Tag: Google

Manila, Philippines – Online search engine Google has released a new local Google Doodle in honor of the 142nd birthday of Rosa Sevilla de Alvero, a prominent figure and activist during the campaign in Philippines’ suffrage movement.

De Alvero is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in establishing suffrage rights to Filipinas during the American period. In her stance as an activist, she has led the ‘Liga Nacional de Damas Filipinas’ (National League of Filipino Women) founded in 1916 to support her rallying cause for equal voting rights to women in the country.

Her work and social movement has resonated and been ratified by the Commonwealth government in 1937, paving the way for equal rights for women against their male counterparts.

Furthermore, De Alvero is also a journalist and educator, as she also sparked a national movement in making Tagalog the national language through a presentation of the first ‘balagtasan’ or a debate held in poetic verse, alongside with well-known Filipino-Tagalog poets.

At age 21, she also founded the ‘Instituto de Mujeres’ (‘Women’s Institute’) of Manila, one of the first schools for women in Filipino history, which is now known as the Rosa Sevilla Memorial School.

Google Doodles’ local release cross paths with the upcoming International Women’s Day celebration on March 8, as well as the slated 2022 national elections in the Philippines.

Some notable Google Doodles’ that have been Philippine-centric include the commemoration of the country’s Independence Day every June 12, the 92nd birthday of Filipino comedian Dolphy, and commemoration of the country’s well-known tourist attractions like Tubbataha Reef.

Canberra, Australia – The Australian government has now announced that legislation is ongoing that mandates tech giants Facebook and Google to compensate local media companies for the content they produce online.

In a report by the Associated Press, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg stated that the so-called News Media Bargaining Code will pass through a parliamentary hearing before official voting by next year.

“This is a huge reform. This is a world first. And the world is watching what happens here in Australia. This is comprehensive legislation that has gone further than any comparable jurisdiction in the world,” Frydenberg stated.

The News Media Bargaining Code, according to an official press release by the Office of the Treasurer, aims to support and sustain public interest journalism in the country, with strategies including “enabling digital platforms to publish standard offers, which provides smaller news media businesses with an efficient pathway to finalizing agreements with digital platform.”

Under the new reform, Facebook and Google will need to compensate local media companies, including state-owned media groups Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC) and the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS)-which were originally excluded from the initial law proposal.

Both Facebook and Google have released their statements in the past, opposing the new referendum. Facebook had stated that they will start blocking Australian users and publishers in publishing local and international news on their platform and on Instagram, while Google had clarified that they are not ‘stealing’ content from other people, but rather redirecting users to what they searched.

Sydney, Australia – SME marketing company Metigy in Australia has recently concluded its funding round, which the startup will use in expanding its services globally.

The funding, closing at USD 20M, will be initially used to expand its business to the United States and Southeast Asia, specifically in Singapore. Furthermore, the funding will also aid in growing the company’s product and engineering teams in Australia.

We’ve had fantastic growth so far but it’s just the beginning — there’s a massive opportunity to help the nearly 30 million small businesses in the U.S. and 150 million businesses across South East Asia. According to Google, 97% of SEAsian SMEs have no ad tech or martech solutions and also lack the supply of talent to meet that demand. Innovative technology developed with the SME in mind is the only way to solve this problem

David Fairfull (pictured left), CEO and co-founder at Metigy

He also added,“We created Metigy to make digital marketing an effective tool for all types of businesses, not just those with massive marketing budgets. Half of all small businesses fail within the first two years, and marketing — or a lack of effective marketing — is always one of the key reasons. We want to improve those odds and give them a fighting chance.”

The startup is working closely with Google and telecommunications company Optus, and has created strategic partnerships with companies such as Singapore’s SingTel, who co-sell Metigy’s tools to add value to their own business customer relationships.

Speaking about the funding round, Darien Jagger, lead investor at Cygnet Capital, states that Metigy’s fast expansion pushed the venture capital to invest in the startup.

“Cygnet was an early-stage investor in Metigy and after seeing their impressive growth, it absolutely made sense to lead this current raise. Completing the raise 100% oversubscribed in this market with an all Australian investor group is a testament to the solid business the team has built. Strategically, this also places Metigy firmly on the path to remaining Australian based,” Jagger stated.

Bangkok, Thailand – Bidmath, a global programmatic consultancy, has opened an academy for the special training of Display & Video 360 (DV360), Google’s unified platform for programmatic buying.

DV360 is an end-to-end campaign management tool, which aside from media planning and buying, enables advertisers to manage creative development and run measurement for campaigns across display, video, TV, and audio.

The training academy was put up with an aim to increase the adoption of programmatic industry knowledge in the country. According to Bidmath, despite the substantial growth of programmatic advertising in Thailand, there is a lack of deep technical knowledge.

