Over the years, Google has added a number of features based on crowdsourced data to improve local discovery in Maps and Search. The latest effort involves adding a question and answer section directly to listings in Maps and mobile Search.
Opening a business listing in either Google Maps or Search now reveals a new “Questions & answers” section. Here, users can see past questions and ask their own, with entries tied to their public Google Account. Both regular users and business owners can answer, with the latter group able to pin frequently asked questions and good responses.
When deciding where to go and what to do, we often ask ourselves lots of questions before making a decision. Soon, you’ll be able to ask those questions, get the answers you need, and even answer other people’s questions about places on Google Maps for Android and mobile Search.
These questions are ranked with all able to upvote popular queries. After “Ask[ing] the community” a question, users will receive a notifications when they receive a reply. Meanwhile business owners and “in-the-know users” that might have a good response will be pinged.
Q&A in Google Maps is now rolling out worldwide to Google Maps on all platforms, but only to mobile Search and not desktop. The latter adds to the growing corpus of information found in Knowledge Cards, with previous additions including popular times and highlights.
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