Google blocks false climate content and makes searches greener

Google Maps, Search and Travel will offer eco-friendly options.The search engine takes sides against global warming deniers

Google is the most used search engine, if not the site, in the world and has decided to exploit its enormous diffusion to protect the Earth.Recently the US company has implemented a series of changes to many of its products to make research is more sustainable of users.And this is not the only sustainable move:Google has decided to suspend advertisements that promote misinformation about climate change and deny the consequences caused by global warming.A clear stance that could put pressure on other technology companies and encourage a paradigm shift on the web and beyond.

Changes to Google Maps

“Today we are introducing some tools to help people make sustainable choices with Google products,” he wrote on the official blog the CEO Sundar Pichai.The changes affect the most well-known and used tools of the Mountain View, California-based company.

Google Maps will default to the greenest route that produces the least CO2 emissions.This update will go into effect in the US shortly and in Europe in 2022.If it will take much longer to reach the destination with the eco route, users will be able to choose between the fastest or sustainable route.“We believe the feature will have the same impact as taking more than 200,000 cars off the road,” Pichai said.The update will also show where parking for electric bikes and scooters is available in order to promote the use of non-polluting vehicles.

Google Travel and Flights, the two sites for searching for flights and for organizing trips, will be made more attentive to the climate issue.Google will display the greenhouse gas emissions associated with a flight in search results and label routes that have significantly lower emissions by adding a green badge.The same will happen with hotels that have received a sustainability certificate.CO2 emissions will be calculated taking into account the type of aircraft used and will also take into account the seat chosen on board.First class seats, in fact, lead to higher emissions because they take up more space on the aircraft.American Airlines and Lufthansa will provide fuel usage data to help Google validate its emissions information.

Even in the section Shopping there will be new functions to encourage environmental choices.Google will provide suggestions on the results of purchases with low energy demand and will make it easier for customers who buy a new car to opt for an eco-friendly vehicle.The search engine will flag hybrid and electric cars to make them easier to find.The interest in traffic is not limited to purchases:in Mountain View they are they are working on a research project for optimize the efficiency of traffic lights in an entire city, in order to limit the period of time in which cars are stationary with the engine running.

Additionally, Google will use artificial intelligence and aerial imagery to see where trees are in a city and where green cover, which can cool the climate, is lacking.The program is called Tree Canopy Insights.These are projects and changes that outline the new environmentalist current chosen by Pichai, but Google wants to go even further:Ads that downplay climate change have ended up in the company's sights.

Google bans anti-climate change ads

Google said that will no longer show advertisements on YouTube videos and other content that promote incorrect or incorrect claims about climate changes.The decision, made by the company's marketing team, will not allow websites or YouTube creators to earn advertising money from content that "contradicts the established scientific consensus on the existence and causes of global warming."Pichai described this decision as a “physical manifestation of our commitment to sustainability, which dates back to our founding 23 years ago.”

The policy applies to content that refers to the climate crisis as a hoax or scam, to those who deny the long-term trend that the climate is warming or to those who deny that greenhouse gas emissions or human activity are contributing to the warming of the Earth's climate.Detailed references that aim to exclude the most successful deniers on Youtube and put pressure on other companies in the so-called Big Tech sector, such as Facebook, which have not yet promoted decisions of this type.