Tag: google canada

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Mobile Syrup

Google is testing bilingual Search results in India

Google is working on diversifying the languages it uses in Search results to display information in more than one language, as first reported by Android Police.

The new experiment is starting with the Hindi language in India, but could soon be developed to support multilingual queries in French and English in Canada.

In a majorly multilingual market like India, Google has found that users prefer viewing Search results that are linguistically dynamic, and not just presented in the same language as the searched keyword.

Although users can find Search results in different languages, it either requires you to search for their query in the language they’re looking for the result in or change their device’s language outright.

What the company is doing now in India is making Search bilingual, regardless of the language your search keyword are in. “To make it easier for people who use more than one language to seek and explore information, we’re now making search results pages bilingual, for people who prefer it that way,” reads Google’s blog about the functionality. “Using advanced machine learning-based translation models and a cross-language search technology, we’ll serve you high-quality and relevant content in your local language alongside English results, if that’s how you choose to view them.”

The functionality has rolled out in Hindi, with Google intending to expand the feature to other Indian languages, including Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and Bengali, in the coming year.

The feature is likely to be tested in India for a while before it makes its way to other bi/multilingual countries like Canada.

Image credit: Google

Source: Google Via: Android Police

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Mobile Syrup

Ukraine war, Rogers outage, and Wordle dominated Google searches in Canada

Canadians had a busy year on Google.

According to Google’s Year in Search report, Canadians used Google Search more than three times a day, equaling Google answering more than 3,000,000 questions every hour.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine dominated the report, coming in second for searches, first for news, and third in “how to.”

Another top trending news search was the Rogers outage. A system malfunction impacted Rogers Internet Gateway, Core Gateway and Distribution Routers in July. 13 million wireless and wireline customers were left without service.

The outage also ranked second in Google searches asking “why.”

Other top trending searches in Canada include Wordle, World Cup, and Betty White.

Hollywood headlines and pop culture searches were also trending, with Canadians dialling into the news “more than ever,” Hibaq Ali, search trends expert at Google Canada, wrote in a blog post. This includes searches for Will Smith and Chris Rock, movies like Turning Red, and TV shows like Stranger Things.

Image credit: Shutterstock 

Source: Google

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Mobile Syrup

Google Maps’ Street View turns 15 today, brings new feature to go back in time

Google Maps’ Street View is getting a range of new features, marking the immersive view’s 15th year in existence since being introduced in 2007.

“Street View began as a far-fetched idea from Google co-founder Larry Page to build a 360-degree map of the entire world. Fast forward to today: There are now over 220 billion Street View images from over 100 countries and territories,” according to the blog post. 

Today, Google is deploying a new Street View camera, bolstering the team currently comprised of the Street View Car and Street View Trekker.

Google’s new camera “takes all the power, resolution and processing capabilities that we’ve [Google] built into an entire Street View car, and shrinks it down into an ultra-transportable camera system that’s roughly the size of a house cat.”

The camera weighs less than 15lb (6.8kg) and is fully customizable with components like LiDar and laser scanners. Additionally, Google says that the new camera can be attached on top of any vehicle with a roof rack and can be operated from a smartphone, making the image-collection process easier for Google’s partners, especially in areas that haven’t been mapped significantly.

The new camera is expected to be spotted on roads next year.

Image credit: Google

Additionally, the Street View feature will now let you travel back in time. Well, not really, but the feature will let you see how specific streets, monuments or areas of interest have changed over the years. The feature has always been available on Maps for Desktop but is now arriving on Google Maps for Android and iOS, and lets you check imagery of said places dating back to 2007.

To access the new feature, go into Street View of a location you want to explore and scroll up to reveal “Nearby photos.” You can then find photos of the place dating back to 2007, though in the case of some famous Canadian spots, I could only go as far back as three to four years.

Google also revealed some of the most iconic tourist attractions that garner the most clicks on Street View, including Miss Piggy plane wreck in Churchill, MB, CN Tower in Toronto, ON, and the Horseshoe falls in Niagara Falls, ON, whereas some top-clicked points of interest in Canada for art, history and culture were Casa Loma in Toronto, ON, Aga Khan Museum in North York, ON and Green Gables Heritage Place in Cavendish, PE.

Learn more about the upgrades coming to Street View and Google Maps over the coming months here.

Source: Google 

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Mobile Syrup

Google finally rolls out personalized profiles for Google TV

Back in October 2021, Google announced that support for personalized profiles on Google TV was coming before the year concluded. The feature was eventually delayed but is now finally making its way to Google TV.

Announced in a blog post yesterday, Google said “Google TV profiles let everyone in your home enjoy their own personalized space with their Google Account. With a personalized profile, you’ll get TV show and movie recommendations just for you, easy access to your personal watchlist and help from your Google Assistant.”

Even before this update, several people could log in to Google TV using their Google Account. However, Google TV would only filter suggestions for the primary account holder. With personalized profiles, each user’s recommendations, watchlist, and Google Assistant replies will be tailored to their interests and activities with no overlapping between other users/profiles.

Additionally, your Google TV profile will be linked to your account’s Google Assistant, which means that whenever you ask the assistant a question, its answer will be personalized according to your taste and paste choices.

According to Google, profiles are now rolling out to Google TV users, and should be widely available “over the next few weeks.”

To add a new Google TV profile, simply click on the profile picture on the top right of your Google TV home screen. Navigate to “+ Add Account,” and sign in to the Google account you want to add.

Learn more about personalized profiles for Google TV here or learn how to set them up here.

