Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap – October 4, 2024

4 New updates

Unless otherwise indicated, the features below are available to all Google Workspace customers, and are fully launched or in the process of rolling out. Rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete if launching to both Rapid and Scheduled Release at the same time. If not, each stage of rollout should take no more than 15 business days to complete.

Access filter chips easier in Google Drive search 
Last year, we introduced search chips in Drive to enable you to filter by criteria like file type, owner, and last modified date. To build upon this, we are adding these filters inside the Drive search bar, so you can find relevant files even faster in Drive. We will also show new as-you-type suggestions for filter chips. For example, if you type “doc”, you’ll see a suggested “Document” file type chip. | Rolling out to Rapid Release domains now; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for October 22, 2024. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about searching and finding files in Drive.

The Option List field type is now two separate field types in Label Manager 
Since launching, Google Drive Labels have supported the ability to make an Option List field a single-select or multi-select. To make this setting clearer and improve upon the user experience in the Label Manager, we’ve separated the options into two separate field types: Options list (Single select) and Options list (Multi select). | Rollout to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Essentials Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus, Education Standard, Education Plus, Frontline Starter and Frontline Standard customers only. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about adding fields to a label. 
Improved spelling suggestions for Germanic languages in Google Docs
For years, users have used Google Docs’ spelling suggestion features for a variety of languages. This week, we’re excited to announce improvements to Norwegian spelling suggestions: 
Norwegian Bokmal Norwegian Nynorsk Rolling out to Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains now. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about checking your spelling & grammar in Google Docs and changing your language on the web.
Introducing new summary cards for purchase information in the Gmail mobile app 
Summary cards extract information from related purchase emails and visually display it at the top of the email to provide helpful information about orders and deliveries. This week, we’re excited to announce updates for purchase-related summary cards including new action buttons, the ability to organize key information across related emails, and real-time status updates. Now you can effortlessly find order details of recent purchases or stay up-to-date on the latest delivery status. The new purchase summary cards are now available in the Gmail mobile app on iOS and Android devices. | For Android devices, rollout to Rapid Release domains is complete; launch to Scheduled Release domains planned for October 14, 2024. | For iOS devices, rollout to Rapid and Scheduled Release domains is complete. | Available to Google Workspace customers, Google Workspace Individual subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts. | Visit the Help Center to learn more about using summary cards in Gmail.

Previous announcements

The announcements below were published on the Workspace Updates blog earlier this week. Please refer to the original blog posts for complete details.
Comments and action items are now available for client-side encrypted Google Sheets and Slides 
The use of comments and action items are now available in client-side encrypted Google Sheets and Slides. | Learn more about client-side encrypted comments in Sheets and Slides.
Beta update: Data Loss Prevention enforcement in Gmail is now instantaneous 
We’re announcing enhancements for the Data Loss Prevention for Gmail open beta, which are designed to improve usability without compromising sensitive data protections for Gmail. | Learn more about the DLP beta in Gmail. 
New Watermarking in Google Meet Helps Protect Your Meeting Content 
Google Workspace customers with a Gemini add-on can now watermark presented content and video feeds in Google Meet. Watermarking in Google Meet will appear as a subtle text overlay that displays the meeting code and the email address of the viewer over the shared content and video feeds of participants.| Learn more about Watermarking in Meet.
Gmail Q&A now available on iOS devices
Last month, we introduced a new way of searching your inbox with Gemini on Android devices. Starting this week, this feature is also available on iOS devices, enabling you to ask Gemini questions about your inbox. | Learn more about Q&A on iOS devices.

For a recap of announcements in the past six months, check out What’s new in Google Workspace (recent releases).   

Upload additional types of documents to Gemini (gemini.google.com) for insights and analysis

What’s changing 

Beginning today, Google Workspace users with a Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education or Education Premium license can now upload a variety of files from Google Drive or locally from your device into Gemini (gemini.google.com): 
Document and text files, such as TXT, DOC, DOCX, PDF, RTF, DOT, DOTX, HWP, HWPX and Google Docs Data Files, such as XLS, XLSX, CSV, TSV and Google Sheets Gemini can use uploaded files to gain context and analyze your content. In turn, this can help enhance your understanding, research, and writing through summarization of complex subject matter, identification of trends and insights, and recommendations for improving writing and document organization. Uploading a document can also help give you more personalized and relevant responses. 

