Google has released a new professional HTML5 design application, Google Web Designer, to give advertisers and others powerful and easy-to-use tools to create interactive and vibrant content for the Web.
The beta version of Google Web Designer is available now and is part of Google’s efforts to help developers and designers find new tools that can take advantage of the power of the HTML5 standards, according to Jasmine Rogers, program manager for Google Web Designer, in a Sept. 30 post on the Google DoubleClick Advertisers Blog. The new tools will help designers prepare their content for accurate display on a wide range of device screens and formats, while also moving designers to the HTML5 environment, which is expected to become more popular than Flash in the next several years, wrote Rogers.
The new Google Web Designer enables users to create animated HTML5 creative content that will be able to run on any device, while allowing users to view and edit the code behind their designs and see their edits instantly, she wrote. Users will be able to build their ad content for use with DoubleClick and AdMob, or use it elsewhere as needed.
“HTML5 is a universal language for building beautiful, engaging content that can run across desktops, smartphones, and tablets,” wrote Rogers. “We think that Google Web Designer will be the key to making HTML5 accessible to people throughout the industry, getting us closer to the goal of ‘build once, run anywhere.'”
The application includes two modes for users. The Quick mode lets users build their animations scene by scene with some automation, while in Advanced mode, users can animate individual elements using layers and then change the location of elements within the stack, according to Google.
Users can also create and manipulate 3D content utilizing an array of tools and the power of Cascading Style Sheets 3 (CSS3), while rotating objects and 2D designs along any axis, visualizing 3D transformations and translations as they build their content, according to Google.
Users can also flip back and forth between Design View and Code View as they work to be able to immediately see their changes. And they can import components from any other creative suite or use the built-in illustration tools to create vector-style artwork, allowing them to avoid duplicating previously created work.
As part of the new Google Web Designer announcement, Google also unveiled a new online Tutorial Tuesday offering through the end of October to help users get acclimated to the application’s features and power.
“While we built the tool to be fairly intuitive, we want to make sure you have the resources you need to get started,” Google announced in an Oct. 2 post on the Google DoubleClick Advertisers Blog. “So beginning today and continuing through the month of October, we’ll be posting ‘Tutorial Tuesday’ blog posts to highlight important aspects of the tool.”
Google Debuts Google Web Designer Beta for HTML5 Creativity
The first tutorial this week gives a general overview of the tool and shows users how to add text and tags to their projects, according to the post. “Over the next few weeks, we’ll post on additional topics such as making your projects more interactive with motion, making them more beautiful with design elements, and transforming your work into rich media ad creative.”
On Oct. 8, the Tutorial Tuesday topic will describe how to use Google Web Designer’s Timeline to add motion to content. Users can also watch videos about using the new application on the Google Web Designer YouTube Channel. Plus, there is an online getting started guide where more information is available, according to Google. A user forum has also been created, as well as a Google+ page for users.
In September, Google released its latest DoubleClick for Advertisers (DFA) Campaign Manager, a platform that includes several new tools and capabilities for advertisers to get their messages out in front of consumers and other businesses. The new application came some three months after Google announced big changes for the platform at its June ThinkDoubleClick conference, which is the unit’s annual industry event held to discuss the future of digital media.
As promised in June, the new platform includes a more responsive user interface that includes a myriad of time-saving features for users, as well as a new trafficking interface that loads up to five times faster than before and ad updates that now go live in only 2 minutes.
Google acquired DoubleClick after making a $3.1 billion bid for the company back in 2007. The purchase gave digital ad and search leader Google plenty of new firepower, including the ability to serve graphical display ads in addition to the company’s text-based links. DoubleClick’s technology lets advertisers and publishers deliver ads once they have agreed to terms, and provide statistics relating to those ads.
Privacy and Internet advocates were not happy about the acquisition of DoubleClick and its approval by the Federal Trade Commission at the time; they cited concerns that it would give Google too much power over the data around search.
When DoubleClick was first on the market in 2007, reports circulated that Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL were also interested in buying the company.