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COVID-19 has exacerbated many long-standing challenges in our society, from homelessness to racial inequity. A critical one has been the pandemic’s effect on those who face domestic violence at home: The UN Population Fund projected in the spring that six months of lockdown measures would lead to at least 15 million more cases of domestic violence.

In March, advocates for families affected by domestic and sexual abuse reached out to us asking us for help. In response, we’ve been thinking through how we can provide the most useful, relevant information for those in need, as well as family members and friends trying to help a loved one. 

To that end, the Google Ad Grants program has given an extra $2 million of search ads to domestic violence organizations since May. In one example, a Google volunteer worked with the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV) to build new ad campaigns to reach people searching for legal resources, yielding a 3.5x increase in engagement. In addition, our COVID-19 hub now provides links to support for vulnerable communities, including organizations supporting survivors of domestic and sexual abuse.

The timing is critical to help survivors get access to services. NNEDV’s WomensLaw.org Email Hotline reported that COVID-related inquiries increased more than 350 percent from March to April and more than 200 percent from March to May. That’s why together with our partners, we’re launching a new video campaign called #ISeeYou to help increase visibility of available services and to remind survivors that they are not forgotten.

Staying home is not a safe option for everyone. And COVID-19 has created financial, housing and childcare challenges that will further affect survivors over the coming months. The teams at hotlines, nonprofits and support organizations are doing incredible work to help. You can learn more about this work and the #ISeeYou campaign from Deborah J. Vagins, President and CEO of NNEDV over on the YouTube blog. 

What does “crisis response” philanthropy mean at Google.org?

At our core, we back tech-enabled projects that help communities better prepare, respond and recover from crises. We make grants, encourage Googlers to donate (with a company match) and send our skilled volunteers to the communities that need it most. To have the greatest impact, we rely on strong partnerships with nonprofit organizations around the world which are preparing communities for disasters or delivering relief and recovery efforts. These organizations are the experts; we learn about their needs and search for where our philanthropic capital, coupled with technology, can help make the biggest difference. 

How does Google.org approach a crisis? 

We dedicate resources to stand with communities along the disaster cycle, from preparedness ahead of crises, to immediate relief after a crisis strikes, all the way through long-term recovery. Research continues to show that long-term support, particularly to local NGOs, is vital to a community’s recovery. Long after the media attention goes away, communities require ongoing, flexible funding to rebuild and to heal.

While philanthropy is important to support the efforts of frontline organizations, Google.org’s greatest asset is our technical talent. We often pair our grants with technical volunteers or pro bono support. One example is a project with GiveDirectly, in which we paired a $3 million grant with full-time support from Google engineers through the Google.org Fellowship program. That work supported a tool that will help target direct cash transfers to low-income families after a future U.S.-based natural disaster. The Google.org Fellows created a data-mapping tool that layers socioeconomic vulnerability data with disaster damage data to more quickly locate the pockets of highest need in an affected area. 

We also help manage a team of volunteers under our Google.org Crisis Connectivity program, who go to disaster-affected places with partners like NetHope and ITDRC to install temporary internet connectivity in critical locations such as shelters, clinics and schools.

That sounds challenging. What’s the hardest part about your job?

My job can take a personal toll. Reading about and working on crises 24/7 can add up. In some form or another I’ve worked on crises since starting at Google in 2016, and while I’ve learned to process complex emotions on the job, I would be lying if I said there were not moments where crises got the best of me. Thankfully, our company provides employees with great resources to help, and our team has created a culture of support to navigate these moments effectively. 

Another difficult aspect of the job is that even at a large company like Google, our resources will still never be enough to match the scale of global need every year. We can’t respond to every crisis, although we’d love to. So we look for the sweet spot where our philanthropy and technical expertise can make the most impact.

How has responding to COVID-19 been different from past crises?

For all disasters, the needs are normally greater than the resources we have at hand. This is especially true with COVID-19, and it is affecting everyone in every corner of the globe simultaneously. During “normal” crises such as natural disasters, responding organizations or governments often reallocate resources to different parts of the world or country to support affected areas. That isn't possible with a global pandemic. The needs are so vast, diverse and geographically diffuse. We’ve tried to stick to areas where we can use our expertise: health and science, distance learning and economic relief and recovery.

