Tech giant, Google is now launching a rapid Air Raid Alerts system for Android phones in Ukraine, the corporation announced on Thursday. The new rapid Air Raid Alerts system is the tech giant’s latest update on its response to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Google to Give Out Airstrike Alerts Using the New Rapid Air Raid Alerts System
“Tragically, millions of people in Ukraine now rely on airstrike alerts to try to get to safety. At the request, and with the help, of the government of Ukraine, we’ve started rolling out a rapid Air Raid Alerts system for Android phones in Ukraine,” said Kent Walker, the president of global affairs at Google, in a blog post about the announcement.
Furthermore, Walker stated that the launch is supplemental to Ukraine’s current air raid alert systems and is based on alerts already being provided by the Ukrainian government. In a series of tweets, Google’s vice president of engineering, Dave Burke, described that the rapid Air Raid Alerts system uses the company’s low latency alert mechanism that it created for earthquake alerts. Burke further noted that the system is starting to roll out starting today and that it will target all Android phones in Ukraine over the next few days.
Google Will Now Limit Recommendations for Russian Media Outlets on its Platforms
In addition to the launch of the rapid Air Raid Alerts system, the company has announced that it will continue its work to limit recommendations for several Russian state-funded media outlets across its platforms. The company is also pausing most of its commercial activities in Russia.
“Following our announcement last week that we paused Google ads in Russia, we’ve now paused the vast majority of our commercial activities in Russia — including ads on our properties and networks globally for all Russian-based advertisers, new Cloud sign-ups, the payments functionality for most of our services, and monetization features for YouTube viewers in Russia.”
Read more: Google Suspends Play Store and YouTube Payments in Russia
