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Google Maps is making sure you 'know before you go' on this holiday weekend's travels
- Last week, Google announced a bunch of upgrades for Maps, including “know before you go” tips for destinations.
- These tips are designed to deliver actionable information to help maximize what you get out of your visit.
- Google’s also been deploying its new power-saving navigation mode for Pixel 10 phones.
Even with AI already permeating what feels like every corner of our lives, we’re still very much in the early days of figuring out where its potential is best utilized, and companies are constantly experimenting with new ways to employ it. Just one week ago, Google was sharing news of a Gemini-powered AI upgrade it was introducing to Maps, and now we’re already getting the chance to try it out.
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We’re talking about “know before you go” tips in Google Maps — summaries that attempt to highlight the more actionable information you’d want to have prior to visiting places like restaurants or event venues. Summarizing information is nothing new for AI, but “know before you go” is a lot more nuanced than just highlighting frequently mentioned topics from user reviews.
Specifically, it’s looking for tips — any information that might end up enhancing your visit, if you’re properly equipped with it in advance. That could be everything from doling out parking advice, to informing you about secret menu items you wouldn’t otherwise know about.
At least, that’s the way it’s supposed to work, but in this first example we’ve run into on our devices, it feels like we’re getting a mix of useful tips and more general review summaries. Granted, how successful Maps is with this new tool will probably depend a whole lot on the data sources available for each particular destination, so we imagine the quality of these tips will vary widely. That said, this is at least a promising early effort, and we look forward to seeing how well Maps is at generating “know before you go” tips for additional places.
This is far from the only new Maps feature making its presence felt this holiday weekend. We’ve also spotted Google’s new power-saving mode for Pixel 10 phones, offering a minimalist, monochromatic navigation option that can supposedly eke an extra four hours of battery life out of your phone on those particularly long trips.
Look for these and the rest of Google’s latest Maps upgrades hitting your devices soon.
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