What’s your advice to people who are looking to donate money in a crisis? How about during the pandemic?

Ask yourself: Is the solution you want to support better, however you define better, than simply giving people the equivalent in cash? Direct cash transfers are efficient and effective. Research shows that cash has a strong track record in effectively supporting some of the most vulnerable communities, and recipients largely prefer it over traditional forms of aid. GiveDirectly led the way in testing the efficacy of direct cash transfers in the humanitarian sector and as a disaster relief tool. 

With respect to COVID-19 relief, the needs are enormous. I’d encourage potential donors to pick their area of concern or passion, whether that is food assistance or support for our frontline healthcare workers, and to channel support locally or to the nearest area of greatest need.  Everyone can do something. I think that's really the underlying message of this COVID-19 response—we're in this together. 

We’ve learned from the way COVID-19 disproportionately affects Black and brown Americans that we’re really dealing with intersecting crises involving both health and race. How do you think about centering equity in your work?

I am Afro-Latinx. I have been the target of racial profiling by police. Even still, I am protected by my privilege of being lighter skinned. My heart goes out to my Black sisters and brothers who have endured so much pain through several difficult weeks, after several difficult months, after several horrifying centuries. What the world witnessed in an eight-minute video of George Floyd’s murder is the community’s everyday experience. Everyone needs to step up to ensure that equal justice under the law is more than just a value, but a reality. As Cornel West says, “justice is what love looks like in public.”

Equity is at the core of grantmaking at Google.org, and crisis grantmaking is no exception. To effectively respond to intersecting crises, we first need to acknowledge that race is a critical intersection. After we’ve acknowledged this reality, it is imperative to understand what it means and why, and to do this, we need data. Data that informs not only our understanding of the problem, but also what can be done to promote more equitable solutions. This is the primary motivation behind our recent $1 million grant and Google.org Fellowship to the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine. 

The Morehouse team, with support from Google.org Fellows, is planning to assemble a data consortium and develop a platform to map data related to racial and ethnic groups, socioeconomic status, medical conditions and health system access at the county level in order to examine the trajectory of COVID-19 cases and deaths across the United States. This work will hopefully allow researchers and policymakers to understand the impact of the virus on communities of color and inform effective and equitable policymaking in government response efforts. This is just a tiny step of the many steps we as a society need to take to move our country closer to the ideals that bind us.

When you think of a choir, you likely put a descriptor before it: a school choir, a church choir, a community choir. Singing in a chorus usually means you’re standing within a large group of people, belting out songs and nailing those harmonies together. But what happens when you can’t gather in person to sing? 

That’s where virtual choirs come in. Composer and conductor Eric Whitacre has been putting them together for more than a decade, long before the pandemic left us stuck at home—and his most recent collaboration, which debuted on YouTube July 19, is his biggest project yet. 

Whitacre started organizing Virtual Choirs in 2009, when a fan uploaded a video of herself singing one of his choral compositions. He saw the video, then asked others to record themselves singing the other parts of the same composition to form a “choir.” That first group featured 185 singers, and each one since has grown larger and larger, to more than 8,000 voices for the fifth performance in 2018.

It was also significant that these singers came together (figuratively speaking) at a time when musicians are suddenly out of work. “It’s an especially surreal moment for singers, because we’ve been labeled as superspreaders,” Whitacre laments, referring to a term for people who spread the disease more than others; in one instance, dozens of singers in Washington state were infected after a choir practice.  “Even just the act of singing is dangerous for other people.” He says he was struck by the number of participants who told him it felt good to sing with others again—even though they weren’t actually performing in the same room. 

Molly Jenkins, a choir lover based in North Carolina, was one of the 6,262 sopranos who took part in “Sing Gently.” She had always wanted to join a virtual choir, but never found the perfect time to give it a try. But since there’s no such thing as a perfect moment in a pandemic, she decided to figure out a way to make it work. 

With her phone in hand to hear the guide tracks, Molly practiced whenever and wherever she could: in the shower, at the kitchen table while working from home, in her front yard and while burping her baby. When it came time to record her track, there was one problem: finding a quiet place to record. “There was no space to record where a shrieking, gurgling baby wouldn’t interrupt the take,” she says. 

