A Week in Google – 1st April

Google welcomed in April today by changing maps to old school graphics.

Personally I love it, it reminds me when computer games were fun. I’m tempted to dig out my quest sheet and go off in search of my fortune!

What’s happening in Google this week?

Google No Longer Support XML Geo-sitemap

Now, I love that Google are starting to be a little more open about what they do, but this was another change snuck in with no announcement. Indeed, the help page just disappeared while errors appeared in Webmasters tools.

An XML geo-site map is simply a feed file that can be read by bots. It contains your location data and is one way of confirming you are where you say you are. KML files are the human readable equivalent and they are still supported.

Learn with Google

How to promote your business online with Google – tips, videos and worksheets. Targeted at US business owners, but some of the videos are good to start getting your head around the whole online marketing concept. Of course, the ultimate aim is for you to use Google paid products. Here’s an example

 [trafficplayer_youtube_video width=”480″ height=”274″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/nAzPzJ0liDc?modestbranding=1&autohide=1&controls=0&hd=0&rel=0″ ][/trafficplayer_youtube_video]

Campus London

Meanwhile, back in the real world. Google opened Campus London, a collaboration between Google and partners Central Working, Tech Hub, Seedcamp and Springboard.

It will provide startups with workspace in an energizing environment and will also host daily events for and with the community. We will run a regular speaker series, alongside lectures and programing, as well as provide mentorship and training from local Google teams.

Visitors will have access to a cafe and co-working space, complete with high speed wifi. We welcome members of the startup community: entrepreneurs, investors, developers, designers, lawyers, accountants, etc. and hope that this informal, highly concentrated space will lead to chance meetings and interactions that will generate the ideas and partnerships that will drive new, innovative businesses.

Lovely if you live down that neck of the woods. I doubt a campaign for Campus Widnes would get far!

Since it is teatime here in the UK, it’s far too late for me to do the whole April Fools day thing. You may prefer to read about Google’s interplanetary analytics coming to a dashboard near you in 2030 or try out Google’s Really Advanced Search.