Google Workspace Updates

Google Workspace Updates Weekly Recap - August 12, 2022

Friday, August 12, 2022

New updatesUnless otherwise indicated, the features below are fully launched or in the process of rolling out (rollouts should take no more than 15 business days to complete), 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), and available to all Google Workspace and G Suite customers.

Delegate access to a shared inbox using a group address

You can now give an entire Google Group access to your Gmail account through mail delegation. With this feature, delegated users can read, send, and delete messages on the account owner's behalf. We hope this will enable teams to more effectively process incoming requests and tasks via a single shared email address. | Available to Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, Nonprofits, and legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers only. | Learn more.

Granular controls for app allowlisting in the Google Workspace Marketplace

Admins can now choose which Google Workspace Marketplace apps are available to be installed by users in a particular department (OU) or group by managing Marketplace apps on their allowlist. Previously, admins could only manage the allowlist for an entire domain. Additionally, the Marketplace apps access settings, Allow all apps, Allow selected apps, and Block all apps, can now be set for your entire organization or for an OU or group. This new functionality provides a solution when only a subset of domain users need permissions to install certain Marketplace apps. Examples include Chat apps required for your Engineering organization and IT security group or Classroom add-ons required for high-school teachers. | Available to Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Frontline, Nonprofits, and legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers only. | Learn more.

Seamlessly delete subsets of Sites

Site editors can now delete a page with subpages and delete pages that were copied into another site during a partial site copy. | Roll out to Rapid Release began August 8, 2022; launch to Scheduled Release planned for August 29, 2022. | Learn more.

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.

Office Building support for Working Locations

We’ve added the ability to select a specific office building as your working location. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Nonprofits, and legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more.

Improving data privacy with Client-side encryption for Google Meet

We’ve added Workspace Client-side encryption to Google Meet, giving customers increased control over their data. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers hosting client-side encrypted calls only. | Learn more.

Stronger protection for sensitive Google Workspace account actions

There are now stronger safeguards for sensitive actions taken in your Google Workspace account. These apply to actions that, when done by hijackers, can have far reaching consequences for the account owner or the organization it belongs to. | Learn more.

The Google Meet and Google Duo app icons are changing, additional information for Google Workspace users

As part of the announcement that we are upgrading the Duo experience to include all Google Meet features, users will now begin to see their app name and icon update to Google Meet. | Learn more.

Better location context for events and RSVPs in Calendar

We’ve made it even easier to use RSVPs in Google Calendar and let others know how you’re planning to join a meeting. | Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, Teaching & Learning Upgrade, Nonprofits, and legacy G Suite Business customers only. | Learn more.

Improved notifications when editing Microsoft Office files in Docs, Sheets, and Slides

We’ve rolled out a series of improvements to the notifications you see when editing a Microsoft Office-formatted file with Office editing mode. | Learn more.

Unified experience for Gmail logs in BigQuery, configure your existing Gmail logs to route to Workspace logs

In the coming months, we will move the location of the existing Gmail logs in BigQuery to Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery. | Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Education Standard customers only. | Learn more.

Google Meet call control for USB peripheral devices

We've introduced additional call control for Google Meet which will allow you to toggle between mute and unmute using headsets, speaker microphones, and other USB peripheral devices. | Learn more.

Control visibility of admin alerts with admin role privileges

There is a new control that allows super admins to create a custom rule which ensures only admins with the DLP privilege can see DLP alerts. | Learn more.

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

Control visibility of admin alerts with admin role privileges

Friday, August 12, 2022

What’s changing We’re introducing a new control that allows super admins to create a custom rule which ensures only admins with the DLP privilege can see DLP alerts. Previously, DLP alerts were visible to all admins — this change helps ensure the right people have access to list, update, or delete alerts. Further, this cuts down on the visibility of alerts that aren’t relevant to specific admins.

Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about using the alert center, granting access to the alert center, and admin roles.
End users: There is no end user impact.

Rollout pace

This feature is available now for all users.

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Grant access to the alert center
Google Workspace Admin Help: Use the alert center
Google Workspace Admin Help: About Administrator Roles

Google Meet call control for USB peripheral devices

Friday, August 12, 2022

What’s changing We’re introducing additional call control for Google Meet which will allow you to toggle between mute and unmute using headsets, speaker microphones, and other USB peripheral devices.

