including safety, access to local map content and more efficient ways to reach a destination. To help drivers safely discover local destinations, Audi America has teamed up with Google to enhance their navigation system. Check out today's video and see how Audi is bringing Google Maps and Google Earth to its drivers.

Credits:
Advertising Agency: Venables Bell & Partners, San Fransisco, USA
Executive Creative Directors: Paul Venables, Will McGinness
Art Director: Brad Kayal
Copywriter: Brad Phifer
Director of Integrated Production: Craig Allen
Agency Producer: Mandie Bowe
Production Company: Logan
Director: Eric Anderson
Director of Photography: Jordan Levy
Executive Producer: Matthew Marquis
Producer: Rich Kaylor
Editing Company: Logan
Editor: Jay Rogers
Sound Design: 740 Sound Design & Mix
Sound Designers: Andrew Tracy, Nicholas Interlandi
Music: Black Iris

Venables Bell & Partners promotes Google and its host of services by re-imagining the classic labyrinth game as a handcrafted, real life version of Google Maps. Built by VB&P and 1st Ave Machine, the video shows two players navigating a little blue ball through an elaborate city scape — as it checks in to places, rates businesses and then finally finds its way to its destination.

Credits:
Agency: Venables Bell + Partners
Client: Google Maps
ECD: Paul Venables
ECD: Will McGinness
Creative Director: Paul Foulkes
Art Direction: Byron Del Rosario
Copywriter: Kelly Diaz
Dir. of Integrated Production: Craig Allen
Agency Producer: Zeynep Taslica
Prod. Co.: 1st Ave Machine
Director: Bob Partington
Director: Aaron Duffy
DOP: Will Rexer
Exec. Producer: Mikha Grumet
Exec. Producer: Sam Penfield
Producer: Rachel Watanabe-Batton
Editing: Hooligan Filmworks
Editor: Peter Mostert
Sound Design: Beacon Street
Sound Design: Paul Hurtubise
Music/Mix: Beacon Street
via: Creativity Online

Google introduces us to "Search, Plus Your World" with a new web promo. Transforming Google into a search engine that understands not only content, but also people and relationships. They began this transformation with Social Search, and now Google search is taking another big step in this direction by introducing three new features: Personal results, profiles in search, and people and pages.
I like the music, "We Are Young" by Vassy featuring Tim Myers.

From the official Google Blog: Official Google Blog: Search, plus Your World

Google launched a new ad campaign entitled "New Me" for Google Play and set the Rocky theme song, now how can this not be a great ad.

All the titles from the commercial listed below and available at Google Play:
Rocky Theme: http://goo.gl/FuSWY
Run Fat Boy Run: http://goo.gl/fJY0d
Workout Trainer: http://goo.gl/aTMsM
runtastic PRO: http://goo.gl/ftpoL
Calorie Counter: http://goo.gl/TSYmx
Martha Stewart Everyday Food: Light: http://goo.gl/FlCHF
Martha Stewart's Cookies: http://goo.gl/PX6X8

Can you guess who's using Google Play to start their New Year's resolution? Look out for more 'Now Playing' videos coming soon from Google Play.With Google Play, you can enjoy your favorite music, movies, books, apps and more on Android and the web. Try it now at http://play.google.com.

Credits:
Advertising Agency: Mullen, San Francisco, USA
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker
Group Creative Director: Paul Foulkes
Creatives: Paul Foulkes, Brian Tierney, Jamie Rome, Emile Doucette
Director of Integrated Production: Liza Near
Executive Producer: Zeke Bowman
Senior Producer: Liz Shook
Associate Producer: Vera Everson
Editorial: Lost Planet
Editor: Chris Huth
Lost Planet Executive Producer: Krystn Wagenberg
Lost Planet Producer: Kate McCormick
Post Vector Art and Color: Black Hole
Black Hole Producer: Tim Vierling
Mix: Tom Jucarone, Sound Lounge
End Animation: Autofuss

Google is going all out and creating some great ads for the Google Galaxy Nexus, all three TV commercials are the work Boston based ad agency Mullen who created Google+ Hangouts: Social MC's spot, Calling All and my favorite the Google+ Hangouts: Bohemians which features Queens Bohemian Rhapsody.

