(Cross-posted from the Mobile Blog) Instant Previews provides a fast and interactive way to evaluate search results. Starting today, Google Instant Previews is available on mobile for Android (2.2+) and iOS (4.0+) devices across 38 languages. Similar to the desktop version of Instant Previews, you can visually compare search results from webpage snapshots, making it easier to choose the right result faster, especially when you have an idea of the content you’d like to see. For example, if you’re looking for a webpage that has both photos and descriptions, you can use Instant Previews to quickly identify these pages by navigating across the visual search results with a few swipes of your finger. Or perhaps you’re looking for an article, a step-by-step instructions list, or a product comparison chart—with Instant Previews, you can see easily spot pages with the right content without having [+]

(Cross-posted on the Google Chrome Blog)Just three weeks ago, we kicked off the Year of the Rabbit with a speedy Chrome beta. Today, we’re excited to bring these speed improvements and more to everyone using Chrome. With today’s stable release, even your most complex web apps will run more quickly and responsively in the browser. (For the curious, this boost corresponds to a 66% improvement in JavaScript performance on the V8 benchmark suite.)We realize that speed isn’t just about pure brawn in the browser—it’s also about saving time with simple interfaces. Chrome’s new settings interface will help you get to the right settings quickly so you don’t have to dig endlessly to find a way to import your bookmarks or change your browser’s homepage. We’ve added a search box that shows you the settings you’re looking for, as you type. [+]

(Cross-posted on the LatLong Blog) As today’s doodle shows, we’re very excited to celebrate the centenary of International Women’s Day. Late last month we teamed up with Women for Women International to announce the Join me on the Bridge campaign, a celebration of the achievements of women taking place on bridges around the world. Since then almost 300 bridge events in more than 50 countries have been added to the map. I’ve found it inspiring to watch all of those little red pins pop up, knowing that each of them represents a group of women and their supporters coming together to let the world know how far we’ve come. In addition to the flagship events happening throughout the day on the Brooklyn Bridge (New York), the Millennium Bridge (London) and the Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco), women [+]

(Cross-posted on the LatLong Blog and Mobile Blog) Ever been stuck in traffic, only to find out you’d have been better off going a bit out of your way to take a less congested route? If you’re like me, you probably hear the traffic report telling you what you already know: traffic is bad on the road you’re currently on, and you should have taken another. It doesn’t need to be this way, and we want to help. So we’re happy to announce that Google Maps Navigation (Beta) will now automatically route you around traffic. With more than 35 million miles driven by Navigation users every day, this should add up to quite a bit of time saved! On a recent trip to New York, I was running late to meet some friends at the Queens Museum of Art. I had no idea [+]

Google's Amit Singhal and Matt Cutts commented on Google's latest ranking algorithm update. Their comments reveal why Google released the update which was named "Panda". [+]

From time to time we invite guests to post about topics of interest and we’re pleased to have Scott McCloud join us here. Scott is a comics artist with special ties to Google—he illustrated the Chrome comic book and is a 2011 U.S. Doodle 4 Google judge. He also helped in the design of today’s doodle in honor of Will Eisner, which is running in many countries including the U.S. In this post, Scott shares his thoughts on Will Eisner’s legacy. -Ed. Will Eisner, American comics pioneer and creator of The Spirit, was born on March 6, 1917. He would have been 94 today. Many of us who knew him still find it hard to believe he’s gone. He died in 2005, but for six decades, Eisner was a participant in, and inspiration for, much of the best in American comics, as [+]

How six months of improving site speed saw 40 percent increase in traffic. ... [+]

Why Linden Lab needs strict privacy policies and security controls. ... [+]

This post is inspired by Henrik who posted a comment on last week’s Mastering Unique Visitor blog post. His question was, “Most API users would not create web apps but rather easily access their data without account authentication. Is this possible? Could you describe it?” Great question Henrik! While you do have to authenticate to the Google Analytics Data Export API in order to access data, your application doesn’t have to re-authenticate every time. In this post we show you an easy way to re-use tokens and give you a Python class to simplify the process. (Note: we recommend you follow the actual sample code to see how all the pieces described below work together.) Background Just like you have to log in to view Google Analytics data, you also have to grant an application access to your Analytics data when you use [+]

You cannot be successful in a project unless you have defined success. But who is allowed to declare success and who has the authority to pull the plug?