Today we’re rolling out a few updates to Google+ to help your users find the content they’re looking for. From an updated look of the search interface to search suggestions and domain-only filters, these new experiences can make users confident that the content they see is the content they want. Read on for more information.

Suggested and recent searches before users start typing
Before a user begins typing in the search box, we'll show them Communities they may be looking for, as well as recent terms they've searched.



Improved Autocomplete
As the user types, autocomplete results will be shown from Topics, Collections, Communities, and People/Pages.



Filter results by content type using the new tabbed interface
On the search results page, users can now filter content by five categories: “All,” “Posts,” “Communities,” “Collections,” and “People & Pages.”



A popular ask from admins, the “Posts” tab allows users to sort results by new/top posts, as well as by the source of the post (from just you, from people you follow, or from everyone).



Restrict search results and home stream to show only content from within your domain
While offering a mix of external and domain-restricted content can be a valuable aspect of Google+, showing content from people outside of your domain (especially those sourced from users’ personal contacts) can lead to user confusion. That’s why we’re introducing the ability to toggle between showing domain-only content vs. public content in search suggestions, search results, and the Google+ home stream. This feature is currently available on the web only.



With this toggle, users can enjoy the benefits of mixed content while also being able to focus on company-specific info when appropriate. Filtering out external content can increase users’ confidence that they won’t accidentally leak information by commenting on externally visible posts.

We hope that this new experience will make it easier for your users to locate and engage with their Google+ content and Communities.


Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information:
Help Center

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Today we’re making it easier to manage the coexistence of Google Calendar and Microsoft Exchange Server (including Office 365) within your organization. We’re starting by supporting real-time free/busy lookups between the two systems within the same organization on both mobile and web. This has been a popular feature request from customers with hybrid G Suite - Microsoft Exchange environments.

Making collaboration between your users simpler
Once Calendar Interop is set up for your domain, end users will be able to see each other’s free/busy information across the two systems. This information will be available to users in Google Calendar’s Find a Time and Microsoft Outlook’s Scheduling Assistant. Calendar Interop works in real time and is supported on Google Calendar for Android, iOS and web.

Easy setup and troubleshooting
As G Suite admins, you can enable user availability lookups by visiting Apps > G Suite > Settings for Calendar in the Admin console and selecting Calendar Interop management.



From there, you can set up interoperability between Google Calendar and Microsoft Exchange using our robust setup guide in the Help Center.

In addition, to help you set up and maintain interoperability, we are providing you with two new tools:

1. We’ve built a new interoperability troubleshooting tool that allows administrators to understand the status of the setup with one click. If everything’s working as expected, the tool will let you know. If something’s amiss, it will display a detailed human-readable error to help you pinpoint the root cause of the issue.
   
2. We’re also exposing interoperability-related logs in the reporting section in Admin console so that admins can track interoperability-related successes and failures for each user separately.

Admins who have already set up Calendar interoperability will want to migrate to this new setup. Check out the Help Center for detailed steps on how to migrate.

The app launcher in the Google Bar makes it easy for users to quickly access Google apps like Drive, Gmail, and Calendar. Savvy users can even customize the launcher to place the apps they use most at the top and they apps they visit less often at the bottom.

We want to make the app launcher more convenient for new users and those who don’t take the time to customize it. To do this, we’re introducing a new default order for apps in the launcher, which will more prominently feature commonly used apps like Gmail, Drive, and Docs. This new order will appear on Tuesday, August 1st.



This new layout will only go into effect for new users and those who haven’t already customized their app launcher. If a user has already reordered the apps in their launcher, he or she won’t see any changes to the apps’ order on Tuesday, August 1st.

Launch Details
Release track: 
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release on August 1st, 2017

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Use the Google bar

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Google Vault can help your organization meet its legal needs by offering an easy way to preserve and retrieve user data. To harness the full potential of Vault, however, you may need to integrate its functionality with other tools and processes that your business employs. Today, we’re making that possible with the Google Vault API.

The Vault API will allow you to programmatically manage legal matters and holds. This means that you will be able to create, list, update, and delete matters and holds related to data supported by Vault.

For more information on the Vault API, check out the Developer’s Guide. We’ll add more features to the API in the future, so stay tuned.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite Business, Education, and Enterprise editions, as well as any G Suite users with the Vault add-on license

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins, developers, and users with the Vault add-on license

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Google Vault API Developers Site


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Security key enforcement launched in January 2017 and allows a G Suite Enterprise domain admin to enforce the use of security keys as a two-step verification (2SV) option to protect users against phishing. In addition to security key enforcement, G Suite domain admins can also use other 2SV methods such as the Google Authenticator app, text messages, or phone calls. To make 2SV deployment easier in your domain, we've added two new options in the Admin console.

