Google Roundup: 3 Important Google Headlines From The Past Week

In recent Google news, an 11-year-old's Doodle envisions a transformative way to purify water, Google Now helps commuters stay on track with their trips, and search engines may soon let users know when results have been censored. Here’s a roundup of the notable Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) news that hit this past week.

11-year-old creates June 9 Google Doodle

Monday’s Google Doodle is inspired by making the world a better place and was created by 11-year old Audrey Zhang of New York, the winner of Google’s Doodle 4 Google competition. The theme of this year’s competition was an invention to make the world a better place. Zhang beat out over 100,000 submissions from children grades kindergarten through 12 with her Doodle, “Back to Mother Nature,” of a machine that purifies water.

“To make the world a better place, I invented a transformative water purifier. It takes in dirty and polluted water from rivers, lakes and even oceans, then massively transforms the water into clean, safe and sanitary water. When humans and animals drink this water, they will live a healthier life,” Audrey said of her Doodle. She also aided Google artists in animating the drawing for Monday’s Doodle.

Zhang has won a $30,000 college scholarship for herself and a $50,000 Google for Education technology grant for her school. Additionally, Google has donated $20,000 to the nonprofit organization Charity: Water, which provides clean water to schools in Bangladesh.

Zhang’s Doodle is visible throughout Monday in the United States.

Google Now Alarm Helps Users Keep On Travel Schedule

Many a commuter has experienced falling asleep or simply not being alert while on public transportation and missing -- or nearly missing -- his or her stop. Google’s answer for this predicament is a new feature on Google Now, which allows users to set an alarm of sorts to alert them when they have approached their stop. Users need only pull up Google Now and tap the alarm to activate it. The feature also allows users to track their trip and now their current location, how much longer their trip will last and how many stops they have left. Since the alarm is a part of Google Now, it will not interfere with users’ standard alarms, which are set in the clock app.

Ruling May Require Google To Alert Users of Censored Results

Google may soon begin adding notes that certain results in its search have been removed, following the “Right to Be Forgotten” ruling set last month in the European Union. The ruling requires Google to remove link results with embarrassing information from its search at an individual’s request. According to the Guardian, Google has received over 41,000 “right to be forgotten” requests since the May 13 ruling, with many having to do with child pornography, violent crime and fraud or scams. While many countries in the EU are on board with the ruling, others note that removing search results that may be embarrassing to some may not be in the best interest of people who require the missing information.

“Let’s be clear: Any ‘right to be forgotten’ is also, at least in part, a ‘right to make others forget,’” Electronic Frontier Foundation activist Parker Higgins tweeted on May 13.

Google’s move may be an answer to this concern, though the Mountain View, California, company has not yet commented on its plans.

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