Google Maps counters Ola by adding new features
NEW DELHI: Amid rising competition from homegrown challenger Ola Maps, Google on Thursday announced a slew of new features on Google Maps to woo users in India, including EV charging station information, flyover callouts and AI-driven routing capability to reduce narrow road usage for four-wheeler drivers.
It is “an exciting time in mapping”, Google Maps said announcing its lineup of new features, which comes in the backdrop of a pitched battle with Ola.
On Thursday, the company announced six ways it is enabling more efficient and sustainable journeys on Google Maps in India, powered by AI and local partners.
Stating that navigating narrow or congested roads in unfamiliar areas can be a challenge for four-wheeler drivers, Google Maps announced it is introducing a new feature for users in India designed to reduce the use of narrow roads when driving four-wheelers.
“To address this, we’ve developed an AI model specifically for Indian roads that incorporates multiple signals satellite imagery, Street View and other information like road types, distance between buildings, paved sections, etc. to estimate road widths at scale. Using these road width estimates, we’ve fine-tuned our existing AI routing algorithms,” a blogpost by Miriam Daniel, VP and GM at Google Maps, and Lalitha Ramani, GM at Google Maps, India, read.
Another new feature on Google Maps is call-out flyovers along the recommended route. This feature helps users anticipate upcoming flyovers and prepare ahead of time to get onto the flyover.
The company has also announced the availability of information about EV charging stations on both Google Maps and Google Search in India.
Google Maps announced it is introducing a new feature for users in India designed to reduce the use of narrow roads when driving four-wheelers