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A Google Web Search Help thread has one searcher offering an outstanding idea! Why not place Amber Alerts on the Google home page when possible?
If you do not know what an Amber Alert is, it is a broadcast message shown on highways and other areas where a child was known to have been recently abducted. The message normally contains identifiable information about how to find the child, either by showing the car type the kid was seen in or other characteristics. It is typically only shown in areas that are within reach of where the child was abducted.
Since Google is pretty good at geo-detection, why shouldn't Google use the Amber Alert XML Schema to pull from and then display these alerts to people within a certain distance of the alert and within a certain time frame?
We know that Amber Alerts have helped 532 children return back to their homes. Google is one of the biggest and most seen home pages out there. If Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL and others adopted this, it would likely have nice success.
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
Comments:
Stockbridge Truslow
03/16/2011 01:34 pm
Cool idea - I wonder though how many people actually see the google homepage, nowadays though. An avid Google user is going to have their iGoogle page as the default. Browsers on a new computer tend to default to a co-branded google search page like this: http://www.google.com/ig/dell I do think it is an excellent idea, but for it to really do any good, I suspect they would need some sort of mouseover tip or something that can also appear on the "mini-google" interface.
Holdencaulfield
03/17/2011 01:04 am
Turn up that fear... it's bad enough these things are all over the highways. Amber Alerts get overused and the cost is a more paranoid, afraid society. Let the police do their work as they've always done it. Your kids and your family are safe.
Matt Kayne
03/17/2011 05:42 pm
Truely a great idea, but as humanitarian as it is, I think it would start an epidemic of organizations (fire danger level, terrorist threat levels, etc) that are similar to amber alerts to reach out to Google and other sources, which would just clutter the page... Amber alerts seem to be very well reputed and proven though. How about a button in the top navigation area that says "NEW Amber Alert" and users can click through to the alert alert site.
Zephyr9673
07/14/2011 12:28 pm
It would be good if there were a google map of all missing persons, globally.