Google Asia Pacific Blog: December 2014

It’s the delivery that counts

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

In the West, e-commerce developed on the back of credit cards and desktop computers.

In India, credit cards are out of reach of most people and smartphones are the primary computers they use to go online. So most online stores let people pay cash on delivery, allowing them to inspect their purchases and get around worries about ordering something sight unseen. That’s given e-commerce in India a very different face from e-commerce in the U.S.: a human face.

As part of this month’s Great Online Shopping Festival, we wanted to say thank you to some of these people, the deliverers who strap a sack to their backs, jump on their bikes and navigate India’s notorious traffic to deliver little boxes of joy. Thank you!

It’s a reminder that sometimes what seem like limitations can lead to greater innovation and more personal service.

Posted by Sandeep Menon, Head of Marketing, Google India

An Android One for Hindi speakers

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

It's no coincidence that the rise of India's mobile Internet and its Indic Internet are happening at the same time. There are over 300 million Hindi speakers in India and mobile devices are now adapting for these new Indian Internet users.

It’s in this spirit that Spice has released the first Android One Hindi smartphone — the Spice Dream Uno H. With everything from the keyboard, operating system and apps like Chrome and YouTube all set to Hindi as the default, we hope it will make smartphones more accessible for Hindi speakers, just as last month’s launch of Hindi voice search made Google searches more accessible for those who prefer to speak in Hindi.

For the web to be useful for Hindi speakers there also needs to be a wealth of Hindi content. Just last month with partners from the tech and publishing industries we formed the Indian Language Internet Alliance — a group committed to promoting the growth of Indic-language content online. Through initiatives like these we’re looking forward to more Indian-language content being made more available and accessible.

Posted by Caesar Sengupta, VP, Product Management

Android One expands to Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka

Monday, December 22, 2014

Back in September, we launched Android One in India—an initiative to make high-quality smartphones accessible to as many people as possible. In the last few months, the devices have been rolling out for sale online and in stores to Indians in cities big and small. And last week, our partner Spice launched another Android One phone—one made specifically for Hindi speakers.

Now we’re taking another step toward reaching the next five billion people: in the coming weeks, the Android One devices will start to go on sale in India’s neighboring countries of Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

In these countries — with a combined population of over 200 million people — a wide range of manufacturers and network partners such as Banglalink will begin to sell Android One smartphones. In addition to Micromax, Karbonn and Spice, Bangladesh’s own Symphony will launch their first Android One phone with the Symphony Roar A50. All these devices will give people a high quality mobile experience for an affordable price, running stock-Android with updates from Google.

With more hardware and carriers launching Android One phones in more countries, we’re excited to see the diverse array of devices our partners will offer in 2015 and beyond.

Posted by Caesar Sengupta, VP, Product Management

Asia’s hottest tech trends of 2014: Most searched wearable

Friday, December 19, 2014

This post is part of our series that looks at the tech gadgetry and geeky moments that went truly viral in Asia in 2014. Check out google.com/2014 for lists of the most popular searches around the world. Enjoy!

No, it’s not a smartwatch, exactly. But in Japan, even kids’ toys are entering the realm of wearables. This year was all about the Yo-kai Watch (妖怪ウォッチ), a hugely popular video game and animation that is a runaway hit with Japanese kids. The way Yokai Watch works is that kids have to get a watch and collect the little fictional monsters with their watches. It’s like Pokemon, but instead of battling it out with collectible cards, you have a much niftier piece of hardware.

Yokai Watch’s search popularity in Japan even beat that of Disney’s Frozen. Is Frozen’s moment in the land of the rising sun melting away?

Yokai Watch (red line) enjoys a sustained high volume of searches; Pokemon (blue line) had a quiet year but suddenly spiked in popularity; Frozen (yellow line)’s search popularity is declining slowly.

Posted by Sakura Tominaga, Communications Manager, Google Japan

Asia’s hottest tech trends of 2014: Most searched chat apps

Thursday, December 18, 2014

This post is part of our series that looks at the tech gadgetry and geeky moments that went truly viral in Asia in 2014. Check out google.com/2014 for lists of the most popular searches around the world. Enjoy!

Just how much do Indonesians love to chat? A lot. On average, Indonesians have at least 3 chat apps installed on their smartphones—25% of Indonesian smartphone users have more than 5. In fact, Indonesians searched for and downloaded so many chat apps that we have a whole list of the most searched-for chat apps in Indonesia.

