Official Canada Blog
News and notes from Google Canada
Making it easier to control your data, directly in Google products
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
We’re always working on making it easier for you to understand and control your data so you can make privacy choices that are right for you. Earlier this year, we launched a new Google Account experience that puts your privacy and security front and center, and we updated our Privacy Policy with videos and clearer language to better describe the information we collect, why we collect it, and how you can control it.
Today, we’re making it easier for you to make decisions about your data directly within the Google products you use every day, starting with Search. Without ever leaving Search, you can now review and delete your recent Search activity, get quick access to the most relevant privacy controls in your Google Account, and learn more about how Search works with your data.
Control your data, directly in the Google products you use every day
When you use Google products, you generate data about your activity. For Search, this data includes the terms you search for, links you interact with and other information like your current location when you search.
Before today, if you were searching on Google and wanted to review or manage this data, the best way for you to do that would have been to visit your
Google Account
. Now, we’re bringing these controls to you – from directly within Search, you can review or delete your Search activity and quickly get back to finding what you were searching for.
We’re also providing quick access to the privacy controls in your Google Account that are most relevant as you use Search. For example, to control the ads you see when you search, we give you access to your Ad Settings. Additionally, you can access your Activity Controls to decide what information Google saves to your account and uses to make Search and other Google services faster, smarter and more useful.
If you want to learn more about what data is being generated as you use Google services and how we use data to improve your experience, you can now find a short video that helps explain this information.
We’re launching
this improvement
in Google Search on desktop and mobile web today, and in the Google app for iOS and Android in the coming weeks. Next year, we’ll expand this to Maps, followed by many other Google products. Having access to relevant and actionable privacy controls directly from the Google products you use every day is just one way that we are continuously working to build privacy that works for everyone.
Posted by Eric Miraglia, Director of Product Management, Privacy and Data Protection Office
Google Pixel 3. Make every day more extraordinary.
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Today we’re introducing
Pixel 3 and Pixel 3XL
, the new smartphones from Google. Pixel brings you the best of Google in a phone, powered by AI to deliver more helpful, thoughtful, and enjoyable experiences. That means a camera that uses AI to help make sure you never miss the shot and a more helpful visual and audio experience while charging, powered by the Google Assistant.
Brilliant photos every time and super-charged selfies
We’re taking more photos on our phones than ever before, but we still often miss the perfect moment. Pixel 3 helps you get that perfect shot on the first try.
Here’s how the best camera gets even better with Pixel 3:
Capture smiles, not blinks:
A feature we call Top Shot uses AI to help you capture the perfect photo every time. When you take a motion photo, it captures alternate shots in HDR+, then recommends the best one—even if it’s not exactly when you hit the shutter, looking for those where everyone is smiling, with eyes open, and facing the camera. Top Shot automatically captures alternate shots in HDR+. If your timing wasn’t perfect, the camera will suggest a better one and give you the option to save it.
Get better zoom:
When you zoom in on a phone camera, the image looks grainy. Super Res Zoom is a computational photography technique, traditionally used for astronomy and scientific imaging, that produces sharp details when you zoom.
No light; no problem:
Pixel 3 lets you take natural-looking photos in dark surroundings, all without a flash. With Night Sight, coming soon to Pixel 3, you can take bright, detailed, colorful shots around the campfire, in a moonlit forest, or a selfie after you close out the bar.
No selfie stick required:
Get everyone in the picture with Group Selfie, which gives you 184% more room in your photo for friends and scenery.
Look … no hands!
Photobooth mode uses AI to recognize that when you’re smiling or making a funny expression, you’re ready for a selfie. It snaps the photo on its own so that you don’t need to reach for the shutter button—a good option for candids.
Even more stunning portraits, front and back:
When you take photos in Portrait Mode, you can change the blurriness of the background, or change the part of the picture in focus, after the fact. Google Photos can also make the subject of your photo pop by leaving them in color, while changing the background to black and white.
Create and play:
In Playground, you can make photos, selfies and videos come to life by adding your favorite superheroes, animated stickers and fun captions. In celebration of Marvel Studios’ 10 Year Anniversary, you’ll enjoy seeing the characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (exclusively on Pixel) react to each other and to you.
Super smooth video:
When you want to capture something that won’t stop moving—think an adorable toddler or your new puppy—Motion Auto Focus will make sure your Pixel 3 camera stays in sharp focus automatically, as you record. And if you happen to be taking a selfie video while walking or moving around, Pixel 3 brings you front-facing video stabilization.
Unlimited storage for all of your photos and videos
With Pixel 3, you can save all your favourite moments with free, unlimited photo and video storage in original resolution.
