Manage Your Business with Google APPs and Google APIs

Lately, Google has become the leader in Computer Software Marketing. This leadership is
a result of sacrifices with the aid of organized and structured work. In addition to Google
Software, Google offers Open Source Organization for supporting open source projects. Due
to the fact that Google has the largest number of followers from all over the world, Google
didn't stop its work to pay "Others" attention. Supporting Google freeservices for targeting
new developers and self organizations was one of the milestones Google working to achieve.
In this article, we will talk about some Google Apps and APIs for making your own business
and manage it. First of all is the Google AdWords which is Google's main advertising product
and main source of revenue. AdWords offers pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, cost-per-
thousand (CPM) advertising, and site-targeted advertising for text, banner, and rich-media
ads. The AdWords program includes local, national, and international distribution. Google's
text advertisements are short, consisting of one headline consisting of 25 characters and two
additional text lines consisting of 35 characters each. Image ads can be one of several
different Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) standard sizes. Google Also cares about
programmers so it provides APIs for those interesting in their own programs to interact with
AdWords. AdWords APIs are SOAP/WSDL web-based services APIs which Let you write
software that interacts programmatically with the AdWords service with the aid of Bid
management, Account Management, Compain Management, Traffic Estimation,
Reporting/Analytics and Keyword generation. Other common one for Google business
beginners is Google AdSense. Google AdSense is a free, simple way for website publishers of
all sizes to earn money by displaying targeted Google ads on their websites. AdSense also
lets you provide Google search to your site users, while earning money by displaying Google
ads on the search results pages. In addition, Google has noticed that online marketing takes
part in the real life shopping so it provided us with Google Checkout. Google Checkout is an
alternative checkout process that provides a fast, secure way to buy and sell online. No
worry about cheating with shoppers using Google Checkout badges provided on their
websites. Google Shoppers has many advantages over other shoppers with more sales and
lower costs with free transactions. Simple Business Scenario with Google services can be
achieved with promoting your business with AdWords, getting more traffic with the Google
Checkout badge, getting higher sales conversions by offering a streamlined checkout process
and offering lower costs with free transaction processing. Google didn't forget to provide
Web Administrators who use Google Services and APIs with Web Analytic Tool for giving
advantages to them over other Administrators. Google Analytics Web Interface has 4
components. Those components are Data collection, Data Management, Core Processing
with about 100 metrics for evaluation and Data Exporting. This gives the opportunity for
Googler Web Administrators to achieve what others can't. Finally, Life becomes easier with
Google because that's what Google aims to.

Mohammed Farrag – Shibin Al-Kawm GTUG Admin

Google Tools and Products in Armenia

Armenia is a small country in the Caucasus, and started its internet activity 5 years ago. Now, IT is one of the priority directions of economy in Armenia, that’s why this area growths quickly. Today, Armenian IT community doesn’t stay behind international events and news but also they take part of new technologies development process. So each member of our IT community is a Google technology user.

   During the last 2 years, social media was strongly highlighted for Armenian internet users and the number of Google technology users increased significantly. Google Documents users increased with the aid of Gmail users.

  The number of Google Translate and Google Maps users increased in parallel with Google search, Gmail and Google Docs users. While there was no problem with search, mail and docs services, some users face translation and maps problems. GTUG Armenia plays an important role in fixing bugs appear over time. A GTUG Armenia plans to organize next GTUG meeting in the frames of Google Map Maker topic, targeting to solve the problem with the development of Armenian maps, showing the way of improving maps to the common users and having discussion for alternative solutions. 

   Social Media and the new technologies lead Armenian youth to replace their mobile phones with more functional smart phones, which operate with Android OS. The number of such phones users increased involving Armenian programmers in the Android Apps Market. Therefore, Armenian users and programmers came across with some problems concerning these services. Many times, the owners of Android OS mobiles have pointed out lack hindering. It concerns the lack of Armenian characters in DroidSans font. Armenian users should have root access in their mobiles for replacing DroidSans with another font supporting Armenian characters. Then they should install a virtual keyboard to type Armenian letters. A beginning for solving the problem was to develop Armenian virtual keyboard by Armenian programmers. Nevertheless, the initial part concerning Armenian characters which should be added in the DroidSans font hasn’t been completed yet. This can be solved only by the Android manufacturer (Google).  GTUG Armenia is ready to cooperate with Google, particularly we can provide with Armenian characters if needed. We hope that these characters will be added in the next versions of Android OS.