Admin-led security key enrollment for end users
G Suite Business and Enterprise admins can now enroll security keys on behalf of their users. After navigating to the User page from Admin console, click ADD NEW KEY and add a new security key using the standard security key enrollment process.


2SV enrollment periods
Previously, whenever a new user was created in an organizational unit where 2SV was enforced, that user had to use 2SV from his or her first login. Admin feedback has told us that enrollment periods would help in onboarding users to 2SV more efficiently.


Going forward, G Suite admins can specify an enrollment period during which newly created users can sign in with just their passwords and complete their 2SV setup.

To learn more, check out our updated Set up 2-Step Verification guide in the Help Center.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Editions:

• Enrolling security keys on behalf of users available to G Suite Business and Enterprise editions only
• Specifying 2SV enrollment periods available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
Admins only

Action:
Admin action suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center



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We know that many of your organizations work with contractors, vendors, and other third parties who don’t have Google accounts, and we recognize that it’s crucial you’re empowered to share information with them in a quick, easy, and secure way. That’s why, in response to your feedback, we’ll soon make changes to the experience users have when sharing Google files with non-Google accounts.

Current sharing experience
Today, if you allow users to share files outside of your domain and send sharing invitations to non-Google accounts, an employee can share a file stored in Google Drive with any non-Google user. If you allow external users to preview files, that non-Google user can view the file for 14 days. If you require Google sign-in for external users, that non-Google user is prompted to create a Google account within 14 days in order to view the file. Some third parties, however, don’t have permission to create such accounts or don’t do so in time, meaning your employee’s information doesn’t get to their intended recipient.

Of course, if you also allow users to publish files on the web, your employee has another option—he or she can simply share the public link. Unfortunately, many users don’t take advantage of this option, because it’s not clearly surfaced as part of the sharing flow.

Future sharing experience 
To make this process easier and more effective for both G Suite and non-Google users alike, we’ll soon add an option to the sharing dialogue for users to let anyone with the link view the file.

This option will only appear if ALL of the following are true of your sharing settings (Apps > G Suite > Drive and Docs > Sharing settings):

1. You allow users to share files outside of your domain.
2. You allow users to send sharing invitations to non-Google accounts.
3. You allow users to publish files on the web.
4. You do NOT have “Recipients only” selected in your Access Checker settings.

If an employee selects this option to “Send the link,” link sharing will be turned on for that file and anyone with the link will be able to view the file. This will allow third parties to access important content with no deadline and no need to create a Google account.

Note that the option to “Send an invitation” will remain the default selection for other files.

These changes will go into effect on July 26th for domains on the Rapid Release track and two weeks later for domains on the Scheduled Release track.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to Rapid Release on July 26th, 2017, with Scheduled Release coming two weeks later 

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Set file sharing permissions


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Following its official launch back in May, Jamboard is helping businesses collaborate more efficiently by bringing the power of the cloud into their team brainstorms. Starting today, we’re adding several helpful features to both the Jamboard device and app to make this experience even more productive.

Object duplication
Users can now duplicate objects - on both their Jamboard device and app - by selecting an object and clicking on the duplicate icon in the upper right-hand corner.


Smoother typing
A new keyboard on the Jamboard device allows users to input text using Glide Typing, in addition to regular typing.

Easier object selection
The functionality of the Lasso selection tool has been expanded, allowing users to select both drawings and objects like post-its, stickers, and images and easily move or resize them.

Faster sharing
The “Add people” dialog in the Jamboard app now auto-suggests contacts based on history, matching address book contacts, and the user’s email domain.

For a full list of new features and improvements from this month’s release, check out the What’s New in Jamboard page in the Help Center. These features will roll out gradually over the coming week. 

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid Release and Scheduled Release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite Basic, Business, Enterprise, and Education* customers

*G Suite for Education customers will need to satisfy certain requirements in order to purchase Jamboard devices. See the Help Center FAQ for more information.

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users Action: Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center


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(Cross-posted from The Keyword)

Posted by Berit Johnson, Senior Product Manager, Google Cloud

It’s no secret that attracting top talent is a key driver of business success. But whether you’re looking to recruit a business analyst, bring on an assistant or hire an experienced auto mechanic, building the right teams with the right talent takes time and money.

According to a study by Bersin by Deloitte, it takes an average of 52 days to fill an open position and costs about $4,000 to interview, schedule and assess each candidate. At the end of the day, that adds up. Now, Hire–an app designed to help small and medium businesses recruit more effectively–can help.

Recruit better using Hire and G Suite
Hire makes it easy for you to identify talent, build strong candidate relationships and efficiently manage the interview process end-to-end. It integrates seamlessly with G Suite apps like Gmail and Google Calendar, which more than 3 million businesses use, many of them to drive recruiting efforts. With the introduction of Hire, customers now have a hiring app alongside G Suite’s familiar, easy-to-use tools that can help them run an efficient recruiting process.

