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Last weekend I was welcomed back to my “home by the sea” — Hampton University, located on Chesapeake Bay — as the co-grand marshal for this year’s homecoming festivities along with fellow alumna Dr. Dietra Trent, White House Director of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) initiatives. As a proud Hampton alumna and Google’s Chief Diversity Officer, it gives me great pride to continue Google’s long-standing partnership with the HBCU community.

I’ve seen firsthand the impact HBCU graduates are having on the next generation of leaders and thinkers across today’s industries, including tech. In a recent United Negro College Fund (UNCF) study, despite only making up 3% of the nation’s colleges and universities, HBCUs produce almost 20% of all African American graduates and 25% of African American graduates with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degrees.

At Google, we remain steadfast in our investment and support for HBCUs, and we’ve partnered closely with them to build pathways to tech. One way we’ve done that is by welcoming students from 15 HBCUs for full-time roles and internships in the last year alone, and we’ve expanded our recruiting efforts to more than 900 schools in the last decade. We’ve also invested in programming to further opportunities and pathways for HBCU and Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) students, including:

• Tech Exchange, a semester-long immersive program for select HBCU and HSI students, has quadrupled in size and expanded to serve students from 16 HBCUs and Hispanic-Serving Institutions since launching in 2017.
• Our Pathways to Tech initiative was designed to build equity for HBCU computing education, help job seekers find tech roles, and ensure that Black employees have growth opportunities and feel included at work.
• The Grow with Google HBCU Career Readiness Program, a partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, brings digital skills training into the career centers of HBCUs. The program recently expanded to 20 HBCUs, and aims to help 20,000 students learn digital skills by the end of the current school year.
• Finally, our Google in Residence (GIR) program gives experienced Google software engineers the chance to teach introductory computer science classes, which have reached more than 8,000 HBCU and HSI students since 2013. Two of our GIR students actually became instructors this year, and many have gone on to internships in our Student Training in Engineering Program and full-time software engineering roles at Google.

We also recognize the unique needs of students, faculty and staff within each of these historic institutions. I meet regularly with the HBCU Presidents’ Council, which advises on creating and executing meaningful programming that meets the needs of HBCU students. In 2021, we provided a $50 million grant to 10 HBCUs to support scholarships, invest in technical infrastructure for in-class and remote learning, and develop curricula and career support programs.

To build on this, Monday I was honored to announce a $5 million Google.org grant to Spelman College’s Center for Minority Women in STEM. A team of Google.org Fellows will partner with Spelman to build the first database that will conduct and publicize research on the experiences of women from historically underrepresented groups in STEM. The findings will be used to help empower and elevate women in STEM fields. This week we also announced $300,000 in funding for 18 HBCU and HSI partners to support faculty and students in tech majors. We plan to distribute this funding annually to enable growth and retention in computer science departments.

Finally, supporting our HBCU and HSI partners means showing up and continuing to shine a light on these historic and critical institutions:

• We were proud to sponsor the National HBCU Week Conference organized by the The White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity through Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The event brought together more than 1,500 HBCU students, faculty and community leaders from across the U.S. for the first time since 2019. We hosted panels and workshops on career opportunities, resume building and personal brands.
• Just last month we were the halftime sponsor at the inaugural HBCU New York Football Classic. More than 35,000 fans gathered in the stands for the September 17 game between Morehouse College and Howard University as part of HBCU Week. Our sponsorship included scholarships to 105 HBCU students and a partnership with HBCU Tools for School, a nonprofit that provides access to tools, resources and networks critical for academic success.
• Finally, we’re working with the NBA Foundation on an upcoming promotion where a portion of proceeds from Pixel sales on the Google Store will go to HBCUs.

For more than a century, HBCUs have been a driving force in the cultivation of academic excellence and professional achievement within the Black community. We will continue to do our part to support these institutions, and their students, as we work to make tech more inclusive and representative at all levels of the workforce.

Our new Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro have incredible cameras for capturing your memories, but snapping a photo is just the beginning. We all want to get our photos looking just right to share them and reminisce. Thanks to advances in machine learning, Google Photos is packed with powerful editing features that are a breeze to use.

