Google has been doing a very good job of coming up with free applications that its users can use on a daily basis in order to keep the name of the company at the forefront of their minds at all times. Since Google has perfected the art of search, the company has been coming up with free applications that are set to disrupt other programs that companies make people pay for. One perfect example is Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, which is obviously a shot at Microsoft Office.
According to online sources, the Google Maps application is used by more than one billion Google users and that is a huge gain since being developed by a team of 50 employees at Google about 10 years ago. Other companies have tried to get their hands on the map market share that the search engine giant has, but have not been successful at all. Even Apple cannot come up with the right software to offer iPhone users an option that is not Google Maps.
More than 10 years ago, you might have been online and when needing directions, you found yourself on MapQuest and printing out directions just a few minutes later. Fast forward to the day of the smartphone and you could quickly see why GPS units were not needed as soon as Google Maps was available on the first smartphone. Digital maps are on the rise and with more users on mobile devices today than ever before, Google is looking to continue to capitalize on them.
The company is going to do that with a new feature called “Local Guides” and that is going to take a shot at the Yelp’s in the world. The Local Guides is reportedly going to be a place where users will be able to post review about businesses and other locations just like Yelp. Yelp has been in the news enough lately regarding fake reviews, paying for reviews and businesses that were caught deleting negative reviews.
The odds are pretty good that Google is going to succeed in this space as they always do. When a new feature has something to do with an existing application, the company thrives and consumers see the success very quickly. Google described the new service as a global community of the top reviewers who reap benefits based how much they post about businesses they visit the most often. Benefits to the user might be access to a monthly newsletter, being featured on the company’s Facebook page, as well as a gift for their contribution each year.