Google has expanded restaurant reviews to enable users to include price range, the type of meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, etc.) and whether they got take out, delivery or dined in, the company announced Wednesday. This feature is now available for mobile users on Android or iOS, and it is live for all restaurants in the U.S., with more countries and categories rolling out in the future.
Why we care
More granular reviews will provide potential customers with a better idea of what to expect before they visit (or order from) a restaurant, which can inform their decision on where to eat. This can also provide restaurant owners with more information that can be used to improve their customer experience.
At this time, users cannot filter searches using this additional information, but, at some point, Google may roll out that capability. That would allow users to narrow down results to, for example, restaurants in a particular price range. Restaurant owners could also use that feature to identify their competitors at a particular price point.
And, Google has said that it plans to extend expanded reviews into more categories, so the impact this has on the restaurant industry will eventually be felt across other local business sectors.
More on the news
Along with the expanded restaurant reviews, Google also announced a number of user-oriented updates:
- Transit crowdedness predictions, first announced in 2019, have been expanded to over 10,000 transit agencies in 100 countries. In New York and Sydney, the company is piloting the ability to view live crowdedness information at the transit car level; this feature is also planned for a wider rollout.
- Google Maps users on Android can view the distance and time they’ve driven, flown, biked or walked on a monthly basis using the new Timeline Insights tab. Users can also view the amount of time they’ve spent at different places, such as shops, restaurants and airports.
- Google Maps users on Android can also revisit their old trips by navigating to Trips in the Timeline tab. This section contains information such as locations visited, miles traveled and so on.
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