- Busyness indicator was introduced by Google in 2016
- Google expands its availability to more regions
- Users will see real-time updates about the locations
- Google tweaked its popular times algorithms
Google Maps is now showing how busy a place is, on its app. Although Google has introduced this feature long ago, back in 2016, it will be available on the Maps. It is a welcome upgrade, given the current situation. With social distancing being a key measure in preventing COVID-19 spread, it will help users avoid congested areas. The ability to know how busy a restaurant or shop is before they arrive will help maintain the social distancing protocols.
In yesterday’s ‘Search On 2020’ event, Google highlighted some new offerings within the Search, Assistant, and Maps. Prabhakar Raghavan, Google’s head of Search and Assistant, introduced this update. According to him, the busyness indicators would soon be visible directly on the map.
The indicators are visible under the location names. In the simulated demo, Maps showed indicators like ‘As busy as it goes’ and ‘Busier than usual.’ This simplifies navigation and lets users see what places to perhaps avoid. Google Maps will be able to show how busy a place is when you’re navigating to that location. This feature will be available to both Android and iOS devices.
Where will it work?
Live Busyness information will soon be available in many places around the world. Since June 2020, the global coverage of live busyness information has increased by almost five times. Google has distended the coverage to outdoor areas like beaches and parks, essential places such as pharmacies, grocery stores, gas stations, etc.
Changes to Google’s Algorithms
Since Google traditionally relies on historical preferences and data to predict busyness, it’s no longer reliable due to the pandemic. Moreover, busyness data is hard to analyze as foot traffic is difficult to predict. This required a lot more data and an AI-driven approach to form a prediction model.
The proposed social distancing measures coupled with reduced business hours make it unlikely to estimate foot traffic from historical data. To overcome this, Google tweaked its algorithms by taking into account the recent data to predict the ‘popular times’.
According to Google, “To make our systems more nimble, we began favoring more recent data from the previous four to six weeks to quickly adapt to changing patterns for popular times and live busyness information–with plans to bring a similar approach to other features like wait times soon.”
Google will also use Duplex conversational technology to call businesses and verify their information on Maps and Search. Since April 2020, it has aided users by providing updated hours of operation, delivery and pickup options, stores inventory information, and more.
