Tag Archives: Company announcements

Coronavirus: How we’re helping

Note: The following is based on an email to employees that Sundar sent earlier today.

As COVID-19 makes its way across the globe, it’s affecting our communities in different ways. Many in Europe and the Americas are just now beginning to experience what people in Asia have been confronting for weeks. 

We have set up a 24-hour incident response team to stay in sync with the World Health Organization, and Google’s leaders are meeting daily to make critical decisions about our offices globally. 

In doing so, we weigh a number of factors grounded in science, including guidance from local health departments, community transmission assessments, and our ability to continue essential work and deliver the products and services people rely on. We’re also trying to build resilience into our operations—and our products—by testing our own capacity to work remotely. And it is also important to think about how we can help our local communities as we make these changes.

Some of our offices have shifted to a work-from-home status ensuring business continuity, while others are still operating as normal. As we make these changes, we have been making sure that our hourly service vendor workers in our extended workforce who are affected by reduced work schedules are compensated for the time they would have worked. 

This is an unprecedented moment. It’s important that we approach it with a sense of calm and responsibility—because we have many people counting on us.

Every day people turn to Google products for help: to access important information; to stay productive while working and learning remotely; to stay connected to people you care about across geographies; or to simply relax with a great video or some music at the end of a long day.  

I’ve shared some early examples of what we are doing to help below. As the coronavirus situation continues to evolve, we will be thinking of even more ways we can be helpful to all of our users, partners, customers and communities. 

In the meantime, please continue to take care of yourselves and each other.

Helping people find useful information

People continue to come to Google to search for vaccine information, travel advisories and prevention tips (for example, search queries for "coronavirus cleaning advice" spiked over 1,700 percent over the last week in the U.S.). Our SOS Alert in Search connects people with the latest news plus safety tips and links to more authoritative information from the World Health Organization (WHO). 

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For people specifically looking for information about symptoms, prevention or treatments, we’re working to expand our Knowledge Panels for health conditions to include a COVID-19 panel.

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On YouTube, we’ll be using the homepage to direct users to the WHO or other locally relevant authoritative organizations and will donate ad inventory to governments and NGOs in impacted regions to use for education and information. Google Maps continues to surface helpful and reliable local information.

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Protecting people from misinformation

Our Trust and Safety team has been working around the clock and across the globe to safeguard our users from phishing, conspiracy theories, malware and misinformation, and we are constantly on the lookout for new threats. On YouTube, we are working to quickly remove any content that claims to prevent the coronavirus in place of seeking medical treatment. On Google Ads we are blocking all ads capitalizing on the coronavirus, and we’ve blocked tens of thousands of ads over the last six weeks. We are also helping WHO and government organizations run PSA ads. Google Play also prohibits developers from capitalizing on sensitive events, and our long-standing content policies strictly prohibit apps that feature medical or health-related content or functionalities that are misleading or potentially harmful.

Enabling productivity for remote workers and students

Employees, educators and students are using products like Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Classroom, Hangouts Meet and Hangouts Chat, as well as G Suite for Education, to be productive while working and learning remotely, including hundreds of thousands of students in Hong Kong and Vietnam, where schools have been closed. Starting this week we rolled out free access to our advanced Hangouts Meet video-conferencing capabilities to all G Suite and G Suite for Education customers globally until July 1, 2020. We’re also adding resources to be able to support increased demand for public livestreaming on YouTube. We’ve seen increased interest in affected regions as people look to be able to connect virtually with their communities when they are unable to do so in person.

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Supporting relief efforts and government organizations

We're providing $25 million in donated ad credit to the WHO and government agencies, and will provide more if there is a need throughout the year. Google.org and Googlers have donated over $1 million to support relief efforts, which will go towards organizations working to purchase medical supplies, provide frontline workers with food and lodging, support the construction of temporary hospitals, and help with long-term recovery efforts. Google Cloud continues to work with federal, state and local governments to help them connect with citizens and returning travelers from impacted regions. For example, in Singapore, Google Cloud worked with the government to implement a chat bot on their website that helps answer citizens’ most common questions. We’re also working with governments around the globe to help them promote authoritative public information about COVID-19 through our Google Ad Grants crisis relief program.