She ended up in her car on a rainy day, playing the conductor track on her laptop and recording her vocals on her phone. Sound engineers were able to isolate her vocal track from the background noise of the rain tapping on her windshield. “I’m just so glad I went for it,” Molly says.

Whitacre says that improvisational spirit is key to creating his choirs, and he’s grateful that technology can enable great collaborations despite social distancing. “It really speaks to the best of technology,” he says. “This, I think, is the best of the promise of the Internet.”

For years I’ve wondered what it’s like behind the protected walls of a Google data center, and I’m not alone. In my job at Google, I spend my days working with developers. Our data centers are crucial to the work that they do, but most have never actually set foot inside a data center. And until recently, neither had I. I went on a mission to find answers to common questions like: Why are visits so tightly restricted? How secure is a Google data center? How do we meet regulatory requirements? Here's what I found out.

To keep our customers' data safe, we need to make sure the physical structure of the data center is absolutely secure. Each data center is protected with six layers of physical security designed to thwart unauthorized access. Watch the video above to follow my journey through these layers to the core of a data center, and read on to learn even more.

“Least privilege” is the rule to live by

There are two rules strictly enforced at all Google data centers. The “least privilege” protocol is the idea that someone should have only the bare minimum privileges necessary to perform their job. If your least privilege is to enter Layer 2, you won’t have luck moving to Layer 3. Each person’s access permissions are checked at badge readers that exist at every access point in a data center facility. Authorization measures happen everywhere using this protocol. 

Another rule exists that prevents a vehicle or individual closely following another to gain entry into a restricted area without a badge swipe. If the system detects a door open for too long, it immediately alerts security personnel. Any gate or door must close before the next vehicle or person can badge in and gain access.

Two security checks: badge first, then circle lock

You’ve probably seen dual-authentication when you try to sign into an account and a one-time password is sent to your phone. We take a similar approach at the data centers to verify a person’s identity and access. At some layers in the data center, you’re required to swipe your badge, then enter a circle lock, or tubular doorway. You walk into a special "half portal" that checks your badge and scans your eyes to gain access to the next layer of the data center. It prevents tailgating because only one person is allowed in the circle lock at a time.

Shipments are received through a secure loading dock

The facility loading docks are a special section of Layer 3, used to receive and send shipments of materials, such as new hardware. Truck deliveries must be approved for access to Layer 3 to enter the dock. For further security, the loading dock room is physically isolated from the rest of the data center, and guard presence is required when a shipment is received or sent.

All hard drives are meticulously tracked

Hard drive tracking is important to the security of your data because hard drives contain encrypted sensitive information. Google meticulously tracks the location and status of every hard drive within our data centers—from acquisition to destruction—using barcodes and asset tags. These asset tags are scanned throughout a hard drive's lifecycle in a data center from the time it’s installed to the time it's removed from circulation. Tracking hard drives closely ensures they don’t go missing or end up in the wrong hands.

We also make sure hard drives are properly functioning by doing frequent performance tests. If a component fails to pass a performance test, it’s deemed no longer usable. To prevent any sensitive information from living on that disk, we remove it from inventory to be erased and destroyed in Layer 6, Disk Erase. There, the disk erase formatter uses a multi-step process that wipes the disk data and replaces each bit of data with zeros. If the drive can’t be erased for any reason, it’s stored securely until it can be physically destroyed. 

Layered security extends into the tech itself

Our layered security approach isn’t just a physical safeguard for entering our data centers. It’s also how we protect the hardware and software that live in our data centers. At the deepest layer, most of our server boards and networking equipment are custom-designed by Google. For example, we design chips, such as the Titan hardware security chip, to securely identify and authenticate legitimate Google hardware. 

At the storage layer, data is encrypted while it travels in and out of Google’s network and when it’s stored at the data center. This means whether data is traveling over the internet outside of Google’s facilities, or stored on our servers, it’s protected. Google Cloud customers can even supply their own encryption keys and manage them in a third-party key management system deployed outside Google’s infrastructure. This defense-in-depth approach helps to expand our ability to mitigate potential vulnerabilities at every point.

