Tag: Google

Manila, Philippines – The country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has teamed up with tech giant Google to require advertisers offering cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets targeting the Philippine audience to present proof of their registration and/or license to operate in the country. 

Starting on July 7 this year, the new regulation measures by SEC and Google is part of the commission’s regulatory compliance from entities doing business online in order to protect the investing public and other financial consumers. 

Furthermore, its also adds to Google’s existing policy that requires all advertisers to comply with local laws for any area that their advertisements target. Google will take appropriate action to address any violations.

Emilio B. Aquino, chairperson at SEC, said, “This continuing partnership with Google will help the Commission fulfill its mandate as registrar and overseer of the Philippine corporate sector, as well as protector of the investing public, in the digital age.”

The SEC has consistently reminded the public to be vigilant and exercise due diligence before transacting or dealing with any entity, and those based abroad without any registration or license to do business in the Philippines. 

It has also sought to educate the public on legitimate investment options through investor protection and financial literacy campaigns online. Over the course of the pandemic, the commission has observed that several entities have taken advantage of the online space to spread investment scams supposedly engaged in cryptocurrency trading when in reality, these do not exist.

“We believe the new policy can reduce the number of Filipinos falling prey to unregistered investment schemes online, who are usually victims of aggressive online advertising and intrusive tactics that make them believe in products that are often too good to be true,” Aquino stated.

As the national government regulatory agency tasked with supervising the corporate sector, entities doing business in the Philippines must first register with the SEC, in general. Meanwhile, operators of cryptocurrency exchanges must register with the BSP as remittance and transfer companies, pursuant to BSP Circular No. 944 issued February 6, 2017. 

Discussions with Google PH started in 2019 to counter the increase of unregistered personal loan apps in the country. This year, Google has revised its policy for personal loan apps targeting users in the Philippines, requiring them to submit a Personal Loan App Declaration and other necessary documents before they could publish apps on Google Play. Failure to provide such documents will lead to the personal loan app’s removal from Google Play.

Singapore — Oddle, an omnichannel food and beverage technology company headquartered in Singapore, has announced the launch of a new booking option for its customers, following integration with Reserve with Google. This new offering enables bookings with participating businesses directly through Google products including Search, Maps, and Google Assistant.

The company operates in four countries namely in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan. Oddle Reserve is one of the four core solutions within Oddle’s omnichannel ecosystem that aims to connect restaurants and their customers through first-class experiences and engagements. Through the collaboration, Oddle’s restaurant partners now experience higher search visibility and new reservation avenues across Google’s products.

The modern reservation and guest experience management solution is first of its kind to drive restaurant profitability by empowering restaurants to own direct reservations channels without per cover charge or subscription fee.

The Reserve with Google and Oddle Reserve integration will provide Oddle’s users a seamless opportunity to attract and retain customers that are using Google to search for restaurant reservations.

Sydney, Australia – Google is giving recognition to IT professionals who  have  kept “the world working” through a new global campaign, created together with  customer experience agency, Apparent.

Google Chrome Enterprise in particular, has given recognition to IT professionals to put the spotlight on IT professionals’ stories by showcasing how they kept the world connected, learning and working  through their initiatives in allowing organisations to work remotely, connecting families with loved ones and giving students access to virtual classrooms, and so much more when the pandemic swept the globe. 

The ‘Leaptakers’ video campaign features testimonies of those who were affected by the pandemic and how humankind have taken great leaps throughout history. Now, the IT pros, whose endeavours and innovation often remain invisible, are being recognised for the rightful credit they deserve.

‘Leaptakers’ global campaign by Apparent

New York-based director Christian Padron and production company Scheme Engine were engaged to capture these inspirational stories, which were then turned into films and written articles.Michelle Turchini, executive creative director at Apparent , commented, “As the pandemic hit and the world scrambled to different ways of working, learning and connecting with loved ones, it was IT professionals who overcame some of the most difficult challenges to enable ongoing communication seamlessly and at scale. 

