In the middle of the week, the American company announced its new functionality in Google Maps. Owners of LGBTQ+ companies. It is currently only available to companies located on American soil. Additionally, this tag can only be used by businesses whose profile has been verified by Google.
It is worth noting that there are already several similar tags on the platform. In addition to the traffic status visible on your screen, Google also allows you to view numerous organization ID tags. These are labels dedicated mainly to companies owned by people, women, and even veterans from Latin America. It is the responsibility of product owners to add these tags to their profiles. They will then appear on the platforms of LGBTQ+-owned companies and even in Google Maps search results.
Google Maps rolls out label for LGBTQ+ business owners
Tags are added only by the owner, not by Google or community members. But there are still gray areas, as the search engine doesn’t have a system to verify whether the company is actually an LGBTQ+ organization. The only certainty at this stage is that Google will be able to indicate whether it was the company that added the tag.
Through this tag, Google wants to help people searching. Companies that support the LGBTQ+ cause. Some of the tags business owners can add to results on Google Maps include LGBT communities: “LGBTQ friendly,” “Transgender safe space,” and “Gender-neutral restroom.”
To justify this new initiative, Google issued a press release through its head of product inclusion and marketing. Mackenzie Thomas “This builds on our previous work on globally available LGBTQ+ and transgender safe space features and provides a more objective feature that only businesses can add to their profiles.”
Although this hashtag is praised by many, it also receives a lot of criticism. Many users do not trust Google and some are already afraid Companies defined by homophobic people. But Google seems to have thought of everything and reassures by stating: “You can report any negative or abusive comments you believe you have received by stating that your business is owned by an individual with the identity of your choice.”
“Google will investigate each report and attempt to take appropriate action.” Can we read the press release, unsure whether these words are enough to reassure some LGBTQ+ members who prefer to operate anonymously?
Source : Google
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