Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful to everyone. As the coronavirus evolves, we are committed to providing timely and helpful information to people around the world. You can learn what Google is doing to help in response to coronavirus here. Below are some of the highlights: Helping people find useful information
• SOS Alert on Search – In many countries around the world, including the Philippines, Google launched an SOS Alert on Search to help users find the latest developments surrounding the virus from authoritative sources. With SOS Alert, people will see a top stories carousel, links to helpful information, and safety tips from authoritative sources.
• Information Panel on YouTube – This aims to direct users to the World Health Organization (WHO) or other locally relevant authoritative organizations. This also appears underneath some of the videos a user is watching about the coronavirus.
Protecting people from misinformation
• On YouTube, any content that claims to prevent the coronavirus in place of seeking medical treatment is being removed.
• On Google Ads, the company is blocking all ads capitalizing on the coronavirus, and Google has blocked tens of thousands of ads over the last six weeks. The company is also helping WHO and government organizations run PSA ads.
• Google Play also prohibits developers from capitalizing on sensitive events, and its long-standing content policies strictly prohibit apps that feature medical or health-related content or functionalities that are misleading or potentially harmful.
• Google’s policy whitepaper, How Google Fights Disinformation, provides further background on how information quality is upheld across platforms.
Enabling productivity for remote workers and students
As more employees, educators, and students work remotely in response to coronavirus, Google Cloud is helping them stay connected and productive. Google has rolled out free access to our advanced Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities to all G Suite and G Suite for Education customers globally. This includes the Philippines’ Department of Education. You can learn more about this through these links: G Suite Updates, and Helping businesses and schools stay connected in response to Coronavirus.
Advancing health research and science
DeepMind has released structure predictions of several proteins associated with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus. These structure predictions have not yet been experimentally verified, but the hope is that by accelerating their release they may contribute to the scientific community’s understanding of how the virus functions and experimental work in developing future treatments.
Supporting relief efforts and government organizations
Google is providing $25 million in donated ad credit to the WHO and government agencies, and will provide more if there is a need throughout the year. Google.org and Googlers have donated over $1 million to support relief efforts, which will go towards organizations working to purchase medical supplies, provide frontline workers with food and lodging, support the construction of temporary hospitals, and help with long-term recovery efforts.
Thank you and please take extra care. Let us know how Google can further help in providing relevant and helpful information. Let’s continue to hope and pray for the improvement of the COVID-19 condition in the country and around the world.
Liked this post? Follow SwirlingOverCoffee on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.
