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Peter Martin: Google does something really good.
- gregable 16y agoSeems to work for other similar queries. I tried the first that popped into my head: [kill myself]. Pretty good idea.
- kunjaan 16y agoI tried "I want to kill myself" and I still got a suicide prevention link. Pretty good.
- semanticist 16y agoShows the number for the Samaritans on google.co.uk, but nothing for me on google.com. Google.co.nz has a helpline, but google.ca doesn't. I wonder who decides which countries to roll this sort of thing out to? Is it done by someone who just looks up certain countries helpline numbers first, or do they roll it out based on which countries are searching heavily on key terms? Google have a ton of hard data on how people live - and die - and they could use it to really optimise how society helps people in times of vulnerability and need.
- dangrossman 16y agoOn google.com from the US, I see "Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline".
- spicyj 16y agoMe too, but it's under an ad and links to two news stories with a photo. http://cl.ly/3Ekm http://cl.ly/3Ekm
- archgoon 16y agoBut before the wikipedia link on methods. All in all, I think it's reasonable mix between people searching for information on recent suicides and helping those who need it.
- stagas 16y agoAlso, the top two before the help line draw attention and are also discouraging.
- jeffreyg 16y agothat's interesting.. I'm in the US and the phone number is above all links, and there are no ads.
- ma2rten 16y agoSome for me, I am in holland and I get it when I search on google.nl for suicide either in English or Dutch, but not when I search on google.com.
- litewulf 16y agoPerhaps not all countries have equivalent suicide hotlines, and thus they would not get such a notice? Its really interesting how I feel really good about this use of data, but feel much more uncomfortable with (for example) using location data to tell me where to go to get pizza.
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- PostOnce 16y agoIs this new to google.com.au? This has been on Google.com for years, hasn't it?
- jlees 16y agoYes. Google just rolled this out to multiple countries. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/helping-you-find-emergency-information.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/helping-you-find-emer...
- candre717 16y agoI'm glad I read this. Google's been on these threads a lot, because of employees leaving it, demonstrating stunted innovation, etc. etc. But, ultimately, Google still does a world of good through the choices and products it makes.
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- fharper1961 16y agoI'm in Switzerland. According to SERPs there doesn't seem to be a suicide hot-line here, so the search doesn't get any special treatment on google.ch, nor on google.com. I tried English/French (it's the same word) and also German, but still no go.
- jonhendry 16y agoDoes an ad for Dignitas come up?
- klocksib 16y agoThat's cool and all, but I don't think folks who commit suicide generally Google it before hand.
- snprbob86 16y agoThe overwhelming majority of people at risk for suicide broadcast many warning signs. Often, they are subtle, but more often, they represent a loud cry for help for an ultimately preventable situation. Very few people commit suicide on a whim. I'd bet my life's savings that enough suicidal people search for the word "suicide" that this showed up in metrics. Having worked at Google, I could take a guess at how these help numbers came to be a feature. Some search engineers were probably analyzing a question along the lines of "What pattern of searches result in unhappy users that don't come back?"
- dtby 16y agoI'd bet my life's savings that enough suicidal people search for the word "suicide" that this showed up in metrics. If you'd like to make a quantifiable prediction, I'd almost certainly be willing to book the other side.
- studer 16y agoIt resulted in a 9% increase of the "calls to hotline" metric, so you can just go ahead and pay him: > In April we began prominently displaying the number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at the top of the results page for certain search queries in the U.S. Since then, our friends at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline have reported a 9 percent increase in legitimate calls to its hotline. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/helping-you-find-emergency-information.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/helping-you-find-emer...
- norova 16y agoMy uncle took his own life two years ago, and part of his "cry for help" period was him using Google to research suicide. After looking through his internet history, we found it was on more than just one occasion. I'd be willing to bet that many, many people do the same thing.
- dennisgorelik 16y agoAfter first [and second] look at the screenshot I did NOT notice that suicide-line phone number. It's probably because usually there are ads there.
- aw3c2 16y agoBlogspam. The essence of a screenshot and 4 sentences is "if you google for 'suicide', Google will show a helpline telephone number".
- jacques_chester 16y agoPeter Martin is a respected Australian economics writer based in the national capital. I'd be amazed if he's heard of HN. Which makes it hard for him to be in the HN-linkbaiting business.
- gurraman 16y agoThey haven't gotten around to adding this feature for Swedish searches -- the first hit is the Swedish suicide guide (talks about mental preparation, choosing a location, how to find the courage, practical details etc). Made me feel ill at ease.
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- studer 16y agoIt's being rolled out in Sweden: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/helping-you-find-emergency-information.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/helping-you-find-emer...
- tomjen3 16y agoI tried the danish word for suicide, and it suggested suicide methods. Not even google likes Danes.
- varjag 16y agoOdd, I tried "selvmord" here in Norway, and it gives Trenger du hjelp i Norge, ringer du 116 123 Mental Helse Must be really a thing against Danes ;)
- mdda 16y agoThere must be some geolocation going on - the Japanese Google.com and Google.co.jp are not giving out hotline #s from NYC. Is there someone in Japan who could test this? Of course, it makes sense, since the hotline numbers would probably not work outside the country.