Here are seven tips to get your photos — both new ones taken on a Pixel 7 and old ones from past years (and phones) — looking picture-perfect with Google Photos on Pixel 7.

1. Fix blurry shots with Photo Unblur

Bring your blurry photos back into focus with just a few taps using Photo Unblur, a brand-new feature only on Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro. Photo Unblur removes blur and visual noise so you can relive the moment as clearly as you remember it. Best of all, it even works on pictures in your library taken with a different phone or camera and scanned images.

2. Get rid of distractions with Magic Eraser

Magic Eraser, which was introduced last year, can detect distractions in your photos — like photobombers in the background, power lines and power poles. Just a few taps to remove them and, poof, gone. You can also circle or brush what you want to remove. No need to be precise — Magic Eraser will figure out what you’re trying to remove.

Bonus Magic Eraser tip: Don’t want to remove a distraction entirely, but want it to blend in a bit more? Use Camouflage in Magic Eraser to change the color of distracting objects in your photo. In just a few taps, the object’s colors and shading blend in naturally with the rest of the photo.

3. Make your subject stand out with Portrait blur

Portrait mode in the Pixel Camera can really make your subject shine. But what if you forgot to use it when snapping a picture or you want to edit a picture from the past? With Portrait blur, Google Photos can intelligently blur the background on photos of people — plus pets, food, flowers and more — post-snap.

4. Improve the lighting on faces with Portrait light

A good portrait can be hard to capture, especially if the lighting isn’t quite right or you took the photo with an older phone or camera. Use Portrait light to easily improve the lighting on faces, and you can even adjust the light position and brightness to customize your look.

5. Bring balance to your photos with the HDR effect

If you’ve got older pictures with a dark foreground and bright background (or vice versa), it can be hard to make out all the details in the shot. Enter the HDR effect to help balance things out — enhancing the brightness and contrast across the image so you can soak in every detail.

6. Change up the mood and tone of your sunset pics with sky suggestions

Chances are you’ve got quite a few sunset photos in your library that didn’t quite capture the beauty of what you saw in the moment. How do you revive it and make it stand out from all the rest? Use sky suggestions to put your own creative twist on your golden hour images. Select from several palettes that adjust the color and contrast of the sky to change up the mood and tone of your pic to get it ready to share.

7. Use the collage editor to make shareable creations

Make creative, shareable collages with the new collage editor. Pick up to six photos and select from more than 50 designs available to Pixel users. You can easily rearrange the layout with simple drag-and-drop controls and even edit each photo in the collage individually to get just the right look.

Get creative and mix and match all of these features to create a stunning image that’s ready to share. Remove a photobomber in the background, then combine Photo Unblur, Portrait light and Portrait blur to create a fresh image that gives your memory new life.

With Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro, all the tools you need to perfect your photos or put a creative spin on them are right in Google Photos. Get to editing and share your best creations on social with the hashtag #FixedOnPixel.

“Kwentuhan” roughly translates to “sharing stories” in English. For Filipino American History Month, or Kapamilya Month as our Filipino Googler Network refers to it, we sat down with Paolo Malabuyo, Director of User Experience in Google Maps and executive sponsor of the Filipino Googler Network, to learn about his story.

As a child growing up in the Philippines, we heard you were somewhat of a Lego competition legend. How did this kickstart your interest in working in UX and design?

I was the youngest of four and I always felt like I was in the shadow of my older, smarter, more athletic and more accomplished siblings. I don’t recall having many ideas about what I wanted to be when I grew up, until my grandmother immigrated to the United States in the 1960s and started sending small handfuls of Lego pieces through the mail.

This started my fascination with Lego and culminated in my participation in Lego competitions across the Philippines. I still think that the greatest job in the world is designing Lego sets.

I immigrated to the States right before my 12th birthday and picked up drawing, reading, and crafting. This developed into a real affinity for art. I ended up getting a BFA in art and minors in communication design, art history and Chinese studies. I also took basic programming classes and learned web design by emulating early websites.

Like Lego pieces, my early days of creatively building, combined with my art education and CS study were what constructed my career today. I got my first role as a graphic designer which started my roundabout journey to become a UX designer, leader and educator.

