Google Maps community feed will highlight changes in your city

Google is introducing a new community feed to Maps that the company says will help keep you informed of all the latest developments in your city, including new restaurant openings and service changes. Located in the app’s Explore tab, the feature collects all the latest reviews, photos and posts submitted to Maps by local experts, as well as people you know and merchants.

Additionally, if you follow a nearby store or restaurant, you’ll get updates from them through the feed. So if your favorite taco joint adds a new item to their menu, Maps will do its best to let you know. If you’ve gone out of your way to share your food and drink preferences through the app, you’ll see those reflected in the feed as well. For example, those into clean eating will see a greater number of places that serve healthy food highlighted by Maps.

According to Google, the feature has helped local businesses better communicate with their customers. “In early testing of the community feed we saw that posts from merchants are seen two times more than before the feed existed,” the company said. “So now more people can see if a local business is offering a new service, has a limited time specialty or opened outdoor seating.”

Google doesn’t explicitly mention the coronavirus pandemic, but it’s easy to see how a feature like this was likely informed, at least in part, by recent events. With limited support, local businesses in cities around the world have been devastated by the pandemic and accompanying lockdown orders. In a place like New York, a recent report highlighted by The New York Times found that by the end of the pandemic, approximately one-third of the city’s small businesses could close permanently.

The new community feed in Google Maps is now rolling out to all Android and iOS devices globally. As always, if you don’t see the new feature right away, you may need to wait a couple of days before it shows up in your app.