Top gadgets in Indonesia

iPhone 6
Nokia X
Samsung Galaxy Core
ASUS Zenfone 5
Samsung Galaxy S5
Samsung Galaxy V
Samsung Galaxy S4
iPhone 5S
Blackberry Z3
Samsung Galaxy Grand

Top chat apps in Indonesia

BBM
WhatsApp
Line
WeChat
Skype
Yahoo Messenger
Facebook Messenger
Kakao Talk
BeeTalk
Kik Messenger

What’s notable is the fact that while Blackberry used to be king in Indonesia, searches for Blackberry’s latest device comes in 9th place, while various Samsung models take up five spots out of the top ten. However, it seems like everyone is still tied to Blackberry Messenger, as BBM reigned as the most searched-for chat app of 2014. In fact, BBM was searched for twice as much as WhatsApp, its nearest rival. What’s clear though is that no matter the device they’re on, Indonesians are certainly agnostic about which app they use to communicate with each other.

Google search trends capture just how competitive Asia is for homegrown messaging apps, whose popularity completely eclipses those that are popular in the West. For instance, note that for all of Indonesia’s obsession with chat apps, the one that didn’t make it big in Indonesia was one that exploded in popularity in the West this year: Snapchat.

As this chart shows, although Snapchat got more search interest globally than WeChat, it’s striking how little the two chat apps overlap in their spheres of influence.

Snapchat and WeChat: never the twain shall meet?

The interest in Line in Indonesia also heralds how Asia’s mobile Internet is becoming truly pan-Asian. Five years ago, Japan’s mobile Internet was dominated by flip NEC phones. Indonesia’s was dominated by Blackberrys. Korea had only just been given the regulatory approval to bring in the iPhone. Now Line, an app developed in Japan by a Korea-owned company, is rivaling Skype and Facebook Messenger in Indonesia for domination. Seen in that light, Indonesia’s love of chat apps looks less like a national obsession, and more like a regional leading indicator.

Posted by Jason Tedjasukmana, Communications Manager, Google Indonesia

Asia’s hottest tech trends of 2014: The gadget scene

Thursday, December 18, 2014

This post is part of our series that looks at the tech gadgetry and geeky moments that went truly viral in Asia in 2014. Check out google.com/2014 for lists of the most popular searches around the world. Enjoy!

It was a big year for Chinese handset maker Xiaomi, as searches for their devices—the Redmi, Xiaomi 3, and phablet Redmi Note—all spilled over to various parts of Asia, especially in nearby Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Malaysia. In Taiwan and Malaysia, searches for Xiaomi trended just behind searches for iPhone 6.

Searches for Xiaomi were most concentrated in Greater China and nearby Asian countries

2014 was also the year that the phablet hit the mainstream. We had noticed how Asians were touting 5” beasts way back in 2011 (the Samsung Note anyone?), and people in the West were laughing at the sheer size of them. Now, phablets have gotten the ultimate stamp of smartphone approval as Apple wholeheartedly embraced the larger screen size with their flagship phones, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus.

We have some theories as to why the phablet first emerged in Asia: some believe that phablets took off here because the larger surface area made writing Asian-language characters with a finger or a stylus easier. For hyperconnected countries like Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, where commuters on the train can stay connected to fast Internet during their entire ride, they can stream video content via YouTube or other video players onto their phones. (Already, the bulk of YouTube views from Japan and Korea come from mobile.) Of course they’d want a bigger screen size to catch up on their favorite Korean dramas. Eventually, the rest of the world caught on to the glories of the huge phablet screen.

As this chart from Flurry Analytics shows, Koreans were way ahead of the curve, with more bigger size smartphones in that market than in the rest of the world.

Everyone else eventually caught up, as the share of Phablets (5 - 6.9” screen) phones grew dramatically over the course of a year.

Faithful readers: do you think phablets are fab, or do you think they’re clunky monsters? Does the larger form factor cramp or expand your style? Share your thoughts with us below.

Posted by Joyce Hau, Communications Senior Associate, Google Asia Pacific

Asia’s hottest tech trends of 2014: Most viral game

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

This post is part of our series that looks at the tech gadgetry and geeky moments that went truly viral in Asia in 2014. Check out google.com/2014 for lists of the most popular searches around the world. Enjoy!

