Google is taking Amber alert information provided by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and working it into their search results, the company said today.
Now, Amber Alerts will appear in users’ search results when they search for related information in certain locations (like where the child was taken or where the actual alert was issued). Searchers can also expect to see the Amber alerts if their queries are more specific, for instance referencing the name of the abducted child.
The Amber alerts will appear in both desktop and mobile search, and will also pop up in Google Maps.
“By increasing the availability of these alerts through our services, we hope that more people will assist in the search for children featured in AMBER Alerts and that the rates of safe recovery will rise,” says Google’s Phil Coakley, part of the Public alerts team.
The Amber alerts will be shown as part of Google’s Public alerts platform, which currently shows emergency updates concerning weather, public safety, and earthquakes from the National Weather Service and the US Geological Survey.
Google added that they are working with other child protection agencies in Europe and Canada to try to expand this program to other countries.