1
It’s hassle-free, you don’t have to think about back-ups. Come back to Google Photos later and search for the beach photos you took on your Pixel 3, and they’ll pop right up.
Your AI-powered sidekick
The AI in Pixel 3 enables new features that make your day-to-day actions simpler and easier.
If you want to know more about something you’re looking at, use Google Lens, built right into the Pixel 3 camera.
2
To scan and translate text, find similar styles of clothing, or identify popular plants and animals, you can now long press in the Pixel 3 camera to easily open Lens. When you point your camera at information you want to remember or don’t feel like typing in—like a URL or QR code on a flyer or an email address on a business card—Google Lens suggests what to do next, like creating a new contact.
You can count on even more help across other apps too, including Gmail’s Smart Compose, now available for mobile on Pixel 3. Smart Compose suggests phrases in your emails so that you can draft them faster, on the go. Gboard, the keyboard built into your Pixel 3, will recommend GIFs, stickers, and more, to make your conversations fun and engaging. Both are available first in English.
Digital Wellbeing
Our phones, while probably the most important tech in our lives, shouldn’t control our lives. So
Digital Wellbeing
, a suite of tools to help you find your own balance with technology, is built into Pixel 3. It includes a dashboard to help you understand how you spend time on your phone, the ability to set time limits on specific apps, and a new Wind Down mode to help you get to sleep at night by gently transitioning your display to a grayscale screen. When you don’t want to be bothered by rings or notifications, just flip to Shhh— an easy gesture that turns on Do Not Disturb and minimizes distractions.
Fast and wireless charging
Pixel 3 comes with an 18 Watt fast charger in the box, which can give you up to 7 hours of use in 15 minutes of charging.
3
With our AI-powered Adaptive Battery technique, Pixel 3 prioritizes battery power for your most important apps to make your phone last all day.
Alongside Pixel 3, we’re also introducing Pixel Stand, our new, Qi compliant wireless charger (sold separately). While charging in the
Pixel Stand
, your phone turns into a smart visual and audio experience powered by the Google Assistant. It answers your questions, plays music, helps you control smart home devices, transitions into a photo frame when idle, and much more. If you set an alarm, your screen will gently brighten over 15 minutes before your alarm goes off, mimicking the sunrise and helping you wake up naturally.
Pixel 3 is IP68 water and dust resistant and has a security chip custom-designed by Google called Titan M, making it the most secure phone we've built yet. Titan M enhances mobile security by protecting your unlock credentials, disk encryption, app data, and the integrity of the operating system code itself. Powered by Android 9 Pie, Pixel 3 comes with the latest Android operating system.
You can choose from two sizes - the 5.5” Pixel 3 and the 6.3” Pixel 3 XL - and three colours - Just Black, Clearly White, and Not Pink. Both have the exact same feature set and include high quality Pixel USB-C earbuds and a USB-C Digital to 3.5 mm headphone adapter in the box. Pixel 3 comes with dual front-firing speakers tuned by a GRAMMY-winning music producer to turn your phone into a powerful speaker. Customers who activate a Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL by December 31, 2018 can get 6-months of free YouTube Music Premium.
Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL will be available for pre-order on the Google Store starting today and for sale at Best Buy, Bell, Costco, Fido, Freedom, Koodo, Rogers, Telus, T-Booth, Videotron, Virgin Mobile, WirelessWave, Walmart, WoW Mobile in the coming weeks. The Pixel 5.5” 64GB will start at $999 (plus tax) and the Pixel 6.3” 64GB will start at $1129 (plus tax). The Pixel Stand will be available in November via the Google Store and select retail and carrier partners for $109 (plus tax).
1. Free, unlimited online original-quality storage for photos / videos uploaded from Pixel 3 to Google Photos through 1/31/2022, and those photos / videos will remain free at original quality.
g.co/help/photostorage
2. For available Google Lens languages go to
g.co/help/lens
. Some Lens features require an internet connection.
3. Approximate battery life based on a mix of talk, data, standby, and use of other features, with always on display off and mobile hotspot off, according to a user profile as defined by Google. An active display or data usage will decrease battery life. Charging rates are based on use of the included charger. Charging time performance statistics are approximate. Actual results may vary.
Posted by Mario Queiroz, GM & VP, Pixel
Google Pixel Slate: Perfect for Work and Play
Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Our devices should be as versatile as we are—keeping up with quick transitions between work and play. That means devices should boot up fast, last all day and get better the more you use them. And it’s why a truly versatile operating system, matched with high performance hardware, is so important.
Last year, Chrome OS took a big step forward to become even more versatile for all your computing needs, adding apps from the Google Play Store as well as the Google Assistant. We tied it all together with
Pixelbook
, our high-performance Chromebook. And today we’re excited to share a new addition to the hardware family:
Google Pixel Slate
.