A study by ad tech firm Rubicon Project reflects such observation, having found that 43% of advertisers in Asia are either extremely or somewhat hesitant to switch from the traditional way of media buying through an insertion order (IO) to the more automated mode of programmatic buying. The study also suggested that the single biggest challenge hindering further growth of programmatic advertising budgets is a lack of understanding and appropriate skills to effectively plan and execute programmatic ad campaigns.

Three courses will be initially offered, with each focusing on a specific topic within DV360: private marketplace buying, optimization best practices, and the fundamentals. Courses will be offered in Thai, Vietnamese, and English, and will be available both virtually and in-person.

Director of Bidmath Asia KK Sharma said that the lack of understanding and technical skills are slowing advertisers down when considering the adoption of programmatic guaranteed spends and the potential upside for local publishers such as Viu for example.

“By introducing courses in local languages, we hope to see increased adoption of programmatic advertising across Asia, but there is still a long way to go. Courses in Thai and Vietnamese were launched to accelerate growth and reach,” Sharma said.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – AirAsia Digital has partnered with Google to launch the Redbeat Academy, a move to upskill and cross-train individuals to adapt to digital transformation.

Initially set up forAir Asia employees through a series of tech workshops, Redbeat Academy has now opened its doors to the public.

This move comes as part of the Academy’s objective and direction to build a future-ready next generation by providing a one-stop service in tech, leadership and innovation that is expected to be a vital catalyst for the digital economy in Malaysia and the wider ASEAN.

Redbeat Academy will focus on serving five segments which are employees, corporate and SMEs, government agencies, universities, and public individuals. With at least 100,000 talents to be tapped every year, they will provide solutions in three main areas: skills development program,betabuild labs – a program offered by AirAsia with support of Google to help enterprises incubate new digital businesses with employees – as well as  career coaching and hiring service. 

In addition, the Academy signed a partnership with Malaysian Industry-Government Group of High Technology (MIGHT) to reskill a pool of talent in software engineering and high technology projects such as blockchain and data. It has also joined hands with universities Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Malaya and Asia School of Business in collaboration with MIT Sloan Management, to award a micro-credential to Redbeat Academy courses and acknowledge it as part of the Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL).

YB Khairy Jamaluddin, minister of science, technology, and innovation (MOSTI) said, “I would like to congratulate AirAsia Digital and Google on this meaningful partnership and the launch of Redbeat Academy. The concept of the Academy itself signifies a vital global trend in today’s digital world, which reshapes how businesses are run, workplaces are restructured and product marketing is shifted from a more traditional way to digital and consumer-centric. These efforts are in line with the government’s key initiative, the National Technology and Innovation Sandbox (NTIS), aimed to accelerate Malaysia’s ascent in becoming a high-tech and high-income nation while generating greater social impact and strengthening the social innovation ecosystem structure.”

“MOSTI is proud to play our role in encouraging innovation from the grassroots with prominent industry players such as AirAsia, as it is evident that innovation will be the key driver of economies and markets worldwide. We look forward to seeing Malaysians from all walks of life and industries sign up for the courses offered at Redbeat Academy.”

Meanwhile, Tan Sri Tony Fernandes, chief executive officer of AirAsia Group said, “AirAsia has always embraced digitalization and today is another milestone for us as we launch our premier tech academy. We are proud to work hand-in-hand and cross-share our resources and knowledge with Google.”

“With the mission to empower, connect and develop a sustainable tech talent pipeline, we are also proud to open the academy to the public now to provide opportunities for everyone, with the focus on mentoring the best in breed industry-ready professionals and producing problem-solvers using technology. Everyone needs to keep learning, growing, and embracing the ever-changing tech landscape to ensure that we can stay relevant in this digital economy. I hope everyone will take this opportunity to learn new skill sets in tech so we can together strive for greater heights as a nation,” added Fernandes.

Director of Google Cloud Learning Services Rochana Golani also commented, “Cloud technology can enable sustainable growth and innovation for businesses both large and small, and the Redbeat Academy will help grow cloud skills and talent across Malaysia. As a Google Cloud Authorised Training Partner we also look forward to working with the team to deliver advanced curriculum and learning pathways to future cloud technology professionals.”

The Academy has recently celebrated the graduation of its first batch, comprising 135 employees who finished their digital fundamentals from the internal reskilling & upskilling program.

United States – As more businesses in the APAC region turn to eCommerce amid the pandemic, Google has decided to make it free for merchants to list their products on the Google Shopping tab, which takes effect in mid-October.

The free listing has been available in India and Indonesia since 2019 and was earlier introduced to the United States in April as part of its COVID support to retailers.

“For retailers, this change means free exposure to millions of people who come to Google every day for their shopping needs, regardless of whether they advertise on Google. For shoppers, it means more products from more stores, discoverable through the Google Shopping tab. For advertisers, it means paid campaigns can now be augmented with free listings,” said President of Google for APAC Scott Beaumont on a product update.