“The Leaptakers stories are just a small celebration of the challenges they faced, the solutions they built and the impact they’ve had on the lives of people across the globe, recognising the vital and ongoing contribution they made and continue to make every day,” Turchini added.  

Apparent, which has worked with Google since 2012, embarked on a global search, engaging the IT community, harnessing partners and internal audiences and enlisted advocates through social media to get their personal stories of how they kept the world working during the pandemic. 

Five were chosen among thousands of potential unique stories, including Life Lines in the United Kingdom, a project to provide virtual visits between critically ill patients and their loved ones during the pandemic, facilitating more than a million minutes of calls from 180 UK hospitals to loved ones around the world. Meanwhile, in the US, Achievement First helped children thrive when schools closed their doors, delivering 2,800 education professionals and 15,000 children across three states with access to technology.  Product Marketing Lead from Google Chrome Enterprise, Steve Ervin,  added, “During a time of incredible disruption, the IT Leaptakers stepped up to ensure the world was connected and kept working. Often going unnoticed, this campaign recognises the importance and significance of these professionals and their notable achievements.”

Apparent further extended the campaign, through social media amplification, with a way to find and celebrate the Leaptakers by sending a customised thank you to IT teams, so not only would they feel more visible, but more appreciated, too.

Singapore – Tech giant Google in Singapore has announced that it will be offering 5,000 Google Career Certificate scholarships to its 13 local partners to enable the local workforce in the country. Said offering is part of Google’s objective to extend its offering of Skills Ignition SG, an expanded skills program.

Google will partner with all five polytechnics in the country, three ITEs, social service agencies as well as self-help groups such as The Codette Project, Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA), and Yayasan MENDAKI (Council for the Development of Singapore Malay/Muslim Community) to distribute the scholarships.

Available on the online education platform Coursera, Google Career Certificates are flexible online training programmes that enable learners with no prior experience or a degree to unlock new job opportunities in four tracks: ‘IT Support’, ‘Project Management’, ‘Data Analytics’ and ‘UX Design’. 

Each curriculum is created by Google’s in-house experts and designed to equip students with fundamental skills through hands-on learning, allowing them to progress at their own pace while studying or working.

In addition, Google has formed an employer consortium to connect graduates from Skills Ignition SG with employers who have a need for qualified candidates in these fields. Members of the consortium include Coca-Cola, Group East Digital, Integrated Health Information Systems (IHiS), L’Oreal Singapore, Omnicom Media Group, SPH Media Limited, to name a few.

Scott Beaumont, president of Google Asia Pacific, commented that this new local endeavor means even more Singaporeans will be able to access training opportunities, learn new skills and better compete for jobs in the digital economy as it continues to grow.

“With a strong digital talent pool, Singapore can lead the way as a regional and global technology hub. We know that partnerships between government agencies, businesses and community organizations are the best way to ensure that Singaporeans have the skills they need, and we’re proud that Skills Ignition SG has already helped more than 3,200 people. We want to build on that progress in 2022 and beyond,” Beaumont stated.

Texas, USA – Global mobile growth and monetization platform Digital Turbine has renewed its with tech giant Google to accelerate its product and growth strategy to support the Android ecosystem by enabling nearly a billion devices with intelligent app discovery.

Said multi-year partnership with Google will entail working with Google Cloud’s premier partner SADA to implement Google’s enterprise and cloud solutions to rapidly enhance and expand globally while broadening growth and monetization solutions for its partners.

Speaking about the partnership, Rob Enslin, president of Google Cloud, said that they are excited to partner with Digital Turbine to support the expansion and scale of its products and services globally.

“Digital Turbine has been a longtime supporter of the Android ecosystem, and with this new partnership, it will utilize our advanced cloud and enterprise infrastructure to expand support of its value-added mobile experiences to end users around the globe,” Enslin said.