  Armenian programmers face obstacles in Android Apps Market regarding applications promotion in the Android Market. Unfortunately, Armenian programmers have to sell their apps to other markets or create apps for local client.

Also, number of Google news users increase regularly. The other problem, already discussed during the meetings was the lack of Armenian websites in Google News service. At this moment, the system has some Armenian websites with Russian or English Languages Materials. 

 Being a small country and, unfortunately, not having Google offices in our country postpone the solution of some problems. However, there are problems which can be solved with the aid of Google. 

Three most urgent problems which can be solved with the aid of Google:

1. Adding Armenian characters in Android OS mobile phones,
2. Adding news portals in Armenian language in the Google News,
3. Purchase permission for Armenian programmers to sell programs in Android Market.

    There are also many small problems that GTUG Armenia tries to solve by itself. This should be ended by our slogan: “We love Google and make use of it!”

Vardan Grigoryan (Google Technologies User Group Armenia, Organizer)

Smart Login for Smart Applications

Do you design Web Applications?

Would you like to develop Sites that offer a personalized service to your customers?

If your answer is yes...you have to step into the world of OAuth and OpenID, if you haven't done it, yet.

First thing to do is to make clear what you can achieve.

Your application (called myApp), have to setup, for security and privacy reasons, a login page and you need to make sure that the user is really who claims to be

..and not an information thief.

On the other hand, users get bored  if they have to enter every time User ID and Password and  being forced to log in repeatedly they can sometimes make mistakes.

To avoid all that:

It is possibile to require, first time a user logs in, only the email address used for his Google account (or Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter...).

If the user is already logged:

• Google step in and ask: Dear user,  you really want me to talk with my friend myApp  and pass the data it needs?
• The user answers yes and you're done...everything is easy!

If the user is not connected:

• He/she logs in directly to Google, without providing the password to myApp
• For you, a problem less; for users, extra Safety

     Moreover...

Next time myApp (together with Google) may let the user in without (apparently) any preliminary operation...just ask...dear Mary...it is really you?

Great Advantages:

For Users:

• They  save an annoying and error prone process and may access to personal information and applications.

For you...it is an open door to a new world!

You can offer your Users:

• a far easier access, if already connected to Google or Yahoo or Facebook
• personalized services (you know who they are)
• greater functionality, integrating (for example) with Google Apps or Social Networks
• the capability to say to friends (by word of mouth)  how good myApp is

Behind the Scenes

..there are OpenId and OAuth

OpenID let you identify the user, make certain (nearly) that he is not cheating...

In technical terms it is called Identification or Authentication.

But myApp needs also some other information: Name, Address, document list...

and OAuth provides to myApp (the Consumer) for getting data directly from Google or Facebook or nearly any other Service Provider.

Service Providers give the Consumers the key to this information by means of an authorization token (a cryptic string).

Before starting the process, MyApp,  has to be acquainted with the Service. For example Google  requires:

• the Application URL
• the Callback URL that will be used by the service provider after the authorization process ( like  Ajax callback functions)
• the Application Scope, used by Google to decide which data has to supply to myApp

The process

Here is an example of a login screen:

• User inserts his Google account email and choose the Google button.
• User will be redirected to a Google Page that says that myApp requires authorization within the declared scope.
• If the user denies, Google will return an error code to myApp and the process ends
• If the user accepts, Google will return an authorization code to myApp
• myApp will send in POST to Google the authorization code together with the appropriate Secret ID (Application ID from Google )
• Google returns the access token
• myApp can use the Access token to get User resources

Just a bit of code...

