Google Search and YouTube have special plans for the 2016 US Presidential Election

Google has been modifying its results throughout the campaigning period, providing voters with the information on how to vote, where to vote, and who the candidates are. The amount of searches for where to vote have spiked in the “battleground states”, where public opinion is the most divided. There has been a 233 percent increase in searches for “how to vote” compared to the previous Presidential Elections held in 2012. For Election Day 2016, Google Search has some special features for US Citizens.  After Election Day, users will be able to track the results integrated into the search, and available in thirty languages. Detailed updates and results for Presidential, Senatorial, Congressional, Gubernatorial races will be available. Users will also be able to track state-level referendums and ballot propositions through Google Search.  YouTube users have spent over 20 million hours consuming the Presidential Debates leading up to the election. YouTube is partnering with major content publishers and media houses to host livestreams on YouTube for live coverage of the developments as and when they happen. The partners for the YouTube Live video blitz include NBC, PBS, MTV and Bloomberg. Facebook has partnered with over 50 partners for its Live video coverage .

YouTube is also organising a #voteIRL to encourage people to go out and vote. Channel creators and their fans are participating in the campaign by posting selfies with the  #voteIRL tag. There are more public service announcement style videos expected to be launched as part of the #voteIRL campaign, such as the one above by the current POTUS.