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Google Transparency Center

Researcher Engagement

At Google, strong relationships with universities and research institutions are in our DNA. To cultivate these collaborations, we administer a variety of programs that provide resources and support to the academic and external research communities. We provide data, tools, and publications to researchers, have researcher programs that selected researchers may apply to as well as deliver a number of outreach initiatives.

Data, tools, and publications

Google makes available a wide variety of data, tools, and publications to researchers studying digital safety and risks online.

Google Transparency Report

On the Google Transparency Report website, we share reports and data that shed light on how the policies and actions of governments and corporations affect privacy, security, and access to information. These include government requests to remove content, requests to delist content under European privacy law, content delistings due to copyright and the VLOSE/VLOP Transparency Report under the European Union Digital Services Act (EU DSA).

Statement of Reason Data

The EU Digital Services Act obliges providers of hosting services to send clear and specific statements of reasons to any affected recipient when they take certain actions on information that is reported to be illegal or violates the service’s terms and conditions. Google submits such Statements of Reasons to the European Commission as part of the Digital Services Act. These statements include explanations of the impacted accounts, the specific facts and circumstances leading to the provider’s decision, the type of content at issue, the law or policy that was violated, and other relevant information. You can find the submissions provided by Google to the European Commission here.

Data Resources

Google Maps

Google Maps collects and maintains information that allows users to navigate the world around them. The service includes information about places, business, and experiences, and helps businesses build an online presence, engage with customers, and grow their business. The information about places and businesses includes some user-generated content, such as content from consumer users and merchant users (including ratings, reviews, and photography) and content provided by the merchant users interested in listing their business on Maps.

Other Data, Tools, and Publications for Researchers

Google Research Resources

We make tools and datasets available to the broader research community with the goal of building a more collaborative ecosystem.

• Google Trends
• Dataset Search
• Data Commons
• Google Scholar

Learn About the Researcher Program

The Researcher Program equips qualified researchers with resources to advance the public’s understanding of certain Google services and their impact.

Discover How to Qualify

Qualifying researchers from diverse disciplines can apply to obtain access to data from Google Maps, Google Play, Google Search, Google Shopping and YouTube to study those platforms from a wide range of perspectives and research frameworks. This programme is currently only available for researchers affiliated with an EU-based institution and may be expanded upon in the future. Researchers interested in other data sets and research tools provided by Google should visit Google Research.

How the Program Works

1. Confirm your eligibility with relevant platforms (requires a Google account)
2. Submit your application
3. If approved, access the tool(s) relevant to your research

Review the Eligibility Requirements

Qualifying researchers:

• are affiliated with not for profit bodies, organizations and associations;
• are independent from commercial interests;
• disclose in their application the funding of their research;
• are able to meet specific data security and confidentiality requirements corresponding to each request and to protect personal data;
• describe in their application the appropriate technical and organizational measures that they have put in place to meet data security and confidentiality requirements;
• demonstrate in their application that their access to data and the time frames requested are necessary for, and proportionate to, the purposes of their research;
• demonstrate in their application that the expected results of their research will contribute to the detection, identification and understanding of the impacts of the services in the European Union, and to the assessment of the adequacy, efficiency and impacts of related risk mitigation measures in the European Union.

Note: Individual platform teams may have additional eligibility requirements beyond those listed here.

View the Program Policies

We’ve summarized the eligibility requirements and conditions on this page. Be sure to review the Acceptable Use Policy before you apply. To participate in the program, applicants must review and agree to the policies outlined. Selected researchers must agree to the Acceptable Use Policy, along with any general Terms of Service for the platform(s) the researcher is accessing. You are fully responsible for your research and publications. In addition, Google won’t own any IP related to your research, publications or any research outcomes, or recommendations.

Other Researcher Programs

YouTube Researcher Program

YouTube is equipping eligible academic researchers from around the world with data, tools, and support to advance the public’s understanding of YouTube’s platform and its impact.

Google Search Researcher Program

Google Search is providing eligible academic researchers programmatic access to the search results page to help the public better understand how Google responds to search queries.

Outreach

We administer a variety of outreach programs that provide support to the academic and external research communities.

Trust and Safety Research Awards

Google is committed to supporting innovative research and professors working to create positive societal impact with technology, particularly in areas relevant to Trust and Safety. Google is looking to fund and actively collaborate with the academic research community, exploring opportunities to expand our knowledge of Trust and Safety concerns. In addition, we have other awards that aren’t solely focused on Trust and Safety, where we often fund researchers in these programs working in trust and safety, privacy, and security.

Events

We have Google teams working across privacy, security, content responsibility, and family safety around the world. Our Google Safety Engineering Centers in Munich, Dublin, and Malaga help guide this Internet safety work, led by experienced teams of engineers, policy specialists and subject matter experts. Through our network of centers, we collaborate and share this work with researchers, policymakers and regulators. Part of this work includes holding regular events for these audiences on topics such as Security and Child Safety. Specifically for researchers, we also organize events focused on having our researchers collaborate with the academic community, like our workshop on At-Risk Users and our AI Research Day in France, which focused entirely on AI Privacy, Safety and Security research.

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DSA Article 40(4) Data Resources -- Platform navigation

• YouTube
• Google Search
• Google Maps
• Google Play
• Google Shopping
• DSA Access Modality & Terms
• DSA Researcher Point of Contact
• DSA 40(4) Data Access Portal

Google Research Resources navigation

• Google Research Resources
• Google Trends
• Dataset Search
• Data Commons

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