Hire and G Suite are made to work well together so recruiting team members can focus on their top priorities instead of wasting time copy-pasting across tools. For example, you can:

• Communicate with candidates in Gmail or Hire and your emails will sync automatically in both. 
• Schedule interviews in Hire with visibility into an interviewer's schedule from Calendar. Hire also automatically includes important details in Calendar invites, like contact information, the full interview schedule and what questions each interviewer should focus on. 
• Track candidate pipeline in Hire, and then analyze and visualize the data in Sheets. 

Making intuitive recruiting software for your business
A lot of tools that employees rely on at work are clunky, unintuitive and hard to learn—endless configuration options, tables and lists and mind-numbing data entry. The Hire product team set out to change that. With a mindset of “less is more,” the team conducted hundreds of user-testing sessions and worked with early adopter customers for more than a year to simplify and optimize every aspect of the user experience.

How Hire makes it easy for Brad’s Deals to recruit 
Brad’s Deals is a free service that compares online prices to help consumers find the best deals. As a growing organization, recruiting is a top priority for the company. With more than 260 active candidates in their pipeline, Brad’s Deals uses Hire to share candidate information, capture feedback from the interviewing team in one place and track interview progress.

“Hire’s intuitive and simple UI makes it easy for recruiters, hiring managers or even interviewers to take an active part in the recruiting process,” says Jessica Adams, vice president of Human Resources at Brad’s Deals. “The app’s integration with G Suite enables us to quickly access all candidate communications in one place, efficiently schedule interviews and collaborate to reach a hiring decision quickly."

Try Hire today
Hire is the latest product offering from Google to address the talent marketplace. In May, we unveiled Google for Jobs, our initiative that's focused on helping both job seekers and employers, across our products and through deep collaboration with the job matching industry. Google Search connects jobseekers to job opportunities from the open and broad ecosystem of providers, including employer listings as well as LinkedIn, Monster, WayUp, DirectEmployers, CareerBuilder, Glassdoor and Facebook. Hire addresses the needs of our G Suite customers—making it easier to hire the right people.

Now, all U.S.-based businesses under 1,000 employees that use G Suite can purchase Hire to land the best talent. To learn more, visit http://hire.google.com or request a demo at http://hire.google.com/request-demo/.


Launch Details
Editions:
Available for purchase by G Suite Basic, Business, and Enterprise edition domains in the US with fewer than 1,000 G Suite seats. Hire is not a core G Suite service.

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
G Suite admins and HR decision-makers

Action:
Action suggested/FYI

More Information
Hire website
Request a demo


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Sharing written communication is a critical part of successful meetings. Meeting participants may want to share links, chime in when they can't speak, or contribute to the conversation without interrupting the speaker. This chat functionality has been a top feature request in Meet since we launched earlier this year and that’s why, today, we’re bringing it to all G Suite users.



Going forward, meeting attendees will be able to send text and links, all in real time. The chat history will be available for the duration of the meeting.

This feature is available across Meet platforms: chat messages can be sent and received on web and mobile (versions 4.5 and above), and received on Chromebox for Meetings. All users can send and receive messages while in Meet, including those not signed in with Google accounts.





Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to Rapid release, with Scheduled release coming in 2 weeks

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Full rollout (1-3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Chat with Meeting Participants

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In February 2017, we revamped Google prompt for 2-Step Verification (2-SV), giving users a better option to keep their accounts safe. In addition to offering 2-SV over an encrypted connection, Google prompt also allows users to block unauthorized access to their account with real-time security information about the login attempt.
Starting next week, 2-SV SMS users will see an invitation to try Google prompts when they sign in. The invitation will give users a way to preview the new Google prompts sign in flow instead of SMS, and, afterward, choose whether to keep it enabled or opt-out.
Overall, this is being done because SMS text message verifications and one-time codes are more susceptible to phishing attempts by attackers. By relying on account authentication instead of SMS, administrators can be sure that their mobile policies will be enforced on the device and authentication is happening through an encrypted connection.
Notes:

• The notifications to test Google prompts will be shown only to 2-SV SMS users. Security key users are unaffected by this change.
• A data connection is required to use Google prompt.
• iOS users will need the Google Search app installed on their phone to use Google prompt.
• Enterprise edition domains also have the ability to enforce security keys for more advanced security requirements.
• While users may opt out of using phone prompts when shown the promotion, users will receive follow-up notifications to switch after 6 months.

Launch Details
Release track:
Launching to both Rapid release and Scheduled release

Editions:
Available to all G Suite editions

Rollout pace:
Gradual rollout (potentially longer than 3 days for feature visibility)

Impact:
All end users

Action:
Change management suggested/FYI

More Information
Help Center: Sign in faster with 2-Step Verification phone prompts