Advancing health research and science

DeepMind used the latest version of its AlphaFold system (building on the protein folding work that appeared in Nature in January) to release structure predictions of several proteins associated with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. These structure predictions have not yet been experimentally verified, but the hope is that by accelerating their release they may contribute to the scientific community’s understanding of how the virus functions and experimental work in developing future treatments. Verily is developing a small, body-worn temperature patch that transmits data to a phone application to provide timely notification of fever and support earlier diagnosis and treatment of a viral infection like the flu or coronavirus. This could be especially useful in elderly populations, where viral infections have higher rates of morbidity and mortality.

Continuing to grow and invest across America in 2020

Today I’m pleased to announce that Google will invest more than $10 billion in offices and data centers across the United States in 2020. 

Google has a presence in 26 states across the country and our new investments will be focused in 11 of them: Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Nebraska, New York, Oklahoma, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and California. 

Everywhere we invest, we strive to create meaningful opportunities for local communities. A powerful example is our data center in Pryor, a town in Mayes County, Oklahoma. Last year, I visited Pryor to announce a $600 million investment, our fourth expansion there since 2007. It felt like the whole community came out to welcome us, from small business owners to teachers to Google employees. Pryor Mayor Larry Lees told the crowd that Google’s investments have helped provide local schools with the resources they need—including the latest textbooks and STEM courses—to offer a world-class education. He talked about the small businesses we have helped train and the mentorship Googlers have provided to Pryor’s students. 

This is exactly the kind of difference we hope to make with our new office and data center projects in 2020. These investments will create thousands of jobs—including roles within Google, construction jobs in data centers and renewable energy facilities, and opportunities in local businesses in surrounding towns and communities. 

This effort builds on the momentum of the $13 billion investment in communities from South Carolina to Nevada we made in 2019. Combined with other R&D investments, Google’s parent company Alphabet was the largest investor in the U.S. last year, according to a reportfrom the Progressive Policy Institute.  

We look forward to continuing this progress in the year ahead. Here’s a look at our 2020 investments by region:

2020 investments by region

South

Google continues to invest in Atlanta, and we will be welcoming new engineering teams to our growing office there this year. We will also invest in expanded offices and data centers in Texas, Alabama, South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee. Plus, we’ll open a Google Operations Center in Mississippi to improve our customer support for users and partners around the world. 

Breaking ground at new office development in Atlanta, in 2019

Breaking ground at our office development in Atlanta in 2019. We’re expanding our space in Atlanta this year.

Midwest 

We recently opened a new Google Cloud office in Chicago and expanded our office in Madison, Wisconsin. We’ll make additional investments in our offices in Detroit, open a new data center in Ohio, and complete the expansion of our data center in Iowa.

Ribbon cutting at our new Google Cloud office in Chicago, Ill., in 2019.

Ribbon cutting at our new Google Cloud office in Chicago in 2019.

Central 

In Colorado, we have the capacity to double our workforce over the next few years, in part by expanding our presence in Boulder. We’ll also invest further in growing data centers in Nebraska and Oklahoma. 

Sundar Pichai speaking at Google’s Mayes County, Okla., data center expansion event.

Google’s Mayes County, Oklahoma data center expansion event. 

East 

We’re opening our new Hudson Square campus in New York City, where we have the capacity to double our local workforce by 2028. We’re also expanding our office in Pittsburgh, and a bigger office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is under development. 

West 

We are expanding our Google Cloud campus in Seattle and undertaking a major development in Kirkland to open later this year. We’re making office and data center investments in Oregon. In California, we continue to invest in new locations in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. 

We’ll also accelerate our work with businesses, governments, and community organizations to distribute the $1 billion we committed for Bay Area housing. In the first six months of this commitment, we’ve helped to create more than 380 new affordable housing units in the Bay Area, including an investment in a development focused on affordable and inclusive housing for adults with disabilities. There’s more to come in 2020.