Flappy Bird, the frustratingly addictive mobile game, is the pride of Vietnam, and this year’s most viral gaming app. Flappy Bird is not only hugely popular in Asia, this app even made the Google’s top 10 global trending searches list—above Disney’s Frozen. Made in a weekend by creator Dong Nguyen, the adorably low-tech Flappy Bird was the highest spiking game of 2014, above Destiny, a multi-million dollar game. In addition to being a global phenomenon, Flappy Bird spiked in searches in Malaysia, the Philippines and Hong Kong.

Flappy Bird, the innocuously addictive game out of Vietnam

Just how big are gaming apps in Asia? According to Google’s Consumer Barometer, more Asians play games on their phones than anywhere else: In Thailand, 65% of smartphone owners play games on their mobiles, and in China that number is 64% — compared to very serious Germany where only one in five smartphone owners play games on their mobiles.

Most Asians use their smartphones for gaming. Germans? Nein.

When you’re talking about a clear majority of very populous countries all playing games on their smartphones, that’s literally hundreds of millions of people glued to games. Is it any wonder then, that in this brave new world of mobile games, a humble game featuring a hapless bird made by one Vietnamese developer could become a viral hit? Watch this space for more global hits made by Asian developers.

Posted by Amy Kunrojpanya, Head of Communications & Public Affairs, New Emerging Markets

Google’s Year in Search: Asia’s hottest tech trends of 2014

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

As we look back at this year’s hottest trends, we give you the tech gadgetry and geeky moments that went truly viral in Asia. Check out google.com/2014 for lists of the most popular searches around the world. Enjoy!

The selfie stick

A spectre is haunting Asia—the spectre of the selfie stick. A phenomenon that first peaked in Malaysia, then jumped the straits to Indonesia, the skinny banner has been raised in the Philippines more times than in any other country. This humble stick has caused such a stir that even the South Korean government has apparently banned its sale—what could be the cause of such alarm?

The Philippines: the Himalayas of the selfie stick emergence. The US is just crawling out from the Mariana trenches of selfie stick searches.

In any case, if 2013 was the year of the selfie, 2014 was the year of the selfie stick (well, here in Asia, at least). As you can see from the chart above, people in Malaysia first started searching for selfie sticks on Google early this year, then by the summer Filipinos were all wielding the contraption, just as searches gained in popularity in Indonesia.

Speculations are rife as to why the selfie stick originated in Asia, and various countries contend for the title of selfie stick originator. We do know, however, that front-facing cameras were a fixture on Asian feature phones, long before smartphones even emerged. In the early days of flip phones in Japan, circa mid-2000s, Japanese carriers even promoted a whole campaign around “jidori” 自撮り or selfies, and encouraged people to email photos of themselves to their friends over WAP (remember that?!).

Whether you call it a monopod, 自拍神棍 (“selfie magic stick” in Chinese), or tongkat narsis (“narcissistic stick” in Indonesian), this phenomenon is truly on the rise in Asia—watch out, other regions, before it jumps the pond to a selfie-taker near you. And remember: you saw it here in Asia first.

Posted by Robin Moroney, Communications Manager, Google Asia Pacific

A new home for Google in Thailand

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

After three years of having a local presence here, we’re excited to open the doors to our new home in Bangkok. So excited, in fact, we’ve decided to share a few photos.

Our new home — located in Thailand’s first green LEED building — has all the features you’d expect of a Googley office, with a touch of Thailand. From a colourful tuk tuk in our reception, some of Bangkok’s Chinatown street art in our cafe, to a multi-walled mural chock full of scenes from across this beautiful country.

Since launching google.co.th in October 2004, we’ve worked hard to improve the Thai language search experience, from text to knowledge cards and even Voice Search. Whether it’s bringing Google Maps, Voice Search or YouTube to Thailand, expanding our presence here will help us provide our local users with more features that are relevant and useful to their daily lives.

Enjoy the photos!

Posted by Ariya Banomyong, Country Head, Google Thailand

Say hello with Google Translate in Malayalam, Myanmar, Sinhala and Sundanese

Friday, December 12, 2014

Whether you're teaching yourself a new language or trying to make a new friend, Google Translate can be a powerful tool for crossing language barriers. Today, we're adding 10 languages to Translate, including four new Asian languages, bringing our total number of supported languages to 90.

