Official Canada Blog
News and notes from Google Canada
Flowers say "I'm sorry"...but Bacon Flowers say "I love you!"
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Are you getting creative this Valentine's Day, or are you leaving things to the very last minute?
Every year, more and more Canadians are turning to the Internet to find Valentine's Day inspiration, whether it's for gift ideas or finding the perfect romantic restaurant.
'Bacon flowers'
,
'panda flowers
' and
'blue roses'
were some of the top trending creative Valentine's Day searches in Canada in 2012. And Atlantic Canada led the nation in the romance department, with the most Valentine's Day related searches...which is perhaps not surprising given the volume of
searches for 'Fifty Shades of Grey'
coming from the East Coast.
Here is our infographic looking at these and other trends from Valentine's Day in Canada:
Posted by Andrew Swartz, Google Canada
Ski Resorts now on Google Maps
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Originally posted on the Google Maps
blog
.
Today Google announces 38 new run and lift maps for some of the most popular mountains across North America.
You just stepped out of the gondola into a strong wind at the peak. It’s cold and you’re weighing whether to drop into that powdery black diamond chute you’ve always dreamt of...or sliding down the nearest blue for hot cider at the base.
Google Maps is now your “go to” mountain guide.
Whether you’re shredding Big White or Big Sky, Google Maps offers a comprehensive, accurate and easy way to find the best route down the hill.
Power up Google Maps on your Android device or iPhone, and the mountain information you need is right there. Blue, green and black runs are shown as solid colored lines and ski lifts are red dotted lines.
Click on the links to explore the maps of of these iconic Canadian winter resorts.
Big White Ski Resort
- BC
Lake Louise Ski Area
- AB, CAN
Revelstoke Mountain Resort
- BC
Whistler Blackcomb
- BC
Panorama Mountain Village
- BC
Whistler Blackcomb on iPhone and Lake Louise Resorts on Android
Ski resorts in Google Maps can also be helpful when you’re gearing up for a trip. You can check out the maps on your laptop browser to plot your course, and even get a Street View preview of a
few select slopes
before you head up the mountain.
Map of Squaw Valley near Lake Tahoe in California
The growing list of mountain maps now available in Google Maps is here:
Alpine Meadows
- CO
Alyeska Resort
- AK
Aspen Highlands
- CO
Aspen Mountain
- CO
Attitash Mountain Resort
- NH
Big Sky Resort
- MT
Big White Ski Resort
- BC, CAN
Breckenridge Ski Resort
- CO
Brighton
- UT
Buttermilk
- CO
Copper Mountain
- CO
Crested Butte Mountain Resort
- CO
Deer Valley Resort
- UT
Granite Gorge
- NH
Heavenly Mountain Resort
- CA
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
- WY
Lake Louise Ski Area
- AB, CAN
Mammoth Mountain
- CA
Mount Bachelor
- OR
Mount Shasta
- CA
Okemo Mountain
Resort
- VT
Panorama Mountain Village
- BC, CAN
Park City Mountain Resort
- UT
Revelstoke Mountain Resort
- BC, CAN
Schweitzer Mountain Resort
- ID
Sierra-at-Tahoe Resort
- CA
Snowbasin
- UT
Snowmass
- CO
Squaw Valley
- CA
Steamboat Ski Resort
- CO
Stowe Mountain Resort
- VT
Sugar Bowl Resort
- CA
Sun Valley Resort
- ID
Telluride Ski Resort
- CO
Vail Mountain
- CO
Whistler Blackcomb
- BC, CAN
Wildcat Mountain
- NH
Winter Park Resort
- CO
We hope you’ll use these maps to discover new trails and find your way around the mountain more quickly and easily. We’ve got more ski resort maps on the way, so be sure to check Google Maps before your next trip. See you out there!
Posted by Ryan Poscharsky, Strategic Partner Manager, Google Maps
A Chrome Experiment made with some friends from Oz
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
You won’t need magical powers to take a journey down the yellow brick road; just point your favorite browser to the latest Chrome Experiment, “
Find Your Way to Oz
”. Developed in collaboration with Disney and
UNIT9
in anticipation of the upcoming film,
Oz The Great and Powerful
, this experiment takes you through a dusty Kansas circus and leads to a vibrant land, following in the footsteps of the Wizard himself.
Like any good circus, there’s plenty to keep you entertained: compose your own music, play with a fun photo booth and create your own movie with a zoetrope. The path to Oz also involves confronting an ominous tornado; surviving it completes the journey, enabling fans of the movie to watch an exclusive unreleased clip from the film.
Chrome Experiments
like “Find Your Way to Oz” would have been impossible a few years ago. Since that time, the web has evolved and allowed developers and designers to create immersive beautiful experiences. For “Find Your Way to Oz” the 3D environment was built entirely with new technologies such as
WebGL
and
CSS3
. It’s enhanced by rich audio effects thanks to the
Web Audio API
. The photo booth and zoetrope were built using the
getUserMedia
feature of
WebRTC
, which grants webpages access to your computer’s camera and microphone (with your permission).
For the best experience, you’ll need to use an up-to-date computer built to handle intense graphics. It also works best with a webcam and a modern browser that supports WebGL and WebRTC, like
Chrome
. For tablet or smartphone users, we have a smaller scale yet equally enjoyable experience that you can try with the latest Chrome browser on your Android device, iPhone or iPad.
If you want to learn more, or run away and join the developer circus, you can get an explanation of the technologies used on the Chromium blog or in our
technical case study
. Start your journey towards the yellow brick road at
www.findyourwaytooz.com
.
Posted by
Posted by Christos Apartoglou, Marketing Manager Team
The commercials, Beyonce, and the Ravens dominate game day searches in Canada
Monday, February 4, 2013
What a game! From an intense sibling rivalry, to a 34-minute long power outage, a few historic plays, and a battle that was contested down to the final seconds - not to mention the commercials - the Super Bowl provided much excitement both on and off the field. We took a look to see what fans across Canada were looking for online during the game, and given that we search more for Super Bowl commercials than any other country in the world, it’s not surprising that 3 of the top 5 searches were for some big game day spots.
Overall, the top trending searches on Google in Canada during the game were:
M&M's
Beyonce
Mercedes-Benz
Lincoln
Baltimore Ravens
Other noteworthy trending searches on Google include those about the power outage, which started trending mid-game and ended up ranking 11th out of the most-searched terms during game time in Canada. Searches for Beyonce spiked dramatically during her halftime show.
Canada’s Team? The Ravens. Canada’s Harbaugh? Jim
The Ravens eclipsed the 49ers both on the field and as the most-searched team during the game; however, Jim was the
most-searched Harbaugh
in Canada. The most-searched players of the game were
Colin Kaepernick
,
Michael Oher
,
Joe Flacco
,
David Akers
, and
Randy Moss
.
Game day commercials
While most of the big game day commercials are not broadcast in Canada, that didn’t stop Canadians from enjoying the much-ballyhooed ads online. The most searched for commercials on YouTube were ads from
M&M’s
,
Mercedes-Benz
,
Audi
,
Lincoln
, and
Disney's “Oz Great and Powerful”
. Fans were seeking out commercials online throughout the game, driving searches for the big game’s ads on Google 93 times higher this Sunday than the same time last week.
This year many advertisers turned to YouTube to share game day ads and teaser videos in the weeks leading up to the game. In 2013, big game ads or ad teasers were watched
more than 66 million times
on YouTube worldwide before game day.