Google Spent $115 Million, €87.3 million on Education Programs and Charities This Year

The year is coming to an end so most people, or companies, are starting to look back at what they've accomplished. At the same time, with the holidays just around the corner, it's time perhaps to be a bit more generous.

Google is doing a bit of both, it a blog post, it's highlighting some of the charities and projects its Google.org philanthropic arm undertook and helped this year.

Google spent $40 million, €30.4 million in the last year on just three big projects. Google spent a total of $115 million, €7.3 million on charity and grants in 2011, less than it did last year, though it added different figures.

"As the holiday season approaches we thought it was a good moment to update you on some grants we're making to support education, technology and the fight against modern day slavery," Google wrote.

Education is a big focus for Google's philanthropic efforts, it funded 16 programs that work on helping students choose a path in science, technology, engineering or math.

The company says that three million students will benefit from better education in these areas thanks to its help.

Google is also working with a couple of organizations that offer education to young girls in places where girls seldom have the opportunity. In total, 10,000 girls will be getting an education paid by Google.

Google has also offered monetary awards to small companies or organizations that are using technology to improve the lives of people everywhere. Finally, it has worked with several organizations to help fight slavery and human trafficking, a phenomenon that affects tens of millions of lives today.

Outside of the $115 million spent on charities and similar organizations, Google also offers free services or ads. Non-profits can benefit from free advertising and many schools get to use Google Apps for Education free of charge. Google says that these products would cost more than $1 billion, €760 million if Google were to charge for them.