- Keep an eye out for these four new features in Google Maps
- They cover exploring places, charging EVs, and reviews.
- Some Christmas trend data from Google Maps 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 covering places to go, electric vehicle charging, and a way to give back to the places you visit.
First there is what Google calls “insider tips” created with Google Gemini. The feature acts as a local guide, or rather, an AI that pulls reviews from local guides, to give you detailed information about a place that goes beyond the official list.
Some examples Google offers are the best ways to make reservations, what the dress code might be, where you should park, and any secret items that might be on the menu, all delivered to Google Maps through Gemini. You’ll find these tips on the place cards and they’re now appearing for US users on Android and iOS.
The trusty Explore tab on Google Maps is also getting an update, with “popular and trending restaurants, activities, and places of interest near you,” pulled from sources like OpenTable and Lonely Planet. The idea is that you can get some useful tips on where to visit next, at any time, and this will roll out globally later this month for Android and iOS.
Charging and servicing of electric vehicles
Our third new feature is the ability to search for “EV chargers” on Google Maps and get AI-based predictions about how busy they will be when you get there, based on “real-time and historical” charger data. In theory, this should mean that you don’t spend a lot of time arriving at a charger only to find long lines there.
This builds on several EV improvements we’ve seen on Google Maps in recent months and years, and improves on the current system that only shows whether a charger is currently free or not. Google says this will start rolling out to Android Auto and Google-enabled cars around the world starting next week.
Finally, you can now choose a separate nickname and image for your reviews on Google Maps, so if you want to give away a five-star review somewhere, you don’t have to use your real name. This will be available this month globally, on Android, iOS and the web.
Additionally, Google has also released 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 do your best to avoid the busiest crowds.
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