Google announces aid for Ukrainians and sanctions for Russia
The Russian army has been going on for more than two weeks now his invasion of Ukrainian territory and there is no sign of the conflict slowing down or ending, quite the contrary. So the inhabitants continue to fight to survive and the downloads on the application stores show that the urgency is there. While most major brands are gradually ending their activities on Russian soil (such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, Apple, Nike, Amazon, etc.), it’s Google’s turn to announce its support for Ukraine with several decisions made in his last hours.
The threat from the air
It is indeed througha newsletter shared on the Google blog that we discover what the American giant has decided to put in place to also play a role in supporting Ukraine.
Google will send air raid alerts to Android phones in Ukraine https://t.co/bcOV6bRCc6 pic.twitter.com/CTgOgtbMNU
— The Verge (@verge) March 11, 2022
If the Russian tanks advance tirelessly in the country, the threat comes also and especially from the sky with very many air strikes which target just about anything and everything. Google therefore has worked with the Ukrainian government at the latter’s request to deploy a rapid air raid alert system for Android phones. This work is in addition to the country’s pre-existing work and is based on the alerts already issued by the country’s government. Thus, the people will be warned and will thus be able to get to safety more quickly. Android dads use for this the alert system already in place to prevent earthquakes. So that means users don’t need to download any extra app since the feature is already present in most current phones running Android.
Help for refugees
As the country empties and more and more Ukrainians find refuge in neighboring countries, Google is working hard to facilitate their reception. First of all by working with companies that want to communicate about the services they can offer to refugees. Hotels can thus indicate on their profiles if they offer free accommodation solutions for those looking for a roof. Any company with an offer to help can report it to Google and the information will appear on Maps and in search results.
Google also puts its campus for Warsaw Startups available to local NGOs who can find a place there to provide legal and psychological support. The Americans have pledged to pay aid of 10 million dollars to certain NGOs which help the refugees arriving in Poland, but also in Slovakia, Romania and Hungary.
online punishments
Google had already suspended its ad service in Russia last week and decided to go even further today. All of their business activities are now suspended in the territory of Vladimir Putin but also throughout the world for advertisers based in Russia. It also includes ” new cloud subscriptions, feature payments for most of our services, and monetization features for YouTube users in Russia “.
The technology giant has therefore decided to get angry and if the conflict continues, new sanctions may be announced in the coming days.