To learn more about our global data centers, visit our Data and Security page. We will also be sharing more about our security best practices during the upcoming Google Cloud Next ’20: OnAir event.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), people reported $1.9 billion lost to scams in 2019. Every minute, more than $3,600 disappeared from wallets and bank accounts in response to made-up stories of urgently overdue tax payments, bogus contest winnings, or a smooth-talking online suitor who suddenly needs some gift cards. A high-pressure phone call or exciting message can overcome many people’s judgment, especially if they are caught  at a vulnerable moment.

As the record-high scam reports keep coming, we’re providing support to the Cybercrime Support Network to help people identify scams before they fall victim to them through a new program called Scam Spotter. It simplifies expert advice with three golden rules—remember to refer to these rules when you receive a suspicious phone call or message to figure out if it’s a scam:

• Slow it down: Are they telling you it’s urgent? Take your time and ask questions to avoid being rushed into a bad situation.
• Spot check: Are they claiming to be from a specific institution? Do your own research to double check the details you’re getting. 
• Stop! Don’t send: Are they asking you to go to the store and get gift cards? If you think a payment feels fishy, it probably is.

Just because COVID-19 has disrupted everyone’s life, it doesn’t mean the scammers have taken a break. In fact, scammers have exploited the pandemic with alarming speed, taking advantage of fear and uncertainty. More than $40 million in fraud losses have been reported to the FTC related to a myriad of COVID-19 complaints. While the stories are new—invented stimulus packages, phoney charities, romantic interests who now have an uncle in the ICU—the same three golden rules apply equally well:

While people ages 25-40 are most likely to be scammed, research shows it’s seniors who stand to lose the most, with their median losses more than double the average. As one of the architects of the Internet and an executive sponsor of the “Greyglers,” an internal group that promotes awareness of age diversity and issues related to age, I feel obligated to try to help my fellow Americans stay safe.  It will take a cross-generational effort. Please consider sharing ScamSpotter.org the next time you talk to the seniors in your life. Maybe you can both take the quiz and compare your scores, too.

If we learn how to spot the bad actors, we can spend our time focusing on those moments that matter. And to the seniors out there, remember: of course the Internet is for us, we invented it!

Editor’s note: This post is authored by Daniel H. Gillison, Jr., CEO of The National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Anxiety disorders affect 48 million adults in the U.S. Anxiety presents itself as a wide range of symptoms, and can be a result of biological factors or triggered by a change in environment or exposure to a stressful event. With COVID-19 introducing new points of stress, communities are seeing a rise in mental health issues and needs. New Census Bureau data released last week shows that a third of Americans are now showing signs of clinical anxiety or depression.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization and we’re partnering with Google to provide access to mental health resources. Starting today when people in the U.S. search on Google for information about anxiety, we’ll provide access to a clinically-validated questionnaire called the GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7). The GAD-7 will show up in the knowledge panel—the box of information that displays key facts when you search for something—and also has medically-validated information about anxiety, including symptoms and common treatments.

This seven-question survey covers many of the same questions a health professional may ask, and your answers are private and secure (Google does not collect or share answers or results from the questionnaire). The GAD-7 helps people understand how their self-reported anxiety symptoms map to anxiety levels of people who completed the same questionnaire. The tool also provides access to resources developed by NAMI so people can learn more and seek help when needed. 

The GAD-7 is the third mental health screener available on Google Search. We’ve previously partnered with Google so that people who search for information on depression and PTSD can access relevant clinically-validated questionnaires that provide more information and links to resources about those conditions. The self-assessments are currently available in the U.S., and Google hopes to make them available in additional countries over time.

Anxiety can show up as a wide range of physical and emotional symptoms, and it can take decades for people who first experience symptoms to get treatment. By providing access to authoritative information, and the resources and tools to learn more about anxiety, we hope to empower more people to take action and seek help.

Editor’s note: May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Learn more about Google's mental health resources and tools. 

A few years ago, Jenny Fandrianto noticed a sticker on a colleague’s laptop that read “ask me about Blue Dot.” So, she did. 

