Google to publish user location data to help governments tackle virus

PARIS, France - Google will publish location data from its users around the world from Friday to allow governments to gauge the effectiveness of social distancing measures put in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the tech giant said.

The reports on users' movements in 131 countries will be made available on a special website and will "chart movement trends over time by geography," according to a post on one of the company's blogs. 

Trends will be display "a percentage point increase or decrease in visits" to locations like parks, shops, homes and places of work, not "the absolute number of visits," said the post, signed by Jen Fitzpatrick, who leads Google Maps, and the company's chief health officer Karen DeSalvo.

"We hope these reports will help support decisions about how to manage the COVID-19 pandemic," they said.

"This information could help officials understand changes in essential trips that can shape recommendations on business hours or inform delivery service offerings."

Like the detection of traffic jams or the measurement of traffic on Google Maps, the new reports will use "aggregated, anonymized" data from users who have activated their location history. 

No "personally identifiable information," such as a person's location, contacts or movements, will be made available, the post said.

The reports will also employ a statistical technique that adds "artificial noise" to raw data, making it harder for users to be identified. 

From China to Singapore to Israel, governments have ordered electronic monitoring of their citizens' movements in an effort to limit the spread of the virus, which has infected more than a million people and killed over 50,000 worldwide. 

In Europe and the United States, technology firms have begun sharing "anonymised" smartphone data to better track the outbreak. 

Even privacy-loving Germany is considering using a smartphone app to help manage the spread of the disease.

But activists say authoritarian regimes are using the coronavirus as a pretext to suppress independent speech and increase surveillance.

And in liberal democracies, others fear widespread data harvesting and intrusion could bring lasting harm to privacy and digital rights.

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Agence France-Presse

Google Maps turns 15, offers AI-powered way to beat traffic pain

MANILA -- A swarm of near-stationary smartphones on a main road tells Google's artificial intelligence (AI) that there's a gridlock. Maps then offers a homebound commuter to take a different route or wait out the traffic jam at a new bar that he or she might like.

On its 15th birthday, Google Maps is evolving into more than just a digital compass to get from point A to point B. In an update that will roll out starting 7 p.m. Thursday, app users will start to receive new features, including a new commute tab and suggested locations, officials said.

The commute tab will include routes for two-wheeled vehicles such as motorbikes, which is an emerging transportation segment in Southeast Asia where motor taxi-hailing apps like Angkas, Joyride and Go-Jek have become an alternative for commuters.

Google Maps wants to make it easier for users to pick their mode of transportation based on speed and cost, said Google Maps Senior Vice-President Jen Fitzpatrick.

"People can more easily make the decision: What route is best for me? What mode of transportation is best for me? What are the tradeoffs? Which is cheaper, much faster?" she told Asian journalists in a conference call from Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.

"Should I leave 30 minutes later? We have that flexibility because traffic is gonna get better. We hope people can make their trips better with Google Maps," she said.

Google's machine learning gathers data from users to help determine in real time which areas are choked in traffic, officials said. Google Maps harnesses data from users in 220 countries who drive a combined 1 billion kilometers per day or the equivalent of 25,000 trips around the world.

Including routes for motorbikes and scooters recognizes evolving transportation trends, said Google Maps Vice-President for Product Dan Glasgow. Two-wheelers move faster and can split lanes unlike four-wheeled vehicles, he said.

"Phones are sitting still. That's a big sign that there's a traffic jam or traffic is really slow or if there's a road closure," said Fitzpatrick, who has been with Google Maps since its inception. "The algorithm is not country-specific. It's meant to reflect all different forms of traffic patterns."

NEW LOOK MAPS

The redesigned Google Maps will roll out worldwide with a refreshed icon—a location pin—to reflect what Google said was consumers searching for experiences and places.

The new features will be rolled out in phases depending on the country, Google said.

The bottom navigation tab on the Google Maps interface was expanded to 5 from just 3. Explore will gather information and ratings on some 200 million places around the world, Google said.

The Commute tab will have real-time traffic updates and travel times. The Saved tab will collect users' favorite locations. Google said users saved some 6.5 billion places on the app.

The Contribute tab will be a place for users to share reviews, photos and information on missing places on the app. Updates will suggest places that a user might like based on navigation history.


It will also be easier for users to go "incognito" while using Google Maps, stopping the platform from sharing their data, officials said. It will be available by swiping from the left side of the screen.

Google is working to integrate its augmented reality tech to Maps, Fitzpatrick said. A feature being tested deploys a bot to call establishments to check common but simple questions such as will a restaurant be open on a holiday, she said.

In the last year alone, through machine learning, Google Maps added more buildings than in the previous 10 years, she said.

"The real world is constantly changing and that pushes us to think about how the Maps experience needs to evolve," she said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

From lobsters to teapots: How small businesses can grow with Google

SINGAPORE - Businesses, regardless of size, should build their mobile-optimized websites to lure millions of potential customers who shop with their smartphones, Google executives said Thursday. 

Ad opportunities on Google have exploded since the first one nearly two decades ago for Lively Lobsters in the US. Now, businessmen can show off their products and services on Google My Business or bet on an video to go viral on YouTube.

"Every business is an online business. Every business needs to be online and be digital," said Kevin O Kane managing director for small and medium businesses at Google Asia Pacific.

