Covid-19 pandemic: How Google is keeping up with India’s changing search queries

Search for hyperlocal news, queries around vaccines and the myths related to them, hunt for vaccination centres, and increasing queries for ‘black fungus’ or mucormycosis are just some of the trends that Google has seen with the Covid-19 pandemic and the second wave that recently hit India.

“Last year, a lot of the information that users were looking for was about the disease and how one contracts it. But obviously, the needs have increased manifold this year as the second wave struck,” Anal Ghosh, Senior Program Manager, Google Maps (South Asia) told indianexpress.com over a call.

One interesting feature that Google launched during the second wave in May was a pilot to show real-time availability of hospital beds and oxygen needs on its Maps product.