Google India Launches Enhanced Fraud Protection, AI-Powered Summaries On Maps, Other Features

From ‘enhanced fraud protection’ feature and gold-backed loans to AI-powered summaries on Maps, tech giant Google unveiled a number of new features at its annual ‘Google For India’ event on Thursday (October 3).

Google will soon pilot an enhanced fraud protection feature with ‘Google Play Protect’ in India in an effort to curb the alarming rise of financial scams and frauds sparked by the digital payments boom in the country.

The new feature will automatically block installation of malicious third-party apps from outside the Play Store, preventing scammers from collecting sensitive user information such as their bank credentials and personally-identifiable information.

Google Pay, its payment service arm, has already prevented scams worth over INR 13,000 Cr and red-flagged about 41 Mn fraudulent transactions in India, the tech giant claimed.

Google is also bringing new AI-powered features to Google Maps to improve navigation and enhance customer experience amid increasing competition from the likes of MapmyIndia and Bhavish Aggarwal-led Ola Maps.

The Google Maps app will now analyse reviews and show AI-generated summaries of places. Additionally, Maps will display photos uploaded by businesses and users when customers search for items and experiences on the app. 

India Safety Centre, Gemini Expansion & More

The Alphabet-owned internet search giant said it also plans to set up a new Google Safety Engineering Centre in India as soon as next year to combat financial fraud and ensure online safety.

Underpinned by artificial intelligence, the centre will safeguard users from online threats, add a new layer of security to businesses and government agencies, and strengthen research and development of cutting-edge technologies.

Starting today, Google’s GenAI chatbot Gemini is available in Hindi with support for eight other Indian languages coming soon. The Gemini mobile app allows users to type or talk in supported languages and even add an image to get AI assistance.

Additionally, Google is adding support for more local languages to AI Overviews, which provides users with an AI-generated snapshot with key information and links to other relevant sources with additional data related to a query. Currently available in English and Hindi, users will be able to get AI Overviews in Telugu, Tamil, Bengali and Marathi in the coming months.

The announcements are part of Google’s efforts to dominate the digital space in India, which has emerged as the world’s largest consumer internet market for tech giants. As per Inc42 data, top internet firms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Google, Snapchat and YouTube have their largest user base in India.

To reap benefits of India’s digital economy boom, Google recently expanded its payment offerings in the country with the launch of new features such as UPI Circle, eRupi and ClickPay QR.

Google sees India as a big market for its Pixel smartphone. Recently, a senior Google executive said that India has huge growth potential in the premium smartphone market. The tech giant has already begun local manufacturing of its flagship Pixel 8 phones, which are likely to hit the shelves later this year.

However, the going has not been easy for the tech giant in the country as it has been under regulatory scrutiny for violating laws. In 2022, the Competition Commission Of India (CCI) slapped penalties totalling over INR 2,200 Cr on Google in two separate cases. Besides, Google is also said to be looking to settle an antitrust case related to smart TV segment after it was found guilty of breaching India’s competition laws.

In August, an industry body wrote to the antitrust regulator, accusing Google of abusing its dominant position in the Indian online advertising market.