As part of its efforts to fight misinformation around the 2019 Novel Coronavirus outbreak, Google has announced the launch of an SOS Alert for related searches.
Google regularly issues SOS Alerts for crises around the world where people might be at risk and looking for information. The current situation with the 2019 Novel Coronavirus outbreak is no different, with millions of people turning to Google Search for help. To fight misinformation, and help inform people more effectively in this difficult time, Google has issued an SOS Alert for the outbreak on Search.
When you search for “coronavirus”, you will now get a card on the right offering help, advisory information, and safety tips, from the World Health Organization.
The alert was announced by Google’s public liaison for search, Danny Sullivan, in a series of Tweets.
Today we launched an SOS Alert for searches at Google related to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus. We do these regularly for crisis events around the world where public safety might be at risk . Here’s a refresher on what you’ll find…. pic.twitter.com/RpwZE6gTvM
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) January 30, 2020
You will know that an alert is active as an SOS Alert header appears at the top of the Search page with a sharing icon on the right so that you can share it with others.
Underneath the header, Google surfaces relevant news in the “Top Stories” box, as well as any local updates sourced from Twitter.
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