The IT Nerd

If you are a user of the Chrome browser, you should update it ASAP to stop a flaw in said browser from being used by threat actors as an attack vector to pwn you.

The details of the flaw can be found here. The flaw allows an attacker to execute code and pwn you. Which is of course bad. What’s worse is that this exploit according to 9to5Mac is actively being exploited. Making this a today problem for you.

Time to update all the things Chrome related.

Shopping habits have significantly shifted over the years as Canadians become increasingly digitally savvy shoppers. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday around the corner, Google Canada is revealing new insights around how Canadians plan to shop this holiday season, and the top searched products under a number of categories. 

Whether Canadians are looking to revive cargo pants, up their hair and nails game or contemplate whether the iconic Mattel hunk is truly “Kenough” for gifting this holiday season, Google Canada’s has the top searched items for holiday shoppers along with additional insights on how Canadians are shopping this season here.

Here’s what Canadians are searching for leading into Black Friday/Cyber Monday*:

Source: Google Search Trends.*

Today, Google Canada is announcing the winning Canadian advertisers and agencies selected for the inaugural Google Search Honours Awards, celebrating those who are using AI-powered advertising to propel their business forward. 

There are plenty of awards that recognize flashy brand campaigns, but Search marketing doesn’t get the same recognition despite its impact on driving business results. The Google Search Honours Awards were created to celebrate brands and marketers using Google’s AI-powered ads to reach new audiences, maximize their spends and push the boundaries of what their campaigns can achieve.

On September 14, Google announced the shortlist, and six winners were announced at the awards celebration on Thursday November 2.

The news is out from Google this morning Demand Gen will enter global general availability for all advertisers.

YouTube & Google announced the beta for Demand Gen back at Cannes – unveiling it as a new ads campaign type for social marketers. Since then, global brands and agencies like Samsung Germany and pHd Media have used this solution to uplevel their approach to social.

Their findings: Neither Google nor YouTube are markedly social platforms but the interconnected networks provide performance and results that are better for social buyers. It’s because of the unparalleled reach (read: billions of users a month) across multiple surfaces and screens, plus thecontent that viewers seek out, and the singular nature of how this ecosystem is where consumers turn to first to engage during critical moments of consideration – from brand letters in Gmail to creator recommendations on YouTube and Shorts.

More details can be found in this blog post.

Today, an Economic Impact Report was released, revealing that Google Search, Google Play, YouTube, Google Cloud and Google Advertising tools delivered over $45 billion of economic activity for Canadian businesses, non-profits, publishers, creators and developers in 2022.

The report, published by Public First, also offers a future-looking perspective on how AI-powered technologies are set to provide the country with an economic boost, whether that’s helping people to work more efficiently, making careers more accessible or unlocking new ways of learning digital skills. Some of the report’s key findings include:

• Generative AI has the potential to increase Canada’s economy by $210 billion –  that’s the equivalent of 8% of Gross Value Added (GVA)
• Generative AI could save the average Canadian worker over 100 hours a year
• It’s estimated that Google Cloud is saving 120 million business hours for the Canadian economy each year – that’s equivalent to at least $7.5 billion a year in business time savings for the Canadian economy.

 Google’s blog post has more information about today’s announcement and you can read the full report here. 

Today, YouTube ads unveiled Google-AI powered solutions that will allow advertisers to effectively unlock creativity on their platform.

The new creative guidance tool in Google ads will auto detect if uploaded campaigns are up to the standard of YouTube’s creative best practices – providing them with input on what is most effective on the platform. This means advertisers will have data-backed input on their campaign impact on the platform – straight from the source. 

This feedback is then made immediately actionable with advertisers ability to then access more AI-powered tools including the ability to add voiceover, perfectly edit their ads for length or orientation, and/or create new immersive and effective ads by adding their creative assets to new templates. 

Once advertisers have the ideal ad, they can trust our campaign types to then place their campaigns, through AI, in the most relevant context for the multi-format, multi-screen experience that is YouTube.

Read more on the blog here.

Today, Google announced a new update to Privacy Sandbox for the Web, reaching  “general availability” on Chrome for the relevance and measurement APIs, a significant step on the path towards a fundamentally more private web. 

Google first introduced the Privacy Sandbox initiative across the web and Android in 2019, collaborating with a wide range of stakeholders — including publishers, developers, adtech providers, consumers, and more

What’s new? 

• The general availability of the Privacy Sandbox APIs will enable advertisers and developers to scale usage of these new technologies within their products and services
• Google has also rolled out new Ad privacy controls in Chrome that allow people to manage how the Privacy Sandbox technologies may be used to deliver the ads they see. These controls allow users to tailor their experience by customizing what ad topics they’re interested in, what relevance and measurement APIs they want enabled, and more. 
• General availability means the Privacy Sandbox technologies are in a stable state, and ready for scaled use by advertising solutions to support key business use cases. Having reached this stage after extensive industry feedback, Google does not plan to make any significant changes to the API interfaces ahead of third-party cookie deprecation. Companies integrating the Privacy Sandbox APIs into their solutions can now scale their deployment and testing to assess readiness for the planned deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome in the second half of 2024.
• Starting in Q4 of 2023, Google will enable the industry to bolster their testing efforts with the ability to simulate the deprecation of third-party cookies for a percentage of their users. Then, in Q1 of 2024, Google will turn off third-party cookies for 1 percent of all Chrome users, further establishing the environments necessary for testing the effectiveness of the Privacy Sandbox APIs. 

You can learn more about the announcement in the blog post here. 

Today Google announced the 12 startups joining the North American Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders class of 2023. Among this group is Kingsley Madu, founder and CEO of Hamilton-based startup, Expedier, a Black-led banking platform offering financial solutions to underbanked BIPOC communities.

When emigrating to Canada, Madu was faced with adversity from the onset, challenged with lack of access to financial services, he was unable to apply for a credit card or rent a home.  After experiencing these hardships, he began building the first BIPOC community-focused global banking solution to offer support to the millions of immigrants who come to Canada looking for a new life.

This month, Expedier will join 11 other Black-led startups as part of the North American Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders class of 2023.  The 10-week intensive digital accelerator provides equity-free technical support and mentorship along with access to the best of Google’s people and technology, to help these startups prepare for the next phase of their growth journey. Now in its fourth year, the Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders program is part of Google’s commitment to leveling the playing field for underserved founders across North America. 

You can read more about Kingsley Madu and his startup Expedier in our Q&A blog here.