Google promotes PM Modi's speech livestream on home page

NEW DELHI: Google ran a promo for the PM's address to students on Friday on the Google India home page. A visit to google.co.in showed the familiar text box for searches along with a one-line hyperlink at the bottom which read: "Watch PM Modi’s address to students about board examinations." The link led to a video on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's YouTube channel, featuring his interaction with students.Google says this is a “non-commercial” promotion.
"We run home page promotions from time to time for public service announcements and special projects. These are non-commercial promotions," a Google spokesperson told TOI over email when asked about this specific instance. In November 2016, after the government’s move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes, Google ran a similar “Find an ATM near you” hyperlink on the google.co.in page. It led one to a map marking ATMs in the vicinity.
The livestream for the event was carried both on the PMO India YouTube channel and the Narendra Modi YouTube channel. However, the promo link redirected users to the latter. The nearly two-hour long live stream, “PM Modi's interaction with students from across India on stress free examinations” had over 2 lakh views on the Narendra Modi channel by 6.10 pm on Friday. The same live stream on PMO India had about 17,500 views by the same time.