This June and throughout 2014, Google is thrilled to be celebrating Pride with the world in 35+ offices globally. With the ever increasing international focus on the LGBT community (searches for LGBT-related terms on Google have increased 41% since 2004 and started really picking up steam in March 2010) it has become even more evident that despite the marriage equality gains made in the United States, much more work needs to be done to ensure the safety and rights of the LGBT community everywhere. The challenges will continue, but so will the celebrations -- here are the top 5 ways we’re celebrating Pride Google-style.

5. We started the celebration earlier this year

In February, Gayglers (LGBT Googlers and Allies) marched for the fourth year in Sydney’s Mardi Gras Celebration to show our support for marriage equality.

In April, we participated in the Tokyo Rainbow Week Pride Parade.

In May, we danced through the streets of Sao Paulo.

4. We showed our Pride

We embellished the Google signs at our Mountain View Headquarters and the New York City office with rainbow “O’s”.

Off the heels of our Google Doodle on the opening day of the Winter Olympics, we continued to show our support of a world where every athlete can be Proud to Play through #ProudToPlay on YouTube.

3. We’re celebrating throughout June … and the rest of 2014

We’ve got 10 more Pride celebrations after June and are looking forward to thousands of Proud Googlers walking in the San Francisco and New York Pride parades on Sunday, June 29th.

2. Pride “firsts”

Google’s Pride is spreading: We are now the first-ever corporate sponsor and contingent in the Seoul Pride Parade, and a Gaygler contingent is marching for the first time in Mexico City. And, thanks to the valiant planning efforts of a Gaygler ally, Google will be represented at WorldPride in Toronto this year - we’ll be the ones with a double decker bus handing out Google Pride stickers, wearing Google Pride t-shirts!

1. #Pridecast on Google+ and YouTube
This year, you can enjoy Pride from anywhere - whether your town has a march or not. On June 29, The NYC Pride March will be home base for #Pridecast, a live, online Pride celebration on Google+ and YouTube. Along with NYC Pride, we’ll be streaming the best moments from the march, and bringing in well-known LGBT advocates -- like Laverne Cox of Orange is the New Black, Jonathan Groff of Glee and Frozen, activist Rea Carey, and Scandal’s Dan Bucatinsky -- in person and from around the world via Hangouts On Air.

Celebrate with us - and tune in on Google+ and YouTube at 12:30pm ET on Sunday, June 29.

These are just a few ways Google is celebrating Pride Month. We encourage everyone to continue to celebrate well beyond this month--to keep marching, to keep speaking up--until gay rights are fully recognized for what they are: basic human rights.

Happy Pride, everybody!
Posted by Randy Reyes, Gaygler and Global Diversity Team

The World Cup is well underway and people are searching for every match highlight and replay. Read on to learn what was trending on Google this past week.

There’s football … and then there’s everything else
The Internet is still gobbling up every last bit of the World Cup as searches for the sport reached near ravenous levels (who knew we were so starved of the beautiful game?) John Brooks, a previously obscure member of the USMNT, was on the top of the Internet’s head after using his own to score the game-winning goal against Ghana for the United States. From [england vs italy] to [brazil vs mexico] no match was left untouched, or unsearched.

But the [world cup] wasn’t the only sport that mattered this week (even though it might have seemed like it). The Stanley Cup winner LA Kings and recently crowned NBA champions San Antonio Spurs topped the charts just for one day. In more serious news, people checked in on Michael Schumacher, the Formula 1 driver who was put into a coma after a skiing accident, and mourned the loss of baseball player Tony Gwynn to cancer.

Lifestyles of the rich and famous
When he’s 72 … Paul McCartney found himself on the trending list as he celebrated his 72nd birthday in style and surrounded by music royalty. Speaking of royalty, little Prince George walked his way to the trends charts, as people were eager to find photos and videos of his first steps, making Prince William a proud papa during his first Father’s Day.

Searching my way way back to you ...
Clint Eastwood’s latest movie, the film adaptation of the acclaimed musical Jersey Boys, is hitting a theater near you this week, and searchers are looking for showtimes and reviews before they head to the theater. We’ll have to wait and see if the movie proves to be as successful as 22 Jump Street, which is still trending from last week. While films battle it out for box office supremacy, rumors are swirling that Khal Drogo (sometimes known as Jason Momoa) could be playing Aquaman in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman flick … we won’t hold our breath on that one.