In addition to these investments in infrastructure and jobs, we’ll also continue our work nationally with local startups, entrepreneurs and small business owners to help Americans access new digital opportunities. Already Grow with Google and Google for Startups have trained more than 4 million Americans in hundreds of communities across all 50 states. Looking ahead, we're especially excited about our work creating pathways to jobs in the fast-growing field of IT through our two Grow with Google certificate programs. 

Our growth is made possible only with the help of our local Googlers, partners and communities who have welcomed Google with open arms. Working together, we will continue to grow our economy, create good jobs for more Americans and make sure everyone can access the opportunities that technology creates.

Making an impact in Canada

Aamir Baig was an entrepreneur with a big idea—to build a company that reimagines how customers furnish their homes and workplaces. With Fraser Hall and brothers Sam and Andy Prochazka, Baig co-founded the furniture retailerArticle. They then turned to digital advertising services to find new customers across Canada and the U.S. and drive growth. Thanks to digital technologies, the Vancouver-based company has built a rapidly expanding business in just six years, and is now Canada’s fastest growing company according to Canadian Business.

Google has helped Canadian enterprises of all sizes to unlock the prosperity of the internet. According to new research from Public First, last year Google’s search and advertising products helped generate an estimated $23 billion CAD in annual economic activity for more than 500,000 businesses in Canada—a total impact equivalent to approximately 1.1 percent of Canada’s entire GDP. 

Why digital matters for Canada

The transition to digital reflects incredible momentum for Canadian businesses leveraging data and online technologies. Canada’s digital economy generates some $100 billion CAD in annual revenues, more than the forestry, mining and gas industries combined. The internet addresses many of the traditional economic challenges that a country of Canada’s vast size once faced—a population the size of California, spread over a land mass roughly the size of Russia. The open web helps solve for distance and lack of population density, and allows any size company or individual creator in Canada to become a global business and reach customers across the planet. Google’s products alone support $1.7 billion CAD annually in incremental exports for Canadian businesses. And 160,000 Canadian YouTube creators see 90 percent of their views come from outside Canada’s borders. 

Sustaining this kind of economic growth hinges on building a smart and adaptable workforce. Canada’s investments in first-rate education and technological research--spearheaded by facilities like MILA in Montreal and Toronto’s Vector Institute-coupled with its consistent welcoming of global talent, reflect a commitment to a labor force designed to seize the opportunities of the digital economy.

Growing Google in Canada

Google began its business in Canada in 2001, when our office in Toronto was opened with one salesperson. Nineteen years later, we employ more than 1,500 people—including engineers, sales leaders and AI researchers—across three offices in Waterloo, Toronto and Montreal.

Today we’re pleased to announce that we’re expanding our presence in Canada and building three new offices, one in each of these cities. By 2022, these offices will accommodate up to 5,000 employees. 

Investing in Canada’s future workforce

Our investment in Canada extends beyond our facilities—we also aim to support the communities in which we live and work. Just in the last five years Google has invested $17 million CAD in Canadian nonprofits, specifically to help Canadians learn essential digital skills training with programs like the Google IT Support Professional Certificate program. 

Programs like these have helped people like Jean Claude Kamov transform Canada. Jean Claude was a refugee from the Congo who moved to Canada to escape violence and build a better life for his family. He always dreamed of a career in technology, but the cost of training held him back. Jean Claude heard about our program, which offers people with no previous tech experience the training to become certified in IT support. He applied at the Edmonton Public Library and became the first graduate to be hired into a new high tech career. 

Stories like Jean Claude’s are why we’re continuing to invest in skills training programs. Today Google.org is announcing an additional $2.5 million grant for NPower Canada, a charitable organization that launches underserved young adults into meaningful and sustainable careers. 

Helping Canadians benefit from digital opportunities

Google is pleased to play a part in Canada’s ongoing digital transformation. We’re helping Canadian businesses grow, we’re investing directly in programs to support Canadians learning new skills and we’re expanding our offices to accommodate for long-term growth. When Google looks to Canada, we see the potential of technology to drive business and change lives. We’re committed to helping Canadians deliver on that potential.


