Google Maps will soon give you better recommendations

Google will soon launch a new version of Google Maps that will give you more personalized recommendations than before. Google has long worked to make Maps seem more personalized, but since Maps is now about far more than just directions, the company is introducing new features to give you better recommendations for local places.

“Today, our users aren’t just asking for the fastest route to a place but also what’s happening around them, what the new places are and what the locals are doing in their neighborhood,” Google VP for engineering and product management Jen Fitzpatrick noted in today’s keynote.

The first new feature to enable this is the ‘for you’ tab. This new part of Google Maps will learn from your personal preferences and tell you about what’s new in your neighborhood (or other neighborhoods you are watching). Maybe there’s a new cafe or restaurant.

Over the course of the last few years, reviews in Google Maps have also become increasingly important. But what does a four-star review really mean? So going forward, Google Maps will take those reviews and mash them up with what it knows about you to give you a more personalized score based on your context and interests.

Another — not AI-related — feature Google is adding to Maps is a new Group Planning feature that’ll allow you to long press on a place and then add them to a shareable list.