Google Pixel Slate is designed to entertain and help you do more in a fresh, mobile form. We combined a touch-first user interface, optimized Android apps and powerful desktop-style features in Chrome OS to deliver a truly no-compromise device.
V
ersatile hardware design
Pixel Slate feels great in your hands thanks to its evenly balanced centre-of-gravity, rounded edges and curved 2.5D glass. At just 7mm thin and 1.6 lbs with a display that covers nearly the entire front of the device, Pixel Slate was designed to maximize what matters most to you.
Movies, photos and games come to life in brilliant resolution with Pixel Slate. We engineered the device with a stunning, detailed display so sitting back to enjoy a movie is better than ever. The all-new Molecular Display™ packs 293 pixels per inch—that’s 6 million pixels—for the sharpest picture.
Your music sounds great too. Pixel Slate has dual front-firing speakers that were algorithmically tuned to perfection for crisp highs and clear lows.
You can also be able to connect with the people you care most about. It includes 8MP cameras on both the rear and front, and the front-facing Duo Cam provides an extra wide field of view with exceptional low light performance. You can even take great photos using portrait mode, which uses on-device machine learning to keep a single point in focus.
Lastly, Pixel Slate comes with up to 12 hours of battery life with typical mixed usage, so you can use it for a day of work or class, then watch movies on your train ride home.
Reimagining Chrome OS for a touch screen
Pixel Slate is powered by a reimagined Chrome OS that enables easy navigation on a touchscreen. It’s designed to be held in your hands, while giving you a full desktop experience where you can even run Linux if you’re a developer. It makes getting things done easy, with the Google Assistant built in, a new launcher, machine learning-generated suggestions for the apps you use most, and multitasking tools like split screen. It's also got a full desktop Chrome browser—with all your favorite extensions—so you won’t be limited by the mobile version of a website on Pixel Slate.
And what would modern computing be without apps? G Suite apps, which are used by more than a billion people worldwide to collaborate better, work great on Pixel Slate. Google Play gives you access to millions of apps from notetaking to gaming, entertainment, fitness and much more, both online and offline. When you’re done interacting with all this content, we’ve built in digital wellness features like Night Light and Do Not Disturb to ensure you can disconnect when needed. You’ll even be able to set digital ground rules for your family with Family Link, which gives you control over how your children’s device is used.
As with every Chrome OS device, Pixel Slate boots up in seconds and, when online, updates in the background so you always have the latest security and features without any of those annoying update notifications and interruptions. Pixel Slate adds an extra layer of protection with the Titan security chip so your information, device passwords and OS are protected on your device.
Pixel Slate is easy to unlock too. With Pixel Imprint™, the power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor, so you can unlock it just as quickly and securely as you do on your Pixel phone.
Pixel Slate Keyboard and Pixelbook Pen
If you want to be seriously productive, you need a great keyboard. The Pixel Slate Keyboard, which pairs perfectly with Pixel Slate, includes a full-size, backlit keyboard, with round Hush Keys™ that let you type quietly, a dedicated Google Assistant key and an extra large trackpad. The folio is adjustable so you can comfortably work at any angle, then it turns into a slim protective case when you’re on the go.
Pixel Slate also works with Pixelbook Pen, which launched last year and had the lowest latency of any digital pen out there. This year it’s even better and comes in a new Midnight Blue colour.
Get yours soon. Starting at $849 (plus tax), Pixel Slate comes in several configurations. Pixel Slate Keyboard is $259 (plus tax) and Pixelbook Pen is $129 (plus tax). All three will be available later this year** on the Google Store, Best Buy Canada and at other select retailers.
**This device has not been authorized as required by the rules of the FCC, Industry Canada or CE. This device is not, and may not be, offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained.
Matt Vokoun, Director, Product Management, Hardware, Google
Twenty years of building for everyone
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Editor’s note: This blog is cross-posted from
The Keyword
Twenty years ago, Google started with an ambitious goal to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. At the heart, we want to build technology that helps as many people as possible, regardless of who you are or where you are in the world. As we celebrate our birthday this month, we’re reflecting on some of the progress we’ve made toward that end. The w
ork is never done, but here are 20 highlights from the past two decades:
Finding answers … and making connections
1. Billions of people have used Google Search to find answers to (literally) trillions of questions every year—from “
how to help my community
” to “
how to find home
” to all the many
small questions
in between. With job search, we’ve helped connect 100 million people to job opportunities in 92 countries.
2. Google Maps has helped people find their way with driving directions in 240+ countries and territories, spanning 40 million miles of road—that’s 83+ trips to the moon and back. And by connecting people to 150 million places around the world, Maps helps communities and businesses grow. Most moving are the times when Maps has helped people find a sense of place in the world—from
Rio’s favelas
to
one’s own memories
.