Additional details 

At this time, Context-Aware Access (CAA) for files uploaded from Google Drive isn’t supported. Context-Aware Access gives you control over which apps a user can access based on their context, such as whether their device complies with your IT policy. Learn more about Context-Aware Access.Uploading files from Google Drive honors access control settings for files within Drive, meaning users can only upload files that they own or have been shared with them. File upload is not available to Google Workspace users accessing Gemini as an additional Google service.Users with a Gemini for Google Workspace license who access Gemini as a core service are subject to the Google Workspace Terms of Service or Google Workspace for Education Terms of Service (for education institutions). When users use Gemini as a core service, their chats and uploaded files won’t be reviewed by human reviews or otherwise used to improve generative AI models. 

Getting started 

Admins: 
Local file upload will be available in Gemini (gemini.google.com) by default to all Gemini Enterprise, Business, Education and Education Premium users. File upload from Google Drive in Gemini (gemini.google.com) requires you to turn on Workspace extensions in Gemini. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning Google Workspace extensions on or off for your organization. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning Gemini (gemini.google.com) on or off for your users, or about Gemini Enterprise and Gemini Business in general.End users: Users can upload up to 10 files at a time, and each file can be up to 100 MB. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to upload and analyze files in the Gemini web app. File upload from Google Drive in Gemini requires you to connect Google Workspace apps & services in Extensions setting.

Rollout pace 

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Full rollout (1–3 days for feature visibility) starting on August 27, 2024 

Availability

Available for Google Workspace customers with 
Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium add-on 

Resources 

“Take notes for me” in Google Meet is now available

What’s changing

Today, we’re pleased to announce that “take notes for me” will begin rolling out to Google Meet for select Google Workspace customers. “Take notes for me” is an AI-powered feature in Google Meet that automatically takes notes, allowing you to focus on discussion, collaboration, and presentation during your meetings. After the meeting, the notes document is attached to the calendar event where participants internal to your organization can access them. At launch, this feature will be available when using Google Meet on a computer or laptop, and meetings must be conducted in spoken English.
Select the pencil icon in the top right corner of the screen to start taking meeting notes.
All meeting participants will see a blue pencil icon on their screen and a notification that notes are being taken. They can click on the pencil to see the meeting notes taken so far.
After the meeting ends, the meeting organizer and whoever turned on the feature will receive an email with a link to the generated meeting notes document. The notes document will also be attached to the calendar event, where internal meeting participants can access it.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why you’d use it 

It can be challenging to stay on top of and engaged with meeting discussions while also trying to keep a record of the meeting and subsequent follow-ups. This is where “take notes for me” can help. When turned on, the feature will do the following:
Automatically capture meeting notes in Google Docs and save it to the Google Drive of the meeting owner.Catch you up during the meeting with “summary so far” if you join late.Send an email with a link to the recap after the meeting. This email goes to the meeting organizer and whoever turned on the feature. 
This will help you be more present and engaged during your meetings, while still ensuring important information is captured for record-keeping and follow-up. If users also turn on meeting recordings and transcripts, those will be linked within the notes document.

Additional details

Notes documents will be stored in the meeting owner’s drive folder and will follow the Meet retention policy that your organization has configured. If you are currently testing this feature in Workspace Labs and Alpha, your experience will change from respecting the Drive retention policy to respecting the Meet retention policy. 

Getting started

Admins: Take notes for me will be ON by default and can be configured at the OU and Group level. Visit the Help Center to learn more about allowing Google Meet AI to take notes for my users.

Apps > Google Workspace > Google Meet > Gemini Settings > Gemini AI note-taking

End users: Once enabled by your admin, you can use this article in our Help Center to learn more about “take notes for me” in Google Meet. You can also turn this feature on in advance from the Calendar invite — visit our Help Center to learn more about enabling meeting records to start automatically.  

