Happy Autumn! It won't really cool off here in California for a couple more months, but it still feels like there is change in the air. (And no I don't mean wildfire smoke.)

This week there are tips and updates for YouTube, Google Meet, Google Chat, Gmail and more. Plus a sneak peek at Google’s new newsletter platform in the works.

To Try

Google’s Area 120 has a new newsletter service called Museletter. This lets you create a public profile for Google Drive. You can publish any Google Drive files to your profile or an email list, including Google Docs newsletters, Google Slide decks, photos and other files.

The plan is to offer analytics, community features and paid subscriptions.

If that sounds interesting, request early access. Note that this may be limited to the United States.

Learn

Google Workspace for Education is offering free product training from September 21st to November 4th. These are 30 minute video sessions on Google Meet, Chrome, Classroom, Google Drive and more. While some of the content is education specific, it looks like it will cover topics that may be useful to business and personal account users too. The videos are available on demand after the session.

Sign up today to get live session reminders and recording links.

This week's updates

Read this week's Weekly Updates on the web.

Top Stories

Automatic video Chapters may now be added to all existing eligible YouTube videos. If you do not want Chapters to be added, you can turn it off for individual videos. You can also edit the setting on your videos in bulk.

Google Meet introduced low light mode on the web. It automatically detects when a participant’s video feed is underexposed and brightens it up. If lighting adjustment is turned off, you will see a prompt to turn it on. If it’s on, you can turn it off to remain in the dark. Note that this is only available in eligible browsers: Chrome, ChromeOS or Edge version 90 or above; 64-bit operating system; browser that supports WebGL2 and hardware acceleration enabled.

If you are using an old version of the Google Chat Progressive Web App on your computer, you should be seeing a prompt to update to the current version. The old version of the Chat app will stop working September 27.

Google Workspace Individual subscribers can now create branded emails with custom layouts in Gmail. Very professional looking! Google Workspace Individual is a paid upgrade to your personal Google account that adds business-oriented features in Google Meet, Calendar and Gmail. It is currently available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico and the United States.

More Updates

YouTube and Video

• YouTube Super Chat and Super Stickers are available in 7 new countries. Super Chat and Super Stickers allow your fans to tip you in live stream chat. They are available to monetized channels in more than 90 countries and regions.

Social Audio

• Twitter is testing the option to set a Topic for Spaces. This is currently available in English on Android devices.

• Clubhouse is expanding into (or pivoting to?) casual audio chats and hangouts with friends with a new feature called Wave. You can see who is available in the app, then send them a “gentle invite” to join a private room.

Social Network Publishing

• Facebook has published new content distribution guidelines. This explains what kinds of “problematic” or low-quality content may be demoted in the News Feed. The goal is to get publishers to share more high-quality content. If you are linking to low quality web pages, events or videos, this may affect you. Read the Content Distribution Guidelines in the Facebook Transparency Center.

Productivity

• You can now filter search results in the Android Gmail app and use improved filters when searching Gmail on the web.

• If you have a Google Workspace account for your school or business, you can create a group Google Chat from a Google Calendar event. This only includes members of the same organization.

More

• You can now learn more about the ads you see on YouTube and Google Search. Click the “About this ad” icon to view the advertiser profile, including the other ads they are running.

Image: Autumn leaves. Photo by Anita Smith from Pixabay. Free for commercial use, no attribution required.