Google said the time of the pandemic changed the way people shop and sell in the region. According to Google analysis, 53% of online shoppers in APAC stated that they’ll choose to buy online more frequently after the pandemic, while almost 40% who weren’t online shoppers before said they intend to continue buying online.

To help retailers adjust to the changes, Google will be offering skills training through its dedicated learning resource Grow with Google. Google will also be sharing research and insights on its market research platform Think with Google to inform retailers’ business decisions.

In addition, Google has launched a playbook and webinar series on how to better manage digital storefronts. It will also be working closely with a number of partners to help merchants manage their products and inventory; this includes global partners like eCommerce platform Shopify, and those across the region such as Vietnam-based SEO website design platform Haravan, eCommerce Shopline in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and Thailand’s eCommerce business provider LnwShop.  

The free listings will be automatically applied to retailers already registered on its Merchant Center and those currently using Shopping Ads, while for new registrants, Google will continue working to streamline the onboarding process over the coming weeks.

Singapore – State-owned Thai telecommunications company TOT has collaborated with Genesys, a California-headquartered cloud customer experience and contact center solutions to accelerate its contact centers.

According to a press release by Genesys, TOT, as a company responsible for operating government contact centers in Thailand, experienced a surge in call volumes when the Coronavirus broke out.

To effectively manage the increase in calls, Genesys embedded machine learning and conversational AI capabilities with the use of Genesys Cloud and Google Cloud Contact Center AI (CCAI) into its system, allowing callers to now interact with AI-powered virtual agents who are able to accurately capture a customer’s intent easily, routing them to the agents most well placed to handle their needs.

Genesys Cloud is the company’s proprietary web-based unified communications solution, connecting contact center users, business users, vendors, partners, and customers; while Google Cloud CCAI is Google’s solution that helps integrate AI into contact center processes.

According to Genesys, one of the pain points it has also targeted for TOT in integrating the new solution is the company’s added complication of having less manpower to receive calls amid social distancing measures.

“The telecom provider needed a solution capable of scaling rapidly to meet the unexpected surges in call volume, address a constantly evolving set of requirements, optimize agent resources, and still deliver superior customer satisfaction with empathy,” said Genesys.

Senior Director for Cloud and Digital at TOT K. Santhiphap Phoemmongkhonsap said that customer experience remains one of the most significant measures of success for TOT as a government organization.

Phoemmongkhonsap also shared that with audiences increasingly utilizing digital channels, TOT has made it a priority to modernize contact center infrastructure and maintain high customer experience standards despite significant changes to customer requirements due to COVID-19.

“TOT and Genesys shares a common vision of improving lives with technology, and we look forward to continue serving businesses and consumers in line with Thailand’s digital transition vision with a like-minded partner,” said Phoemmongkhonsap.

Commenting on the partnership, Gwilym Funnell, senior vice president, and general manager at Genesys Asia-Pacific said, “Genesys is honored to assist TOT in serving the needs of local businesses and consumers, and more importantly, harness technology to make lives better amid the ongoing pandemic. We operate with a strong belief in the transformational potential of AI and Cloud technologies for modern economies. We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to collaborate with one of Thailand’s telecommunications pioneers to accelerate digital transformation within one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing internet economies.”

Meanwhile, Head of Product for Conversational AI at Google Cloud Antony Passemard said “The successful application of Google Cloud’s CCAI solution by Genesys for TOT is a tremendous example of how applied AI can help organizations digitally transform quickly, and ultimately drive stronger, more efficient experiences for their customers while maintaining control of their costs.”

United States – Google adds the latest update on Google Maps – a new COVID layer, which will enable users to view critical information about COVID-19 cases in an area, and therefore help them make more informed decisions about where to go and what to do amid the pandemic. 

The new layer is the latest COVID-related layer on the app. Layer is the app’s staple management button to see maps in a categorized view, and since the pandemic struck, the tech giant has updated Google Maps with COVID-related layers such as COVID-19 alerts in transit and COVID checkpoints.

The layer is labelled “COVID-19 info.” When users click on it, they will be able to see a seven-day average of new COVID cases per 100,000 people for the area of the map they’re looking at, and they will also be able to see a label that indicates whether the cases are trending up or down, explained product manager Sujoy Banerjee in an update post.

GOOGLE MAPS

By using the color coding feature, users will also be able to easily distinguish the density of new cases in an area. The trending case data will be visible at the country level for all 220 countries and territories that Google Maps supports, along with state or province, county, and city-level data where available. 

According to Banerjee, data featured in the COVID layer comes from multiple authoritative sources, including Johns Hopkins, the New York Times, and Wikipedia. Google chose these sources as their data comes from public health organizations like the World Health Organization, government health ministries, along with state and local health agencies and hospitals. Many of these sources already power COVID case information in Google Search.

“While getting around is more complicated these days, our hope is that these Google Maps features will help you get where you need to be as safely and efficiently as possible,” said Banerjee.

The COVID layer starts rolling out worldwide on Android and iOS this week.