Meanwhile, Bill Stone, CEO of Digital Turbine, commented that for the past 10 years, Digital Turbine has helped expand the Android ecosystem with their intelligent app discovery, growth and monetization products supporting many of the Android app developers in the market today.

“We are thrilled to further deepen and expand our partnership with Google. By partnering with Google we are efficiently powering app discovery for nearly a billion Android devices globally while simultaneously expanding our footprint across the Android ecosystem including mobile, TV and connected devices,” Stone added.

Bangkok, Thailand – International Labor Organization (ILO), the United Nations agency that promotes social justice and internationally recognized human and labor rights, has partnered with Google, as well as its International Training Center (ITCILO) to further expand its program for upskilling women entrepreneurs called ‘ILO’s Rebuilding Better: Fostering Business Resilience Post-COVID-19 Project’. The pilot initiative was hosted last November 2021.

The initiative aims to support women in Thailand, Malaysia, and the Philippines to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and adopt more sustainable and resilient business models, and also works to strengthen women entrepreneurs’ access to vital support services.

Through the expansion of the initiative, ILO has launched three new training programs, which are now available to women entrepreneurs who are seeking new skills for their business and personal growth. It can be accessed in the Google Primer learning app as free, quick, and easy-to-understand lessons on how to manage a business, strengthen its online presence, and create a more supportive workplace which are available in both English and Thai language. 

Dragan Radic, ILO’s head of SME Unit of Enterprises Department, shared that the organization has worked for over 30 years to support SMEs to start, grow, and sustain their businesses, as well as strive to seek new and innovative methods and partnerships to deliver impactful solutions.

“The partnership with Google is a prime example of a collaboration that is enabling us to leverage our own strengths while also benefiting from our partner’s extensive online learning and technology capacity,” said Radic.

Ryan Rahardjo, Google’s head of public affairs for SEA, said, “Through this collaboration and our free Google Primer app, we hope more entrepreneurs in the region will be able to learn new skills, grow and expand their businesses both locally and internationally.”

ILO shared that at least 2,000 women entrepreneurs have been the first beneficiaries of the innovative new pilot to deliver digital training via Google Primer.

Interested learners may access the courses at the ILO Peer Learning Hub for APAC.

Sydney, Australia – Tech giant Google in Australia–in collaboration with PHD, Essence, Nine and Pedestrian Group–have launched its newest campaign in the form of a stock photo library to better represent the diverse skin tones globally.

These new images, with the help of Google’s new Pixel 6 phone and its equitable camera technology, will improve representation of all skin tones across some of Australia’s biggest and most influential media channels, and will be included in Refinery29 Australia’s ‘We Are Many’ Image Collection, in partnership with Getty Images.

Aisling Finch, senior director of marketing, and diversity, equity and inclusion council chair for Google Australia and New Zealand, said, “Google’s mission is about ‘universal’ access to information, so our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion has been in our company DNA from the beginning. The new Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones are designed around individual nuances, and specifically to better photograph diverse skin tones.”

She added, “To bring this to life, it made sense to collaborate with Nine and Pedestrian Group to equip journalists with a new image library with greater representation of Australia’s rich diversity, beautifully photographed on Pixel.”

Meanwhile, Matt Rowley, CEO of Pedestrian Group, commented, “Pedestrian Group is proud of the importance we place on the value of inclusivity and diversity. This collaboration with Google will help provide new perspectives and visually represent what our talented teams on sites like Refinery29 Australia are passionate about every day with initiatives like We Are Many.”

The story behind the images and the partnership is brought to life through print wraps, native articles, a digital immersive experience and a suite of behind the scenes videos. 

Media, marketers and designers can access and use these new images via the We are Many online collection.

Malaysia – The Malaysia arm of Omnicom Media Group (OMG), the media services division of Omnicom Group, Inc., has announced that it has partnered with Google to enhance the agency’s suite of performance marketing capabilities.

