Google Maps stands out as the foremost navigation mobile application globally, including in India, surpassing its competitors by providing a user-friendly interface for exploring cities and rural areas. In India, Google has meticulously mapped millions of kilometers of urban and rural roads, encompassing over 300 million buildings. Users conduct over 50 million searches daily in multiple languages, covering a vast distance of 2.5 billion km on Google Maps in the country.
Google Maps Revolutionizes User Experience: AI Enhancements and Innovative Features Coming to India
Over recent years, Google has integrated Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered features, benefiting around 30 million business owners. Notably, features like business hours, photos, videos, and reviews aid millions of users in making informed purchasing decisions for businesses listed on Google Maps.
Now, Google Maps is set to enhance its offerings in India with an innovative feature called Address Descriptors, a first-of-its-kind feature providing richer information on pinned locations. Address Descriptors leverage machine learning signals and AI to identify at least five popular landmarks near the pinned location. This helps users navigate through the intricate streets of Indian cities and suburban regions more easily.
The Address Descriptors feature will be introduced in 75-plus cities in India soon. Google Maps has been expanding its features, including Street View, which was introduced in select regions last year and has now expanded to 3,000 cities and towns. The Lens feature, offering deeper insights into streets, local businesses, and restaurants, will be launched in 15 cities across India by January 2024, beginning with Android.
Google Maps Unleashes Cutting-Edge Features in India: AR Navigation, ‘Where Is My Train’ Expansion, and Strategic Partnerships
Miriam Daniel, VP & GM of Google Maps, stated, “We’re bringing innovations like Lens in Maps and Live View walking navigation to India by combining Street View imagery along with advanced AI and AR technologies to create these immersive experiences.”
Live View walking navigation will provide turn-by-turn directions with arrows on the live screen and distance markers. Google is also extending the availability of the ‘Where Is My Train’ app to cover more Indian cities, including Mumbai and Kolkata Local Trains, with plans to add more cities in the future.
Additionally, Google is collaborating with ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) and the Namma Yatri mobility app to offer digitized support on Google Maps. This partnership enables metro train users to book cabs and autos affiliated with Namma Yatri directly on Google Maps for seamless last-mile connectivity.
Vimal Kumar, Founder and CEO of Juspay, expressed, “We believe Namma Yatri’s citizen/community-first approach, combined with deep technological innovation, can help transform this space. We are happy for this partnership with ONDC who plays a critical role in bringing the ecosystem players together, and with Google Maps whose ubiquity can take this innovation to all the citizens towards a positive impact.”
