Google currently processes 1.2 trillion search queries every year, and needless to say a portion of those queries are being done by a demographic that Google has yet to cater to – the 12 and under crowd. Let’s face it – children are already using Google in school – be it to watch educational Youtube videos, email their HW over to their professor, or do research for their upcoming project.
With that said allow me to introduce Pavni Diwanji, VP of engineering at Google, who is being tasked with leading Google’s upcoming initiative to make their suite of products, from Gmail to YouTube, more kid friendly.
“The big motivator inside the company is everyone is having kids, so there’s a push to change our products to be fun and safe for children,” Diwanji, who is a mom to daughters aged eight and 13, told USA Today earlier this week. Currently Google is working on the project full-time we’re told – alas no expected launch date has been announced yet.
“We want to be thoughtful about what we do, giving parents the right tools to oversee their kids’ use of our products,” Diwanji said. “We want kids to be safe, but ultimately it’s about helping them be more than just pure consumers of tech, but creators, too.”