Through the collaboration, OMG Malaysia will be able to gain access to Google’s beta tools, elevate its Google Marketing Platform expertise, and nurture employees’ skills through a series of curated training programs conducted by Google. OMG said the move fosters its vision to offer top-notch performance marketing campaigns for clients.

The shift in focus, OMG Malaysia said, is in response to a substantial number of clients prioritizing budget on Google Ads campaigns. The agency shared it will be creating customized advanced tools to analyze, optimize, and automate campaigns. One of the capabilities will be providing real-time data on overall account health and zooming into specific features to improve the efficiency of campaigns and results for clients. 

The partnership will also be offering tools to reduce time spent on analysis and boost optimization, which could result in a decrease in campaigns turnaround time by up to 30%. Besides aiding clients in their digital transformation journey with customized tools, the partnership will also focus on developing the skills of the OMG team. The collaboration will enable OMG to leverage a curated Google training curriculum to empower new OMG employees with Google-centric skills. 

“Our media agency partners continue to be a core component to the digital advertising ecosystem. We’re pleased to collaborate with OMG to invest in the key areas of operational efficiencies and nurturing future digital talent. I am very proud to be on this journey with OMG and together we hope to deliver greater impact to customers’ business and marketing objectives,” said Marc Woo, managing director of Google Malaysia & Frontier Markets.

Eileen Ooi, COO of OMG Malaysia, commented, “It is always great to be able to grow and transform with a partner that shares our same ambitions and leans in effectively to make it happen. Omnicom Media Group creates solutions to not only address our clients or agency goals but also focus on driving a bigger force which pushes boundaries in the way we operate, accelerate campaigns for our clients, and address the talent gaps in the industry. We look forward to continuing to grow together and shape the industry forward.”

At the Think Search Award paneled by Google and industry experts, OMG Malaysia was actually awarded the Best use of Google Search: Agency of the Year. OMG Malaysia was recognized for displaying Search excellence by focusing on advanced analytics-driven approach for its campaigns.

Australia – Google has appointed independent creative agency Emotive to be its new creative agency for Google TV, the tech company’s fully-fledged operating system for set-top boxes, streaming devices, and smart TVs.

Google TV offers users new ways to stream, grouping television shows and films from the myriad of different streaming services into one menu. It also provides easy access to users’ favorite titles and content.

The partnership commences with a content series ‘Watch With Me’, which is made specifically for the Google TV interface, featuring Australian film critic Margaret Pomeranz and former Australian football player Adam Goodes. It showcases watchlists of the top film and TV picks via Google TV, and runs alongside the global 30” TVC executions showcasing the vast array of content from the different streaming services conveniently available and organized via Google TV.

Cameron Luby, Google’s marketing director, said, “Google TV has been incredibly well received in Australia and we see this partnership as the beginning of a much larger effort”

Meanwhile, Simon Joyce, the CEO and founder of Emotive, shared that they are building a wonderful relationship with the Google team and are absolutely thrilled to be working with them on Google TV.

“As we’ve come to expect, the product is truly innovative, and we are looking forward to pushing the boundaries creatively as we bring Google TV to the mainstream,” said Joyce.

Singapore – As we finally come to the conclusion of 2021, Google has released its newest review of the most-searched terms: from good to bad, that encapsulates what Singaporeans had in mind in terms of the latest trends and happenings for this year.

The Tokyo Olympic 2020 games were the top-search international news among Singaporeans, which also ranked 6th among the trending Google term searches. Meanwhile, the recently-released 2021 Marvel superhero film ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ ranked as top most-searched movies among Singaporeans, as well as 10th in the most-searched terms on Google.

Meanwhile, prevention of COVID-19 is still on top of mind among Singaporeans, ranking 7th in term searches. This is in fact reflected in the reality of Singaporeans rallying together to encourage the community, especially the more vulnerable, to get vaccinated. This includes programs like mobile vaccination clinics in the heartlands to ensure the elderly are protected against the virus.

