Now USGS alerts are included in Google's public alerts.
--- original post Nov 1, 2012 ----
These new alerts may have slipped by since so many people are dealing with the impact of Hurricane/Storm Sandy. The word is that Google planned to launch the Public Alerts for weather related emergencies later in the year, but did so this week around the pending storm.
The alerts show up in response to searches on Google.com and Google Maps, and appear unprompted on the cellphones of people with the latest version of Android, through Google Now.
And, for now they are from govrnment agencies. In the future other services will contribute alerts includeing Nixle. The public alerts launched Monday night.
On Wednesday, Halloween, Google announced Ambert Alerts, those for missing children, would also be pushed out.
Amber alerts, which are coordinated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, will provide data about new cases through Google's Public Alerts platform.
- Google Blog via NYTimes (Public Alerts)
- Google Blog via C|net (Amber Alerts)
