Google Product Helping Blog

The game of Go originated in China more than 2,500 years ago. Confucius wrote about the game, and it is considered one of the four essential arts required of any true Chinese scholar. Played by more than 40 million people worldwide , the rules of the game are simple: Players take turns to place black or white stones on a board, trying to capture the opponent's stones or surround empty space to make points of territory. The game is played primarily through intuition and feel, and because of its beauty, subtlety and intellectual depth it has captured the human imagination for centuries. But as simple as the rules are, Go is a game of profound complexity. There are 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible positions�that�s more than the number of atoms in the universe, and more than a goo...

A year and a half ago we introduced Google Cardboard, a simple cardboard viewer that anyone can use to experience mobile virtual reality (VR). With just Cardboard and the smartphone in your pocket, you can travel to faraway places and visit imagined worlds . Since then everyone from droid lovers and Sunday edition subscribers , to big kids  and grandmas have been able to enjoy VR�often for the very first time. Here's a look at where we are, 19 months in: 1. 5 million Cardboard fans have joined the fold. 2. In just the past two months (October-December), you launched into 10 million more immersive app experiences: 3. Out of 1,000+ Cardboard apps on Google Play, one of your favorites got you screaming �aaaaaaahwsome,� while another �gave you goosebumps.� 4. You teleported to places far and wide, right from the comfort of YouTube . 5. Since we launched Cardboard Camera in December, you�ve captured more than 750,000 VR photos, letting you relive your favorite moments anytime, ...

In just two days, Americans will tune in for the final Republican debate before the 2016 primary season officially kicks off in Iowa, and we�re teaming up with Fox News Channel to make sure every citizen can get the most out of it. To help people get informed before heading to the polls, we�re integrating three new components into the debate: a way to hear directly from candidates on Google; real-time Google Trends data; and questions from some of YouTube�s most prominent voices. Hear from candidates directly, right on Google Political search interest spikes 440 percent on average during live televised debates as people turn to the web to learn more about the candidates and their platforms. Now people will have a new way to hear directly from candidates themselves, in real-time�right in Google Search results. This experimental feature helps voters make more informed choices, and levels the playing field for candidates to share ideas and positions on issues they may not have had a chan...

Ahmed is an economics student from Aleppo in Syria. Last year he was forced to leave his hometown because of the war that has forced millions of his compatriots out of their country. He left his family and his studies�everything�behind to find a better future in Europe. Now safe in Berlin, his dream is to continue his studies and eventually become a teacher at a university in Germany. As they make it through a dangerous journey, the first thing refugees need is to find shelter, food and access to care. But soon enough, they have to learn the local language, acquire skills to work in a new country, and figure out a way to continue their studies�all in an effort to reclaim and reconnect with the lives they had before. Last fall, we shared how we�re supporting organizations on the frontline of providing essential humanitarian relief support. But we also wanted to do something to help with refugees� long-term challenges, such as the need for access to information and education. So today...

When ads are good, they connect you to products or services you�re interested in and make it easier to get stuff you want. They also keep a lot of what you love about the web�like news sites or mobile apps�free. But some ads are just plain bad�like ads that carry malware, cover up content you�re trying to see, or promote fake goods. Bad ads can ruin your entire online experience, a problem we take very seriously. That�s why we have a strict set of policies for the kinds of ads businesses can run with Google�and why we�ve invested in sophisticated technology and a global team of 1,000+ people dedicated to fighting bad ads. Last year alone we disabled more than 780 million ads for violating our policies�a number that's increased over the years thanks to new protections we've put in place. If you spent one second looking at each of these ads, it�d take you nearly 25 years to see them all! Here are some of the top areas we focused on in our fight against bad ads in 2015: Busting b...

Declared the �monarch of mountains� by Lord Byron, the Mont Blanc massif is shrouded in mystery, rolling clouds and imposing snowfields. One of Europe�s highest peaks, the wild terrain of the famed mountain range is reserved for ardent mountaineers and intrepid explorers. Starting today in Google Maps, you can get an up-close, 360-degree look at the breathtaking beauty of Mont Blanc. Following last year�s first-ever vertical imagery collection of El Capitan in California�s Yosemite National Park , we partnered with world-renowned alpine photographers, skiers, mountaineers, climbers, and runners to collect Street View of Western Europe�s highest peak. By working with legendary adventurers, the Street View team was able to capture the spirit of the massif in a way few witness firsthand. Run on the summit with Kilian Jornet �he holds the speed record for ascending and descending Mont Blanc in just 4 hours 57 minutes! Ice climb up a serac with record-setting alpine climber Ueli Steck , or...

The history of art is global. Look at Van Gogh�a Dutchman who spent much of his life in France, and was inspired not only by his contemporaries but also by Japanese artists like Hiroshige . But until recently, the act of enjoying art and culture was limited by geography. Unless you could visit a museum in person, it would be hard for you to appreciate a work, brushstroke by brushstroke. And to fully understand the legacy of someone like Van Gogh, you would have to go from Amsterdam to Chicago to New York to Tokyo to discover and marvel at all of his influences, works and successors. Left: Van Gogh�s self-portrait (Chicago), right: a street art re-interpretation (Amsterdam) But with the Google Cultural Institute , it�s all just a few clicks away. Five years ago, the first 17 museums brought online a few hundred artworks so that anyone in the world could explore paintings, records and artifacts no matter where they were. Today, on our fifth birthday, the Google Cultural Institute has gr...

"We're going to have 21st century fireside chats where I'll speak directly to the American people in a way that I think will enhance democracy and strengthen our government."  - Senator Barack Obama , November 15, 2007 Tomorrow evening, President Obama will deliver his final State of the Union address to Congress, which will broadcast live on YouTube . Then, as he has every year after the speech, he�ll turn to YouTube and Google to take questions from Americans about the issues that matter to them. This Friday, January 15, Destin Sandlin , Ingrid Nilsen , and Adande Thorne �three popular YouTube creators�will travel to Washington, D.C. to host a live YouTube Interview with President Obama. They�ll join the President in the East Room of the White House, asking a selection of questions that are top of mind for them and their fans. You can watch the whole thing on the White House YouTube channel �and if you have a question for the President, suggest it by using the hasht...