She learned Blue Dot is a network of Googlers who simply listen to those who reach out to them. It's not therapy, and they don't tell anyone how to fix their problems. They just want to make it OK to talk about mental health. “Having that first conversation was really inspiring and energizing,” Jenny says. “I got to connect with someone and say ‘this is something that’s important to me, too.’” 

Blue Dot’s mission to destigmatize conversations like the one Jenny had began in 2016, when it was founded by Rachael Bleakley and Jack Kaden (a Googler and a former Googler, respectively). Rachael had recently seen a news segment about a barber with a poster in his shop that read “Feeling down? Chat to us!” “He said it nearly always started some great conversations about mental health with everyone who sat in his chair.” She pitched the concept and within days, was on a call with a global group of Googlers putting a plan in motion. 

While growth wasn’t Blue Dot’s priority, it quickly took off. “We knew there would be appetite for this but it was so hard to measure in the beginning; the last thing we wanted to be doing was asking Googlers to tell us when they had a 'chat' thanks to Blue Dot!” she says. “We also had to be careful we weren't putting Googlers in potentially difficult situations if they got into a chat that was slightly out of their depth; the expectation is only to listen and not to offer specific advice.” 

Peter Corcoran took the reins at Blue Dot as it matured from its purely grassroots beginnings into an official employee resource group. “I was in the British Army for 10 years, and it was actually one of the reasons I got involved in Blue Dot, having suffered trauma in my military career,” Peter says. Becoming a Googler-led mental health resource sponsored by People Ops, he explains, was ultimately the right move. “It gave us access to better resources, better guidance. It created a much better ecosystem.”  Maja Bilić stepped in around the same time to help Blue Dot’s transition. She helped with infrastructure—things like building the website and creating the listener sign-up system. 

A tipping point in this evolution came during a global Google town hall last year, where Blue Dot was mentioned as a resource for Googlers. “I was like, ‘we’ve reached critical mass!’” Peter remembers. “It was kind of like, ‘oh, we’re grown up!’”

Amy Costello, Blue Dot’s acting global lead, discovered Blue Dot in 2018 after working at Google for about six months. “I was looking for a 20 percent project and lo and behold, I learned about this program called Blue Dot.” Amy, who lost her father to suicide as a teenager, describes her work with Blue Dot as “something that really hits close to home. If this is an area I can give back in, how wonderfully fulfilling.” 

Today, Blue Dot has nearly 2,000 allies in its network, but for privacy reasons, doesn’t collect data on sessions. Participants go through a self-guided training module on effective listening and what to do if someone needs additional support. "Listening is about devoting your full attention to another human being. It's a time to ignore the IMs, text messages and emails and provide someone with your undivided attention," Amy shares.

Jenny has benefited from Listener training even outside of Blue Dot. “While I’m on a video call, I don’t have email open, I’m not chatting with other people on Hangouts. In in-person meetings, my laptop is down, and if there are notes I need to take, I take them on paper. My attention is here, with you, right now, because you matter, and the time we spend together is valuable.” 

“Honestly, when we introduced trainings, people were a little like ‘ugh, really?’” Maja laughs. But participants ended up loving it, herself included. “You learn how to actively listen, and active listening is such an important skill.” 

Recently, Blue Dot pivoted from in-person listening sessions, moving to online only. In March, Blue Dot Sunnyvale began hosting virtual get-togethers. “But then we realized...it’s virtual! It doesn’t have to be just our campus,” Jenny says. “We shared this idea globally with the entire Blue Dot community and now we have this office hours program being replicated in all these different regions. It’s become much bigger than what we originally imagined.” 

The new online office hours may also be more welcoming for some. Googlers can select an appointment time with a Listener from any region that works for them, a system Jenny believes lowers the barrier for anyone who’s hesitant to reach out. “Just click and sign up and we’re here. I think it’s just a little bit more accessible to people who need it,” she says. 

Support systems are always a steadying force, but perhaps more so when it feels as if the entire world is on shaky ground. “I feel like on a day-to-day basis, my life is very happy, but at the same time, we don’t have the same releases right now. We don’t have the same kinds of mental breaks,” Amy agrees. “I find myself being over-tired, which is something I’ve heard from my colleagues as well. Having the Blue Dot community available for that outreach, for that friendly face, for people to know you are going to be really open to talking about things like this is so meaningful to the Google community.”

