Bringing the conference to you

Written by Susan Moskwa, Webmaster Trends Analyst

We're fortunate to meet many of you at conferences, where we can chat about web search and Webmaster Tools. We receive a lot of good feedback at these events: insight into the questions you're asking and issues you're facing. However, as several of our Webmaster Help Group friends have pointed out, not everyone can afford the time or expense of a conference; and many of you live in regions where webmaster-related conferences are rare.

So, we're bringing the conference to you.

We've posted notes in our Help Group from conferences we recently attended:
John Müller covers SMX StockholmI recap the AMA's Search Engine Marketing conferenceNext month, Jonathan and Wysz will post their notes from PubCon, while Bergy and I will cover SES Chicago.

If you can make it to one of these, we'd love to meet you face to face, but if you can't, we hope you find our jottings useful.

Google's email communication with webmasters

Posted by Ríona MacNamara, Webmaster Tools Team

In den letzten Tagen gab es nochmals Versuche, deutsche Webmaster durch falsche E-Mails von Google zu verunsichern. Diese E-Mails stammen nicht von Google. Seit einigen Wochen hat Google die Benachrichtigung von Webmastern durch E-Mails eingestellt. Google arbeitet derzeit an einem zuverlässigeren Webmaster-Kommunikationsprozess.

We've noticed that someone is again trying to spoof the emails that Google sends to webmasters to alert them with issues about their site. These emails are not coming from Google, and in fact several weeks ago we temporarily discontinued sending these emails to webmasters while we explore different, secure ways of communicating with webmasters. Watch this space for more news - but in the meantime, you can safely assume that any email message you receive is not, in fact, from us.

Leap day hackathon for Google Gadgets, Maps, and more

Written by Ben Lisbakken, Google Developer Programs

If you've got JavaScript skills and you'd like to implement such things as Google Gadgets or Maps on your site, bring your laptops and come hang out with us in Mountain View.

This Friday, my team (Google Developer Programs) is hosting a hackathon to get you started with our JavaScript APIs. There will be plenty of our engineers around to answer questions. We'll start with short introductions of the APIs and then break into groups for coding and camaraderie. There'll be food, and prizes too.

The featured JavaScript APIs:Google Gears -- make your web applications work offlineGoogle AJAX Search/Feeds -- add Google search capabilities to your websiteGoogle Gadgets -- create small programs that run on your iGoogle homepage
Google Maps -- embed and manipulate Google Maps on your web pageGoogle Calendar -- interact with Google Calendars on your websiteWhen: Friday, February 29 - two sessions (you're welcome to attend both)2-5:30 PM6-10 PM Where: The Googleplex
Building 40
1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy
Mountain View, CA 94043
Room: Seville Tech Talk, 2nd floor

See our map for parking locations and where to check in. (Soon, you too, will be making maps like this! :)

Just say yes and RSVP!

And no worries if you're busy this Friday; future hackathons will feature other APIs and more languages. Check out the Developer Events Calendar for future listings. Hope to see you soon.