Google Translate helps you say thank you in Myanmar (Burmese)

In India and Southeast Asia, we are adding Malayalam, Myanmar, Sinhala, and Sundanese:

Malayalam (മലയാളം), with 38 million native speakers, is one of India’s 6 classical languages. It’s also been one of the most-requested languages by our users, so we are especially excited to add Malayalam support!
Myanmar (Burmese, မြန်မာစာ), spoken by 33 million native speakers, has been in the works for a long time. It's a challenging language for automatic translation, from both a language structure and a font encoding perspective. This is why we encourage the use of open standard fonts and therefore only output Myanmar translations in Unicode.
Sinhala (සිංහල) is one of Sri Lanka’s official languages and natively spoken by 16 million people. In September the Google Translate Community in Sri Lanka organized Sinhala Translate Week. Since then, participants have contributed tens of thousands of translations to our system.
Sundanese (Basa Sunda) is spoken by 39 million people living on the island of Java in Indonesia. While Sundanese does have its own script, it is today commonly written using the Latin alphabet.

In addition to these languages, we are adding several African languages, including Chichewa, Malagasy, and Sesotho; and Kazakh, Tajik, and Uzbek from Central Asia.

We’re just getting started with these new languages and have a long way to go. If it weren't for the active participation of the Translate Community, we wouldn't be able to launch some of these languages today. While our translation system learns from translated data found on the web, sometimes we need support from humans to improve our algorithms. We're grateful for all the support we're getting and hope that together with our community, we can continue improving translation quality for the languages we support today and add even more languages in the future.

You can help us by suggesting your corrections using the "Improve this translation" functionality on Translate and contributing to Translate Community.

Posted by Svetlana Kelman, Program Manager, Google Translate

Helping Indian web publishers say नमस्ते

Friday, December 12, 2014

Among 1.3 billion Indians, only about 10% speak and read English fluently, and most of them are already online. What about the remaining 90% of Indians who only read, or prefer, Indic-language content?

There’s a lot that can be done to meet the needs of the millions of Indian-language speakers who are yet to come online. By forming the Indian Language Internet Alliance with partners from the tech and publishing industries, we hope to help Indic web publishers and content creators make more Indian-language content available and accessible on the Internet.

There are plenty of ways to get involved in making the web a more relevant resource for Indian-language speakers:

One of the biggest obstacles to the discoverability of Indic content on the web is the use of non-standard, non-Unicode fonts. Non-standard fonts prevent users from being able to read them on a variety of web browsers and devices. To help address this problem, we’ve developed a set of unicode Hindi fonts that are free for anyone to use.

To further aid with discoverability of content, webmasters, publishers and bloggers who write in Hindi and other Indic languages can enrol in seminars and participate in Hangouts to learn tips about improving how content is found. Check out the Google India Webmaster community page for details.
With the number of Indians accessing the Internet via a mobile device expected to grow exponentially, it’s crucial to get the mobile experience right. If you’re a webmaster, find out about some simple steps you can take to optimize and make your site more mobile-friendly.

Posted by Syed Malik Mairaj, Webmaster Relations Specialist, Product Quality Operations, Google India

Buffering wheel, stand aside: Introducing YouTube offline in India, Indonesia and the Philippines

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Imagine trying to watch the new trailer for Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge — the longest running Bollywood love story with over 20 years in the box office — but the video buffers every five seconds. Or imagine only being able to watch the first minute of it, before stepping out of the WiFi zone at the mall.

Asia has proven itself to be a mobile-first world in terms of smartphone adoption, but access to high-speed, affordable data remains a big challenge. In response, we’ve been working on ways to lessen the demands of speed and data for people using our products in places where there are challenges to access.

Today we’re releasing a new offline feature within the YouTube app, in India, Indonesia and the Philippines. This feature lets you take videos offline to watch later during short periods of low or no internet connectivity. For videos where this feature is available, you can choose to add the video for offline viewing by tapping on the offline icon. Once taken offline, videos can be played back without an Internet connection for up to 48 hours, so you can enjoy YouTube videos without worrying about slow connections.

Starting today, much of popular YouTube content in India, Indonesia and the Philippines is available for people to view offline, from Hindi movies to local comedy and unboxings. Making these popular videos available for offline playback will help people move past the challenges of data connection, speed and cost to enjoy a smooth, buffer-free version of their favorite content.

YouTube offline is just a start. We hope to keep finding better ways to make video content more affordable and accessible to our growing base of YouTube mobile users in the region.