Improving customer support with our Google Operations Centers

As our business evolves, the composition of our workforce often changes with it. Customer and user support, such as answering calls, product troubleshooting, and campaign set-up, has often been supplied by third-party companies on our behalf.

In 2018, we announced a pilot program to enhance customer and user support by bringing some of these jobs in-house, so the work is undertaken by employees. Based on the great feedback we’ve received on that program, we’re expanding—by the end of 2020, we will have created more than 4,800 Google customer support jobs, including the one thousand Google customer support agents already working in our Google Operations Centers. 

Agents in our Google Operations Centers work to provide exceptional service to Google’s customers and users and receive industry-leading wages and benefits, including three weeks of paid vacation, up to 22 weeks of paid parental leave, and comprehensive health care (medical, dental and vision coverage). Agents can also participate in local culture clubs and have access to free meals while at work. Read more about the Google Operations Center.

In 2020 we’ll be expanding our footprint by opening a Google Operations Center in Mississippi, to join new and expanding sites in India and the Philippines. We're proud of the support Google Operations Centers provide, and look forward to enhancing the experience even further for our millions of users and customers around the world.

A letter from Larry and Sergey

Our very first founders’ letter in our 2004 S-1 began:


“Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one. Throughout Google’s evolution as a privately held company, we have managed Google differently. We have also emphasized an atmosphere of creativity and challenge, which has helped us provide unbiased, accurate and free access to information for those who rely on us around the world.”


We believe those central tenets are still true today. The company is not conventional and continues to make ambitious bets on new technology, especially with our Alphabet structure. Creativity and challenge remain as ever-present as before, if not more so, and are increasingly applied to a variety of fields such as machine learning, energy efficiency and transportation. Nonetheless, Google’s core service—providing unbiased, accurate, and free access to information—remains at the heart of the company.


However, since we wrote our first founders’ letter, the company has evolved and matured. Within Google, there are all the popular consumer services that followed Search, such as Maps, Photos, and YouTube; a global ecosystem of devices powered by our Android and Chrome platforms, including our own Made by Google devices; Google Cloud, including GCP and G Suite; and of course a base of fundamental technologies around machine learning, cloud computing, and software engineering. It’s an honor that billions of people have chosen to make these products central to their lives—this is a trust and responsibility that Google will always work to live up to.


And structurally, the company evolved into Alphabet in 2015. As we said in the Alphabet founding letter in 2015: 


“Alphabet is about businesses prospering through strong leaders and independence.”


Since we wrote that, hundreds of Phoenix residents are now being driven around in Waymo cars—many without drivers! Wing became the first drone company to make commercial deliveries to consumers in the U.S. And Verily and Calico are doing important work, through a number of great partnerships with other healthcare companies. Some of our “Other Bets” have their own boards with independent members, and outside investors.


Those are just a few examples of technology companies that we have formed within Alphabet, in addition to investment subsidiaries GV and Capital G, which have supported hundreds more.  Together with all of Google’s services, this forms a colorful tapestry of bets in technology across a range of industries—all with the goal of helping people and tackling major challenges.


Our second founders’ letter began:


“Google was born in 1998. If it were a person, it would have started elementary school late last summer (around August 19), and today it would have just about finished the first grade.”


Today, in 2019, if the company was a person, it would be a young adult of 21 and it would be time to leave the roost. While it has been a tremendous privilege to be deeply involved in the day-to-day management of the company for so long, we believe it’s time to assume the role of proud parents—offering advice and love, but not daily nagging!


With Alphabet now well-established, and Google and the Other Bets operating effectively as independent companies, it’s the natural time to simplify our management structure. We’ve never been ones to hold on to management roles when we think there’s a better way to run the company. And Alphabet and Google no longer need two CEOs and a President. Going forward, Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet. He will be the executive responsible and accountable for leading Google, and managing Alphabet’s investment in our portfolio of Other Bets. We are deeply committed to Google and Alphabet for the long term, and will remain actively involved as Board members, shareholders and co-founders. In addition, we plan to continue talking with Sundar regularly, especially on topics we’re passionate about! 


