June 2019 Summaries

Google has expanded its integration with PayPal to allow merchants to accept PayPal through Google Pay on apps and websites in 24 countries, enhancing the payment process for both customers and businesses. This collaboration enables a seamless checkout experience by letting users select PayPal as a payment method directly from the Google Pay payment sheet without needing additional setup, thus reducing steps at checkout and potentially increasing conversion rates. Customers benefit from PayPal's Purchase Protection and Return Shipping features, alongside Google Pay's security and simplicity. Merchants can continue enjoying PayPal's benefits, such as receiving payments directly into their PayPal Business Account and maintaining seller protection on qualified transactions. The integration process is straightforward for developers, requiring only the addition of PayPal as an allowed payment method, thus offering a convenient and efficient payment solution globally.

Google Cloud's Developer Advocate, Wesley Chun, highlights the use of mail merge with the Google Docs API, emphasizing its utility for automatically generating various document types such as form letters and invoices for businesses and educational institutions. Mail merge involves combining a master template with a data source to create customized documents for different records, which can be distributed via mail or electronically. While Google Apps Script previously allowed script and add-on creation within its ecosystem, the introduction of the Google Docs API has simplified the development of custom mail merge applications by providing programmatic access through an HTTP-based REST API. This advancement enables developers to efficiently create and manage mail merge operations using various Google APIs like Docs, Sheets, Drive, and Gmail, with resources such as a technical overview video, a fully-working Python sample application, and open-source repositories available to facilitate the process.

Google Pay announced several enhancements to its Online Payments and Passes APIs at Google I/O 2019, aimed at improving user experience and merchant engagement. Key updates include dynamic updates to the Google Pay payment sheet for a more transparent and faster checkout process, along with creative button options via the new createButton API that personalizes and localizes the purchase experience. Google Pay also expanded its API for Passes, enabling businesses to link loyalty programs, gift cards, and tickets to users' Google Accounts, and introduced high priority notifications and Google Assistant integration for seamless airline check-ins. Additionally, an open API for transit providers allows for digitized and dynamically updating barcode tickets, enhancing security and convenience. Google Pay further integrated with Gmail for easier loyalty card imports, with plans to extend Passes availability to users without the Google Pay app.

Google's Developer Student Clubs (DSC) program is seeking new student leaders from universities worldwide, offering an extended application deadline of June 15. The initiative, part of Google Developers, fosters collaboration among university students to tackle real-world problems alongside local businesses and startups. Since its inception in parts of Asia and Africa less than two years ago, DSC has trained over 90,000 students in Google technologies, facilitated the development of 500+ solutions for over 200 startups and organizations, and involved 170+ clubs in the Solution Challenge. Being a DSC Lead provides students with opportunities to grow as developers, access Google technologies for free, build local prototypes, engage in a global competition, attend exclusive Google events, and gain recognition as a Google Developers collaborator.