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Google.ie users searching for 'suicide' will now be shown a phone number for Samaritans before the formal results.
Mental Health
Google 'signpost' will direct suicide searchers to Samaritans
Users searching for ‘suicide’ on Google.ie will be shown the phone number for Samaritans before any search results.
GOOGLE AND SAMARITANS have unveiled a new ‘signpost’ which will direct web users searching for information on suicide to the latter’s helpline phone number.
From this morning, users on Google.ie who enter ‘suicide’ in the search box will be shown a prominent red phone and the Samaritans’ phone number ahead of any bona fide search results.
The rollout of the ‘signpost’ in Ireland follows a similar arrangement in the UK launched late last year.
Suzanne Costello of Samaritans Ireland said the new initiative was a “really important development for vulnerable people inIreland. We welcome Google’s decision to extend the service to include Ireland.”
Google’s John Herlihy said the search giant hoped the move would help in guiding vulnerable, distressed or suicidal people to the appropriate support services.
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