Tip of the week
Have you noticed our World Cup doodles? Throughout the tournament we’re drawing them in real time to reflect amazing moments that happen on the pitch. Got an idea for a doodle? Give us a shout with #GoogleDoodles, we’re always looking for inspiration.

Posted by Jenise Araujo, who searched this week for [golazos] and ended up finding a video of an elderly gentleman [persieing], and is filling in this week for Emily, who is in Alaska searching for [herself].

Miral is a hip hop dancer and choreographer who lights up stages across the country. Danielle is a cinematographer at Pixar, helping to bring beloved characters like Nemo and Merida to life. Erica is a humanitarian fighting malaria around the world.

These are all women with cool, amazing jobs. But, more important, they’re all women who use computer science, and an ability to code, to do those cool, amazing jobs. They couldn’t do what they do without having learned not just to use technology, but to build it themselves. Unfortunately, there are far too few women like them and far too few young girls following their paths. In fact, fewer than one percent of high school girls express interest in majoring in computer science.

This is an issue that hits home for me. My school-age daughter instinctively knows how to play games, watch videos and chat with friends online. She understands technology. And she likes using technology. But, she never expressed any interest in creating it herself.

So, I decided to launch a campaign at home — connecting my daughter to coding resources, increasing my encouragement and introducing her to other girls interested in computer science. It wasn’t always easy, but it’s already showing results. She recently started learning basic computer languages and using code to do projects at home.

Today, we’re attempting to solve this issue on a much larger scale. Along with Chelsea Clinton, Girls Inc., Girl Scouts of the USA, Mindy Kaling, MIT Media Lab, National Center for Women & Information Technology, SevenTeen, TechCrunch and more, Google is launching Made with Code, an initiative to inspire girls to code. The program includes:

• Cool introductory Blockly-based coding projects, like designing a bracelet 3D-printed by Shapeways, learning to create animated GIFs and building beats for a music track.

• Collaborations with organizations like Girl Scouts of the USA and Girls, Inc. to introduce Made with Code to girls in their networks, encouraging them to complete their first coding experience.

• A commitment of $50 million to support programs that can help get more females into computer science, like rewarding teachers who support girls who take CS courses on Codecademy or Khan Academy.

We’ve also posted videos about women who are using code in their dream jobs, like Miral, Danielle, Erica and other inspirational girl coders — like Brittany Wenger, who is using code to fight cancer. And, we’ve developed a few steps parents can take at home to get their daughters excited about computer science. Read more about the initiative here.

Nowadays, coding isn’t just a skill useful for working at a tech company; engineering isn’t just for engineers. Interior design. Medicine. Architecture. Music. No matter what a girl dreams of doing, learning how to code will help her get there. Their future — our future — is made with code. Let’s do what we can to make sure that future is as bright as possible.


Posted by Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube

All eyes were on Brazil this week, and searches were not far behind. Here’s a look at what’s trending on Google, from the football pitch to the political battlefield.

Football fever
The World Cup kicked off yesterday, and it’s safe to say that it’s on pretty much everyone’s minds. Even in the U.S., searches for the tournament beat searches for the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup Playoff combined. In addition to more general searches like [world cup schedule] and [world cup 2014], people searched for information on top players like Cristiano Ronaldo—who left the field limping during a practice session this week—and Ronaldinho, who won’t be on Brazil’s squad this year but still has star power. If you want more news from Brazil, be sure to check out google.com/worldcup, where we’ll be sharing trends about every match for all 32 countries.

New cinema classics?
This week in entertainment, it seems to be all about the sequels. Harry, Lloyd and the Mutt Cutts van are back in Dumb and Dumber To, which premiered its trailer on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week. As Harry says in the original movie, “Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this... and totally redeem yourself!” (Well, we’ll see, at least.) Meanwhile, cop comedy 22 Jump Street debuts in theaters today and searches are spiking for the film as well as for one of its (newer) stars—actress Amber Stevens.