Who’s impacted End users
Why it’s important Video conferencing has become a cornerstone of the hybrid work experience, with Google Meet boosting communication and collaboration for teams of all sizes. This also means people consider the use of peripheral devices—from headsets, speakermics, mute buttons, and more—essential to their video meeting experience.

To help ensure a more seamless meeting experience, you can conveniently mute or unmute yourself using USB peripheral devices. Additionally, you can use LED color changes on your device to determine when you are or aren’t muted. We plan to expand this functionality to muting video, ending a meeting, and more in the future.

Additional Details Supported browsers This feature is currently only supported in Chrome or Chromium based browsers.

Supported devices

Call control will work with most USB telephony peripherals; however, the experience may differ from device to device. You can find a listing of Meet-certified headsets or speaker microphone can be found here.
Bluetooth devices are not supported at this time.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin impact.
End users: Enabling call control for your USB peripheral:

In the pre-call green room navigate to Audio > Call Control > Connect device. You’ll be prompted to connect your USB peripheral.
This setting can also be accessed during a call from More options (three-dot icon) > Audio > Call Control > Connect device.

How to use call control with your USB peripheral

When you’re in a meeting, you can press the mute / unmute button on the physical peripheral to toggle your mute state during the meeting.
Additionally, if your peripheral has an LED status light, the light will sync with your current mute status.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 22, 2022

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers.

Resources

Unified experience for Gmail logs in BigQuery, configure your existing Gmail logs to route to Workspace logs

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

What’s changing In the coming months, we will move the location of the existing Gmail logs in BigQuery to Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery. This change will only impact existing Google Workspace customers, who have BigQuery Export enabled. New customers will be guided through setting up a Workspace BigQuery project for Gmail logs.

While this change is happening, for a brief period of time, Gmail data will be exported to both the Gmail logs and the Workspace logs — existing Google Workspace customers who are impacted will receive an email notification with more information in the coming weeks.

Gmail logs in BigQuery

Migrating to Unified Workspace logs in BigQuery

Who’s impacted Admins

Why it’s important This change will create a single space to access all of your Google Workspace audit events and eliminate the need to switch between various sources of truth.

Once this merger is completed, you will not be able to use Gmail logs in BigQuery in the Admin console. Visit the Help Center for more information, including detailed step-by-step instructions on handling this change.

Additional detailsTemporary dual export period and BigQuery storage requirements Once Gmail logs are set to be exported to Workspace Logs, this data will temporarily exported to two destinations:

Your previous, Gmail-only BigQuery project
Your new or existing Workspace BigQuery project, which stores data for all Google Workspace applications

This will also impact your BigQuery quotas limits and how often they have to refresh, as well as the cost associated with exporting logs to BigQuery. To avoid impact on your quotas and duplicative data, we strongly recommend turning off Gmail log exports to your Gmail-only BigQuery projects.

Getting started

Admins: Visit the Help Center to learn more about Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery and moving your views, queries, and scripts from Gmail logs in BigQuery to Workspace logs in BigQuery.
End users: There is no end user impact.

Rollout pace

Rapid and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 10, 2022

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Plus, Education Standard
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Improved notifications when editing Microsoft Office files in Docs, Sheets, and Slides

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Quick summaryMany of our customers utilize Office editing mode to collaborate on Microsoft Office files in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.
Today, we’re announcing improvements to the notifications you see when editing a Microsoft Office-formatted file.
Specific updates include:

An Office-formatted warning symbol for compatibility details that will appear throughout your entire time within a document, spreadsheet, or slide deck. This indicates potential compatibility issues or if any Office features are unavailable.

Example of a document with compatibility issues

Example of a document without known compatibility issues

An option to easily view and restore earlier versions of the document, spreadsheet, or slide deck. New options to view version history and restore a document

New options to view version history and restore a document

Getting started

Admins: Office editing notifications are ON by default and will always be present when a user opens a Microsoft Office-formatted document. Visit the Help Center to learn more about Office editing.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about working with Office files using Office editing.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Gradual rollout (up to 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 10, 2022

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
Available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Roadmap

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Better location context for events and RSVPs in Calendar

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Quick summaryWe’re making it even easier to use RSVPs in Google Calendar and let others know how you’re planning to join a meeting.
You can now select a RSVP join method that’s powered by your working location, whether that’s joining in a particular meeting room or virtually. With the new RSVP option, Calendar will automatically update how you intend to join the meeting if your working location changes. In addition, your colleagues will now see your working location or out of office status directly in the guest list section of a Calendar event.
We hope this feature improves the way you and your colleagues utilize your planned working location for meetings and events, especially in a hybrid work environment.

