With new features, Google Maps looks to go the extra mile in India

The premium online map service has a bevy of features up its sleeve as it nears completing its ten years in India

Offline search, Hindi maps, real-time traffic alerts, pit-stop pro with search along routes and booking a cab — Google Maps has come a long way in India since its first entry in 2007, when having a map meant going through confusing sheets of paper.

At present, over 5,000 cities in India are on Google Maps. India is among the top three nations contributing with the most local guides, and is among the top five countries using offline maps.

Google’s effort to map India has evolved over the years. The initial steps to map India started with finding addresses by using landmarks — first time in 2009. Before that, Google had started the use of Map Maker in India, which allowed users to edit the maps they use. The success of Map Maker led to the spawning of local guides.

In the last two months, the Google Maps team in Hyderabad has tried to come up with several features that would make using maps in India easier and commute convenient. It is also asking users to share local addresses by allowing them to directly sign-up from within Google Maps.

Sanket Gupta, product manager, Google Maps, said: “When we started Google Maps 10 years back (globally), we had nothing; it was a blank sheet. Since then we have put maps into every person’s pocket.”

Though India is not as well mapped as the US, several features that have been launched on Google Maps have come from Indian usage. For instance, the latest offline maps, which have been made available in India.

“I have personally seen that whenever your network is on roaming usage, data speeds are slow. Moreover, connectivity in India in several areas is spotty. Our offline maps allows users to get turn-by-turn driving directions without internet connection,” said Gupta.

Gupta further added that  Google Maps is a global product, which will be localised for each type of geography. For instance, Google maps will now also be available in Hindi. “We have been working on this for sometime now. It’s a huge effort from our side. We completed this last year when we launched the voice-navigation in Hindi. The best part is that we have come up with the Hindi maps all through machine learning since it is one of the most elite languages. Earlier, we would have done it manually,” Gupta added.

With more and more people spending time on their handsets, Google Maps has also incorporated pit-stops while still being on track. This could be either for a situation wherein you are running low on fuel and want to figure if you need to turn back, or drive along to the closest petrol station. Or, when you are on way to attend a social function and need to pick-up a bouquet or gift on the way. Search along route feature will come in handy.

The other feature that gets embedded with Google Maps is the taxi-booking feature. Available in 27 cities, Google has partnered with cab partners Ola and Uber, and a user can book a cab seamlessly with just one tap. Of course, Ola and Uber apps have to be downloaded on the handset.

Google Maps also has added a real-time traffic update feature. This feature allows users to see current traffic conditions right in the Maps and also compares how long certain routes will take. This feature is available on all national highways and 34 cities across India.

Among the new features, Google Maps allows users to explore, review, and share experiences of places on the Maps. More importantly, Google now allows sharing of the venue with friends and family via WhatsApp, email, hangouts or any other sharing platform.