3. People can now talk to their Google Assistant in more than 20 languages, and in some cases it can even keep up if you’re
bilingual
. You can ask about everything from fantasy football advice to help finding a parking spot, and do everything from meditate to order a coffee. In the car, the Assistant has helped people reach their destination on tens of millions of commutes, and has sent tens of millions of messages, helping people stay in touch while keeping their eyes on the road.
4. Translate helps over half a billion people ask for help,
make new friends
, and say "thank you" across 100+ languages. More than 143 billion words are translated every day—that’s more than 161,000 times the number of the complete works of Shakespeare.
Saving valuable time (and space!)
5. More than 500 million people use Google Photos every month, backing up more than 1.2 billion photos and videos per day. Photos has also freed up over 410 petabytes worth of space—that’s like more than 25 million 16GB devices—plus peace of mind knowing you'll always have room to capture more memories.
6. With the typing time reduced by Autocomplete in Search, we estimate people worldwide collectively save over 200 years of typing time per day!
7. Gmail’s
Smart Compose
, a new machine learning-powered experience that helps you write email faster, saves people from typing over 1 billion characters a week (to put that in perspective, that’s the equivalent of nearly 4 million tweets).
Helping you stay safe online
8. One billion people visit the
Google Account
each year to access settings to safeguard their data and privacy.
9. Safe Browsing protects more than 3 billion devices from malware and phishing schemes, helping you browse the web with confidence.
10. And Gmail blocks nearly 10 million spam and malicious emails every minute, helping you keep your email and data safe.
Giving people tools and platforms to grow
11. Each year for the past five years, our search and advertising tools have helped provide more than $100 billion in
economic activity
to businesses, publishers and nonprofits across the United States. And we’re inspired by the stories of local and small businesses, from
John’s Crazy Socks
to
American Hats
, who are using the web to grow.
12. Google Play has helped developers grow app businesses and reach users in 190+ countries and across more than 2 billion Android devices. From
an app that helps blind people see to a game that creates art
, these creators are doing amazing things on our open platforms.
13. Since the start of 2017, we’ve trained more than 30 million people around the world in a range of digital skills, helping them
start and grow businesses
,
learn to code
, and
find new careers
.
Expanding access to learning opportunities
14. More than 25 million students worldwide are using Chromebooks in schools to share ideas, create projects, go on virtual field trips, and learn from each other and their teachers.
15. Art lovers and history buffs have marveled at artifacts from 1,500+ museums across 70 countries in Google Arts & Culture. From
Abramovic to Zhengming
, that’s thousands of artworks and 6 million photos, videos, manuscripts and other documents at your fingertips. And people have met more than 78 million selfie matches from 650+ institutions with Art Selfie.
16. People can access local versions of YouTube in 91 countries around the world across 80 languages—covering 95 percent of all internet traffic. And every day, people watch learning-related content over a billion times on YouTube.
Making an impact on a global scale
17. To help people in times of need, we’ve activated SOS Alerts to provide better access to emergency information in more than 200 crisis situations, and people have viewed Public Alerts—for things like storm warnings or hurricane evacuations—more than 1.5 billion times.
18. Since 2005, we’ve donated more than $1.5 billion to organizations working to help
refugees
and
disaster victims
,
fight for equal justice
,
provide teachers with classroom equipment
, and
teach people new skills
. And over the past four years Googlers have logged over a million hours (that’s 114 years’ worth!) volunteering in the communities where we live and work.
19. People have used Nest thermostats to save 25 billion kWh of energy—roughly enough to power
Ireland for a year
.
20. Thousands of developers have used TensorFlow, our open source tool for deep learning, to make farming more efficient in
Japan
and the
Netherlands
,
predict wildfires
and
prevent deforestation
,
track whale migration
and
identify birdsong
—and even
detect cancer
.
Google’s name is based on a number—a one with 100 zeroes after it. When we went public in 2004, the offering contained a math joke about the irrational number "e." Oh, and we call our campus headquarters the “Googleplex,” which, if it were spelled differently, would be a one followed by a googol of zeroes. You could say we’re numbers people.
But these numbers are different. They represent something incredibly meaningful—the billions of people who have posed a question, sent an email, opened a new tab, dragged a pin on a map, asked a big question. Billions of people who have found answers, gotten things done or started on a new adventure. Billions of people whose lives have gotten, just possibly, a little bit better or brighter thanks to something that we built.
Everything we’ve done for the past 20 years has been built with you in mind, and we’re incredibly grateful for the opportunity you’ve given us to be a part of your lives. And two decades in, we’re even more dedicated to building products and services that make a difference for you.
