Mountain View, California — Google recently introduced “Search Suggest” for Google Maps in several countries, and now it has expanded the feature to ten more countries, including the U.S., simplifying it for users to find places in a nearby location, the search giant announced Thursday.
The feature, as the name implies, automatically furnishes with suggestions whenever a person searches for a particular locale in Google Maps, users will now find suggestions in a drop-down box below the search box related to your query as you type along. But rather than offering suggestions based solely on the words the user is typing, the items in the drop-down will be based on the location they are viewing at the time.
According to Google, if a person is glancing the map of San Francisco and types in “Mandela” into the search box, (as shown in the image above) they will find related items to that keyword that are in and around San Francisco.
The improved feature will propose different output according to your current location. For example, if a user types in a query “Mandela” into Google Maps while glancing at it from London, different results in and around London will be displayed, (as shown in the image below).
The suggestions in Google Maps now include additional information like the address of the business or the district that a place is in. “This extra information helps you find and select the exact business or location you are seeking,” say Engineer Steffen Meschkat and Product Manager Peter Lidwell.
“As our team stationed in our Zürich office, we understand the importance of getting information that is locally relevant,” the pair says. “We have built this capability into Suggest for Google Maps so that you get the most useful suggestions depending on where you are zoomed into on the map.”
Also, if a user is logged into their Google accounts and have their web history enabled can also find their personalized suggestions, based on past searches. This will definitely improve the overall Maps experience and allow you to find the places your a looking for even faster.
The service was previously only available in Germany, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, but from now onwards that list has been expanded to include 10 new markets including Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, United States, and the United Kingdom. Additionally, it will be available in 8 more languages from now on.
It is already available on many of Google products and services. However, Google Maps was kind left behind until now. Google says it is looking to expand it worldwide soon.