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 27, 2024 with expected completion on September 10, 2024

Availability

Available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons:
Gemini Enterprise Gemini Education PremiumAI Meetings & Messaging

Google Meet provides consolidated email for all meeting artifacts

What’s changing

Currently, Google Meet sends an email for each type of meeting artifact initiated in a meeting, including meeting recordings, meeting transcripts, Gemini notes with “take notes for me,” live streams and more. Going forward, you’ll receive one email consolidating these artifacts. This not only helps reduce inbox clutter, but it will help you navigate to your meeting artifacts faster.

Getting started 

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. End users: You’ll begin receiving these consolidated emails automatically. 

Rollout pace

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers. Note that your Google Workspace edition will determine which meeting features are available to you.“Take notes for me” requires one of the following Gemini for Google Workspace add-ons:Gemini Enterprise Gemini Education PremiumAI Meetings & Messaging

Resources 

Customize Gemini (gemini.google.com) for your specific needs with Gems

What’s changing 

At Google I/O 2024, we pre-announced Gems, custom AI experts that you can build across a variety of  topics. In a few easy steps, you can describe what you want your Gem to do and how you’d like it to respond — Gems will help complete specific goals, tasks, and workflows based on your inputs. Gems will remember the instructions you provide, and you can access them when needed to help save time on repetitive tasks or get deep expertise. Included are Premade Gems, which allow you to easily chat with an already built, topic-defined, Gem. Most premade Gems also allow you to customize them, serving as a template for creating new Gems. 
Beginning today, Gems are now available to Google Workspace customers with a Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, or Education Premium add-on.

Who’s impacted 

End users 

Why you’d use them 

Gemini.google.com can help you speed up time-consuming tasks, generate fresh ideas and more. With Gems, you can further leverage the power of Gemini in a way that’s customized to your needs more efficiently by minimizing repetitive prompting. We’ve provided a few premade Gems to help you get started, like a Writing editor, Coding partner, and Learning coach, and you can build your own Gems to: 
Gain valuable insights: Gather targeted feedback on your new product or service from different personas or audience segments (i.e. Urbanites, Tech Enthusiast, etc.). Streamline copy editing: Get feedback and suggestions on your copy ensuring it’s clear, accurate and consistent with your desired brand, tone, and voice. Scale your marketing: Generate a prescribed set of marketing materials (emails, social media, etc.) that meet style guidelines, character limits, and more, from a single campaign brief. Stay ahead of the curve: be informed about the latest industry trends and competitive news that interest you with summaries of relevant articles, blogs, and newsletters. Elevate your instruction: Gamify your lesson plans or brainstorm creative learning experiences to boost student engagement and bring learning to life. 

Additional details 

Gems are available in most languages for Gemini for Workspace add-on subscribers Gems are not available to Google Workspace users accessing Gemini as an additional Google service

Getting started

Admins: Gems will be available in Gemini (gemini.google.com) by default to all Gemini Enterprise, Business, Education and Education Premium users. There is no admin control for this feature. End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using Gems.

Rollout pace 

Availability 

Available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons:
Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium

Resources 

Gmail Q&A: A new way of searching your inbox with Gemini on Android devices

What’s changing

A few months ago, we announced the general availability of Gemini in the side panel of Gmail, which not only allows users to summarize and suggest responses to email threads, but also includes using Gemini in Gmail on web to ask questions and find specific information from emails within your inbox or from your Google Drive files. For example, you can ask Gemini to search your inbox for things like “What was the PO number for my agency?”, “How much did the company spend on the last marketing event?”, or “Catch me up on the emails about quarterly planning.” 
Today, we’re excited to announce that the Gmail Q&A feature is rolling out now on Android devices and coming soon to iOS. Gmail Q&A offers similar functionality as the side panel on the web. You can ask Gemini questions about your inbox or to do things like find specific details in your emails, show you unread messages, view messages from a specific sender, or summarize emails about a topic in your inbox. 

Who’s impacted 

End users 

Why it matters

We are excited to help users supercharge their productivity with the help of Gemini in Gmail. Users now have even more capabilities from Gemini to help users get more done during their day at their desks and now, on the go. 