Posted by Emily Wood, Editor-in-Chief, The Keyword
Improving Search for the next 20 years
Monday, September 24, 2018
Editor’s note: This blog is cross-posted from
The Keyword
Growing up in India, there was one good library in my town that I had access to—run by the British Council. It was modest by western standards, and I had to take two buses just to get there. But I was lucky, because for every child like me, there were many more who didn’t have access to the same information that I did. Access to information changed my life, bringing me to the U.S. to study computer science and opening up huge possibilities for me that would not have been available without the education I had.
The British Council Library in my hometown
When Google started 20 years ago, our mission was to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. That seemed like an incredibly ambitious mission at the time—even considering that in 1998 the web consisted of just 25 million pages (roughly the equivalent of books in a small library).
Fast forward to today, and now we index hundreds of billions of pages in our index—more information than all the libraries in the world could hold. We’ve grown to serve people all over the world, offering Search in more than 150 languages and over 190 countries.
Through all of this, we’ve remained grounded in our mission. In fact, providing greater access to information is as core to our work today as it was when we first started. And while almost everything has changed about technology and the information available to us, the core principles of Search have stayed the same.
First and foremost,
we focus on the user
. Whether you’re looking for recipes, studying for an exam, or finding information on where to vote, we’re focused on serving your information needs.
We strive to give you the
most relevant, highest quality information
as quickly as possible. This was true when Google started with the Page Rank algorithm—the foundational technology to Search. And it’s just as true today.
We see billions of queries every day, and 15 percent of queries are ones we’ve never seen before. Given this scale, the only way to provide Search effectively is through an
algorithmic approach
. This helps us not just solve all the queries we’ve seen yesterday, but also all the ones we can’t anticipate for tomorrow.
Finally, we
rigorously test every change we make
. A key part of this testing is the
rater guidelines
which define our goals in search, and which are publicly available for anyone to see. Every change to Search is evaluated by experimentation and by raters using these guidelines. Last year alone, we ran more than 200,000 experiments that resulted in 2,400+ changes to search. Search will serve you better today than it did yesterday, and even better tomorrow.
As Google marks our 20th anniversary, I wanted to share a first look at the next chapter of Search, and how we’re working to make information more accessible and useful for people everywhere. This next chapter is driven by three fundamental shifts in how we think about Search:
The shift from answers to journeys
: To help you resume tasks where you left off and learn new interests and hobbies, we’re bringing new features to Search that help you with ongoing information needs.
The shift from queries to providing a queryless way to get to information
: We can surface relevant information related to your interests, even when you don’t have a specific query in mind.
And the shift from text to a more visual way of finding information
: We’re bringing more visual content to Search and completely redesigning Google Images to help you find information more easily.
Underpinning each of these are our advancements in AI, improving our ability to understand language in ways that weren’t possible when Google first started. This is incredibly exciting, because over 20 years ago when I studied neural nets at school, they didn’t actually work very well...at all!
But we’ve now reached the point where neural networks can help us take a major leap forward from understanding words to understanding concepts. Neural embeddings, an approach developed in the field of neural networks, allow us to transform words to fuzzier representations of the underlying concepts, and then match the concepts in the query with the concepts in the document. We call this technique neural matching. This can enable us to address queries like: “why does my TV look strange?” to surface the most relevant results for that question, even if the exact words aren’t contained in the page. (By the way, it turns out the reason is called the
soap opera effect
).
Finding the right information about my TV is helpful in the moment. But AI can have much more profound effects. Whether it’s
predicting areas that might be affected in a flood
, or helping you identify the best job opportunities for you, AI can dramatically improve our ability to make information more accessible and useful.
I’ve worked on Search at Google since the early days of its existence. One of the things that keeps me so inspired about Search all these years is our mission and how timeless it is. Providing greater access to information is fundamental to what we do, and there are always more ways we can help people access the information they need. That’s what pushes us forward to continue to make Search better for our users. And that’s why our work here is never done.
Posted by Ben Gomes, VP, Search, News and Assistant
Grow with Google provides opportunity for all Canadians
Monday, September 17, 2018
At Google, we are technology optimists. Not because we believe in technology, but because we believe in people. When people have access to technology, they have access to information, education and opportunity, and they are capable of achieving great things.
Last week, we released an
Economic Impact Report
showcasing the value of the open web for Canadian businesses. The report highlights businesses of all shapes and sizes across the country who are experiencing incredible growth thanks to the tools and reach available on the web. These inspiring stories all start with opportunity.
In order to provide that same opportunity for every Canadian, we need to begin with access. Access to the open web, access to digital education, and access to the digital skills needed to grow a business or work in the technology driven economy of tomorrow. Technology is an incredible platform for growth, but we need to provide all Canadians with the skills needed to use it and take it further.
