Ordering food online? You can now just Google it

Restaurant search on the phone to give out 'place an order' option and connect users to Zomato, Swiggy

As more Indians get introduced to the idea of ordering food online, Google has partnered with popular food delivery apps such as Zomato and Swiggy to enable placing orders right from its search results.

 “When people search for a nearby restaurant on their phone, they’ll see an option to “Place an order” in the search results. Just tap that and choose your favourite delivery service like Zomato or Swiggy and you’ll be taken to their website to complete the order,” said Google in a blog post.

The partnership comes at a time when Google is exploring ways to facilitate more transactions online rather than merely pointing people in the right direction. The company recently unveiled an integration with ride hailing services Uber and Ola that show them as alternative transport options on Google Maps.

Apart from making it easier for users of Google Search to book such services, the company is looking to standardise the experience for users of its Android smartphones, which had a market share of 97% in India in the quarter that ended June 30.

Google has even begun its own flight booking service called Google Flights that aggregates listings from various travel services, but allows users to complete bookings without ever getting off its own service. For users these services make it easier to compare prices across providers and makes bookings quicker.

Apart from partnering with Zomato and Swiggy for making food ordering easier, Google has also partnered with Dineout and Bytplus to enable making reservations at restaurants themselves. As the integrations get deeper, Google seems to be moving towards becoming a meta aggregator rather than facilitating search.