Sundar brings humility and a deep passion for technology to our users, partners and our employees every day. He’s worked closely with us for 15 years, through the formation of Alphabet, as CEO of Google, and a member of the Alphabet Board of Directors. He shares our confidence in the value of the Alphabet structure, and the ability it provides us to tackle big challenges through technology. There is no one that we have relied on more since Alphabet was founded, and no better person to lead Google and Alphabet into the future.


We are deeply humbled to have seen a small research project develop into a source of knowledge and empowerment for billions—a bet we made as two Stanford students that led to a multitude of other technology bets. We could not have imagined, back in 1998 when we moved our servers from a dorm room to a garage, the journey that would follow.

Sundar sent the following email to Googlers on Tuesday, December 3:

Hi everyone,


When I was visiting Googlers in Tokyo a few weeks ago I talked about how Google has changed over the years. In fact, in my 15+ years with Google, the only constant I’ve seen is change. This process of continuous evolution -- which the founders often refer to as "uncomfortably exciting" -- is part of who we are. That statement will feel particularly true today as you read the news Larry and Sergey have just posted to our blog.

The key message Larry and Sergey shared is this: 


While it has been a tremendous privilege to be deeply involved in the day-to-day management of the company for so long, we believe it’s time to assume the role of proud parents—offering advice and love, but not daily nagging!


With Alphabet now well-established, and Google and the Other Bets operating effectively as independent companies, it’s the natural time to simplify our management structure. We’ve never been ones to hold on to management roles when we think there’s a better way to run the company. And Alphabet and Google no longer need two CEOs and a President. Going forward, Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet. He will be the executive responsible and accountable for leading Google, and managing Alphabet’s investment in our portfolio of Other Bets. We are deeply committed to Google and Alphabet for the long term, and will remain actively involved as Board members, shareholders and co-founders. In addition, we plan to continue talking with Sundar regularly, especially on topics we’re passionate about! 


I first met Larry and Sergey back in 2004 and have been benefiting from their guidance and insights ever since. The good news is I’ll continue to work with them -- although in different roles for them and me. They’ll still be around to advise as board members and co-founders.

I want to be clear that this transition won't affect the Alphabet structure or the work we do day to day. I will continue to be very focused on Google and the deep work we’re doing to push the boundaries of computing and build a more helpful Google for everyone. At the same time, I’m excited about Alphabet and its long term focus on tackling big challenges through technology.

The founders have given all of us an incredible chance to have an impact on the world. Thanks to them, we have a timeless mission, enduring values, and a culture of collaboration and exploration that makes it exciting to come to work every day. It’s a strong foundation on which we will continue to build. Can’t wait to see where we go next and look forward to continuing the journey with all of you. 

- Sundar

See Alphabet’s press release.

Helping more people with wearables: Google to acquire Fitbit

Today, we’re announcing that Google has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Fitbit, a leading wearables brand.


We believe technology is at its best when it can fade into the background, assisting you throughout your day whenever you need it. Wearable devices, like smartwatches and fitness trackers, do just that—you can easily see where your next meeting is with just a glance of an eye or monitor your daily activity right from your wrist.


Over the years, Google has made progress with partners in this space with Wear OS and Google Fit, but we see an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Google wearable devices into the market. Fitbit has been a true pioneer in the industry and has created engaging products, experiences and a vibrant community of users. By working closely with Fitbit’s team of experts, and bringing together the best AI, software and hardware, we can help spur innovation in wearables and build products to benefit even more people around the world.


Google aspires to create tools that help people enhance their knowledge, success, health and happiness. This goal is closely aligned with Fitbit’s long-time focus on wellness and helping people live healthier, more active lives. But to get this right, privacy and security are paramount. When you use our products, you’re trusting Google with your information. We understand this is a big responsibility and we work hard to protect your information, put you in control and give you transparency about your data. Similar to our other products, with wearables, we will be transparent about the data we collect and why. We will never sell personal information to anyone. Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads. And we will give Fitbit users the choice to review, move, or delete their data. 