In April, we announced a one million dollar grant in collaboration with MaRS to develop the Employment Pathway Platform, a data driven job opportunity and career guidance tool that is aimed at helping people make the right career transitions as the nature of work shifts alongside technology. We also launched Google For Jobs in Canada, a tool within Google Search that lets Canadians search for jobs that are accurate, relevant and personalized based on search queries.
Today we’re furthering our commitment to helping Canadians prepare for the future of work by launching
Grow with Google
, an initiative to help Canadians acquire the digital skills they need to grow their business or get a job. As part of that initiative, we’re announcing two million dollars in grants to ensure that our efforts reach Canadians in every community, big and small.
First, we’re partnering with
Canada Learning Code
to provide Canadians with free tools and training to advance their skills, grow their business or get a job. Through our partnership with CLC, individuals across the country will have access to our
Applied Digital Skills Program
. The video-based curriculum teaches learners about the basics of working with technology today: everything from spreadsheets to email is covered and available in guided, bite-sized lessons. To make sure those lessons are available to all Canadians, the entire Applied Digital Skills Training Program is offered in both French and English.
And for those looking to explore a career in technology, we’re bringing our
IT Support Professional Certificate
to Canada. Developed by Google and hosted on Coursera, this program helps turn beginners into job candidates in just eight months - no experience or degree required. Completing the program is the first step, but we’re also be supporting learners in the next step - the job search. We’ve partnered with leading Canadian companies, like Walmart and RBC, and of course Google Canada, to get graduates information into the hands of HR departments. With over 64 hours of video lessons, hands-on labs and interactive assessments, our IT Support Professional Certificate is the perfect transition for adults looking to reskill and kickstart a new career in technology.
Finally, we’re bringing Grow with Google to a town near you. Googlers are teaming up with libraries and community organizations across the country to bring digital skills training to you. The free events will provide small business owners, entrepreneurs and job seekers with the skills they need to grow. We’ll host hands-on workshops, one-on-one training sessions, and demo stations staffed by Google volunteers. Our first stop is Surrey, British Columbia this Friday, September 21st. Find out where we’re headed next and secure your spot today by visiting our online hub -
g.co/GrowCanada
.
We hope that by making our resources available to every Canadian online, by supporting organizations committed to expanding access to digital education, and by bringing our training across the country, we will help individuals grow. Because when one has access to opportunity, they can achieve incredible things. There is one business in particular that really demonstrates the power of the web and the opportunity that lies within it.
Two years ago, the Hadhad family moved to Canada after fleeing their home in Damascus, Syria. They lost everything, including their business, a chocolate factory that had been in the family for 30 years. New beginnings can be hard, but the community of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, together with the opportunity provided by the web, the Hadhad family rebuilt their life and business in Canada. With digital tools like Google Search, YouTube and Google My Business, the Hadhad family launched a new chocolate business,
Peace by Chocolate
, that reaches customers far beyond Canada. In fact, 65% of their web traffic comes from outside of Canada. Today, Peace by Chocolate sells their product to over 400 vendors across Canada and produces over 1.5 million pieces of chocolate a year.
I’m optimistic about the future of work in Canada. We’ve seen firsthand how access to digital skills and opportunity can transform people’s businesses, careers and lives. Like the Hadhad family, we can open a new door by rebuilding our skill set and reaching new heights. With technology, anything is possible.
Sabrina Geremia, Managing Director, Google Canada
How Google is helping Canadians unlock the prosperity of the open web
Wednesday, September 12, 2018
Businesses across Canada are using the web to learn, build, connect, and grow. And Google is helping. The opportunities available to businesses today are endless thanks to digital tools, like Google Search and Maps. With the web, location and size is no longer a barrier to building a global business.
According to an
Economic Impact Report
produced by Deloitte,
last year Google’s search and advertising tools helped create over $10.4 billion in economic activity for Canadian businesses, entrepreneurs, non-profits, developers, and creators
. Thanks to the open web and the accessibility of our tools, Canadian businesses are reaching new heights, fueling growth, creating jobs and giving back to their communities.
Behind these numbers, are the
amazing stories of Canadians
unlocking the vast potential of the Internet. And I want to share just a few examples.
Peace by Chocolate
Antigonish, Nova Scotia
35 employees
After more than three decades working as a chocolatier in Damascus, Syria, Isam Hadhad’s chocolate factory was destroyed, forcing his family to flee their country. In 2016, the Hadhad’s settled in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, where they rebuilt their life and their business,
Peace by Chocolate
, with help from the web.
