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Before we jump into 2022, the Google for Creators team is looking back at some of our favorite moments from this year. Check out our top five highlights from 2021.

1. Launching Google for Creators

In October, we launched Google for Creators, a hub for content creators looking for information and inspiration. Along with guides for creating a content strategy, expanding your audience and choosing a monetization approach, you’ll find upcoming events, tips from seasoned creators and blog posts with the latest updates from the creator economy.

2. Celebrating women of color creators

On November 19, Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, we launched The Conversation, a new video series celebrating women of color creators. Guests, like beauty and lifestyle creator Tyla-Lauren Gilmore and fashion model and creative director Hannah Mussette, talk about how their backgrounds have shaped their brands and share their personal successes and struggles as full-time creators. Stay tuned for more episodes of The Conversation in 2022.

3. Interviewing inspiring creators

We’ve interviewed so many fascinating people on our blog, including the editor in chief of the longest-running Asian American women’s online magazine; a queer automotive educator, journalist and influencer who started an inclusive car blog; a former lawyer who became a full-time vegan food blogger; and a ceramicist whose content showcases her artistic process. Their stories show the endless topics, communities and niches that you can create content for and about on the web.

4. Tapping into expert insights

For our Creator Insights YouTube series, we asked some of our favorite creators — like Eden Hagos and Elle Asiedu of BLACK FOODIE, and beauty blogger Keiko Lynn — to share their top insights and strategies for creating content, building a brand and making money as a creator. Some topics included how to find your niche, avoid burnout and pitch yourself to brands.

5. Connecting with creators on social

We hope you’ve been following Google for Creators on Twitter and Instagram, where we share everything we’re up to. We also love connecting with the creator community on our social channels. If you’ve ever wanted to ask us a question, or answer one of ours with your own tips, that’s where to do it!

We had a blast sharing stories and insights from all the creators we spoke to in 2021, and we can’t wait to connect with even more next year. See you in 2022!

When Dave Holmes started at Google nearly 10 years ago, he couldn’t have known how many projects he’d work on or things he’d help build. One of them he’s loved working, though, is Santa Tracker. “I’ve been working on Santa Tracker…well, I think for nearly as long as I’ve been at Google.”

Santa has his own history with Google, too. A 2004 mapping software acquisition brought a new team to Google, and that team wondered: Could we put Santa’s flight on the map?

So we did. Santa Tracker launched in 2004, and has been an important project at Google ever since. While there’s a small core team dedicated to Santa, up to 20 or so Googlers volunteer to help make it happen every year, and it’s become a true community effort. It’s also a way for our developers to try things and see what Google products can do. Sam Thorogood, who’s led our work with Santa for the last seven seasons, thought he’d try it out and work on showing off cool new web technologies for a bit. “Turns out I enjoyed it a lot, and I kept coming back to keep improving it,” he says.

“We figured out how to do so many different things because of Santa Tracker — how to build things, how to launch things, how to make things accessible, how to improve web design, how to optimize tools,” Dave says. “I like to say that everything I’ve learned at Google, I learned from Santa.” And those lessons have benefited other areas at Google, like Doodles and apps developers create for events like Google I/O.

Some years the Santa Tracker team adds lots of new functions and fun interactions, and other years they simply tweak what’s already there. Santa Tracker, like so many things at Google, has adjusted throughout the years: For instance, the elves ride bikes instead of driving cars now, and last and this year Santa wears a mask to protect himself and others against COVID-19. Also this year, when you ask “Where is Santa?” on Search, you’ll see a fun surprise (no spoilers here!).

Among Dave’s favorite Santa Tracker projects is the Google Assistant integration, where people can ask to hear stories about Santa’s journey. He also enjoyed updating Santa’s soundtrack. He admits the team got a bit weary of hearing Santa’s same song on replay, so they came up with multiple tunes. “We ended up making a video similar to the crackling yule log ones, but featuring Santa.” (Go ahead and give it a listen.)

Some highlights for Sam over the years include adding Google Maps Local Guides’ photos to Santa’s route, and Code Boogie, a coding game where you can teach elves to dance. He’s also personally responsible for Elf Maker, in which you can create your own elf. “I’m really proud of that!” And he points out Snowball Storm, too, which another developer made that he was particularly impressed by.

There have also been little updates, like asking the creator of the Santa Tracker font to adjust the type so people all over the world could read it better. Of course, not everything Santa’s team worked on…worked. “One engineer who focused on AI and human movement came up with this idea for a game where you could enable tracking on your computer and teach the elves to dance,” Dave says, “and they would mimic your movement.” But just before launch…they found a glitch. “If the tracker lost you for a second…the elves’ heads and arms would go flying off!” Santa and the team decided not to launch the game. “That game was sent back to Elf engineering for further work,” Dave says.

Once all of this work is done, there’s the job of bringing Santa to everyone else. Part of Rachelle Lacroix’s work at Google for the past five holiday seasons has been doing exactly this. “Using marketing channels and social media, I help make sure people around the world can easily find and experience Santa Tracker,” she says. Rachelle says she’s loved seeing the creativity from teams come out in our work with Santa, but simply being a part of this group is one of the best parts for her. “Technical and creative Googlers alike really tap into their childhood when they work with Santa,” Rachelle says. “So much thought and care goes into every detail — and the team takes this work very seriously! Still, we find ways to have fun … it’s hard not to smile at all of the playful holiday puns that pop into our meetings and emails.”