"It really levels the playing field. It allows any business, in any town, in any community to be global," he said.

Going digital is "very high tech, with a low tech ambition" of "being there when people want you," said Mel Silva, Google's managing director for go-to strategy and operations for the region. 

Small businesses were Google's first customers in 5 Asia Pacific countries, including a teapot maker in Hong Kong, a men's tailor in Thailand, a building renovation contractor in Japan, a student information portal in Singapore and an auto mechanic in Indonesia.

"All the big companies today are at one point, a small business," O Kane told the Growing with Google business forum here.

Business websites should load no longer than 3 seconds and take advantage of the audience shift to video content, he said. 

Google Test My Site also offers businessmen a tool to check of their website is fast enough and if the design is good, he said.

"It's free to get started. It's intimidating but it's not that hard," he said. 

O Kane said "there's a long way to go" as only 5 percent of small business are online even if they comprise roughly 98 percent of all businesses in the region, contributing half of the regional gross domestic product.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Google Street View arrives in PH

MANILA - Google Street View has made its official debut in the Philippines.

Users of Google Maps can now explore places in the country using the panoramic 360-view.

Google said more than 40 cities are covered by the service.

Sarangani Rep. and champion boxer Manny Pacquiao attended the launch of Google Street View on Wednesday.

He showed off his farm in Sarangani using the mapping tool, and also gave a tour of the streets of his native General Santos City, including the famous Wildcard Gym.

On its website, Google said the service started by packing "several computers into the back of an SUV, stuck cameras, lasers, and a GPS device on top, and drove around collecting our first imagery."

"We've come a long way since our initial US launch in 2007; today we've expanded our 360-degree panoramic views to include locations on all seven continents," Google said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com



 

Google lets users map their steps

SAN FRANCISCO, United States - Google on Wednesday began letting smartphone users automatically map where they have been.

A "Your Timeline" feature being added to Google Maps lets users see histories of trips taken and, if they also use Google Photos, see where they took images on any given days.

"We're rolling out Your Timeline, a useful way to remember and view the places you've been on a given day, month or year," Google product manager Gerard Sanz said in a blog post.

"Your Timeline allows you to visualize your real-world routines, easily see the trips you've taken and get a glimpse of the places where you spend your time."

The feature is enabled by geolocation on smartphones, with users allowed to turn this on or off. Google said it was a feature users would find useful in recalling trips and memorable places.

Timeline is being rolled out with controls that keep information private and visible only to individual users, who can choose which locations to keep and which to delete, according to Sanz.

"This means you can easily delete a day or your full history at any time," Sanz said.

"You can edit any place that appears in Your Timeline, including removing a specific location or giving a frequented spot a private name like -- Mom’s House or My Favorite Running Spot."

Whereabouts timelines were being made available on desktop computers and Android-powered mobile devices to those who permit location tracking, which powers other Google features such as reminding people where they parked a car.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Now you can play Pac-Man on Google Maps

MANILA - It's April Fool's Day, and leave it to Google to pull an April Fool's prank on netizens once again.

Google Maps has released on Wednesday a new feature that allows you to turn any place in the world into a game of Pac-Man.

All you have to do is go to Google Maps, choose a location (preferably those with a lot of streets), click the Pac-Man icon on the bottom left of your screen, and watch it turn into the classic arcade game complete with nostalgic music and colorful ghosts.

The feature is also available on mobile but you will need to download the official app, and will need to figure out some clues as to which streets can be turned into the pixelated classic.

For the full list and tips on which places are the best ones to play the game, head on over to Google's support page.

Pac-Man is an arcade game developed by Namco back in 1980. The goal of the game is to navigate the iconic yellow character through a maze, helping him gobble up all the available "pellets" on-screen, and set a high score.

This is not the first time Google has released a unique feature on April Fool's Day. Last year, the web giant's April Fool's Day prank allowed users to catch various Pokemon all over the world using its Google Maps app.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Google adds 'Polar Bear Capital of the World' to Street View

SAN FRANCISCO - Google on Thursday added polar bears to the natural splendor people can glimpse from the comfort of their homes at the Internet giant's free online mapping service.




Members of the Google Maps team joined forces with non-profit group Polar Bears International to venture into tundra in a remote part of Canada's Churchill, Manitoba, late last year for images of the majestic animals waiting for sea ice to freeze.

Polar bears range the tundra in quests for food and mates.

However, even here the Google Maps images only captured a few sightings of the polar bears, whose population is being threatened by warming global temperatures dramatically altering the frigid environment on which they depend.

"There's more to this effort than images of cuddly bears," Polar Bears International executive director Krista Wright said in a message posted at Google's official blog.

"Understanding global warming, and its impact on polar bear populations, requires both global and regional benchmarks."

Along with allowing users of Google Maps to be armchair explorers getting close looks at polar bears in their natural environment, images and data collected will serve as baseline measures of the effects climate change is having on the creatures and the area, according to Wright.

Panoramic camera gear -- typically used to capture pictures of streets for Google online maps -- were mounted on a "tundra buggy" by outfitters at Frontiers North to travel the tough landscape and stay safe from hungry carnivores.

Google's mission to add natural wonders to "Street View" imagery in online maps has included venturing to the Brazilian rain forest and the Galapagos Islands, as well as scaling mountains and diving under the sea.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com