The Hadhad’s relied on Google Search to source local suppliers and vendors needed for chocolate production, and turned to Google My Business to drive traffic to their storefront and website. In just two short years since setting foot on Canadian soil, the Hadhad’s have built a brand with international recognition. So much so that 65% of their website traffic comes from consumers outside of Canada. “Our presence on Google has helped us reach audiences across the country and has given us the ability to share our story internationally,” said Tareq Hadhad, CEO at Peace by Chocolate.
Peace by Chocolate, Antigonish, NS
Logojoy
Toronto, Ontario
24 employees
Creating a business that helps entrepreneurs like himself was important to Dawson Whitfield, founder of
Logojoy
, an online logo company that uses machine learning to create personalized, affordable logos for small businesses and entrepreneurs around the world.
Two years after founding the business, Logojoy has served over 2.5 million entrepreneurs and startups, a milestone the team says wouldn’t be possible without the web. The company uses TensorFlow, Google’s open-source machine learning framework, to refine their logo maker, and Google Ads to reach a hyper-niche audience at the exact moment their product is needed. Today, Google Ads drives almost half of Logojoy’s overall website traffic. “Logojoy is in 188 countries, and Google Search Ads has been a huge part of that,” says Whitfield.
Logojoy, Toronto, ON
ToursByLocals
Vancouver, British Columbia
43 employees
The web creates opportunities for every individual, and Paul Melhus and Dave Vincent are proof of that. “Most of our friends and family thought starting an e-commerce company in our 50s was crazy,” says co-founder Paul Melhus. “We thought it would be a challenge.”
ToursByLocals
pairs travellers looking for unique, flexible experiences with local tour guides all over the world. The idea was born 12 years ago after Melhus and Vincent found themselves struggling to find a suitable tour option during a trip to the Great Wall of China. Today, ToursByLocals has served almost one million travellers in 153 countries and counting. The ToursByLocals used Google Analytics to inform their online strategy and today Google Ads makes up the majority of their marketing efforts. “We struggled at first - until we embraced Google Ads,” Melhus adds. “Almost immediately, our sales started to grow and they’ve continued ever since.”
ToursByLocals, Vancouver, BC
These are just a few inspiring examples of the way Canadian businesses, large and small, use the web to reach new heights.
Check out more stories
of how businesses and nonprofits are leveraging the open web and Google tools to grow and compete globally.
Posted by Sabrina Geremia, Managing Director, Google Canada
Labels
#AI
1
#chromebooks #googleforeducation #googlecanada
1
#Chromecast #ChromecastGames #Christmas #Xmas2015 #AngryBirds #Google #AngryBirdsFriends
1
#digitalskills
1
#EarthDay
1
#Google
1
#Google #GoogleCanada #Innovation
2
#Google #GoogleCanada #Arctic #Whistler
1
#Google #GoogleCanada #GoogleCalendar #Android #iphone
1
#Google #GoogleCanada #GoogleKW #Waterloo #Engineering #Innovation
2
#Google #GooglePlay #Family #FamilyLibrary
1
#Google #GooglePlayMusic #Beatles #Music
1
#Google #GooglePlayMusic #GooglePodcasts #GoogleCanada
1
#Google #Olympics #GoogleOlympics
1
#Google #Olympics #GoogleOlympics #GoogleCanada #Rio #Rio2016
2
#GoogleCanada
2
#googlecanada # google.org #challenge #GIC #ImpactChallenge #canada
1
#GoogleCanada #GooglePlay
1
#googlecanada #pixel3
1
#googlecanada #pixelslate
1
#GoogleExpeditions #SaveThePolarBears #GoogleCanada #PolarBearsInternational
1
#GoogleMaps
2
#GoogleSearch #GoogleMaps
1
#GoogleStreetView #StreetView
1
#GrowwithGoogle
2
#Indigenous #nationalaboriginalday #indigenousmapping #google #googlemaps #googleearths #canada #canada150
1
#JobsOnGoogle #Employment
1
#MobileMonth
3
#NewsWise
1
#ParksCanada
1
#ParksDay
1
#photos #food #GoogleCanada
1
#PledgeToVote
2
#saferinernetday
1
#SmallBusiness
2
#streetartproject
