The race that stops a nation starts online search trends

If the number of Google searches a horse gets is an indicator of our favourite for the Melbourne Cup, then “Americain” is racing ahead.

In yesterday’s search analysis of Melbourne Cup horses, Americain took the lead in the rankings, but a number of other thoroughbreds were galloping closely behind including, “Jukebox Jury” and “Dunaden”.

As we know, race-day fashion can draw almost as much attention as the race itself. Online searches for fascinators have increased consistently with online searches for the Cup. There have been more searches for the fashionable headwear throughout September and October than any other time of the year, but surprisingly, hats top the number of searches for headwear, including a dramatic rise in the search for men’s top hats.

In Google Image searches, Melbourne Cup fashion was in the lead until the final horses were confirmed. Over the weekend and today Australians have been searching for images of the horses they will put their money on.

As for who’s searching for the Cup online? Interestingly, the ACT beats out Victoria in terms of regional interest in the Melbourne Cup, followed closely by Western Australia.

A number of celebrity guests have been rumoured and confirmed for cup day. In order of the most searched this month here are some of the expected famous faces:

1. Kim Kardashian
2. Leonardo Dicaprio
3. Dita Von Teese
4. Sarah Jessica Parker
5. Cadel Evans

Happy Melbourne Cup day from Google Australia!

Posted by Kate Mason, Google Communications, Australia and New Zealand.

From the desert to the sea: Google Voice Search experiments

As an engineer I like to solve problems and I like to test stuff, the bigger the better. A couple of months ago I was intrigued by a challenge: Australians have the second highest smartphone penetration in the world (second only to Singapore) but we have one of the lowest usage rates of Google Voice Search. This had some of us scratching our heads, because Google Voice Search understands our Australian accents.

So we thought it would be fun to show Australians how well Google Voice Search works by conducting a series of experiments in remote Australian locations. I went to the middle of the South Australian desert with James, a fellow engineer. We found some of the hottest, reddest earth in the country to test a long distance voice search - 50 metres away from the phone! Here’s our adventure:



Meanwhile, our fellow Google engineers Noel and Alice went up north to the beautiful Great Barrier Reef, to test Google Voice Search underwater.



Now that you’ve seen what Google Voice Search can do, we hope these experiments will inspire you to try it yourself in a more everyday setting, and with your broadest Aussie accent!

You can use Google Voice Search on Android phones by pressing the microphone button on the homescreen or downloading the app. You can also download the app for the iPhone here.

Posted by Mike Lawther, Software Engineer.

GoogleServe: Think global, act local

Googlers are known for their love of food, technology and, particularly in Sydney, sport. Occasionally we get the chance to share the things we love with others in the community, such as during our annual GoogleServe week. GoogleServe is a chance for Googlers around the world to take a time off from their regular jobs to give back to the community. Each office organises local projects where Googlers can volunteer their time.

This year, our Sydney GoogleServe team organised three events:

Primary School Tech Skills Day
We invited class 3/4/5F from Lansvale Public School, in Sydney's south-west, to visit the Sydney Google office for a day of developing IT skills and games. The 29 students were buddied up with Googlers to complete an online treasure hunt and were taught to use Wave for a collaborate creative writing project. Our visiting class particularly enjoyed the outdoor games afternoon, seeing our pet fish in the "underwater" section of the office, and learning how to communicate with each other online through Wave.

Googlers and Lansvale students unite

Google Grantees Education Session
We hosted eleven organisations who are part of our Google Grants program at the Google offices for educational sessions. The Google Grants program gives non-profit organisations free AdWords advertising in order to reach more people online. The representatives from each organisation received basic AdWords training, an optimisation session with a Google account strategist, and a presentation on how non-profits can make use of YouTube to reach a wide community.

Redfern "The Block" Sports Afternoon
We partnered with World Vision and Redfern Community Centre to host an afternoon with indigenous students in Redfern, specifically those who live in and around an area known as "The Block". The Block is an area of approx 1000sqm that is heavily populated by indigenous Australians and has a history of crime, drug use and violence. Many of the activities offered through the community centre are aimed at supporting local youths, with projects focused on teaching them self respect, self confidence, and leadership. A group of approx 15 Googlers were shown the fantastic work that youth workers are doing with young people in the area, which was then followed by a tour of the surrounding neighbourhood, a game of oz-tag with the locals, and a BBQ. It didn't take long for both groups to agree that a re-match was in order, and we hope to bring the young people across to Pyrmont soon for an office visit and a repeat game of oz-tag!

Oz-tag commences!

If you're looking for ways to volunteer in your community, Go Volunteer can help you find opportunities in your local area.

Posted by Christine Knight, GoogleServe Australia Leadership Team