Surprises at the polls
Americans got a major surprise this week in Virginia when U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost the primary election to the relatively unknown David Brat. People turned to the web to learn more about the upset, though searches for Cantor still dominate over those for Brat overall.

Celebrity causes… of a kind
Mila Kunis, who is pregnant with her first child, went on Jimmy Kimmel this week to make an important public service announcement to men who say “we are pregnant”: Just. don’t. do it. And Blue Ivy, the daughter of BeyoncĂ© and Jay-Z, has landed on the trending search list after an online petition was created urging Blue Ivy’s parents to “comb her hair.” The petition ignited a debate about natural hair and standards of beauty.

Tip of the week
If you’re in the U.S. and can’t skip work to watch soccer all day, you can still catch all the highlights from Brazil with a simple search. We've teamed up with ESPN to bring you closer to all the stunning goals, beautiful passes, iffy red cards, tense penalty kicks and much more. Try a search for [brazil world cup] or [mexico vs. cameroon] during or after a match to get video highlights from ESPNFC.com. 

Posted by Emily Wood, Google Blog Editor, who searched this week for [friskies commercial 2014] and who did not give in to the temptation to write about Pretty Little Liars in this post, even though it was totAlly a trending topic.

From the last minute U.S. goal against Algeria in ‘10 to the headbutt watched ‘round the world in ‘06, every four years the beautiful game captures the imagination of billions of people. This year, wherever you are, Google is bringing you closer to the action than ever before.

Don’t miss a minute
For the first time, a simple search for [world cup] or [world cup usa] will give you team lineups before the match, live scores, and even up to the minute information about goals and player stats.

You can also stay updated on your favorite teams with Google Now—you don’t even have to search. Learn more on Inside Search.

What does the world want to know during the tournament?
Google Trends is your real-time guide to the players, teams and moments that are capturing the world’s attention. At google.com/worldcup you can explore these moments throughout the tournament, whether it’s insight on how a country is feeling ahead of a big match, or where fans stand on a controversial game-winning call.

Take in the stadiums and streets with Street View
With Street View in Google Maps, you can explore the sights and culture of this year’s tournament, from the 12 stadiums to the iconic painted streets, one of Brazil’s tournament traditions.

Rua Professor Eurico Rabelo - MaracanĂŁ, RJ

As the world unites under a common love for a single sport, there's sure to be a lot of action. From dramatic tumbles to magisterial strikes, and from contested headers to flops and flags, we'll be there to help you discover and connect with the moments that matter most.

Posted by Emily Moxley, Product Manager

Here today, gone tomorrow. The transient nature of street art means it can be at risk of being scrubbed out and lost forever to its legions of fans. But long after the paint has faded from the walls, technology can help preserve street art, so people can discover it wherever and whenever they like. In a new project launching today, we’ve partnered with street art experts to bring you 5,000+ images and around 100 exhibitions in the Google Art Project—telling a story of street art around the world.

Starting today, you can immerse yourself in a world of prowling foxes on lonely walls, supernatural symbolism, murals on a grand scale, tiny hard-to-spot icons, or trompe l’oeil techniques that use physical details of the wall itself to trick the eye.

Some of this work was created as a means of expression and activism, like the Chilean open-sky museums of La Pincoya and San Miguel, which were born as community projects to transform poverty-stricken neighborhoods, or to make a political statement like in London and Atlanta.

It’s not just about spraypaint either—other exhibits demonstrate the signature style of the artist, like JR’s large-scale and evocative photo-portraits, Roa’s animals, Vhils’ etching or Os Gemeos surrealism.

Regg and Violant, Centro Comercial Alegro, SetĂşbal, Galeria de Arte Urbana

Vhils using the texture of the wall as a canvas

Using Street View, you can also explore buildings with street art that are closed to the public, or that have already been demolished—such as the famed Paris 13 tower:

Agrandir le plan

Explore all nine floors and 450 square meters of painted ceilings and walls of the now-demolished Tour Paris 13 building with Street View.

In a series of fascinating exhibitions by our partners, you can also learn about origins of the street art movement or see how Street Art is being used in Poland to revitalize its cities. Take a tour through the origins of New York’s original graffiti movement of the 90’s, or see top highlights from the city’s 5 Pointz project. Compare the global nature of the Street Art produced in Mexico, which has a long and vibrant history of muralism, to the scene in the Philippines, which is just developing.

