Google Maps going all-in on lists for recommendations

Besides search, reviews, and photos, Google Maps wants to help you find places to visit using lists from its community and third-parties.

When you search for a place and swipe up, there will be a new “Lists in [city]” in the sheet below the image carousel. You’ll find third-party lists from “The Infatuation’s expert-curated restaurants, Lonely Planet’s guides to iconic sites and hidden gems, The New York Times’ 36 Hours itineraries, and OpenTable’s guides to the best new restaurants.”

Google Maps will also be directly curating lists “based on places people are interested in or loving on Maps right now.” This is all rolling out to “more than 40 cities across the U.S. and Canada this week.”

• 🔥 Trending list: “updated weekly with places that have recently seen a spike in popularity on Maps. It’s ideal for helping you discover the latest hot spots.”
• 🏆 Top list: “home to places the Maps community has consistently loved. Come here to
• find an area’s tried and true, longstanding favorites.”
• 💎 Gems list: “for places that might be a neighborhood’s best kept secret. It’s home to great restaurants that still fly under the radar.”

In the coming months, Google will be highlighting “some of the best lists from the Maps community.”

Meanwhile, you now have the ability to manually arrange list items by dragging instead of being limited to “Distance” and “Recently added.” 

In your lists, you can also link to content from your social channels — like your review of the delicious meal you ate — to show why it deserves to be on your list. These updates roll out globally on Android and iOS later this month.

Finally, Google is using AI to help identify what dish is shown in a picture and show “helpful information based on the menu — like what it costs, if it’s popular, and even if it’s vegetarian or vegan.”