Three and a half years ago, I joined Google to create compelling consumer devices and services for people around the world. Our hardware business is still relatively young, but we’ve built a strong foundation of capabilities and products, including Pixel smartphones and Pixelbooks, Nest family of devices for the home, and more. Google also remains committed to Wear OS and our ecosystem partners, and we plan to work closely with Fitbit to combine the best of our respective smartwatch and fitness tracker platforms. Looking ahead, we’re inspired by the opportunity to team with Fitbit to help more people with wearables. 

This blog post includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements generally can be identified by phrases such as Alphabet, Google or management “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “foresees,” “forecasts,” “estimates” or other words or phrases of similar import. Similarly, statements herein that describe the proposed transaction, including its financial impact, and other statements of management’s beliefs, intentions or goals also are forward-looking statements. It is uncertain whether any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do, what impact they will have on the results of operations and financial condition of the combined companies or the price of Alphabet or Fitbit’s stock. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the ability of the parties to consummate the proposed transaction and the satisfaction of the conditions precedent to consummation of the proposed transaction, including the ability to secure regulatory approvals at all or in a timely manner; the ability of Google to successfully integrate Fitbit’s operations, product lines and technology; the ability of Google to implement its plans, forecasts and other expectations with respect to Fitbit’s business after the completion of the transaction and realize additional opportunities for growth and innovation; and the other risks and important factors contained and identified in Alphabet’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this blog post are made only as of the date hereof. Google and Alphabet undertake no obligation to update the forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.

Investing in affordable and inclusive communities

Editor’s note: This guest post comes from Micaela Connery, Founder and CEO of The Kelsey.

My cousin Kelsey and I were born three months apart, going through every life milestone together. When it came time to live on our own, it took me several months to find housing—but it took Kelsey almost eight years. Her family struggled to find a home that was supportive of her disabilities, while still letting Kelsey be part of the broader community.

Kelsey and Micaela

Kelsey and me

It’s a challenge almost every adult with disabilities faces. Kelsey was one of the lucky ones, with supportive parents and good local resources. The reality is that over 70 percent of people with developmental disabilities never move from their family home. This challenge is particularly acute in lower income communities or communities of color.

Addressing this critical housing need for adults with disabilities can, and must, be done through inclusion in design, funding, policies and culture. The Kelsey creates and advocates for housing where people with and without disabilities live, play, and serve together. With a $5.3 million investment from Google, we're building our first community—The Kelsey Ayer Station—in San Jose, California.

The Kelsey Ayer Station will provide 115 homes to people of all abilities and all incomes. Our rent prices accommodate people with a range of incomes and 25 percent of the community is specifically reserved for people with disabilities. Developed in partnership with Sares Regis Group of Northern California, the entire space (including each unit) is designed to be accessible and inclusive to everyone. The site includes on-site features like a drop-off for accessible transit, sensory garden, and space for support staff. The building will have an Inclusion Concierge™, which means that two staff members will live in the community full time and connect residents to each other, the services and support they need, and the broader city around them. It will be a community where everyone—regardless of background, disability, identity, gender, age and race—can feel at home.

Google’s investment is part of its broader commitment to Bay Area housing. With it, we no longer have to worry about critical pre-development costs like purchasing and entitling our land and completing initial design work. At the same time, Google’s financing will help us focus on securing permanent financing and philanthropic support to complete the project. Google’s investment allows us to stick to our ambitious pace: residents will move into the space in four years, a timeline rarely seen in the housing industry. 

Less than 12 percent of adults with developmental disabilities own or rent their own home. But what people with disabilities want in housing isn’t particularly special or different. People want a place where they have privacy and independence, but also community where they feel safe without being constrained. People want a home they are proud of and can thrive in. Most importantly, housing for people with disabilities isn’t a problem to be solved “for them”—it’s an opportunity to create better designed, higher-quality, more connected communities for everyone.

The Kelsey Ayer Station will demonstrate what’s possible when people, funding, and cities come together with a shared commitment to inclusion. With help from companies like Google and cities like San Jose we’re well on our way and we’re confident that their support will attract others to step up to make inclusive community a reality. 


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The courage to change: sharing resources for recovery

I didn't know what recovery meant until a friend asked me if I was still "in recovery." Confused, I responded, “Yes, I’m still not drinking, if that's what you mean.” I know now what I didn’t know then: Recovery means life after substance abuse. It means having a clear mind and a healthy body. It means having the foresight to say no to alcohol. It means having the mental clarity to thrive at work and the desire to live a fuller, happier, complete life. 

As someone who has struggled with addiction and embarked on a journey toward recovery, I am so proud that Google is marking National Recovery Month with a new site, Recover Together. I participate in a recovery group at Google and know how important it is for this community to be connected. As part of Google’s ongoing efforts to combat the opioid crisis, today we’re taking an additional step to support those in recovery.

Too many of us have experienced firsthand the devastating impact of addiction—with our friends, colleagues, family members and loved ones. From the first time I filled my water bottle with alcohol and brought it to school at only 14 years old, to the many times I blacked out and woke up in the back seat of my car in surprising locations, I know how deeply addiction affected my life and worried my family.

More than 21 million Americans struggle with substance use. But it is treatable: An estimated 1 out of 14 American adults is in recovery. In fact, people come to Google every day to seek information on addiction treatment, prevention and recovery. Just last month, we saw an all-time high in search interest for “rehab near me,” “addiction treatment near me” and “how to help an addict.”

Top searched questions on addiction

Starting today, you can come to Google to find recovery resources all in one place, beginning with a video series from those in recovery. I felt less alone when hearing others share their stories, and I am grateful to be able to do the same here.

Shawna tells her story in a YouTube video.
Recovery locator tool

Our new Recovery Locator Tool in Maps. 

We’re also launching two new Google Maps locator tools that will connect people with crucial recovery resources, including: 

  • Recovery Locator Tool: A map with locations of more than 83,000 recovery support meetings such as AA, NA, Al-Anon and SmartRecovery, and other services such as school-based and family support. These take place at more than 33,000 community centers, churches, and other spaces—put in your address and you’ll see many recovery services are in your area or wherever you’re traveling.

  • Naloxone Locator Tool: A special locator tool will show you locations where you can get Naloxone, the life-saving opioid overdose-reversal drug, without a prescription. All you have to do is type “Naloxone near me” or “Narcan near me” into the search bar in the tool. It already includes 20,000 pharmacies (including CVS, Rite-Aid and Walgreens) in 50 states, and we’ll continue to add local clinics and independent pharmacies. The site will also have more information about the availability and life-saving capability of this medication. Soon, these locations will also be searchable directly in Google Maps.

Finding recovery is a personal journey, and I am so grateful to work for a company that is making resources available to those who need them. In addition to these new tools, the site points to many other resources for those seeking treatment, including a self-assessment screener from the National Institute of Drug Abuse and state-specific Helpline resources and hotlines. 

To anyone at the beginning stages of recovery: This process is hard and tiring and challenging and you do not need to figure this all out alone. From the moment I first connected to the Employee Assistance Program counselor at Google who helped me confront the reality of my addiction, my life has changed in ways that at one time seemed unimaginable. I teach yoga. I run marathons. My life has been enriched by others in the recovery community. My sorrow has been replaced with a joy I never thought possible. And today, my hope is that anyone seeking recovery can find the same help and resources through Google I wanted so many years ago. Recovery is difficult, and it is so much better when we’re all in it together.

Breaking ground in Nevada

I’m a fourth generation Nevadan on both sides of my family. Even though Google is headquartered in California, my work has brought me back to my home state of Nevada far more than I expected. And recently we’ve been getting to know Nevadans in all corners of the state. Last year, I had the chance to kick off Grow with Google in Reno where we held in-person digital skills trainings for hundreds of Nevadans. And last week, our team returned to host more workshops in East Las Vegas and Carson City. Today, I’m back home in Nevada once more to break ground on our newest data center and Google Cloud region. 

Google is growing at a faster rate outside of the Bay Area than in it—and earlier this year, our CEO Sundar Pichai announced that Google will invest $13 billion to expand data centers and offices across the United States. Recently, we released plans for expansions in two new offices in Michigan, our data centers in Oklahoma and Texas, and now one in Henderson, Nevada. The new data center facility is a $600 million dollar investment, and will create a number of new jobs in the state. Together with our new cloud region, we’re investing to better support our users and our Cloud customers in Nevada.

Data centers power your searches, store your photos, documents and emails, and help you find the fastest route to your destination. They play a vital role in our global operations—and the communities they’re a part of. And it’s our responsibility to be a helpful presence in those communities by creating opportunities for our neighbors to succeed. In addition to the data center groundbreaking, we’re kicking off a $1 million Google.org Impact Challenge in Nevada. Nonprofits from any part of Nevada can submit their biggest and boldest ideas to create economic opportunities for their communities. A panel of judges will select the top five submissions from local nonprofits, who will each be awarded $175,000 to make their idea a reality. From there, the public will vote to select one of the five to be the “People’s Choice” winner and receive an additional $125,000. 

Nevada holds a special place in my heart, and I’m proud to bring the Google.org Impact Challenge to my home state. As we break ground on our newest data center, we’re not only investing in a facility in Nevada, we are investing in Nevadans in all corners of the state. 

$1 billion for 20,000 Bay Area homes

As we work to build a more helpful Google, we know our responsibility to help starts at home. For us, that means being a good neighbor in the place where it all began over 20 years ago: the San Francisco Bay Area.

Today, Google is one of the Bay Area’s largest employers. Across the region, one issue stands out as particularly urgent and complex: housing. The lack of new supply, combined with the rising cost of living, has resulted in a severe shortage of affordable housing options for long-time middle and low income residents. As Google grows throughout the Bay Area—whether it’s in our home town of Mountain View, in San Francisco, or in our future developments in San Jose and Sunnyvale—we’ve invested in developing housing that meets the needs of these communities. But there’s more to do.

Today we’re announcing an additional $1 billion investment in housing across the Bay Area.

First, over the next 10 years, we’ll repurpose at least $750 million of Google’s land, most of which is currently zoned for office or commercial space, as residential housing. This will enable us to support the development of at least 15,000 new homes at all income levels in the Bay Area, including housing options for middle and low-income families. (By way of comparison, 3,000 total homes were built in the South Bay in 2018). We hope this plays a role in addressing the chronic shortage of affordable housing options for long-time middle and low income residents.

Second, we’ll establish a $250 million investment fund so that we can provide incentives to enable developers to build at least 5,000 affordable housing units across the market.

In addition to the increased supply of affordable housing these investments will help create, we will give $50 million in grants through Google.org to nonprofits focused on the issues of homelessness and displacement. This builds on the $18 million in grants we’ve given to help address homelessness over the last five years, including $3 million we gave to the newly openedSF Navigation Center and $1.5 million toaffordable housing for low income veterans and households in Mountain View.

In the coming months, we’ll continue to work with local municipalities to support plans that allow residential developers to build quickly and economically. Our goal is to get housing construction started immediately, and for homes to be available in the next few years. In Mountain View, we’ve already worked with the city to change zoning in the North Bayshore area to free up land for housing, and we’re currently in productive conversations with Sunnyvale and San Jose.

Of course, affordable and quality housing is only one way we’re investing in Bay Area communities. We’re also fundingcommunity spaces that provide free access to co-working areas for nonprofits, improving transit options forthe community and our employees (taking 9,000 cars off the road per day), and supporting programs forcareer development,education andlocal businesses.

Across all of this, our goal is to help communities succeed over the long term, and make sure that everyone has access to opportunity, whether or not they work in tech. Solving a big issue like the housing shortage will take collaboration across business, government and community organizations, and we look forward to working alongside others to make the Bay Area a place where everyone who lives here can thrive.