Street art may be temporary on our walls and sidewalks, but its beauty and vibrancy live on, on the web. Take a look— you’re sure to be bowled over by the variety of the urban canvas.

Posted by Lucy Schwartz, Programme Manager, Google Cultural Institute

The fortressed city of Acre lies on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in northern Israel. An important Middle Eastern city in ancient times, it’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With its fortified walls, citadel, mosques, synagogues, khans, baths and Crusader structures, Acre has always been a meeting place for East and West, new and old. Today, it’s a mixed Jewish-Arab city, but people from the two communities interact all too rarely. Mistrust, and sometimes outright hostility, keep the two communities apart.

We wanted to see if the Internet could help break down some of these barriers. So last September, a group of 40 students from the separate Arab and Jewish schools in the city, together with 200 Arab, Jewish, Druze and Bedouin students from other communities in Israel, took part in “Hangout Bridges: Bridges to Peace.” A partnership with ORT, Israel’s largest educational network of schools and colleges, and the Peres Center for Peace, the program uses Hangouts to help create understanding—and friendship—between these communities.

Grouped together by their teachers into multi-cultural Google+ circles, the students got to know each other online and started working on joint projects. Each circle met on average 10 times on Hangouts, then in a series of face-to-face meetings.

Last week, we hosted the finale event of the program at Campus Tel Aviv, a tech hub for developers and entrepreneurs at our Tel Aviv office. The students and their teachers enjoyed a creative session with System Ali, a multicultural rap group, and an inspirational talk with the leaders of MEET, an educational initiative that brings together young Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The students then presented the projects they've been working on for the last eight months, including a walking tour of Acre using Google Maps that seeks to uncover the rich Jewish-Arab history of this ancient city; educational Hebrew-Arabic websites that address racism and prejudice in sports, provide information on relevant legislation and offer quizzes on the topic; and an original song performed in Hebrew, Arabic and English, emphasizing coexistence and mutual respect.

This is the second year we’ve run “Hangout Bridges” in Israel. For our next course, starting this coming fall, we’re doubling the number of participants. We hope we can expand to other countries and help—in a small way—build bridges of mutual understanding around the world. As participant Wasim Jass put it: “I learned that we can cast off the hatred and plant love in its place.”

Posted by Doron Avni, Senior Policy Manager, Middle East, Africa, Turkey & Israel

On google.com today, you may have noticed an intricately drawn version of our logo showing an unusual water purifier, surrounded by a variety of fantastical creatures. This doodle is the result of our seventh annual Doodle 4 Google competition, where we asked kids, grades K-12, to tell us what they’d invent to help make the world a better place. Today, out of more than 100,000 submissions, 250 state finalists, 50 state winners, and five national age group winners, we’re excited to present the 2014 U.S. Doodle 4 Google winner—11-year old Audrey Zhang of New York!

In the spirit of our theme around inventiveness, we asked Audrey to spend a day with the doodlers following our awards ceremony to help animate her illustration. In her new role as animator and film director, the ever detail-oriented Audrey made sure that each light would flicker and that the water was clean enough to (virtually) drink in. She was especially passionate about the illustration’s dragons—about whom (oh, by the way) she is also writing a novel.

In addition to seeing her finished work on our homepage today, Audrey received a $30,000 college scholarship and $50,000 Google for Education technology grant for her school. And to help make Audrey’s vision of water purification a reality, we donated $20,000 in her name to charity:water, a charity that brings clean water to developing nations, to provide clean water to schools in Bangladesh.

"To make the world a better place, I invented a transformative water purifier. It takes in dirty and polluted water from rivers, lakes, and even oceans, then massively transforms the water into clean, safe and sanitary water, when humans and animals drink this water, they will live a healthier life." - Audrey Zhang, 11

Audrey’s doodle was one of many amazing contributions to Doodle 4 Google this year. We encourage you to take a look at the outstanding national grade group winners, who we announced at an event with all 50 state winners at the Googleplex back in May.

Every year we do this, and every year we’re amazed. The thousands of young Doodlers who enter the contest are annual reminders of that special combination of curiosity and imagination that seems to come only from young people. Their ideas—like Audrey's—inspire us to do more and be better. Congratulations to all our Doodle 4 Google winners!

