Google has made some changes to the way its website is presented to the visitors and also added a few special services to help people in finding their way through the crisis brought on by the coronavirus. The long and short of it is that Google’s Indian website might appear to be a dedicated place for information on coronavirus reflecting authentic information as put out by the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
The Google search engine has been tweaked to show more than 1,500 food and night shelters in more than 35 cities across the country. This can help the poor migrant workers displaced from their place of stay and stuck in the middle of nowhere. They can use Google Maps to search for such help. What’s more, they can even shout out to food shelters in Hindi or English to Google Assistant to get the answers. The company says more languages are being added. This service is available even on KaiOS-powered feature phones. Vodafone-Idea has also joined this and phones on their network will have these features as well.
To help the authorities with tackling the spread of the virus, Google has published COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports which has details of traffic and other movements in various parks and transit stations etc., captured through its satellite cameras.
In addition to all this, individuals can search on their smartphones Nearby Spot on Google Maps to know the details of local grocery stores etc. selling essential items.
Google offers other coronavirus-related information which is reliable and useful to the public at large.
Along with Google Pay, the other digital channels like PhonePe and Paytm have also provided easier ways to contribute to the PM CARES Fund for relief to the people affected. Google claims its Google Pay alone has processed payments to the extent of $13 million so far.
Google’s efforts are seen as an attempt to rectify the situation caused due to a flood of misinformation spread by anti-social elements including misleading cures, etc.