Posted by Jay Akkad, Product Manager, YouTube who recently watched “Nanga Punga Dost' VIDEO Song | PK | Aamir Khan | Anushka Sharma | T-series” offline

Com2uS — Korea’s gaming powerhouse

Thursday, December 11, 2014

This post is part of our regular series of interviews with people across Asia-Pacific who’ve caught our eye, using the Internet to create, connect and grow.

Jaejoon Song of Com2uS in Korea

How would you describe Com2Us in one sentence?
We’re a mobile developer and publisher behind some of the world's most popular games including Summoners War: Sky Arena and Ace Fishing.

What inspired you to enter the gaming industry?
I've always been a big fan of gaming, art and technology. We started when the Korean gaming industry was being formed in the late 1990s. Client-based black-and-white mobile phones just came onto the market, and we thought we could be successful if we started early enough and grew with the market. Luckily the devices got better with Android smartphones, and global platforms like Google Play have really disrupted distribution methods, enabling us to get to where we are today. We’re now a company with 600 employees.

Jaejoon Song speaking at a recent Google event about the possibilities of a Mobile First World

What has been your biggest challenge?
The industry and technological landscape are constantly changing. Much like a chameleon, we’ve had to transform ourselves along with the market, often completely changing inside and out to keep up or stay ahead. In the beginning, we had to work with fragmented carrier distribution and fragmented platforms like Java and BREW. These issues were resolved when smartphones became popular, but then we had to get used to working on larger screens. Then we had to shift to the $0.99 game and then eventually to Free to Play (where we earn revenue based on in app purchase). Most recently we had to shift totally to 3D and also change from a product-driven company to a service-based company.

What does the future hold for Com2Us?
Our future will be shaped by the creativity of our team — and of course by how the smartphone market and their use changes around us. We want to keep making great games that will bring new experiences to our users. We've been focusing a lot on increasing the quality of all of our games, such as better graphics, and on providing true global service distribution through our four remote offices around the world. In the near future, you'll see more exciting games with better quality graphics coming.

Com2Us has grown into the biggest gaming company in Korea. What advice would you have for entrepreneurs who are just starting out?
Set big goals, never give up and be open to reinventing yourself. We come from a relatively small country on the eastern fringe of Asia, but that didn’t stop up from dreaming of being a global player one day. When we started, we picked a technology niche where we thought we could be a leader some time in the future, and have been working on achieving that goal for more than a decade. Gaming may be the niche that we chose, but there are so many things that can change in this world, and I believe majority of the platforms like Android and Google Play are already here.

Posted by Jaejoon Song, Senior Executive Vice President, Com2uS

#YouTubeRewind 2014: Celebrating what Asia-Pacific created, watched and shared

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Everyday, the world’s pop culture unfolds on YouTube. If you needed any proof that YouTube represents so many things to so many people, look no further than some of the year’s top videos across Asia. From great white sharks to local comedy acts, and letting it go millions of times, here’s a celebration of the people, memes and moments that made up an epic year for Asia on YouTube:

Taiwan: 頂尖對決之穿褲子篇 Top Battles - Wearing pants

We all know how tough it can be to kick off the day on the right foot sometimes, but this guy in Taiwan managed to start his day by getting his pants on without using his hands. Since then, he’s not only spurred a global meme (look out for the shoutout in this year’s Rewind video), but also his new “Top Battle” series where he completes crazy, hilarious challenges based on his fans suggestions.

Australia: GoPro: Man Fights Off Great White Shark In Sydney Harbour

Uploaded in June, this video made waves in Australia as people watched, re-watched and speculated about whether or not this encounter with a shark was a stunt. Have a dive in through this GoPro and let us know what you think.

New Zealand: Safety in Paradise #airnzsafetyvideo

Over in New Zealand, one Kiwi brand got playful and had over 6 million people tune in to their video. In an effort to make safety sexy, Air New Zealand worked with Sports Illustrated to feature some of their top swimsuit models in their new in-flight safety video.

Hong Kong: Ronnie Chau [公屋潮文] 公屋●居屋●私樓

This Hong Kong hit was inspired by a trending article on HKGolden about what happens when a girl brings a boyfriend home to meet her parents. This parody of the different reactions to the boyfriend figure, based on where he lived, went viral shortly after it was uploaded in March.

Malaysia: I Give You Chance!