Getting started

Admins: There is no admin control for this feature.
End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about setting your working hours & location and responding to event invitations.

Rollout pace

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, Education Standard, Teaching & Learning Upgrade, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Business customers
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Frontline, legacy G Suite Basic customers, and users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

The Google Meet and Google Duo app icons are changing, additional information for Google Workspace users

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

What’s changing In June 2022, we announced that we are upgrading the Duo experience to include all Google Meet features, creating a single solution service for both video calling and meeting.

Meeting features have been rolling out to the Duo app over the last several weeks, and now users will begin to see their app name and icon update to Google Meet. Visit the Help Center for more information on this change, and the Keyword for the latest on the upgraded experience.

Additional details We’d like to share more information about about what this change means for Google Workspace users:

Personal Google accounts are already accessible in Google Meet today, allowing users to switch between personal and work accounts as needed. As before, a user's ability to access domain-specific meetings with the personal Google accounts is determined by the privacy setting configured by their admin.

Users will only see Duo features— like calling or messages—on their Google account through work if Duo is enabled via the Additional Google services control.

Getting started

Admins: As the admin, you can:

Manage Duo video calling access features by turning off the Additional Google services control. If you turn OFF the Additional Google Services control for your users, you’ll also disrupt any apps without individual ON/OFF switches. Note: This applies to Duo video calling features only, this will not impact Meet functionality.
If your organization uses a mobile device management system, and Duo is currently blocked, we strongly recommend allowlisting Duo so users can install the new Meet app.
Control Google Meet access using the Admin console. To prevent your users from losing access, we recommend keeping Google Meet ON for your organization.
Visit the Help Center to learn more about how Duo is being upgraded.

End users: Visit the Help Center to learn more about the app icon Changes in Google Meet and Duo. To ensure a smooth transition, we recommend keeping your app updated to the latest version.

Education Admins:

Users under 18: Duo is currently restricted for users under 18. Admins do not need to change any settings to ensure that under 18 users will continue to not have access to Duo calling features when the Duo app is updated.
Users over 18: If you have the Additional Google services control enabled, users over 18 will have access to Duo calling features when the app name and icon changes to Meet.

If you do not want over 18 users to have access to Duo calling features, turn the Additional Google services control off which will prevent users from using all Additional Services that do not have an individual ON/OFF control.

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 10, 2022

Availability

All Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers
All users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Stronger protection for sensitive Google Workspace account actions

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

What’s changing We’re introducing stronger safeguards for sensitive actions taken in your Google Workspace account. These apply to actions that, when done by hijackers, can have far reaching consequences for the account owner or the organization it belongs to.

Google will evaluate the session attempting the action, and if it’s deemed risky, it will be challenged with a “Verify it’s You” prompt. Through a second and trusted factor, such as a 2-step verification code, users can confirm the validity of the action. For example, if a malicious actor gains access to your account and attempts to change the name on your account, the action will be blocked until the true account owner can verify that this was intentional.

Note that this feature only supports users that use Google as their identity provider and actions taken within Google products. SAML users are not supported at this time. See below for more information.

Who’s impacted Admins and end users

Why it matters This added layer of security helps to intercept bad actors who have gained access to a user's account, further protecting their data and your organization's sensitive information. Additionally, these challenge attempts will be logged as an audit event allowing for further admin investigation.
Additional details In the Admin console under Users > “UserName” > Security, admins can toggle login challenges OFF for ten minutes if a user gets stuck behind a "verify it's you prompt". We strongly recommend only using this option if contact with the user is credibly established, such as via a video call.
Getting started

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Available now.

Availability

Available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: SAML-based SSO: technical overview
Google Workspace Admin Help: Admin log events
Google Workspace Admin Help: Protect Google Workspace accounts with security challenges
Google Workspace Admin Help: Manage a user's security settings

Improving data privacy with Client-side encryption for Google Meet

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

What’s changing We are adding Workspace Client-side encryption to Google Meet, giving customers increased control over their data. Meet already encrypts all of your data at rest and in transit between our facilities — client-side encryption gives users direct control of their encryption keys and the identity service that they choose to authenticate for those keys. Additionally, this guarantees that Google cannot access audio and video content under any circumstances and helps you meet regulatory compliance in many regions.