Credits:
Advertising Agency: Mullen, Boston, MA, USA
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker
Executive Creative Directors: Tim Vaccarino, Dave Weist
Chief Digital Officer: Mauro Cavalletti
Associate Creative Director / Art Director: Jeff Da Silva
Associate Creative Director / Copywriter: Jon Ruby
Content Creator: Emile Doucette
Executive Director of Integrated Production: Liza Near
Executive Producer: Zeke Bowman
Associate Producer: Vera Skuratovsky
Account Service: Tara Inskip, Hannah Hewitt
Production Company: Arts & Sciences
Director: Matt Aselton
Executive Producer: Marc Marrie
Producer: Dina Oberley
DP: Jo Willems
DP 2nd Unit: Corey Walter
Editorial: ps260
Editor: Maury Loeb
Assistant Editor: Ned Borgman
Assistant Editor: Colin Reilly
Executive Producer: Laura Lamb
Patterson Animation/Graphics: Brickyard VFX
Artist: Robin Hobart
VFX: Brickyard VFX
Lead VFX Artist: Geoff McAuliffe
Executive Producer: Kirsten Andersen
Audio Post: Soundtrack
Sound Design / Mixer: Mike Secher

The Muppets rock out in a new commercial for Google+ Hangouts, the spot features the music of Queen and the song "Under Pressure."

Laugh, share news, celebrate, learn something new or just hang out together in a Google+ Hangout is theme of the second ad for Hangouts.

Bill Walton, Kenny Smith, Spero Dedes, Steve Kerr and Jon Barry watch YouTube hoops clips in a Google+ Hangout.

A number of Google employees wrote, produced and starred in the Santa Google Search Tips Rap video.

Credits go out to the following for this great video:
Lyrics by Matt Kane, Google Content and User Education Specialist and hip hop enthusiast
Music by Ranidu, Google Business Systems Integrator and musician: http://raniduonline.com/album/
Video produced with the help of our friends at Seedwell: http://seedwell.com

Lyrics:
Yo, I run a few searches before the big flight,
To save me more time on this magical night.
I type [sunrise and city] of my last stop,
I got plenty of time before my last drop.

If I don't know the time in a certain city,
I peep it on search before my chimney shimmy.
Tyle [time and town] before I come into town,
To see if Johnny's in bed before I hit ground.

Go Santa, Santa work it!
Go Santa, Santa search it!

But before I go flying through the frosty air,
I do a weather search to decide what to wear.
Mrs. Clause, should I bring my extra warm down jacket?
[Mrs. Clause]: Hmmm, yes. You should definitely pack it.
And please pack these cookies that I baked for you.
Shhhhh! I researched the recipe with recipe view,
And used the low cal filter, I must admit:
I wanna make sure that jacket still fits!

Go Santa, Santa work it!
Go Santa, Santa search it!

Check one, check two: yes I check twice.
Santa's Google Doc called 'Naughty and nice.'
With control+F, I find a name in the doc n',
I hope I don't have to put coal in a stockin'

When I'm cruising in my sleigh with my hands on the reigns,
Voice input is handy, 'cause typing is a pain.
If on a wish list I spot a gift I never heard: schlittschuhe,
I use the translate app to speak the foreign word.

Go Santa, Santa work it!
Go Santa, Santa search it!
Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Ho, Ho, Ho, Ho.

Go Santa, Santa work it!
Go Santa, Santa search it!

Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Yeah!

Wallace, Gromit and a cast of cuddly characters are back, the charming duo are here in the Google+ Hangouts "Tis the Season for Get Togethers" web film.

'Tis the season for get-togethers. But, for families that are spread out over cities or even countries, it can be a challenge to get everyone together during the holidays. You can create a Google+ hangout for your family to open presents together, sing carols or just catch up face-to-face-to-face.