Despite the challenges of sheltering in place, both Amy and Jenny notice it’s also inspiring frank conversations about mental health. “During every team meeting now, we start with five minutes of ‘How are you doing? What’s new? Is there anything I can do to help?” Jenny says. “We’re talking about our personal lives a bit more now. It’s funny because I feel like we’re closer as a team even though we’re all virtual. It’s because we’re genuinely concerned for each other outside of work.” 

Though Blue Dot has grown, the subtle ways it creates conversations about mental health remain. That little dot disintegrates some of the pressure; “ask me about Blue Dot,” for many, is easier to respond to than “ask me about mental health.” 

Today, in lieu of laptop stickers we can’t physically see, Listeners include a blue dot in their email signatures. “So many people have asked ‘hey, I see you have this blue circle in your email signature—what’s that about?’” 

The group is hopeful that someday, we won’t need a dot or anything else to openly talk about therapy appointments or depression. “We have no problem going to the doctor for a physical, we have no problem going to the dentist to get our teeth cleaned,” Amy says. “Why should we have a problem talking about our mental health, or saying, ‘hey, I’m going to the therapist today’? One of the really special things about Google is that those things are OK to say, and I feel like groups like Blue Dot help normalize it.” 

Blue Dot has helped Jenny feel comfortable being an advocate for mental health, and talking about her own. “I’m much more open about a lot of other things I don’t think people talk about. No one really comfortably talks about the struggles of being a woman in tech, or has revealing conversations around fertility challenges like IVF or miscarriages.” As she’s become more forthcoming, she’s felt groups forming—supportive pocket communities that invite, even welcome, these kinds of conversations. 

“People are OK being vulnerable, they feel safer,” she says. “And that’s brought a lot of us so much closer.” 

Dr. Karen DeSalvo knows how to deal with a crisis. She was New Orleans Health Commissioner following Hurricane Katrina and a senior official at the Department of Health and Human Services when Ebola broke out. And now, as Google’s Chief Health Officer, she’s become the company’s go-to medical expert, advising our leaders on how to react to the coronavirus. Dr. DeSalvo has been a voice of reassurance for Googlers, but her expertise is helpful outside of Google, too. I recently spoke to Dr. DeSalvo about how we’ll get through the crisis, what Google is doing to help and what makes her optimistic despite the challenges we face. 

How is the coronavirus different from other public health crises you’ve dealt with? 
In my work in New Orleans, whether it was a hurricane, a fire or a power outage, we drew resources from other parts of the country if we needed help. In this case, the entire world has been impacted. Everyone is living with uncertainty, disrupted supply chains, impacts on travel and social infrastructure. While this creates a sense of community that I hope will continue beyond the pandemic, the downside is that we have less opportunity to send assistance to other places. Where there is opportunity, we’ve seen people paying it forward, like when California deployed ventilators to the East Coast. The sense of community that grows out of any disaster is the bright spot, for me.

How are industries sharing ideas and research in this global crisis?
Physicians are using technology to talk to each other constantly about what they’re seeing and doing, and in prior outbreaks this real-time communication wasn’t possible. It makes a huge difference in clinical care. In the medical community, you sometimes have to pay for a journal article. But now if you want to read about COVID-19, it’s free for any researcher, scientist, clinician or layperson. That’s putting information first, putting knowledge and science above proprietary interest. 

It’s happening in science, too. For instance, there’s a collaboration between competitors in the private sector on designing trials and assessing the outcome of drugs and vaccines. At Google, our Deepmind colleagues were able to use deep learning to show protein folding, helping advance the thinking about therapeutics and vaccines. I don’t think we’ve seen this spirit of collaboration in the history of science, and it’s one of the reasons I’m so optimistic. 

What is Google doing to help curb misinformation?
In this historic moment, access to the right information at the right time will save lives. Period. This is why our Search teams design our ranking systems to promote the most relevant and reliable information available. We build these protections in advance so they’re ready when a crisis hits, and this approach serves as a strong defense against misinformation.  

