Google Maps introduces 3 new features for Indian users to have better dining experience

Google Maps today introduced three new features for Indian users to help them discover local experiences and get recommendations that are personalised for better dining experience. The new feature available on the app would include an "Offers" section to help users find deals and claim them at restaurants in 11 cities. 

According to Google, users will be able to find deals and claim them at restaurants across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Goa, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Hyderabad, adding that the "Offer" feature is being launched in partnership with EazyDiner, where users can now find offers from over 4,000 restaurants, with more categories and partners coming soon.

From today onwards, Google Maps users will get exclusive access to EazyDiner Prime offers for 15 days, across over 1,500 restaurants, with a guaranteed discount of at least 25 per cent on all of them, Google said. To use this feature, users can simply tap the "Offers" shortcut in the "Explore" tab or filter for restaurants with offers. 

"We`ve heard that Indian Maps users prefer a more assistive and visual browsing experience that is easy to access. To reflect this, we have a redesigned, India-focused Explore tab, the For You feature, and dining Offers," said Krish Vitaldevara, Director, Google Maps.

He added, "This will help Google Maps users discover a new side to their city, whether looking for things to do around town, getting offers on dining out, or getting recommendations that are personalized to their unique tastes." 

Google Maps' other two new features include a redesigned, India-inspired "Explore" tab and a new "For You" experience. The "Explore" tab has been a one-tap route to getting suggestions on dining, events, and things to do in the area being viewed in Google Maps. 

Now, based on top queries and the way people interact with Google Maps in India, seven new shortcuts have been added to the Explore tab: restaurants, petrol pumps, ATMs, offers, shopping, hotels, and chemists. 

Google Maps automatically identifies the top suggestions across these categories in every city with the use of Machine Learning. Users can now explore popular neighbourhoods in their city by simply tapping the arrow beside "Explore Nearby" and making a selection. Apart from exploring their own city, users can also look up other Indian cities by searching the city name.

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The `For You` tab serves users information on new restaurants, trending places, and personalised recommendations tailored to their interests. This feature also uses the `Your Match` score, which uses Machine Learning to combine what Google Maps know about millions of places with the information a user has added like restaurants rated, cuisines liked, and places visited. 

According to Google, "For You" tab offers a simple, assistive experience to help discover the city with a single tap -- and it will continue to improve over time. The first time a user launches this feature they can select areas/localities they are interested in, and get more personalized and relevant recommendations over time.