Google Philippines, along with various local media outlets, collaborated to bring Filipino voters a one-stop online hub for local elections-related news and information.
Google.com.ph/elections curates stories from broadcast networks such as ABS-CBN, GMA, PTV, and SOLARtv, as well as online news portal Rappler, Philstar.com, Inquirer.net, and Interaksyon.com so Filipino voters local and abroad can stay updated about the coming polls.
The Election page also hosts up-to-date broadcast coverage and live-streamed debates from the networks’ YouTube channels. Elections-related incidents provided by the online news collaborators are also plotted on Google Maps embedded on the page to inform the public about events taking place in different parts of the country. This will help election watchers focus on hotspots and monitor how events are unfolding in these areas.
“œThrough the different components we included on the page, Filipinos can discuss issues with the candidates, or exchange views with reporters or other citizens on Google+ Hangouts. There’s a lot of information on it, from political party backgrounds to list of candidates, so there’s less reason for voters not to be updated with the daily grind of the election season,” said Ryan Morales, Google Philippines Head of Marketing.
Another key component of the page is the Precinct Finder, which makes voting centers easy to find based on city, region and the voter’s precinct number. Precinct locations are currently being plotted on Google Maps by volunteers and will be available on the page before May 13, 2013.
The Philippine Elections page is the first online initiative to bring together multimedia content from the country’s large media outfits. This collaboration between the networks and Google aims to encourage people to be more participative and critical of what candidates aspire for the nation. It also allows voters to have a deeper understanding of politics and governance through engagement with the candidates.
Google created its first elections page five years ago when its engineers noticed a huge increase in search traffic around the election period in the United States. Today, 16 countries including Malaysia, Thailand, and now, the Philippines, have elections pages that aid voters in their decisions before elections are due.
The Google Philippines Elections Page can be accessed at google.com.ph/elections.