This year, Google has added a little holiday cheer to Hangouts invites with a personalized Wallace and Gromit video invitation to be sent to your family and friends.
Go here to send yours — http://familyhangouts.withgoogle.com/

Credits:
Agency: Adam & Eve DDB, London
Client: Google
Production Company: Aardman Animation Ltd.
Digital Production Company: rehabstudio

Google salute's the year's biggest stories with Google Zeitgeist 2011. This a pretty cool run down of exactly how the world searched the internet in 2011 that nicely looks back at the top news stories, people, sports and so much more and yes Rebecca Black.

See how the World Searched with Google's 2011 Zeitgeist (google zeitgeist)

Credits:
Music: "Sooner or Later" by Mat Kearney
Directed by Scott Chan
Produced by Whirled Creative

Finally! Google brings their Maps App to iPhone and introduces the fact with a very Apple-Like video.

So all you iPhone users who have been lost trying to find your way back from where ever Apple sent you can cheer because It's Here, go download the Google Maps App and be home in time for Christmas. http://maps.google.com/helloworld

Before everyone starts asking, the song and music is by The Hundreds and Thousands, song title is "Here We Go."

How big a deal is this? Well judging from the comical but very truthful comments being posted on the video's YouTube page...it's a huge deal.

Google this morning released its annual “Zeitgeist 2012: Year in Review” list and accompanying video that looks back at the most popular and fastest rising search terms of the year. To create the video, for the third year in a row, Google tapped LA-based creative agency, Whirled, and the company’s founder, Scott Chan as director.

The goal of the Zeitgeist videos is to connect with people through the story and emotion of the year’s highlights, which in 2012 includes news making events and culture across politics, sports, pop culture, music and more that range from Felix Baumbarter’s supersonic free fall, the Olympics, elections around the world, Hurricane Sandy to pop music sensations, all in a less than three minutes. The Zeitgeist videos for 2010 and 2011, also created by Whirled, have become two of the most watched videos from Google.
The 2011 Google Zeitgeist has had over 8 million views, see it HERE .

1.2 trillion searches in 146 languages, What did the world search for in 2012?
Visit Google's 2012 Zeitgeist here http://google.com/zeitgeist

Credits:
LA-based creative agency Whirled .
Directed by Scott Chan.

King Arthur Flour, a 220-year-old Vermont business, shares enthusiasm for the tradition of baking through the Web, and inspires bakers to discover new items, recipes and techniques.
The Power Of The Web...
Good's agency arm Good/Corps has officially partnered with Google for a series of television spots that promote small businesses. The campaign, which began with Good's presentation to Google about the two organizations' shared vision regarding social value, currently has two spots. The first one, Frank Restaurant, about a mom-and-pop establishment, debuted earlier in the fall. The second, King Arthur Flour, is about a centuries-old startup that gained a new lease of life with its partnership with Google.

The aim of the campaign is to connect Google, an economic powerhouse in its own right, with small businesses with a huge history, like King Arthur Flour, and how these businesses have reinvigorated themselves with the help of Google.

Credits:
Ad Agency: GOOD/CORPS
Client: Google

via: Creativity Online

Microsoft today launched a "Don’t Get Scroogled" ad campaign with a web video ad and a website asking people to share stories of bad Google search results. Sadly, this attack ad on Google will back fire, early results seem to be bad for Bing and Microsoft as most comments on their Facebook page and YouTube (ironically funny as the video is uploaded on said Scroogler owned YouTube) are favoring Google, looks like Microsoft Scroogled themselves again.

The website reads:

In the beginning, Google preached, “Don’t be evil“—but that changed on May 31, 2012. That’s when Google Shopping announced a new initiative. Simply put, all of their shopping results are now paid ads. In their under-the-radar announcement, Google admits they’ve now built “a purely commercial model” that delivers listings ranked by “bid price.” Google Shopping is nothing more than a list of targeted ads that unsuspecting customers assume are search results.

