Please follow us on the Inside Search blog

Posted by Karolina Netolicka, Product Manager

Thanks to everyone who has been a loyal reader of the blog over the last five years. After some consideration, we've realized that we're just not generating enough content here to warrant your time, so we won't be posting here any longer.

Instead, we'll start contributing to the Inside Search blog, so tune in there for updates on Google Finance.

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Expanded coverage in Europe

Posted by Karolina Netolicka, Product Manager

Today we’re excited to announce that we’re adding data from the Nasdaq Nordic and Baltic exchanges and the Moscow Exchange to Google Finance.  These additions greatly expand our coverage in Europe. For the first time, you can view the primary listings of Gazprom, H&M, Nokia, Carlsberg, and many others on Google Finance.

Even better, all these exchanges will be available in real time, furthering our mission of bringing you real time market data from around the world.

As always, you can view the full list of the stock exchanges available through Google Finance on our Disclaimer page.

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Updated Carbon Disclosure Ratings in Google Finance

Posted by Sam Arons, Carbon Maven

With a background in physics and sustainability, and a stint as a math teacher in Morocco, I never imagined I would end up at a technology company like Google. But as I approach my fifth anniversary here, I’ve been thinking back on all the projects I’ve been a part of as a member of the Energy team. One that I’m most proud of is a collaboration with the Google Finance team and the nonprofit Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) to put companies’ carbon disclosure ratings into Google Finance alongside financial data. Specifically, these ratings quantify how well a company measures and reports its greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to what degree it is aware of the risks and opportunities climate change poses to its business. The scores -- which the Google Finance team just updated for 2011 -- are listed as “Carbon Disclosure Rating” and appear in the “Key stats and ratios” box on the right side of a company’s Google Finance page:

   

There are two things that made this an exciting project for me. First, what started out as an idea in the mind of one Googler became a live feature in a product used by millions of people every day. And second, the launch of this feature in April 2010 marked the first time that individual investors could freely access this kind of information in conjunction with financial data.

Why would investors be interested in a company’s carbon disclosure rating? We thought it would be useful because a company’s emissions, as well as climate change more generally, can pose financial risks -- and investors generally like to understand such risks. These risks can take several forms: from regulatory risks (e.g. legislation placing costs on carbon-intensive activities) to physical risks (e.g. sea-level rise threatening a company’s facilities) to market risks (e.g. consumers switching to another company’s products because they believe that company to be a better environmental steward). All of these factors (and others) go into CDP’s calculation of a company’s carbon score, so it can be a useful metric for investors.

As I begin my sixth year at Google, I’m excited that we’re making environmental information more universally accessible and useful, and I’m looking forward to the projects and challenges ahead.

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Real time quotes from Canada and Taiwan

Posted by Mark Schmit, Engineer

Here at Google, we get excited by bringing our users relevant information at blazing speeds. So, why would we want to make users wait 15 minutes to see what trades are being made?

Instead, we’re continuing to expand our real-time coverage and are very pleased to announce the launch of two more real-time exchanges:

• Taiwan Stock Exchange (TPE)
• Canadian National Stock Exchange (CNSX)

As always, though, we won’t just rest on these laurels. We’re eyeing more opportunities down the road, and are eager to bring you more information, so check back soon.

Happy searching,
The Google Finance Team

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More real time quotes from around the world

Posted by Maxim Edelman, Strategic Partnerships

Since we launched Google Finance in 2006, we’ve been excited about providing our users with the tools to monitor market changes, manage their portfolios, and make better investment decisions. And today, we’re excited to bring you real time quotes from the London Stock Exchange (LON), Deutsche Börse (FRA), and Borsa Italiana (BIT) to better track economic and financial developments in Europe.

We first introduced real time quotes to our site with the launch of free real time NYSE and NASDAQ quotes in 2008. Since then, we’ve bolstered our last sale coverage with real time data from stock exchanges in China, India, and now, UK, Germany, and Italy. These partnerships mark a big step forward in our mission to provide our users with the best information we can find.

So, go ahead -- keep an eye out for Adidas, compare Barclays to RBS, see how Fiat has performed over time. You can do it all on Google Finance. In real time.  

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Google Finance gets a fresh coat of paint

Posted by Albert Choi, Consumer Experience Specialist and Karolina Netolicka, Product Manager

Over the last few months, you might have noticed that Google products have been getting a new look. And starting today, Google Finance is joining the party! This means that over the next few days, you’ll begin to see a new look in Finance that brings you a more consistent and seamless experience with the other Google products you use.

New Google Finance Company page

Our philosophy for the new look and feel has been to bring the most important information to the forefront so you get to the content you want faster. Here’s a short list of the current changes that we’ve made:

• The stock quote is now more prominent
• More results is now a large clickable button on the right side of the page
• The Add to portfolio link has turned into an easy-to-find button next to the company name
• +1 button to easily share and recommend companies and stocks you’re interested in

While the most recent changes focus on the visual design, keep your eyes peeled for improvements to the navigation and functionality of Google Finance in the near future. If you’d like to share your thoughts on the changes, feel free to voice your opinions on our feedback form. We’re always striving to improve your online experience, and your suggestions are really helpful in moving our product forward.

Cheers,
The Google Finance Team

Old Google Finance Markets page

New Google Finance Markets page

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Happy Birthday Google Finance!

Posted by Karolina Netolicka, Product Manager and Laura Hughes, Consumer Operations

Google Finance celebrates its fifth birthday today. We thought this would be a great opportunity to look back on the last five years and highlight some of the most exciting features we have launched.

Google Finance launched on March 21, 2006 with pricing data from the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, Amex and Euronext. Our most innovative feature at the time was the now-familiar interactive chart that seamlessly scrolled, zoomed, and showed a timeline of news coverage for each company. Later that year we added the ability to track your investments in a portfolio.

New Features

In 2007 we added some major new ways to access Google Finance. We launched our first mobile application and iGoogle gadget. In addition, we added the GoogleFinance functions which allow you to easily incorporate financial information into your Google Spreadsheets.

In 2008 the big addition was the Stock Screener. In 2009 we added Google Domestic Trends, which uses search data to track the state of the US economy. Finally, last year we added options data and the ability to chart the performance of your portfolio.

Apart from these big launches, we’ve also made countless smaller improvements. Both charts and quotes now automatically update while you’re viewing the page. You can display technical indicators on the chart, view after-hours trading data, and expand the chart across the whole page. You can see information on related companies for all US public companies. And your portfolio now adjusts your holdings for splits and dividends.

Data Coverage

Over the years we have expanded our data coverage to 24 exchanges in 15 countries. More importantly, though, Google Finance has pushed for consumer access to free real-time quotes. In 2008 we were the site to launch real-time quotes for NYSE and NASDAQ
to non-logged-in users. Since then, we have upgraded all of our data in China and India to real-time.

Today, Google Finance continues to deliver timely financial data to users all over the world. Our users rely on us for our stability - Google Finance was one of the few services to stay up during the flash crash on May 6, 2010. As much as you rely on us, we also rely on you. Last year we launched a Product Ideas page, receiving over 5,000 feature ideas. This type of user engagement is what has allowed us to offer you the product we present today. Thank you all for a great five years, and here’s to many more ahead!

Then (2006):

Now (2011):

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