Preview and test upcoming features on Google Meet hardware devices

What’s changing 

Using the new “Feature preview” setting, specific Google Meet hardware devices can be configured to test upcoming features prior to general availability. This is especially beneficial for testing purposes, gathering user feedback, creating training materials, and raising awareness before the feature is released broadly to your users.
Menu > Devices > Google Meet hardware > Settings > Feature preview

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users 

Why you’d use it

Prior to the launch of the “Feature preview” setting, there was no way for admins to preview upcoming features before they roll out to hardware devices, which can be potentially confusing to end users when they see new features unexpectedly. Now, customers have the opportunity to preview changes in advance, which gives them time to inform and educate their users about upcoming changes, prepare their IT help desks, and more. Overall, this update aims to increase awareness and adoption of helpful meeting features while reducing the risk of end user confusion.

Getting started

Admins: The “Feature preview” setting is configured to “General availability” by default. When “Early preview” is selected, devices will receive new features when they are released to the “preview” stage. Visit the Help Center to learn more about trying features early on your devices. We recommend that 10% or less of your fleet adopts “Early preview” to try new experiences in conference rooms before they roll out to General availability.
End users: Depending on your organization’s configuration, you may be able to preview new features on select Google Meet hardware devices.

When enabled, the device screen displays a “Preview” banner indicating the device is currently in “Early preview” mode

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on September 30, 2024

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers with Google Meet hardware devices

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Customize your Google Docs with polished cover images

What’s changing 

We’re making it easy for you to personalize and differentiate documents with full-bleed cover images that extend from one edge of your document to the other. 
Whether you’re customizing a document for a customer with industry themes, personalizing an onboarding document for a new employee or building a virtual brochure for your company’s products, cover images help set the tone for a document by adding relevant visuals. 
You can add cover images from our curated gallery or upload your own image. To insert, you can either: 
Click the new “Cover image” chip at the top of your Doc (similar to the ones introduced last year). Go to Insert > Cover image > Upload from computer or Choose from stock images. Type “@” followed by Cover image > Upload from computer or Choose from stock images. 

Additional details 

Cover images can only be added to documents set to pageless mode, allowing the image to span the entire width of the document. To set up the more immersive experience of pageless mode, go to File > Page setup > Pageless or Format > Switch to Pageless format. 

Getting started 

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about adding a cover image to your document.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on September 24, 2024 

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, Workspace Individual Subscribers, and users with personal Google accounts 

Resources 

Introducing security advisor, a new set of tools and insights to help small businesses protect their organization against cyber attacks

What’s changing

The cyber threat landscape is evolving and there’s been an increase in the sophistication and volume of malicious threats. Small businesses frequently lack the time, resources, and expertise that larger organizations have to implement robust security measures. As a result, threat actors often perceive these organizations as easier targets.

To help small businesses, we’re introducing security advisor, a set of new insights and tools designed to enhance security for small businesses – including threat defense, account security, and data protection capabilities. Security advisor offers tailored security insights, actionable guidance in the admin console, and simplified data protection controls — all to help businesses keep their customer data safe.

With security advisor, applying security settings is easier than before and the recommended settings can be easily adopted and customized to meet the specific needs of each organization in just a few steps. This helps organizations elevate their security posture, helps their IT team be more efficient by simplifying admin work, and helps reduce the risk of misconfigured security settings with a guided, in-app experience in the Admin console.

In addition to security insights in the Admin console, the security advisor feature set includes the following:

Chrome Enhanced Safe BrowsingGmail Enhanced Safe BrowsingGmail Security SandboxData protectionApp access protection

Admin console > Security > Security advisor

Getting started

Admins: In the Admin console, navigate to Security > Security advisor. Visit the Help Center to learn more about security advisor and turning on recommended settings.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on September 24, 2024

Availability

Available for Google Workspace Business Starter, Standard, and Plus

Resources

Gmail allows more senders to protect their brand using BIMI Common Mark Certificates

What’s changing

Since 2021, Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) has been critical in building trust between email senders and email recipients. To qualify for BIMI, senders must adopt best practices and have their domains and brand logos verified by a third party. Together, this helps foster trust among recipients, allowing them to easily identify emails for legitimate sources. Today, we’re pleased to announce two additional updates for BIMI that will continue to keep inboxes safe: 
Gmail now supports Common Mark Certificates (CMC), a new type of BIMI certificate being issued by Certificate Authorities (CA). CMCs allow a broader range of senders to utilize BIMI, who might not have the registered trademark required for a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC). With a CMC, the sender’s brand avatar will be displayed without the Gmail verified checkmark that’s displayed for VMCs. 
BIMI verified check marks are now displayed on Android and iOS.
Currently, Gmail on the web will display a verified checkmark for senders who have adopted BIMI with a registered trademark (VMC). Over the next few weeks, users will also see those verified checkmark icons while using the Gmail application on Android and iOS (Apple Mail or other mail applications are not supported). Note that this update is applicable for VMCs only.

Who’s impacted

Admins and end users

Why it’s important

BIMI promotes another layer of security to Gmail by requiring strong authentication and verification of logos before they’re displayed in Gmail as avatars. Strong email authentication helps users and email security systems identify and stop spam, and also enables senders to leverage their brand trust. This increases confidence in email sources and gives readers an immersive experience, creating a better email ecosystem for everyone. 

Getting started

Admins:Visit the Help Center to learn more about setting up BIMI. To learn more about BIMI and see the latest news, visit the working group’s website. To take advantage of BIMI for your outgoing emails to Gmail and other platforms, ensure that your organization has adopted DMARC, and that you have validated your logo with a VMC, issued by a Certification Authority.
End users: Users will see verified brand logos, and sometimes a checkmark icon, for senders who have adopted BIMI. 

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on September 24, 2024

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google accounts

Resources

Google Sheets tables are now integrated with conditional notifications

What’s changing 

Earlier this year, we introduced tables in Google Sheets, a feature that accelerates spreadsheet building by formatting and organizing your data into a polished design with column types, filters, color coding, dropdown menus and more. A month later, we added conditional notifications to provide you with greater visibility into spreadsheet changes most relevant to your workflow via email notifications. 
To bring these features closer together, we’re excited to announce a new integration between conditional notifications and tables in Sheets. 
As a result: 
Conditional notification rules can now be directly applied to tables and will recognize table column names. All tables now come with a new, easy entry point to conditional notifications in the controls header. Common conditional notifications will now be built-in to pre-built tables by default and can be enabled with a single click. 

Notified users will receive a detailed email that shows changes made to a Sheet: 

Getting started 

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature. End users: If you own or have edit-access to a Sheet, you can add or view conditional notifications on your table by clicking on the lightning bolt icon on the table header. From here, you can view and choose to enable, disable, delete, or edit any existing rules. Up to 10 rules can be added to a spreadsheet. The rules are assigned default names automatically. However, you can update the name of the rule by utilizing the text editor. Please note: we group notifications for a better experience and they may take up to 30 minutes to send. Visit the Help Center to learn more about how to use conditional notifications and tables in Sheets. 

Rollout pace 

Rapid Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on September 25, 2024 Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on October 16, 2024 

Availability 

Available for Google Workspace: 
Business Standard, Plus Enterprise Starter, Standard, Plus Education Plus Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Essentials Plus

Resources