The attack ad is too much, with comments like “Google > Bing… Attack ads just show how desperate they are for users” and “Bing is hopeless.. negative marketing will get you nowhere.” You can check out the Scroogled ad above and decide for yourself.

Google showcases it's voice-activated search app in a new TV commercial where a mom brings a 19th century president to life with the help of the Google Knowledge Graph, Martin Van Buren the 8th President of the United States. Is it just me that is just taking note or is Google rolling out some pretty great ad campaigns lately?
Another Google spot that began airing yesterday entitled "Replacement Umpire", the ump finds himself a little out of his league and asks Google for help making the right call.

Credits:
Created by Google Creative Lab.

Update: Be sure not to miss the just releases "2012 Google Zeitgeist — Year In Review" video and get all goose bumpy with the rest of us. See it HERE.

Google wants a free and open web, by raising awareness about Open Internet issues globally, today releasing a video and hashtag campaign ahead of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) global meeting in Dubai.
The call to action:Starting December 3rd, the world's governments are meeting behind closed doors at the ITU to discuss the future of the Internet. Some governments want to use this meeting in Dubai to increase censorship and regulate the Internet.

Tell the world's governments you support a free and open web at http://www.google.com/takeaction. Then spread the word with #freeandopen.It is ours and it is free.A free and open worlddepends on a free and open web.And a free and open web depends on me.

Google launches Ingress, a worldwide mobile reality game. Ingress is a project of former Google director of geo John Hanke and Niantic Labs, a start-up within Google.
"This grew out of us thinking about notions of ubiquitous computing," Hanke said. "The device melts away."

This world around you is not what it seems. Our future is at stake, and you must choose a side.
A mysterious energy has been unearthed by a team of scientists in Europe. The origin and purpose of this force is unknown, but some researchers believe it is influencing the way we think. We must control it or it will control us.
"The Enlightened" seek to embrace the power that this energy may bestow upon us.
"The Resistance" struggle to defend, and protect what's left of our humanity.
Install Ingress and transform your world. www.ingress.com/

Google Chrome introduces "Jam with Chrome" with this web promo. The interactive web application allows you and your friends in different locations to play music together in Chrome on their computers. No matter what your level of experience — from music pros to aspiring air guitarists — you can JAM together in real time over the web.

Credits:
Agency: Google Creative Lab
Prod. Co.: Tool
Interactive Director: Ben Tricklebank
EP: Brian Latt
EP: Dustin Callif
EP: Oliver Fuselier
Music/Sound: Dinahmoe

GoMo: Helping businesses create a mobile friendly website
Tuesday, November 1, 2011 via Google Mobile Ads Blog
On a crisp fall day, a young person uses his smartphone to find a store that sells scarves. He searches, finds your site, and clicks-thru, prepared to browse your inventory of scarves, or find your store nearby and buy one. But, after he clicks to your site he runs into trouble — it doesn't load fully, and he spends more time zooming-in and squinting than he does looking at scarves! Frustrated, he gives up and looks for another scarf store. You lose a potential customer.
This happens hundreds, even thousands of times every day because most businesses’ websites don’t work well on smartphones. The most important thing you can do to grow your business using the mobile web is to create a mobile-friendly website. So today we’re launching an initiative called GoMo that helps businesses “Go Mobile”.

What’s a mobile-friendly site? It’s a website designed specifically for mobile users and mobile devices. It’s fast to load and easy to use—no pinching and zooming required. Some great examples are right here.

Every day more and more of your customers are looking for you…on mobile devices. If you don’t have a site that works for mobile, you’re missing out. 61% of users are unlikely to return to a site that’s not mobile-friendly. On the other hand, customers embrace sites that are built for mobile--consumer engagement increases by 85% with a website designed for mobile devices.

So, are you ready to Go Mo? Visit howtogomo.com where you’ll find the resources you need to learn about what makes a good mobile site and to start building one.