Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, it is very difficult to distinguish real from fake news, especially when it comes to portals where users share lot of info in short period of time, such as Twitter. Reliable websites, including Google subpages, are especially valued in these difficult times. Official Maps from Google have become one of the key sources of obtaining information about the conflict in Ukraine, which is also confirmed by statistics.
From the very beginning of the invasion, using Google Maps, it was possible to read which streets are blocked in the largest cities of eastern Ukraine due to the entry of Russian military equipment. Obviously, the use of Google sites by Ukrainians themselves has changed as well. Official statistics of visits to Google portals by Ukrainians were published on Twitter by Damian Menscher, who is responsible for defending Google websites against DDoS attacks. They show that the number of visits to the Google Docs website decreased almost threefold, while the demand for information available in the Google Maps application increased threefold. Statistics confirm that Ukrainians have abandoned their work so far, focusing on repelling the invasion from Russian side, and at the moment the most frequently used application is Maps which is helpful, among others, when moving to other cities or neighbouring countries.