When COVID-19 began to escalate, we built features on top of those fundamental protections to help people find information from local health authorities. We initially launched an SOS alert with the World Health Organization to make resources about COVID-19 easily discoverable. This has evolved into an expanded Search experience, providing easy access to more authoritative information, alongside new data and visualizations. 

We’re surfacing content that’s accessible to a whole range of communities, and there’s constant vigilance to remove misinformation on platforms like YouTube—this includes videos or other information that could be harmful to people.

What does it mean to be Google’s Chief Health Officer?
My role is to bring a holistic view of emotional, physical and social health and well-being to Google’s products and services, particularly under Google Health. During this pandemic, my team has also thought about how Google can assist public health efforts. This has meant anything from the Community Mobility Reports, a tool to help measure the impact of social distancing, to building playlists in partnership with YouTube geared towards clinicians, and showing testing sites for COVID-19 all over the world.

In the general public, what behaviors or mentalities have arisen that should continue in the future?
First, there are fundamental ways to reduce the transmission of communicable diseases like the flu or, in some communities, measles or tuberculosis. If you’re able to, it’s important to stay home if you’re sick, wash your hands, cough into your elbow—I call these the “Grandma rules.” Second, there are a lot of components to health: social health, emotional well-being, financial stability. Health is driven by more than just medical care, and this is a moment for us to remember that a holistic approach matters. 

What should business owners consider for when restrictions begin to lift?
They need to prepare for a world in which employees can work remotely as much as possible. Policies will still recommend social distancing, but we also need to create an environment where people who are sick feel comfortable staying home. That’s not realistic for every small business, so paying attention to the basic hygiene stuff—Do the Five—is also important. 

After Katrina, there was this time when the world was paying attention and trying to help, but the emotional and social impact on our community lasted for months. There will be some of that after this pandemic, because you can’t just flip a switch and have people go back to work. That’s the important thing—being patient as people put themselves back into a normal routine. 

Taking off your Chief Health Officer hat, how do you reassure friends and family when they’re worried about this situation?
Medically, we need to be patient and let the scientists do their thing. It’s probably going to take until summer or early fall in the northern hemisphere to get clarity on what therapeutics work. The end game is to develop a vaccine so we can make sure everybody is protected. This is going to be a long journey with many months ahead, so we need to pace ourselves. 

Statistically, more people will have anxiety and depression from COVID-19 than will actually get COVID-19. To share tips on mental well-being, we recently launched the “Be Kind To Your Mind” PSA on Google Search.

Lastly, I remind those who are privileged to have a safe space to stay home when other people can’t. I think about my previous work with low income patients, and how this crisis impacts them as well as communities of color, non-native English speakers, and individuals with disabilities. Staying home is not safe, comfortable and financially feasible for everybody. We should all be doing what we can for our neighbors and our friends and the people who aren’t always seen.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted lives around the world. In addition to the lives lost to the virus, as many communities enter the second and third month under stay-at-home orders, there is a rising mental health toll, too. In a national survey released by the American Psychiatric Association in March, 36 percent of respondents said that COVID-19 was seriously impacting their mental health; 48 percent were anxious about getting infected; and 57 percent reported concern that COVID-19 will seriously impact their finances.

As a trained psychiatrist, I know firsthand the importance of bringing out into the open the issue of mental health. While it might be years between the first onset of symptoms and someone seeking help, the internet is often the first place people turn to find out more about mental disorders. To help address the emerging mental health crisis we’re sharing “Be Kind to Your Mind," which includes resources on mental wellbeing from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Whenever people in the U.S. search for information about coping with the pandemic, or on COVID-19 and mental health, we’ll show a public service announcement with tips to cope with stress during COVID-19. To raise awareness of the importance of mental wellbeing during these times, we'll highlight these resources on Google's homepage tomorrow.

With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, we want to highlight a few other resources and tools across Google and YouTube that promote mental wellbeing.

Self-assessment questionnaires for depression and PTSD

When people search on Google for information about mental health conditions we provide panels with information from authoritative sources like Mayo Clinic that detail symptoms, treatments, and provide an overview of the different types of specialists who can help. On the info panels for depression and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), we provide direct access to clinically-validated self-assessment questionnaires that ask some of the same types of questions a mental health professional might ask. Based on a person’s answers, these self-assessment tools provide information on risk, along with links to more resources. Results to these questionnaires are not logged. We hope they can provide insight and help people have a more informed conversation with their doctor. We will add more self-assessment  questionnaires over time to cover more conditions.