Can you talk about your role at Google?

I lead the cross-disciplinary user experience teams for Geo Auto and Geo Sustainability. In Auto, we design and deliver the in-car, embedded Google Maps experiences for navigation, routing, and situational awareness so that drivers are safer and more confident, with a major focus on electric vehicles. In Sustainability, we provide platforms, insights, and solutions that help users and partners tackle climate change – the preeminent challenge for humanity today. It’s an incredibly interesting portfolio and it’s such a privilege to work with our teams and clients.

As an executive sponsor for the FIlipino Googler Network, I get to work closely with other teams across Google on projects that impact the Filipino community. One example is the work happening on Maps to help business owners identify themselves, including the introduction of the Asian-owned attribute earlier this year. This attribute will help many Filipino businesses be recognized by current and future customers.

What else is Google doing in support of Filipino culture?

It’s great to see how Google’s products and services are celebrating Filipino culture and elevating our voices. This month, we ran a beautiful Google Doodle in the Philippines which celebrated the Regatta de Zamboanga, an annual sailing competition from the southern part of the country.

Google TV is highlighting recent movies and TV shows that tell Filipino American stories and feature Filipino American lead actors in its “For you” tab.

And Google Arts & Culture has teamed up with amazing organizations to celebrate the rich culture and history of the Philippines, including the Filipinas Heritage Library, Filipino Street Art Project, and the Ballet Philippines.

Earlier, you talked about how you grew up in the Philippines. What role do you think Google has to play in supporting the local community?

Google has amazing resources that can help the people in the Philippines. We’ve done a lot to support inclusive distance learning, from a Google.org grant to help teachers, to the national deployment of G Suite for Education to 22 million learners in partnership with the Department of Education. We’re collaborating with local telecommunications companies to bring mobile access to learning tools and started a virtual training camp for Filipino YouTubers to accelerate development of quality learning content on the platform. Just last month, we announced we will be giving away Google Career Certificate scholarships to 39,000 Filipino youths.

Commitments like these are super valuable, and I’m grateful for the work to come.

Pumpkin Spice Lattes are practically synonymous with autumn. It just isn’t fall until you sip a PSL while fiery orange leaves crunch under your boots. The Pumpkin Spice Latte is an undeniable staple of the season — look no further than Google Trends for proof. Here are 10 moments of PSL search trend history.

1. “Pumpkin Spice Latte” began gaining popularity as a search term in the fall of 2010.

2. It started out as a solidly autumnal treat — up until 2017, search interest in “Pumpkin Spice Latte” first peaked in September, and then again in October and November.

3. These days, it’s becoming more of a late-summer, early-fall beverage: Since 2018, search interest in “Pumpkin Spice Latte” has peaked in August.

4. On that note: Searches for “Pumpkin Spice Latte” were highest in 2022 during the week of August 28 – September 3.

5. Search interest in “pumpkin spice latte” hit new heights in August of this year.

6. …Which isn’t terribly surprising, given that it’s been on a steady increase every year — until 2018! Search interest dropped significantly in 2018, and only began rising again in 2021.

7. Speaking of PSLs, search interest in the pumpkin spice acronym grew annually alongside the full drink name. (Quick note that not all “PSL” searches are about the drink — PSL is also an acronym for other things, like Port St. Lucie, a city in Florida. But PSL spikes do seem to coincide with “pumpkin spice latte” spikes each fall, so clearly some of the interest overlaps.)

8. Looking at related search terms, searches for “pumpkin spice” have actually always been higher than search interest for “pumpkin spice latte.” But they’ve also experienced a rise in popularity parallel to search interest in the coffee drink.

This begs the question: Is it the chicken or the egg? Or rather, the pumpkin spice or the latte? Has a penchant for pumpkin spice driven interest in the drink, or is it the other way around?

9. Search interest in “pumpkin spice” (hold the latte) is also happening earlier each year. Initially the spike happened in November and then October…but that peak moved to September and has stayed there since 2014.

10. And finally: Not all pumpkin spice products are edible. Earlier this month in the U.S., the most-searched “pumpkin spice scented” items (in order of popularity) were cat litter, soap, pouches, candles and hand lotion.