Dave and Sam both feel the same. “It’s been the most fun meeting people — virtually or, in the ‘before times,’ by cycling around campus — who I wouldn’t otherwise interact with,” Sam says.

As the team prepares to help Santa launch this year, the work is winding down, and Dave and the rest of the group will return to their normal jobs. Still, the once-a-year project comes with its benefits. “It’s like a minor celebrity status,” Dave says. “I’ve loved telling my son I work with Santa.”

It’s 7 degrees below zero when we step off the Polar Express. There’s a slight breeze that feels almost cryogenic and a loud “crunch!” as our boots hit the snow. But the real first impression of Santa’s Village: the warm familiarity of visiting a place you’ve never been, but is exactly as you imagined.

It’s no secret that Google loves celebrating the holiday season. The Google Arts & Culture team have brought us the warmth of the Festival of Lights and the harmony of Kwanzaa; and they’ve taken us from Norway’s Trafalgar Square to the Christmas Lights of London. And of course, there’s Santa Tracker — with a few related easter eggs from the Search team that appear when users around the world search for “Christmas.”

Maybe all the free press is why this year, we’ve been invited to interview Santa. And perfect timing too: According to Google Trends, searches for “Santa Claus” are on their annual rise.

Thanks for having us! Let’s get started: Traditionally, people have been encouraged to write you letters. Any update on how to get in touch with you?

During the month of December, anyone in the world can use Google Assistant to get in touch with me directly. Just say “Hey Google, Call Santa” and we’ll have a chat, and maybe you can help the elves create a holiday song.”

Santa, have you been working on any North Pole launches lately?

A few! You’ve seen the historical depictions of me, but now you can color your own holiday works with Art Coloring Book. And it’s always fun to sing the songs of the season with your family, but you might want to give it some practice with the Blob Opera beforehand — ho, ho, ho!

Santa on Santa

We know people can call you from their Google Assistant…but you seem pretty busy. Is there a good way to check in without bothering you?

It’s never a bother! But all December we’re bringing back our North Pole Newscast. Just ask your Google Assistant “What’s going on at the North Pole?” and check in with Dimplesticks the Elf for reports from Santa’s Village.

You’ve been so generous with your time. Any last thoughts?

Santa’s Village is live and everyone is welcome to join in the fun, and see what Mrs. Claus and the elves are up to! But — biggest of all — kids around the world can start following the Santa Tracker on the big night (December 24), and Google Assistant can help. Just ask, “Hey Google, track Santa” or “Hey Google, where is Santa right now?”

Pop quiz: How long was 2021? So much happened this year that it seems impossible it was a mere 365 days. Here at Google, we launched the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, a new Nest Hub, lots of new Google Photos features and…well, this list could quite literally go on and on and on. Instead, here are 12 product updates from 2021 that you may have missed.

1. This summer, we refreshed a handful of emoji designs to make them cuter, more accurate and more flexible in meaning — plus it included fun new additions like Dark Mode.
2. In October, we launched Wait Times, a new feature for Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro phones that shows you how long the current wait time is when you’re calling a business or customer service number. It also shows you the projected wait times for the rest of the week, so you can decide when you want to make the call.
3. Fitbit Premium added Daily Readiness, a new score that tells you how ready you are for your next workout — or if you should prioritize recovery.
4. Activity Zones for all! This Nest Cam and Nest Doorbell feature, which lets you set up specific areas for your devices to pay attention to, was formerly only available with a Nest Aware subscription. In August, with the launch of Nest’s new cameras and doorbell, it became available on those devices at no additional cost.
5. Google TV launched in 2020, and in 2021 launched Watch With Me, a series on Google TV that teams up with your favorite stars like Simu Liu and Taraji P. Henson to share their favorite shows and movies (and snacks) with us.
6. For all their benefits, smart home stuff can also be confusing. To try and make it easier to understand, we launchedthe Google smart home directory, a website that shows you what kinds of products and systems work with Google Assistant. It also lets you filter by categories and prices, and features reviews.
7. Sure, the new Fitbit Luxe is stylish, but it also helps you manage your physical and mental health, with features like Active Zone Minutes and a Stress Management Score.
8. In March, we unveiled the second-generation Nest Hub, which comes with Sleep Sensing. This optional feature analyzes the movement and breathing of the person in the designated sleep zone to offer information on how well they’re sleeping, as well as customized tips on getting better sleep.

9. Guest Modefor devices including the Nest Audio and Nest Hub Max arrived this year, allowing you to give visitors the ability to ask Google Assistant questions, use timers or play music — without these interactions being saved to or affecting your account. All you have to say is “Hey Google, turn on Guest Mode.”

10. The Translate filter for Google Lens got an update that made it easier to highlight text and copy, listen to or search to find more in-depth information about specific phrases.

