The archive · Public & Social · Marketing decision · 2022–2023
Google's climate campaign makes the eco-friendly route the easy choice — 60M reached
Google put eco-friendly routes and emission comparisons into Search and Maps so the climate-friendly choice is the easy choice — then told 60 million people.
What it had to solve
The climate and energy crisis were top concerns among Germans, who wanted to act but felt overwhelmed. Millions used Google Search and Maps every day — a scale where many small individual actions could add up to something bigger.
How it works
In Germany the climate and energy crisis were top concerns, and people wanted to act but felt overwhelmed. Google's answer started with reach: millions of people used Google Search and Maps every day, a scale where many small individual actions could add up to something bigger.
Rather than mounting a campaign that demanded sacrifice, Google changed the product: new features such as eco-friendly routes and emission comparison made the climate-friendly choice the easy choice. In the campaign 'Every Decision Counts', Google then showcased the features to 60 million people.
The response recorded on the case page was overwhelmingly positive: press, TV, creators and NGOs talked about how the features help save CO2, energy and money. The idea's power is that the ask disappeared — users kept searching and navigating as usual, and the greener option was simply the one shown to them.
D&AD's archive files the work under its Impact discipline. The page states the 60-million reach but publishes no independent verification, so the case stands on the mechanism: climate action scaled not by persuasion but by placement inside everyday defaults.
Why it lands
- It meets people where they already are — daily Search and Maps use — so no new app, habit or sacrifice is required.
- The sustainable option is surfaced as the easy one, converting good intentions into behaviour instead of leaving them as guilt.
- Millions of small route and travel decisions aggregate, so a default shift adds up to CO2, energy and money savings.
- Showing the features to 60 million people turns a product update into a public conversation that press and NGOs keep alive.
What it did
D&AD's archive files the campaign under its Impact discipline, recording a stated reach of 60 million people and an overwhelmingly positive response, with press, TV, creators and NGOs discussing how the features help save CO2, energy and money. The page carries no independently verified usage figures, so the numbers stand as the campaign's own claims.
What you can take
Don't ask people to sacrifice for the climate; shrink the gap between good and easy by putting the sustainable option inside tools they already open, so doing right costs nothing extra.
Since then
D&AD's archive files Every Climate-Friendly Decision Counts under its Impact discipline, recording a stated reach of 60 million people and an overwhelmingly positive response from press, TV, creators and NGOs. The page carries no independently verified usage or CO2 figures, so the durable result is the pattern itself: Google embedding the climate-friendly choice as the easy choice inside products people already use.
Sources
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