The pandemic was not the only moment of adversity Singaporeans had shown unity to. These include local tragic events such as the Tanjong Pagar accident (#1 in Singaporean news) and the River Valley high school incident (#2 in Singaporean news). Singaporeans also showed concern towards international events such as the coup d’ etat in Myanmar (#4 in trending international news) and the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan (#3 in trending international news).

In terms of sports, Singaporeans’ love for sports have resonated through the top trending searches. It reflects the ability of sporting events as a platform to boost morales, where people cheered for the same teams and tuned in to major sports events such as UEFA Euro 2021 (#1 Trending Searches, #1 Trending Sports Events) and the English Premier League (#3 Trending Searches, #4 Trending Sports Events).

In addition, Singaporeans showed their support for Olympic swimmer Joseph Schooling’s (#1 Trending Singapore Personalities, #1 Trending Olympic Searches) by following his journey through the Olympics, together with other local athletes like table tennis players, Yu Mengyu (#2 Trending Singapore Personalities, #2 Trending Athletes) and Feng Tianwei (#6 Trending Singapore Personalities, #7 Trending Athletes).

In terms of travel, Singaporeans sought respite on cruises to nowhere with cruise lines like Royal Caribbean (#1 Trending activities and places in Singapore) and Dream Cruise (#3 Trending activities and places in Singapore). Back on land, Museum of Ice Cream (#4 Trending activities and places in Singapore) found its home in Singapore, and instantly became a popular photo spot for locals. Popular mainstays like the Singapore Flyer (#8 Trending activities and places in Singapore) and River Safari (#10 Trending activities and places in Singapore) also saw an uptick in local visitors, as well as checking in for staycations at the newly-opened Dusit Thani Laguna Singapore (#6 Trending activities and places in Singapore).

The full list are as follows:

Trending International News:

  1. 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
  2. Gamestop
  3. Taliban takeover in Afghanistan
  4. Myanmar coup
  5. Suez Canal
  6. Evergrande
  7. Cristiano Ronaldo
  8. Aryan Khan
  9. Alec Baldwin
  10. Georgia Senate Race

Trending Singapore News:

  1. Tanjong Pagar accident
  2. River Valley high school
  3. SPH ‘Umbrage’
  4. GST Voucher
  5. Sylvia Chan
  6. Phoon Chiu Yoke
  7. Raeesah Khan
  8. National Day Parade 2021
  9. Budget 2021 Singapore
  10. KAWS

Trending Movies:

  1. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
  2. Eternals
  3. Black Widow
  4. Mortal Kombat
  5. No Time to Die
  6. Raya and the Last Dragon
  7. Suicide Squad
  8. Red Notice
  9. Godzilla vs Kong
  10. Army of the Dead

Trending Singaporean Personalities:

  1. Joseph Schooling
  2. Yu Mengyu
  3. Sylvia Chan
  4. Shane Pow
  5. more_vert
  6. Raeesah Khan
  7. Feng Tianwei
  8. Loh Kean Yew
  9. Quah Zheng Wen
  10. Kane Lim

Trending Searches:

  1. UEFA Euro 2021
  2. NBA League
  3. IPL 2021
  4. English Premier League
  5. Squid Game
  6. 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games
  7. COVID-19 Prevention
  8. Bitcoin Price
  9. iPhone 13
  10. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Trending TV Shows:

  1. Squid Game
  2. Hometown Cha Cha Cha
  3. Vincenzo
  4. True Beauty
  5. Mr Queen
  6. WandaVision
  7. Bridgerton
  8. My Name
  9. Loki
  10. Alice in Borderland

Angeline Leow, head of communications at Google Singapore, said, “2021 has been a year of healing, as Singaporeans find creative ways to recover and regain our momentum. Google searches are indicative of the macro trends in Singapore and give us a glimpse of the local and global happenings the nation cares deeply about.”

She added, “With more content and internet users online, there’s more need to organize information than ever before so we’ll continue to invest in AI to give people new ways to search and explore information through voice, images and videos while helping people better evaluate the credibility of information they find online.”