Self-care content on YouTube

Over the last few months, YouTube has seen a 35 percent increase in views of meditation videos, and growing popularity of mindfulness and wellbeing content. YouTube is making videos like these and other mental health resources more widely available to anyone around the world, for free, by spotlighting channels and playlists that have wellbeing and mindfulness-focused content. Countless YouTube creators, like Dr. Mike and Kati Morton, educate their communities as they help reduce the stigma associated with mental health. YouTube is also launching relevant YouTube Originals, including a “BookTube” episode featuring top authors like Melinda Gates and Elizabeth Gilbert offering their best book recommendations.

Finding virtual care options, quickly

Because of stay-at-home orders and restrictions that limit in-person interactions, many mental health care providers (including therapists and psychiatrists) are now providing telehealth care, like conducting therapy sessions over video conference. To make these options easier to find, we now allow providers to highlight their virtual care services on their Google Business Profile. So now, when you search for a mental health provider in products like Search and Maps, you may see an “Online care” link that can take you to their virtual care page, or even schedule a virtual appointment.

While the stigma around mental health has lessened in recent years, many people still find it hard to reach out to get help. By providing access to mental health resources, services and information across our products, we hope to make it easier for people to seek help and receive proper care.

Malou Aamund is the Country Director for Google Denmark—a role that’s typically associated with sales strategy, not fiction writing. But she recently became the author of a new bestselling novel. 

Called Maria, it’s about two women who share the name. One of them chooses her family over everything else, only to find that she’s sacrificed and given away so much of herself that there’s nothing left of her own personality. The other Maria puts her career before everything and, in her determination to become a successful business leader, also loses herself.

“It’s about self help and personal development—this is fiction as a format for helping build your career,” Malou says. Typical career advice books—and there are plenty already—can be dry and detached. “I wanted to drive an experiment to see if you can get different emotions in people by putting this type of advice into fiction,” she says.

We (virtually) sat down with her to learn how her literary pursuits complement her day job—and vice versa.

How do you explain your job at a dinner party?

I’m responsible for all of Google’s business in Denmark, all the amazing things we’re doing with Grow with Google, and helping build small businesses. And I also work with many industries here in Denmark.

Your career has taken some strange detours—what are some of those?

The red thread has been that I’ve spent more than 20 years in tech at Microsoft, IBM and now Google. But along the way I also spent four years as a Member of Parliament in Denmark, representing the then-leading liberal party.

The idea of a political career started after I’d been on an international assignment in the U.S. for a few years. I got back to Denmark and thought, compared to the U.S., there was a standstill in our innovation agenda. As a business leader I could make recommendations, but what I really wanted was to take leadership and ownership. After I helped craft some policy reforms for the party, they asked if I’d be interested in running for office. And from there it was a wild and rewarding experience.

What’s been the response to the book? 

I’ve been touring universities and leading career and book discussions. The most positive thing is that I’m seeing so many younger women embrace it, and really resonate with the characters’ problems and emotions.

There have also been a lot of parents who read the book first, and then give it to their adult children. As parents we all want to impart some values, and help our kids not make the same mistakes that we have. Here, parents can actually give moral advice in a fictional format.

Will Maria be translated into any other languages?

The publisher had planned to bring it to the London Book Fair, which is now cancelled due to COVID-19. But they are actively working on bringing it to other countries and languages.

Who has been a strong female influence in your life?

One of the highest ranking female executives in IBM was my mentor when I was pregnant with my second daughter. She asked me to join her team when I was six months pregnant, and showed a very courageous and progressive view on female talent, and took a personal bet on me. She is still a great support and a good friend. 

What advice do you have for women starting out in their careers? 

Choose the right partner. I have many girlfriends whose careers are not as highly prioritized as their partners’. Then, when they decide to pursue their career aspirations, it all of a sudden becomes a choice between their job and their marriage. Fortunately, there are many supportive spouses, but you need to discuss your dreams and aspirations up front to set the right expectations.