You can now report fraudulent activity on Google Maps' business listings

It's easy to get business information from Google Maps. But sometimes you can't guarantee that you're getting accurate information. That's why if you stumble on misleading or fraudulent activity, Google wants you to report it. There's a new "Business Redressal Complaint" form you can fill out to report any misleading or fraudulent activity on a listing. This makes sure that the information you see on Maps hasn't been tampered by a malicious third-party or competitor.

To ensure that you aren't trying to sabotage a business, the form needs you to input your full name, email address for further contact, the name of the person or business affected, a way to identify the affected listing, and a detailed explanation for why the listing is malicious or fraudulent. Google does note that complaint might not be addressed. As expected, Google will need to verify the complaint to see if it's valid.

Source: 9to5Google

Speed trap warnings come to some Google Maps users in the US

Google continues to bring in some of Waze’s features to Google Maps. The latest one is speed trap warnings. It started showing up for some users in November and December. But now there seems to be more sightings of the feature within the app and the reports are made by other drives within the area. What this feature does is give warnings to drivers about areas where they might get a speeding ticket. It’s not a feature that’s particularly popular with law enforcement, as expected.

The warnings show up as orange markers along the driver’s route. If you tap on one of them, you’ll get information such as whether it’s a speed camera as well as when the alert was last updated. There’s also a new speed limit icon being displayed at the bottom left corner of the navigation screen, and an audio notification will also sound off when they’re near speed cameras. According to BGR, it isn’t clear when the feature will come to all Google Maps users, but for now it’s available in specific locations in the US. If you want to use the feature now though, you can still turn to Waze.

Source: Slash Gear

Google Maps on iOS gets For You recommendations tab

We’re well into the holiday season and thinking up places to visit when family and friends are in town might be harder than you think. At least iOS users and some more Android users are getting some help from Google Maps. The company just brought its For You recommendations tab to iOS users in over 40 countries and it’s expanded to 130 new countries for Android users. For those who aren’t familiar with the feature, it provides a personalized feed of places you might want to try in your area (or wherever you are where the feature is live) as well as updates on those stores and other places you’ve visited. You can follow places to keep tabs on them, like if they get a new menu item or there’s a new store opening. It can even help you plan trips. The feature has begun to rollout to users.

Source: Google

Google Maps’ business reviews now support hashtags

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Google Maps might make discovery of new places or businesses to visit that much easier. The Android version of the app now lets users who leave reviews on establishments add hashtags to their writeups. Google suggests these hashtags be added at the end of their posts and they can add up to five hashtags. These hashtags will help those who tap on them find other establishments using the same tag. But they request reviewers to be specific about the hashtags they use like #vegetarian #goodforselfies, instead of using the more generic #food. It rolled out first to Android devices last week, but there is no word yet when it’s coming to iOS or the web versions of the app. 

Source: Engadget