Google Maps is getting new features to help you on your summer travels. It’s now easier to discover helpful lists from top sites and the Maps community, starting in “select cities” in the US and Canada.
When you search for one of those cities in Maps, you can swipe up to see curated lists of recommendations “from people who know the city well”, Google says. There will also be lists from “sites you love” – such as The Infatuation’s curated restaurants, Lonely Planet’s guides, The New York Times’ 36 Hours itineraries, and OpenTable’s guides to the best new eateries.
There will also be new restaurant lists created by Google Maps based on “places people are interested in or loving on Maps right now”. These will launch in more than 40 cities across the US and Canada this week. The Trending list is updated weekly with places that have recently spiked in popularity on Maps, the Top list shows places that people consistently love, and the Gems list is meant to surface “a neighborhood’s best kept secret”, full of restaurants that still fly under the radar.
If you like using lists in Maps, you’ll love the fact that you can now reorder things in them however you like. You can even create ranked lists and link content from your social channels in your list, in order to show why a place is deserving of its spot. This will be available in Maps globally before the end of this month.
AI is inescapable these days, and Google Maps is identifying key insights from the Maps community through AI, in order to help you “get a good sense” of a place and its highlights at a glance. When you’re looking at a restaurant and scrolling through photos of food, AI will help you identify what a dish is called and show you what it costs, if it’s popular, and whether it’s vegetarian or vegan.
Finally, Maps is getting a new look, featuring a cleaner home screen with fewer tabs, and new pin colors that aim to make it easier to find places on the map.
