Google Maps now has a community feed that will highlight reviews and promos of local businesses and other locations of interest to users. — dpa
Google Maps is introducing a community feed to its Explore tabs, which provides users with updates from “trusted local sources” on the latest happenings in their cities and neighbourhoods – from local promotions to how stores are handling the recovery movement control order (MCO).
Google Maps product manager Capella Yee said the community feed feature would show the latest reviews, photos and posts by local experts, people they follow, merchants, and even articles by participating publishers.
“If there’s anyone that can keep you in-the-know, it’s the Google Maps community. Every day, people submit more than 20 million contributions – including recommendations for their favourite spots, updates to business services, fresh reviews and ratings, photos, answers to other people’s questions, updated addresses and more,” she said on the tech giant’s Keynote blog.
She explained that the community feed is tailored to users’ selected interests.
For example, if they mark an interest in healthy food or Greek cuisine in their Maps food and drink preferences, they would see more recommendations, photos and business posts for that type of dining.
“Over the past year, we’ve seen businesses use their Business Profile on Google to let the world know about their current offerings and operations, like takeout and delivery options, new online services and the safety precautions they’re taking,” Yee said.
The community feed with personalised recommendations is located on the Updates tab at the bottom right of the Google Maps app, which users can scroll through.
A check of the feature, which is already live, showed reviews by local guides as well as promotions by restaurants and hotels, which reflected areas close to the writer and places recently visited.
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