SEO

Myanmar Cyclone Maps, Paid Search Ads, & Other Disaster Resources

This past weekend a cyclone hit Myanmar (formerly Burma), killing at least 15,000 with many more missing. It’s a massive tragedy. Now data on the cyclone and its path, from the UN Institute for Training and Research Operational Satellite Applications Programme, are available as a layer in Google Earth. But there are other maps and resources available online as well. Below is a short roundup of what we found.


Google Earth:

Google Earth cyclone path

From the European Commission (via ReliefWeb):

Cyclone path

Myanmar-related news on MetaCarta’s GeoSearch news maps:

geosearch news

From the New York Times:
Cyclone path 2

I found the NY Times map via a search on Google for “Myanmar Cyclone.” The Times was one of the paid search advertisers, along with a range of disaster relief agencies:
google adwords

There were questions on Yahoo Answers:

Yahoo Answers

And two Facebook groups that I discovered dedicated to cyclone victims:

Facebook Myanmar

Ask linked off its home page to a special section on Ask news as well as the International Red Cross. The Myanmar cyclone is also the top story on Yahoo Buzz. In addition, YouTube and Truveo feature lots of video footage on the disaster.

Postscript by Barry: Google has an official blog post on it now named Helping victims of Cyclone Nargis. In addition, Google has placed a link on their home page saying, “Support victims of the cyclone in Myanmar (Burma).”

Explore more on

Ask.com European Commission Facebook Geographic information system Google Google Earth Humanitarian aid Myanmar Search engine marketing The New York Times The Times Truveo Yahoo Answers Yahoo Buzz YouTube
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Editorial disclosure

Contributing authors are chosen for their expertise and work under the oversight of the editorial staff. Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush. The contributor was not asked to mention Semrush; the opinions expressed are their own.

About the author

Greg Sterling
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.