Image credit: Google

Source: Google

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Mobile Syrup

Google Canada offers training to Indigenous job seekers in tech field

Kitchener, Ontario, Canada – September 30, 2019: Google sign in the Google Canada Kitchener-Waterloo office.

Google Canada has announced funding to train Indigenous people looking for jobs with digital skills.

The company is committing $600,000 towards the initiative. $500,000 will go towards the Recording Futures IT training program by ComIT, an initiative created last year.

The charity links struggling job seekers with companies looking for IT professionals by offering programs that teach tech skills. The funds from Google created the Recording Futures program that specifically focuses on teaching IT skills to Indigenous learners. Covered topics include HTML, CSS, and other coding applications.

$100,000 will go towards Indspire, a charity that focuses on the education of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people in Canada. The money will specifically be used towards job and training programs, and scholarships to be used towards courses offered by Google.

“The social and economic hardships felt by many during this pandemic have brought some heavy truths to the surface and we now have an opportunity to build back a more inclusive and resilient economy,” Sabrina Geremia, vice president of Google Canada, said in a statement.

“We’re proud to support ComIT and Indspire to deepen our commitment in digital skills training in high-demand fields, create opportunities for Indigenous job seekers entering the tech workforce and increase Indigenous representation in our technology workforce.”

Image source: ShutterStock

Source: Google Canada

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Mobile Syrup

Here are 2021’s top trending Google search terms in Canada

Google has released its annual ‘Search Trends’ report that highlights what Canadians searched for this year. With the pandemic still lingering late into 2021, you better believe that some of the top search trends are related to COVID-19, vaccines and even Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).

Last year’s search trends highlighted that Canadians were learning about COVID-19, number of cases and worst affected areas, whereas this year’s trends show that we have moved forward and are now chasing recovery by searching for information regarding vaccines and how we can leave the pandemic behind.

The resumption of sporting leagues around the world was prominently reflected in the search trends and so was the increasing popularity and curiosity of the Cryptocurrency market.

Below are some of the top search trends in Canada:

Top Searches

  1. NBA
  2. NHL
  3. COVID vaccine near me
  4. Euro 2021
  5. AMC Stock
  6. GME Stock
  7. Bitcoin price
  8. Gabby Petito
  9. DMX
  10. Squid Game

Top Canadian News Searches

  1. COVID vaccine near me
  2. Federal Election
  3. Severe thunderstorm warning
  4. Afghanistan
  5. Lockdown
  6. Vaccine passport
  7. BC Wildfires
  8. Tokyo Olympics
  9. Lytton fire
  10. Residential Schools

Top ‘Why’ Searches

  1. Why did Prime Minister Trudeau call an election?
  2. Why were Residential Schools created?
  3. Why is it so hot in British Columbia?
  4. Why is lumber so expensive?
  5. Why did Simone Biles withdraw?
  6. Why did Taylor Swift re-record her music?
  7. Why was Prince Philip not king?
  8. Why is Bernie Sanders a meme?
  9. Why did Daft Punk break up?
  10. Why is Squid Game so popular?

Top ‘How to’ Searches

  1. How to get a vaccine passport
  2. How to buy Dogecoin
  3. How to make money from home
  4. How to book a COVID vaccine
  5. How to register to vote in Canada
  6. How to watch the Oprah interview
  7. How to get a QR code for COVID vaccination
  8. How to make hot chocolate bombs
  9. How to apply for CERB
  10. How to get rid of a stuffy nose

Top Movie Searches

  1. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
  2. Black Widow
  3. Eternals
  4. Dune
  5. Red Notice
  6. Army of the Dead
  7. Halloween Kills
  8. Godzilla vs. Kong
  9. The Suicide Squad
  10. Free Guy

Top TV Show Searches

  1. Squid Game
  2. Bridgerton
  3. Ginny and Georgia
  4. Yellowstone
  5. Manifest
  6. Outer Banks
  7. Cecil Hotel
  8. Loki
  9. Maid
  10. Lupin

Top Musician Searches

  1. Travis Scott
  2. Adele
  3. Morgan Wallen
  4. Daft Punk
  5. Marilyn Manson
  6. Dr. Dre
  7. Olivia Rodrigo
  8. Britney Spears
  9. Lil Nas X
  10. Travis Barker

Top Song Searches

  1. Drivers License – Olivia Rodrigo
  2. All Too Well – Taylor Swift
  3. Deja Vu – Olivia Rodrigo
  4. Easy on Me – Adele
  5. Montero – Lil Nax X
  6. Good 4 U – Olivia Rodrigo
  7. Wants and Needs – Drake ft. Lil Baby
  8. Peaches – Justin Bieber ft. Daniel Caesar, Giveon
  9. Happier Than Ever – Billie Eilish
  10. Industry Baby – Lil Nas X, Jack Harlow

Top Canadian Athlete Searches

  1. Leylah Fernandez
  2. Andre De Grasse
  3. John Tavares
  4. Carey Price
  5. Penny Oleksiak
  6. Jake Evans
  7. Bianca Andreescu
  8. Felix Auger-Aliassime
  9. Denis Shapovalov
  10. Damian Warner

Top Athlete Searches

  1. Tiger Woods
  2. Leylah Fernandez
  3. Andre De Grasse
  4. Simone Biles
  5. John Tavares
  6. Kyle Beach
  7. Emma Raducanu
  8. Carey Price
  9. Aaron Rodgers
  10. Penny Oleksiak

Source: @googlecanada