Bringing Client-side encryption to Meet is another significant milestone in Google Workspace’s industry-leading encryption work, offering our users the highest degree of protection and control over their data.

Workspace Client-side encryption for Meet will be available first on the web, with support for meeting rooms and mobile devices coming later.

Important note: At this stage, only participants within your Workspace organization can be invited to client-side encrypted calls — guest access will be introduced in the future.

Why it’s important Client-side encryption uses keys supplied by the customer to add another layer of encryption to video and audio, in addition to using the default encryption that Google Meet provides. This is used for calls that need an extra level of confidentiality and makes the media indecipherable even to Google. Those could be calls regarding sensitive intellectual property or when required for compliance in highly regulated industries.

Additional details Notes about using client-side encryption:

The organizer needs to join for the call to start when client-side encryption is turned on. If participants join early, they will need to wait for the organizer to join before communicating with others.
Some functions that require server-side processing or parsing of call media will not work, e.g. cloud-based noise cancellation or closed captions.
Client-side encryption does not support dialing-in/out

Getting started

Admins: An administrator needs to configure how Meet connects to a key service and identity provider before turning on client-side encryption for users. Learn more about configuring Client-side encryption here.
End users:

Organizing calls:

In a calendar event with Meet video conferencing, navigate to Settings (cog-wheel icon) > Security and select “Add encryption”.
Note: All participants must be invited to the call, either via the Calendar event or within the meeting.

Participating in calls:

Client-side encrypted meetings will start once the meeting organizer arrives — there are no other restrictions or changes for meeting participants.

Rollout pace

Users on supported Google Workspace editions can create Client-side encrypted calls.

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Enterprise Plus, Education Standard, and Education Plus customers hosting client-side encrypted calls
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Education Fundamentals, The Teaching and Learning Upgrade, Frontline, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Basic and Business customers

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: About Client-side encryption
Workspace Updates Blog: Stronger data security and privacy with Google Workspace Client-side encryption

Roadmap

This feature was listed as an upcoming release.

Office Building support for Working Locations

Monday, August 8, 2022

What’s changingIn 2021, we launched a feature allowing you to indicate if you are working from home or the office directly on your Calendar.

Now you’re able to select a specific office building as your working location. The office building is taken into account for meeting room suggestions, and helps colleagues better understand where you plan to work from on a given day.

Who’s impacted Admins and end users

Why you’d use it Whether you’re suggesting a meeting room to your colleagues or want to know where someone might be working for the day, we hope this update makes planning in-person collaboration easier.

Additional details With this new feature, those who manage the calendars of others, such as Executive assistants, will also be able to update the working location of that calendar as long as they have access to make changes and manage sharing.

Getting started

Admins: Working Location must be enabled for your organization in order to access this feature. Additionally, structured office buildings must be set in the admin console. Visit the Help Center to learn more about turning working location on or off for your organization.
End users: If enabled by your admin, you can select a structured building by choosing one of the following options:

Rollout pace

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains: Extended rollout (potentially longer than 15 days for feature visibility) starting on August 8, 2022

Availability

Available to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Plus, Education Fundamentals, Education Plus, and Nonprofits, as well as legacy G Suite Business customers
Not available to Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Enterprise Essentials, Frontline customers as well as legacy G Suite Basic customers
Not available to users with personal Google Accounts

Resources

Google Workspace Admin Help: Turn working location on or off for users
Google Help: Set your work location
Google Workspace Updates Blog: Improved user interface for sharing your working location in Google Calendar

Useful Links

Join the official community for Google Workspace administrators

In the Google Cloud Community, connect with Googlers and other Google Workspace admins like yourself. Participate in product discussions, check out the Community Articles, and learn tips and tricks that will make your work and life easier. Be the first to know what's happening with Google Workspace.

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Learn about more Google Workspace launches

On the “What’s new in Google Workspace?” Help Center page, learn about new products and features launching in Google Workspace, including smaller changes that haven’t been announced on the Google Workspace Updates blog.

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Updates