Coffitivity in a nutshell

Posted on March 07, 2013

Japan already has a sophisticated and trigger-quick public alerts system for disasters likeearthquakes and tsunami – and now Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is helping out to ensure that these life-saving notices are seen by people as they browse the web. The Google Public Alerts system has just launched in Japan, marking the first time it has been rolled out beyond the United States.

With this new implementation by Google, whenever a disaster alert goes out, it will become visible instantly on Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Now (pictured above). So if a person misses the alerts on, say, TV or SMS, then they might catch the important notice prominently displayed across those Google services. These alerts appear across mobile or desktop sites. Here’s how it would look for a tsunami warning when using Google Maps: