Tag Archives: Google in the Middle East

Unravel the symbols of ancient Egypt

Today marks the anniversary of the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, the tool that first unlocked the mystery of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Ancient Egyptians used this writing system more than 4000 years ago to record their stories, but only a select group knew how to read and write them. 

But today, thanks to the new Google Arts & Culture tool Fabricius, anyone can interactively discover this fascinating language by means of three dedicated gateways: First, you can “Learn” about the language of ancient Egypt by following a short educational introduction in six easy steps. Secondly, Fabricius invites you to “Play” and translate your own words and messages into hieroglyphics ready to be shared with your friends and family.

And while Fabricius is your doorway to learn about and write in hieroglyphs, it thirdly offers new avenues for academic research, too. So far, experts had to dig manually through books upon books to translate and decipher the ancient language--a process that has remained virtually unchanged for over a century. Fabricius includes the first digital tool - that is also being released as open source to support further developments in the study of ancient languages - that decodes Egyptian hieroglyphs built on machine learning. Specifically, Google Cloud's AutoMLtechnology, AutoML Vision, was used to create a machine learning model that is able to make sense of what a hieroglyph is. In the past you would need a team of Data Scientists, a lot of code, and plenty of time, now AutoML Vision allows developers to easily train a machine to recognize all kinds of objects.

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    The famous King Tutankhamun discovered in the early 20th century by Howard Carter.

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    Colorful hieroglyphs found on the decorated coffin of Djedhoriufankh from 1000-900 BC on display at the British Museum.

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    The Rosetta Stone is an important key to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs because the same inscription is written in three languages: hieroglyphs, Egyptian demotic script, and Greek.

Available in English and Arabic, Fabricius is named after the father of epigraphy, the study of ancient inscriptions. We created it in collaboration with the Australian Center for Egyptology at Macquarie University, Psycle Interactive, Ubisoft and Egyptologists from around the globe. 

You can also explore more stories about the wonders of ancient Egypt, including the famous King Tutankhamun, the Pyramids of Giza and the Book of the Dead. And if you’re a teacher using Google Classroom, we’ve created resources on ancient Egypt for you to use, too.

Explore more stories about ancient Egypt by downloading the free Google Arts & Culture app, or visit the Google Arts & Culture website.

Free tools and training to help with economic recovery in Europe, the Middle East and Africa

Through lockdown, many of us found that online tools have been a real lifeline. We’ve used them to find information and stay connected with our communities, support local businesses, teach our children and learn new skills ourselves. The same tools will be vital in helping countries recover more quickly and more sustainably. 

That’s why Google is making a new pledge to help 10 million people and businesses in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) find jobs, digitize and grow over the next 18 months.

Helping people learn new skills and find new jobs

Long before the coronavirus, it was clear the jobs of the future would require a new set of digital skills, so we launched Grow with Google to help people learn new skills. We were blown away by the demand, and by what people went on to achieve, and in five years we’ve trained over 14 million people in EMEA and 70 million around the world.

We’ve seen a tripling of demand for this training during lockdown. To help even more families, communities and businesses recover faster, we’re investing in new, targeted programs. For example, we will be covering the costs for 100,000 people to take the Google IT Support Professional Certificatewhich prepares people for a career in IT. Fifty thousand of these places are reserved for under-served groups who otherwise face real barriers to learning (such as language, caring responsibilities or financial difficulty). Google.org will fund local nonprofits to provide the tailored support these people require to successfully complete the course.

To help people find new job opportunities, we’ll launch our job search tool in more countries in EMEA. We are testing new features for the recovery—such as helping you find jobs that let you work from home. Job search is built in partnership with job boards, local employment agencies and others, like Pôle Emploi in France, Bayt.com in the Middle East and Monster.de in Germany, and it also helps them by finding job seekers with the right skills faster.

We’ve learned over the last five years that we need to do more to reach those whose existing jobs are most at risk of disruption by new technology. Two years ago, we allocated 100m in Google.org grants, to be disbursed over five years to organisations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa that focus on digital skills and economic opportunity. Today, we're announcing that $15m of that funding will go to non-profits that help workers and small business owners who are technologically, financially or socially excluded with critical digital skills and access to jobs.

Grow with Google

Helping local businesses get online and find more customers

As we come out of lockdown, and consumer spending picks up, we’re upgrading our tools  to help more local businesses find and connect with customers quickly. Through Google my Business, it’s easier for businesses to share their latest opening hours and information across Google Search and Maps. They can also shift quickly to new services and business models, such as pick-up, delivery and online classes and appointments. 


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We are also investing in new programs to help industries hardest hit by the pandemic, including retail and travel. 

For retail businesses, online demand has grown exponentially, so they need to provide a great customer experience to be competitive. The improved version of Grow My Store helps local businesses improve digital shopping, grow customer traffic and optimize online stores. Reaching new audiences by exporting abroad should be an easy option for every business regardless of size. 

Our Market Finder tool now provides export marketing and logistics help in light of COVID-19. To help retailers understand changes in demand, we’re releasing a new interactive tool that shares insights on fast-rising retail categories in Google Search, where in the world searches are growing, and the queries associated with them.

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For the travel industry, we’re partnering with experts like the UN World Tourism Organisation to launch training to help tourism officials across Europe, the Middle East and Africa understand and use the range of digital tools to attract travellers. This builds on our efforts to support tourism businesses across the region to help them grow with digital tools, get access to training and digitize heritage. 

Helping businesses work more efficiently and think differently

The crisis has accelerated trends that we’d expected to see over a longer period of time, like the use of AI and automation to help grow sales, reduce costs, and make better decisions. Research suggests that the European companies using AI most extensively are likely to grow three times faster than the average firm over the next 15 years, adding €2.7 trillion, or 19 percent, to European output by 2030.

To make this accessible for every business, we’re launching our AI for business tool to small and medium businesses in Europe. The tool, in English, with more languages to follow this year, provides businesses with a personalised report recommending the most relevant applications of AI and the potential benefits, along with practical suggestions on how to get started. This is part of our commitment to build trust in AI through responsible innovation and thoughtful regulation, so that European citizens can safely enjoy the full social and economic benefits of AI. 

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Financial support for local businesses

A digital transition cannot rely on technology alone: businesses need financial resources as well. That’s why we announced grants and ad credits for local businesses a few weeks ago. And we’ve recently launched the ability for businesses in 19 European countries to add support links on Google My Business to give their communities the option to support them with donations and gift cards. We have also added several new partners to enable gift cards, including SumUp, LaFourchette, OptioPay, Rise.ai, and Atento. 

We remain fundamentally optimistic about the future, and about the role technology can play, and we’re working with governments to help people, businesses and communities. Online tools, which have been a lifeline for many of us in lockdown, are now helping people find jobs and learn in-demand skills. If we work together, technology can be a lifeline for everyone as Europe, the Middle East and Africa look ahead to a sustainable recovery for everyone.

To find out more about these tools and programs, visit g.co/grow.

On World Art Day, try out this activity for the whole family

We could all use a little inspiration these days. For World Art Day Google Arts & Culture is launching Family Fun with Arts & Culture, a new collection to bring your family new ways to learn about art, animals, science, space, books and music. You can discover what's inside a black hole, hang out with a Jurassic giant in virtual reality in virtual reality, or even practice some Harry Potter magic. And for our little ones, why not follow a pesky penguin through virtual tours of museum galleries?

There’s a penguin loose at the Rijksmuseum!

There’s a penguin loose at the Rijksmuseum! (Shout out to the Shedd Aquarium's real life penguin explorers!)

Thanks to the help of our partners, we’re also making new treasures and stories accessible on Google Arts & Culture. 35 cultural institutions including the Atassi Foundation (UAE), Museum of Contemporary Art in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Palazzo Monti(Italy), the Yale Center for British Art (USA) have brought online more than 100 diverse online exhibitions with over 18,000 new artworks, artifacts and stories. The Nakamura Keith Haring Collection in Japan is the only museum in the world to exclusively feature the artworks of Keith Haring. Explore over 50 of his pieces of art—including the bright yellow angel spreading its great wings—digitized in ultra high definition.

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    One of Keith Haring’s signature characters, "The Angel". Explore it in finest detail thanks to the Art Camera.

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    "Kiyoharu Art Colony" is a safe haven for artists to awaken their  artistic spirit and share their creativity with the world. Explore it on Street View. 

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    Explore the works of iconic women artists of the Palazzo Monti.

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    Bangkok Art and Culture Centre contributes an exhibit about the prospects of Art Therapy.

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    Go on an in-painting tour of Gustav Klimt’s colorful masterpiece, “Portrait of Friedericke Maria Beer” at Tel Aviv Museum of Art.

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    Museo Dolores Olmedo shares how this famous Mexican muralist copied other artistic styles before finding his own.

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    Ciputra Artpreneur shares a story of passion, intimacy, and heartbreak in this colorful in-painting tour.

If you’re looking for more, check out this list of ways to have fun with Arts and Culture at home, and for more armchair cultural travel, explore the wonders of Italy, France, Spain and the UK. 

Keep discovering on Google Arts & Culture, or download our free app for iOS or Android.

Funding 21 news projects in the Middle East, Africa and Turkey

Finding new and meaningful ways to engage readers is a hot topic for news organizations of any size, and the first Google News Initiative (GNI) Innovation Challenge for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa prompted a myriad of different approaches. The GNI Innovation Challenges,  part of Google’s $300 million commitment to help journalism thrive in the digital age, saw news innovators step forward with new thinking. In South Africa, Daily Maverick proposed a “relevancy engine” that would aggregate data feeds about reader behavior for small and medium publishers. In Jordan, podcast startup Sowt looked to tackle the challenge with a new hosting platform for news podcasts.


We launched the Middle East, Turkey and Africa Innovation Challenge last June, and received 527 applications from 35 countries. After a rigorous review, a round of interviews and a final jury selection process, we selected 21 projects from 13 countries to receive $1.93 million in funding.


The call for applications listed four criteria: impact, feasibility, innovation and inspiration, and the successful projects clearly demonstrated all four. Here are just a few of the awardees (you can find the full list on our website):


  • Demirören Teknoloji Anonim Şirketi in Turkey wants to solve the tagging process for the Turkish language to help with the news discovery distribution process. Currently this work requires cumbersome manual work from their journalists, taking a precious share of their time. 

  • Daily news publisher Israel Hayom will be creating a loyalty scheme where online users get real-life rewards in the form of tickets or money-saving offers. 

  • Nas News wants to engage Iraq’s citizens in video debates for positive change with a mobile-first social and news platform that allows users to read and debate on local and national topics.

  • L'Orient le Jour in Lebanon wants to build a new loyalty plan to offer special and personalized privileges to subscribers via an interactive platform.

  • The National in the UAE will develop a service that converts quality text news into audio in real time, in both English and Arabic.

  • Ringier Africa Digital Publishing in Nigeria will be increasing personalization across their platform using a blend of prediction, recommendation and local information pages to increase user engagement.

A second round of theMiddle East, Turkey and Africa Innovation Challenge will open for applications later in the year: Watch for details on our website.

Making our products more helpful in Arabic

Today, we’re announcing new products in the Middle East and North Africa, a region connected by a common language, Arabic. The Arabic language, beautiful yet complex, is written from right-to-left, has a range of dialects, and one word can mean many different things depending on the context. For our products to be helpful, they need to understand the nuances of the language. 

Visual Search in Arabic

Cinema, music and sports are three of the things people search for the most in Arabic. We’re now showing answers to popular questions in a simple box, so that you can get information faster. For example, if you’re looking to watch a movie, you will find in one box all the movie theaters on the map, the list of movies being aired, showtimes and sometimes a link to book your ticket. Similarly, if you’re searching for Mo Salah, the Egyption football star, you will see his biography, his past goals with Liverpool and the Egyptian National team, and also videos of games and tournaments he played in. 

Celebrities are another topic that people search for a lot. So we’re launching Cameos, a feature on Google Search where celebrities can post videos on the Search homepage answering popular questions about them. For example, if you search for Egyptian actress Yosra El Lozy, you can scroll through videos where she answers many questions like what is a cause she cares about and what is the best advice she got as an actress.   

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Cameo feature on Search in Arabic

Google Assistant: “Okay Google, speak to me in Arabic.”

Talking to your phone to get information from Google or to get things done is becoming more popular. In Arabic too, people use it to navigate traffic, search the web, or play music. Earlier this year, we launched the Assistant in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and people have been asking it to make calls, sing lullabies for children and listen to music (“Okay Google, play Fayruz” is one of the most popular commands.) 

Today, the Assistant will be available in an additional 15 countries in the region—United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Iraq, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine and Mauritania.

Google Maps: navigate the world, get things done, and stay safe

Whether you’re driving or a passenger, everyone wants to feel safe on the road. We’re introducing a feature that gives you an “off-route alert” when your driver has deviated from the suggested route by more than 500 meters. You can also choose to share your live trip with friends and family directly from that screen so they know where you are.

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Stay Safer feature on Maps

Helping motorcyclists get through traffic with Google Maps in Egypt

There are more than four million motorbikes in Egypt and the heavy Cairo traffic can affect their journey times. Motorcycle mode on Maps helps motorcyclists avoid congestion on Egypt’s busiest highways by following shortcuts and local roads and have an accurate expected arrival time. This feature is coming next to Algeria and Tunisia, and more countries soon. 

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Image of motorcycle mode on Maps in Egypt

Investing in digital skills: Unlocking opportunities for young Arabs 


By next year, one in five jobs in the Arab world will require digital skills. In 2018, we launched our Arabic digital skills program, “Maharat min Google,” which has reached more than 500,000 young people, women and underprivileged students. 130,000 of those were able to find jobs, grow their careers and their businesses. We want to continue that effort. So today, Google.org is giving a $ 1 million grant to Injaz, an NGO that specializes in youth training, to scale their digital skills program to reach a further 100,000 people in 2020.

Every day, people in the Middle East and North Africa turn to Google for help. We hope that the products and updates we're announcing today will make Google even more helpful for finding things out and getting things done. And we’re excited to play our part in unlocking this region’s digital opportunity.