- Look out for these four new features in Google Maps
- They cover exploring places, EV charging, and reviews
- Some Google Maps holiday trend data has also been shared
The holiday season is always a busy time for shopping and traveling, and Google wants to help: it’s adding four new features to Google Maps that cover places to go, EV charging, and a way you can give back to the locations you visit.
First up is what Google is calling “insider tips” built with Google Gemini. The feature acts like a local guide – or rather, an AI that’s scraped comments from local guides – to give you detailed information on a place that goes beyond the official listing.
Some examples Google gives are the best ways to book reservations, what the dress code might be, where you should park, and any secret items that might be on the menu – all delivered in Google Maps for you through Gemini. You’ll find these tips on place cards, and they’re appearing now for US users on Android and iOS.
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The trusty Explore tab in Google Maps is getting updated too, with “trending and popular restaurants, activities and sights near you”, pulled from sources like OpenTable and Lonely Planet. The idea is you can get some helpful pointers on where to visit next, any time, and this is rolling out globally across this month for Android and iOS.
EV charging and reviewing
The Explore tab now includes more recommendations about local spots (Image credit: Google)
Our third new feature is the ability to search for “EV chargers” in Google Maps, and get AI-powered predictions about how busy they’ll be when you get there, based on “historical and real-time” charger data. In theory, it should mean you don’t spend ages getting to a charger only to find long queues there.
This builds on several EV improvements we’ve seen in Google Maps over recent months and years, and improves on the current system that only shows you whether or not a charger is currently free. Google says this will start rolling out on Android Auto and cars with Google built in across the world from next week.
Lastly, you can now choose a separate nickname and picture for your reviews on Google Maps – so if you want to gift a five-star review somewhere, you don’t have to use your real name. This goes live this month globally, on Android, iOS, and the web.
In addition Google has also posted some holiday data trends for Google Maps: these trends give you the busiest times for traveling, shopping, and visiting the post office, so you can try your best to avoid the busiest crowds.
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