Just few lines of code to implement what has been just described
We are going to use the following Google libraries:

http://code.google.com/p/google-api-java-client/wiki/DeveloperGuide


1) To build the URL for user redirect:

String SCOPE = "https://www.google.com/m8/feeds/"; /* for asking more than one scope, list them with spaces among them */
String CALLBACK_URL = "http://mia_callbackurl";
        HttpTransport TRANSPORT = new NetHttpTransport();
        JsonFactory JSON_FACTORY = new JacksonFactory();

       String CLIENT_ID = "mio_client_id";
       String CLIENT_SECRET = "mio_client_secret";

/* this is the redirect URL*/
String authorizeUrl = new GoogleAuthorizationRequestUrl(CLIENT_ID, CALLBACK_URL, SCOPE).build();   

2) After the user OK, Google will return to our callback URL the authorization token, which we can exchange with the access token in the following way:

String authorizationCode = request.getParameter("code");
GoogleAuthorizationCodeGrant authRequest = new GoogleAuthorizationCodeGrant(TRANSPORT,
                    JSON_FACTORY, CLIENT_ID, CLIENT_SECRET, authorizationCode, CALLBACK_URL);
authRequest.useBasicAuthorization = false;
AccessTokenResponse authResponse = authRequest.execute();

String accessToken = authResponse.accessToken;
/* access token then we can use to access to the user resources   */       

What we are working at...

We are building a Web Application Cluster opened to all GTUGers.
Not only demos but working applications.
The authorization will be provided with the methods just described. (OpenId 2.0 and OAuth 2.0).

References

OAuth 2.0 Specification: http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-oauth-v2-16

OAuth Protocol in Google: http://code.google.com/intl/it-IT/apis/accounts/docs/OAuth2.html#SS

Google SCOPE list: http://code.google.com/intl/it-IT/apis/gdata/faq.html#AuthScopes

Libraries Download:  http://code.google.com/p/google-api-java-client/wiki/Setup

OpenId : http://code.google.com/apis/accounts/docs/OpenID.html

Working Examples : http://www.puffypoodles.com/lso

Federated Login: https://sites.google.com/site/oauthgoog/UXFedLogin/emailonlylogin   

Antonella Blasetti (Lazio, Italy)

Who's Afraid of Google?

Google is different...

Let us try to explain why:

Largest global IT companies (Oracle IBM Microsoft)

• Corporate Clients
• Very high license fees
• Proprietary software
• Difficult to use Technology, sometimes out of date
• Business Philosophy based on Success

Google

• People customers, even in Companies
• Free or affordable fees
• Easy to use Technology full of creativity and innovation
• Business Philosophy based on serious Fun, Research and fast Communication
• Suitable for people of any age and social environment
• and above all ... not just software ... but all you can do better with technology and the Internet

Well, it is enough to be scared of...(from the point of view of the Big Companies, of course)

But: why didn't they realize all that before?  

What will it happen?

My personal opinion

Why didn't they realize all that before?  
They didn't so far realized this because Google was related to the Search Engines Business  and to the distribution of experimental software for final users.
In others words, they did not consider Google a dangerous competitor...
Maybe Google did its best to make them think so, too.

What will happen?
From the perspective of the business war, I am sure that Google will win. it's too far ahead.
But we have to consider that  the struggle will cover the advertising and publishing fields too... not only Information Technology. ..
Competitors will play the card of privacy and security: they will try to scare us with the menace that our secrets will be discovered and we will publicly stripped naked and humiliated (Google and Internet fault, of course).

But let us look at the current situation.
What do you prefer:

• to be overwhelmed by obsessive and expensive (paid by us at the supermarket and elsewhere) advertising, affordable only for the biggest companies

or

• to be informed only about what we care about or we are interested in, maybe at the best value for money and close to home....together with the possibility of using the same means for promoting our business?

This is the choice...

What will change?

I think that Cloud Computing will really change our life:

• expanding and improving software quality and exploitation
• facilitating transparency in government and making control an easier task
• breaking down barriers and boundaries

We hope that Google, the Cloud Computing Giant, will stick to the current principles... Hopefully..



What do you think about?

I think that the opinion and the work of GTUGer, Googlers and Google Users (expecially the younger ones) is really important.

The possibility of a better future will be in their hands.
In their Hands and in their Mind.

References

Google philosophy: http://www.google.com/corporate/tenthings.html   

Antonella Blasetti (Lazio, Italy)