Google Maps pushes updates to boost consumer expertise in India

Google Tuesday launched a variety of latest options and updates for its mapping service in India because it wraps up for the 12 months and units the bottom for the approaching 12 months.

One of many newest within the sequence of latest additions is Lens in Maps, which will likely be launching in 15 cities throughout India by January, beginning with Android. The function, which was launched within the U.S. and a few world markets in October, makes use of a mixture of synthetic intelligence and augmented actuality to supply data equivalent to opening hours, rankings, critiques, and pictures when folks level the digital camera of their smartphone down the road to a restaurant or cafe.

Google has additionally launched its Dwell View strolling navigation in India to supply arrows, instructions, and distance markers overlayed on the Maps display, serving to customers navigate simply to their vacation spot. Google mentioned the function could be accessible initially on Android and could be rolled out to over 3,000 cities and cities within the nation.

“India is an enormous, large nation with so many numerous wants,” mentioned Miriam Karthika, VP for Google Maps Expertise, on the occasion. “The size at which we’ve to function for India may be very huge.”

Along with visible and immersive viewing experiences by means of Lens in Maps and Dwell View strolling navigation, Google introduced Tackle Descriptors that use a mix of machine studying alerts to supply as much as 5 most related landmarks and space names round pinned addresses and show landmark reference when a consumer shares their location. This India-first functionality, launched for builders on Google Maps Platform earlier this 12 months, will likely be accessible throughout over 75 Indian cities.

Picture Credit: Google

Google has additionally introduced its fuel-efficient routing to India, which will likely be accessible to customers beginning in January. The function will work throughout four-wheelers and two-wheelers within the nation to assist customers cut back gasoline consumption and restrict carbon emissions. Alongside India, the function will likely be accessible to customers in Indonesia subsequent 12 months.

Since its preliminary launch in October 2021 and till September this 12 months, Google mentioned fuel-efficient routing helped forestall greater than 2.4 million metric tons of CO2e emissions globally. The corporate mentioned that the function makes use of AI to know real-time site visitors knowledge, highway elevation, and automobile’s engine sort to establish the route that limits gasoline and emissions.

Aside from launching the worldwide options in India, Google partnered with India’s Open Community for Digital Commerce (ONDC) and mobility app Namma Yatri to supply metro schedules and bookings to customers instantly by means of Google Maps. The expertise will likely be accessible beginning with Kochi metro by mid-next 12 months and can observe different metros as they arrive on the open e-commerce community.

Google has additionally expanded its The place Is My Practice app, which garners over 80 million customers each month to navigate their intercity prepare journeys, to cowl Mumbai and Kolkata native trains, with extra cities to be added over time.

To date, Google mapped thousands and thousands of kilometers of roads in addition to 300 million buildings throughout the nation. Over 50 million every day searches on Maps, 2.5 billion kilometers of instructions day-after-day and greater than 60 million distinctive customers contributing to Maps within the nation. Moreover, Google mentioned it put 30 million companies and locations on the Maps within the nation, enabling 900 million direct merchant-to-consumer connections.

In July final 12 months, Google launched Road View in India six years after the function was banned within the nation over safety issues. The corporate partnered with native entities Genesys and Tech Mahindra. At this time, over 50 million customers are viewing Road View within the nation, Google mentioned.