11. Accessibility updates were a major focus in 2021, including Select-to-speakupdates. Select-to-Speak is a Chromebook feature where users can select text to hear it spoken out loud in a variety of languages and accents, and now you can speed up, slow down or pause the voice, among other added controls. This is especially helpful for those who want to hear content read in a specific accent, or for someone with Dyslexia.

12. Google Photos launched an improvement to the popular auto enhance feature powered by Real Tone, which can improve color and lighting for any photo and works well across skin tones, regardless of what device you used or how long ago you took it.

Now…onto 2022! Hopefully it feels like it goes a little quicker than this year…

Editors note: To read this post in German, visit this link.

The Austrian legislator has just adopted significant changes to copyright law, implementing the European Copyright Directive from 2019. These changes include the incorporation of Article 15, which introduces a new ancillary copyright for press publishers. Google intends to enter into negotiations with press publishers in Austria to license their content under these new rights.

Austria’s new copyright law provides two important guiding principles. On the one hand, people and platforms can continue to link to, and use, very short extracts of press publishers’ content. At the same time, the law creates new rights for news publishers when extended previews of their work are used online. While the law does not define the scope of protected content, we will make offers for Extended News Previews (such content that may be protected by the new law) with press publishers in Austria.

This follows discussions we have already started with hundreds of news publishers across countries including Germany, Hungary, France, Denmark and the Netherlands, where the law is now in effect, and follows our previously announced agreements in Germany.

As always, publishers have full control over whether or not their content shows up in Search, and how much of that content can be used in a preview. They can change these settings at any time and we will continue to display previews in accordance with those settings provided by publishers.

We hope to reach agreements that enable us to continue to support access to information and journalism in Austria, without harming important principles of the open web.

Alongside these discussions we will continue to invest in our support for journalism. As people in Austria increasingly go online to get their news, journalists and publishers are turning to technology to reach their readers. Google helps people find that information by linking to news and other websites, and provides tools, advertising technology and funding to enable publishers to make money online. Earlier this year we also launched our licensing programme for news, Google News Showcase, in Austria as part of our ongoing support for journalism in Austria.

We look forward to working with publishers and journalists on all these efforts in the coming years.

Der österreichische Gesetzgeber hat soeben Änderungen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes beschlossen, mit denen die europäische Urheberrechtsrichtlinie von 2019 umgesetzt wird. Zu diesen Änderungen gehört die Einbindung von Artikel 15 der Richtlinie, der ein Leistungsschutzrecht für Presseverlage einführt. Google beabsichtigt, mit Presseverleger:innen in Österreich in Verhandlungen zu treten, um ihre Inhalte im Rahmen dieses neuen Rechts zu lizenzieren.

Das novellierte österreichische Urheberrechtsgesetz enthält zwei wichtige Leitprinzipien. Einerseits dürfen Personen und Plattformen weiterhin auf sehr kurze Auszüge von Inhalten der Presseverlage verlinken und diese nutzen. Gleichzeitig schafft das Gesetz neue Rechte für Presseverlage, wenn größere Auszüge aus ihren Werken online verwendet werden. Obwohl das Gesetz den Umfang der geschützten Inhalte nicht definiert, werden wir österreichischen Presseverlagen Angebote für eine erweiterte Vorschau von Inhalten, also Extended News Previews (solche Inhalte, die möglicherweise durch das neue Gesetz geschützt werden) machen.

Unser Ansatz folgt dem Vorbild von Gesprächen, die wir bereits mit Hunderten von Nachrichtenverlagen in Ländern wie Deutschland, Ungarn, Frankreich, Dänemark und den Niederlanden geführt haben, in denen das Gesetz bereits in Kraft ist, und folgt auf unsere zuvor angekündigten Vereinbarungen in Deutschland.

Wie bisher haben Verlage auch weiterhin die volle Kontrolle darüber, ob ihre Inhalte in der Google-Suche angezeigt werden oder nicht und in welcher Form diese Inhalte in einer Vorschau verwendet werden können. Sie können diese Einstellungen jederzeit ändern und wir werden die Vorschauen weiterhin gemäß den von ihnen vorgenommenen Einstellungen anzeigen.

Wir hoffen eine Einigung zu erzielen, die es uns ermöglicht, den Zugang zu Information und Journalismus in Österreich weiterhin zu unterstützen, ohne dabei die Grundprinzipien des offenen Internets zu verletzen.

Parallel zu diesen Gesprächen werden wir weiterhin in Journalismus investieren. Da die Österreicher:innen Nachrichten zunehmend online abrufen, nutzen Journalist:innen und Verlage Technologien, um ihre Leser:innen zu erreichen. Google hilft den Menschen, diese Informationen zu finden, indem wir Links zu Nachrichten- und anderen Websites anbieten und Tools, Werbetechnologien und Finanzmittel bereitstellen, mit denen Verlage online Geld verdienen können. Anfang des Jahres haben wir zudem unser Lizenzprogramm für Nachrichten, Google News Showcase, in Österreich gestartet.

Wir freuen uns auf die Zusammenarbeit mit Verlagen und Journalist:innen bei all diesen Initiativen in den kommenden Jahren.