Posted by Liat Ben-Rafael, Doodle 4 Google Program Manager

It’s been a busy week for entertainment junkies, with the return of [oitnb] and a (yet another) huge episode of [game of thrones]. But people searched for more serious subjects, including the anniversary of [d-day] and a changing of the guard in Spain.

“Stars,” shows and sad goodbyes
Anticipation was high this week for the film adaptation of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, which comes out today. It’s the top topic on Hot Trends as I write this, and people are looking for related topics such as [ed sheeran], who contributed a song to the movie, and [theo james], who is rumored to be dating the film’s star Shailene Woodley. And searches for [orange is the new black] skyrocketed as the fan favorite returns for its much-awaited second season on Netflix.

People searched for [gwendoline christie], the Game of Thrones actress, after it was confirmed she’d be a cast member in the upcoming Star Wars 7 film. The Lady of Tarth had some company in search this week from [oberyn martell]—but we won’t get too into that in case anyone still has last week’s episode awaiting them on DVR.

And finally, on a sad note, Ann B. Davis—best known as housekeeper Alice on The Brady Bunch—passed away this week at the age of 88. Many were searching for information on her life and famous Alice moments.

Marking a moment in history
Today marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day, and veterans and world leaders gathered to commemorate the storming of the beaches of Normandy that turned the tides in World War II. [D-Day] was a top topic on Google, as people searched for [d-day anniversary] and [d-day facts] to learn more about this moment in history. If you’re interested in a more in-depth look at the Normandy Landings, this week we also added a new collection of 470 documents and images showing different perspectives on D-Day to the Google Cultural Institute.

Searching for knowledge
After 40 years on the throne, this week it was announced that King Juan Carlos I would step down in favor of his son Crown Prince Felipe. People turned to Google to understand the term [abdicate]. And as the summer break approaches, math games like [brainpop], [mymathlab] and [scratch] are trending in search—a good sign that parents and students are looking to stay sharp over vacation!

Tip of the week
Ready to cry? Just ask Google Search (on iOS and Android) to “show me movie times for The Fault In Our Stars.” You’ll see nearby theaters and showtimes, and can click on the time you like to buy a ticket online. “Ok Google, remind me to bring tissues!”

Posted by Emily Wood, Google Blog Editor, who searched this week for [darren aronofsky atwood] and [first city festival]

Ten days ago, voting opened for Google’s first Bay Area Impact Challenge, and now the tally is in. On the ballot? Ten amazing nonprofit proposals to make a difference in our community.

Between May 22 and June 2, nearly 200,000 votes poured in (191,504 to be exact)—adjusted for population, that makes it the highest voter turnout we’ve had in a Challenge to date. Now we’re unveiling the winners. Each will receive $500,000 in funding and support from Google:

• Hack the Hood will address digital equity by training low-income youth to build websites for local small businesses, actively supporting them to launch their own tech careers.
• Center for Employment Opportunities will develop a tech platform to prepare formerly incarcerated people for employment in a digital world.
• The Health Trust will create new distribution channels for people to get affordable produce, expanding options for street vendors, corner stores, and farmers' markets for underserved areas.
• Bring me a book will give kids access to digital books, in multiple languages, while creating a supportive online community for parents and caregivers.

Hack the Hood celebrates their win with community advisor Reverend Cecil Williams

But everyone wins in this competition: The six remaining finalists will each receive $250,000, and we also gave an additional 15 nonprofits around the Bay Area $100,000 each.

Finally, all 25 Google Impact Challenge nonprofits will receive one year of accelerator support at our first-ever impact lab, a co-working space launched in partnership with Impact Hub SF, a shared workspace for entrepreneurs committed to positive social and environmental change.

Nonprofits will have access to networking events, meeting space, and development workshops in the Impact Hub SF, as well as membership to all U.S. Hub locations. We also plan to host community events for the Bay Area nonprofit community throughout the year—so check out our website or follow us on Google+ to stay in the loop.

Now the work really begins, and we’re excited to continue to build on our ongoing efforts to give back to the community.

Posted by Jacquelline Fuller, Director of Google.org