1
#StreetView
2
#ThinkBrand
3
#WorldEnvironmentDay #Environment
1
#YearInSearch
1
#youtube #creators #canada #montreal #quebec #YouTubeSpace
1
#youtube #creators #nextup #canada
1
#youtube #Toronto #Google #advertising #ad #pulse #youtubepulse
1
#YouTube #YouTubeFanFest #YTFF #Toronto #Google #iisuperwomanii #unicornisland #molsonamp
1
2018
1
360
1
Ads
15
Adwords
5
Agency
3
Agency Edge
2
AI
1
Allo
1
Analytics
1
Android
5
Android Apps
4
Arctic
6
art
1
Assistant
2
Availability
1
Award Winners
1
Back to School
7
bestbuy
1
bestbuycanada
1
Big Tent
1
Billboard Charts
1
Brand
4
Buffer Festival
2
Buffer Industry Day
2
Canada
2
Canada 150th
1
Canada NGO
1
Canadian
1
Canadian Innovation
2
Canadian Music
2
Canadiana
1
CBC
2
CBC News
1
CBCMusic
1
CBCNews
1
ChanningTatum
1
Chrome
9
Chrome Experiments
4
Chrome OS
3
Chrome Webstore
1
Chromebooks
5
Chromebox
1
Chromecast
6
chromecastultra
1
ChromeOS
1
Civic Engagement
3
Cloud
1
Cloud Computing
2
Codemakers
4
Comedy Week
1
Community Grants
4
contest
1
CSS3
1
D4G Canada
1
Daydream
1
Digital Economy
6
DIY Videos
2
Doodle
1
Doodle 4 Google Canada
2
Duo
1
Elections
4
engineering
1
Enhanced Campaigns
1
EnMasse
1
Enterprise
5
eTowns
1
Francais
1
French
1
French Canadian
1
Full Value of Mobile
1
Geek Street
1
GIC
1
Gmail
4
Gmail App
1
Go North
1
GoneGoogle
4
GoNorth
1
google
4
Google Allo
1
Google App Engine
1
Google Apps
5
Google Apps for Business
2
Google AR & VR
1
Google Art Project
4
Google Assistant
1
Google Books
1
Google Calendar
2
Google Camp
1
Google Canada
4
Google Cloud
2
Google Cloud Platform
1
Google Cloud Storage
1
Google Coder
1
Google Cultural Institute
2
Google Currents
1
Google Developer
1
Google Docs
1
Google Doodle
1
Google Education Team
3
Google Engage
1
Google for Education
1
Google for Entrepreneurs
1
Google for non profits
1
Google for Seniors
1
Google Giving
1
Google Hangouts
3
Google Holiday
3
Google Impact Challenge
1
Google Kitchener-Waterloo
3
Google KW
2
Google Maps
30
Google Montreal
4
Google Music
1
Google My Business
1
Google Partner Serach
1
Google Partners
1
Google Play
10
Google Play Gift Cards
1
Google Play Music
4
Google Retail
2
Google Rise Award
1
Google Sites
1
Google Translate
1
Google TV
1
Google Waterloo
2
Google Wifi
1
Google+
2
GoogleCanada
3
googleshop
1
GoogleWifi
1
Grammys
1
Guest Blog
1
Hackathon
1
Hangouts
3
happy birthday Canada
1
Hardware
1
Holiday
2
Home
1
How-to
2
How-to videos
2
Innovation
6
Innovation Week
5
Insights
1
LilySingh
1
LiveCase
1
machine learning
1
Made by Google
1
madebygoogle
3
Maps
15
Mobile
12
Montreal
1
Multi-Screen
2
Music
2
MyLiveCase
1
O2S
1
Online Impacting Offline
1
Open Data
2
Peter Mansbridge
1
pixel
5
Play TV
1
playmusiccanada
1
Product
1
Product Launch
1
Products
1
ProudToPlay
1
Public Alerts
1
Quebec
1
Research
1
Retail
3
Search
10
Search Trends
23
security
2
Shopping
1
small business
2
SMB
6
Songza
1
STEM
2
STEM Education
5
Street View
1
StreetView
1
Super Bowl
1
technology
1
Templates
1
The National
1
TheHip
1
TheTragicallyHip
1
Think Insights
3
TouTube FanFest
1
Travel
2
Trends
12
Updates
1
Video
1
Video Trends
6
VideoCalling
1
Videos
1
Vimy150
1
Virtual Reality
1
VR
1
Web Audio API
1
WebGL
1
WebRTC
1
WomenatGoogle
7
YouTube
51
YouTube 360
1
YouTube Creators
14
YouTube Debates
1
YouTube FanFest
2
YouTube Gaming
1
YouTube Kids
1
YouTube Live
1
YouTube Music
7
YouTube Music Awards
2
YouTube NextLab
1
YouTube Partner Program
3
YouTube Rewind
2
YouTube Space
1
YouTube Space Toronto
1
YouTubeCreators
1
YouTubeRewind
1
YPP
2
Zeitgeist
2
Archive
2018
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
2017
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2016
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2015
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2014
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2013
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Jul
Jun
May
Apr
Mar
Feb
Jan
2012
Dec
Nov
Oct
Sep
Aug
Feed
Google
on
Follow @googlecanada
Follow
Read this blog in French:
Blogue officiel de Google Canada
Give us feedback in our
Product Forums
.
Follow