Getting started

Admins: To access Gmail Q&A on Android, users need to have smart features and personalization turned on. Admins can turn on default personalization setting for their users in the Admin console. End users: Open Gemini in the Gmail app via the black Gemini star at the top right of your app or from a “summarize this email” chip. To start, Gmail Q&A can find information from your inbox. In the future, it will be able to find information from your Drive as well. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Gemini in Gmail.

Rollout pace 

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 29, 2024 

Availability 

Available for Google Workspace customers with these add-ons: 
Gemini Business, Enterprise, Education, Education Premium Google One AI Premium 

Resources 

Additional data protection in Gemini (gemini.google.com) when using a school account is now available

What’s changing 

Earlier this year, we brought Gemini for Google Workspace to education communities with two new paid add-ons. At that time, we announced that educators and students 18 years and older who did not have a Gemini Education license would soon get added data protection when using Gemini (gemini.google.com) as an Additional Service with their school accounts. Coming soon, we will have Gemini as an Additional Service with these added data protections available to teen students as well. 
Beginning today, that added data protection is now available — free of charge. With added data protection, the data you share is only used for responses to your prompts and is not used to improve Gemini or other generative AI models. Added data protection is available to Google Workspace for Education users in every language and country where they can access Gemini. 

Additional details 

If you use gemini.google.com with a Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium license, it is covered by the Google Workspace for Education terms of service. Gemini Education licenses are available to users 18 years and older. If you use gemini.google.com with a school account without a Gemini Education or Gemini Education Premium license, it is covered under the Google Terms of Service as an Additional Service. This is available to users 18 years and older. You can learn more about available pricing and discounts for the Gemini Education add-ons or contact your existing Google Workspace for Education reseller or a Google for Education sales specialist.

Getting started 

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning Gemini (gemini.google.com) on or off for your users. This setting will be rolling out over the course of the next several weeks. End users: If enabled by your admin, visit the Help Center to get started with Gemini (gemini.google.com)

Rollout pace 

Added data protection is available now. Updates to the Gemini settings page in Admin Console to note the added data protection will be rolling out over the course of the next several weeks. 

Availability 

This update impacts Google Workspace Education Fundamentals, Standard, and Plus customers. 

Resources 

Google Meet increases ultra-low latency live streaming support to 100,000 viewers in distributed audiences

What’s changing

For select Google Workspace editions*, we’re pleased to announce that the Google Meet ultra-low latency viewing experience for live streamed meetings will now support up to 100,000 viewers. This gives organizations the flexibility to reach a wider audience with improved user experience at lower bandwidth consumption. In order to receive the ultra-low latency experience, no more than 25,000 viewers can be connected to a single regional data center at a time

Who’s impacted 

Admins and end users 

Why it’s important 

Live streaming is a critical tool for large audiences, such as town-halls or keynote events. Increasing support for the low-latency live streaming experience from 25,000 viewers to 100,000 users helps our customers reach a wider audience, while their users benefit from several functional and quality improvements, such as:
A virtually lag-free experienceSignificantly increased speaker video resolution (up to 720p per speaker)Shared content and presentations shown up to 2880x1800Improved automatic camera cuts that focus on the most relevant speakers & content Audience interaction through emoji reactions, polls and Q&A, and more.

Additional details

Enterprise Content Delivery Network (eCDN) for Google Meet
If large groups of your audience are connecting from a single network location or a shared gateway, you may benefit from using eCDN for Meet to get full media quality with substantial network bandwidth savings. For more information on eCDN, see this post on the Workspace Updates blog and visit our Help Center.    
Viewers can now join ultra-low latency live streams from Google Meet room hardware
The Google Meet ultra-low latency viewing experience for live streamed meetings is now available also from Google Meet room hardware. Live streaming is a critical tool for large audiences, such as town-halls or keynote events. Support for room hardware means that users can join and watch live streams together in smaller or larger groups. To view a live stream via Google Meet hardware, invite the room to a view-only calendar event granted that your host has allowed guests to modify events. When the event is about to start, the live stream will be visible with its name as an upcoming event in the room agenda. Join the live stream by tapping it on the touch screen.
Meeting hosts and meeting organizers can invite rooms directly in view-only calendar events — visit the Help Center to learn more about live streaming a video meeting. If the calendar event is locked for editing, individual users can also duplicate the event and create their own view-only copy with the rooms they want to add as viewing locations. Visit the Help Center to learn more about viewing a live stream.