For Malaysians, YouTube is still as Malaysian as nasi lemak. Poking fun at the nation's favourite worst excuse for losing — by saying “I give you chance”, which is another way to say “I didn’t want to win anyway” — this video features two of Malaysia’s top YouTube vloggers and has been seen by over 2 million people.

Indonesia: Dodit - Pembalasan Buat Radit (SUCI 4 Show 8)

Indonesians love to laugh. This year, five of the top ten non-music videos in Indonesia were local comedy acts, including this one by Raditya Dika, a popular Indonesian YouTuber, writer, and stand-up comedian.

Singapore: Past vs Present: Teenagers

This year’s top videos in Singapore showed us that there’s nothing Singaporeans like better than laughing along with local creators, whether it’s revisiting school memories like in this video, or everyday life with Wah Banana’s “10 Types of People in The Hawker Centre”.

India: AIB: Alia Bhatt - Genius of the Year

While many of this year’s top videos in India highlight independent video creators who went viral covering spoof parodies of leading politicians and news anchors, this clip shows how India gave a thumbs up to leading Bollywood star Alia Bhatt for her self-deprecating humorous video created by the popular AIB group.

Thailand: คงไม่ทัน - สงกรานต์

In Thailand, music soared to new heights on YouTube. This music video by Songkran Rangsan, the winner of the Voice Thailand in 2013, has garnered nearly 100 million views — which is like everyone in Thailand watching the video 1.5 times since it debuted.

Philippines: Sarah Geronimo sings Frozen's 'Let It Go' on ASAP

Did you know that the Philippines was the top country in the world searching for “Let It Go” this year? It’s no wonder then that one of the most-loved YouTube videos in the Philippines in 2014 was a rendition of the song by popular singer and actress Sarah Geronimo, with nearly 6 million views.

Japan: Let It Go Beatbox Cover (from "Frozen") アナと雪の女王レットイットゴー

Meanwhile in Japan, “Let It Go” found a new beatboxing groove. This special collaboration between Daichi and HIKAKIN, two of the biggest human beatbox stars in Japan, landed over 5 million views.

Korea: 양띵 [탈옥을 꾀하는 자, 협력하라! 마인크래프트 감옥탈출 1편] 마인크래프트

In Korea, YangDDing had an explosive year on YouTube. By making Minecraft videos like the one above, she's become the first Asian female gamer to have a following of over a million strong on YouTube.

These are just some of the top YouTube hits from 2014 in Asia-Pacific. Check out our YouTube Rewind channel for more of this year’s favorite videos from around the world, including a mashup of the top branded videos and the top ads on YouTube. You can also visit google.com/2014 next week for Google's annual look at the people, places and events that captured the world's attention.

Posted by Gautam Anand, Director of Operations and Content, YouTube Asia-Pacific who recently watched "YouTube Rewind: Turn Down for 2014"

Crisis tools for Typhoon Hagupit

Friday, December 5, 2014

With Typhoon Hagupit (also known as Typhoon Ruby in the Philippines) expected to make landfall in the Eastern Visayas region tomorrow morning, we’ve launched a crisis page to help gather and relay critical information that we hope will help keep those living in affected areas safe from harm.

The Crisis Response tools include:

Google Public Alerts, which provide information about the typhoon across Google Search, Google Maps and Google Now, including the typhoon’s projected area of impact, estimated time of arrival, and advice on what to do to stay safe:

Click on the Public Alert in Google Search, Google Maps or Google Now to find out more information about Typhoon Hagupit

You can also view our Crisis Map to keep track of the typhoon’s forecast path and find the nearest evacuation center for shelter using information provided by the Philippines' Department of Social Welfare and Development:

Crisis Map provides details information including the typhoon’s forecast path and location of evacuation centers

We’ve also launched Person Finder, which allows individuals to post and search for the status of family or friends affected by the disaster. If you’re worried about someone, click on “I’m looking for someone” and type in their name. If you want to let people know you’re safe or have heard from someone in the area, then click on “I have information about someone” and put in their names and details. As the number of names and records increases, the tool will make it easier for those who are safe to pass on their status to people worried about them.

Update December 6: Person Finder is available on mobile phones. You can request status via SMS by sending an SMS to 0922 1000 600 (Sun/SMART and Globe subscribers), or +16508003977 (other network subscribers; please note international rates apply) with the message “Search” and then the person’s name. For example, if you’re searching for Juan Reyes, send the message “Search Juan Reyes”.

Posted by Ken Lingan, Country Head, Google Philippines

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