Getting started

Admins: There is no action required — the increased viewer limit will be applied automatically for those customers with an eligible Google Workspace edition*.Check out the latest on the Workspace Updates blog and visit our Help Center to learn more about configuring eCDN and hosting large live streams and preparing your network for meetings and live streams.
End users: There is no end user action required. Live stream hosts with an eligible license can start to invite larger audiences to their live-streamed meetings with a regional spread across data centers.  

Rollout pace

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, and Enterprise Essentials Plus customers*
*Note: The ultra-low latency live streaming experience is rolling out at a slower pace for some customers. Once you receive the experience, you’ll be able to take advantage of these updates.

Resources

Refine emails faster with updates to Help me write in Gmail

What’s changing 

Building upon our popular Help me write feature in Gmail and the recent launch of the summarization feature in the Gmail mobile app, we’re excited to introduce two new Gemini in Gmail updates to help you draft emails even faster: 
A new option for Help me write that polishes emails drafts on web and mobile devices Help me write and Refine my draft shortcuts on Android and iOS devices When using Gemini to refine emails, users can choose from the following options: Formalize, Elaborate and Shorten. We recently added the Polish option to web and mobile, which can effortlessly refine your emails, saving you time. For example, if you enter rough notes into a draft, Gemini can turn the content into a completely formal draft, ready for you to review in one click. 

On mobile, when an email draft is empty, the “Help me write” shortcut now appears in the body of the email and when selected, it will open the full Help me write experience. When 12+ words are present in an email draft, the ​​“Refine my draft” shortcut will be shown below the email content to indicate that there are options available to Polish, Formalize, Elaborate, or Shorten your draft, or Write a new draft. The menu can be triggered simply by swiping right on “Refine my draft”. 

Getting started 

Admins: This feature will be ON by default and there is no admin control for this feature. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Gemini for Google Workspace. End users: This feature will be ON by default and cannot be disabled by the user. Visit the Help Center to learn more about drafting emails with Gemini in Gmail. 

Rollout pace 

The option for Help me write to polish email drafts is available now on web, Android and iOS. The Help me write and Refine my draft shortcuts are available now on Android and iOS. 

Availability 

Available for Google Workspace customers with: 
Gemini Business and Enterprise add-on Gemini Education and Education Premium add-on Google One AI Premium 

Resources 

Providing student engagement signals for Google Drive file attachments in Google Classroom

What’s changing

We’re introducing a new feature that surfaces richer student engagement data on assignments with Google Drive attachments in Google Classroom. 
With this update, teachers will have easily accessible visibility into whether students have made progress on assignments with Drive attachments through pre-existing workflows in Classroom. This can help to identify students who may need additional support and make more informed decisions about how to assist their students. 
Specifically, teachers can see: 
From the Classwork page: The number of students who haven’t edited attachments for assignments. From the student work page on individual assignments: When the attachments were last edited by each student. 
With this information, teachers can: 
Quickly see whether students have started on their assigned work Provide timely interventions like sending reminders to the class or individual students Adjust instruction based on class progress 

Who’s impacted 

End users 

Why you’d use it 

This feature gives teachers visibility into student progress on academic work and helps them provide effective interventions to best support students. 

Additional details

The feature is currently only available on assignments with Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drawings attachments. 

Getting started 

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. End users: Teachers can view edit activity for a Drive attachment associated with a student submission by going to the Student work page and viewing submissions with Drive files attached. Visit the Help Center to learn more about viewing student engagement on assignments with Drive attachments.  

Rollout pace 

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 7, 2024, with expected completion by end of August, 2024. 

Availability 

A Google Workspace for Education Plus license is required to access this feature for educators. Learn more about assigning licenses in the Help Center. 

Resources