Google Maps rolls out with improved Explore functionality
When you open the Google Maps application on your Android or Apple device right now, you may be greeted with a "New! Swipe up to see what's nearby" notification that highlights the improved Explore functionality that Google implemented recently.
Google did introduce the feature last month actually but the worldwide rollout of them did not start until today.
Note: The functionality is only available in Google Maps but not the lightweight Google Maps Go application.
Core improvements went into the explore functionality of the application that highlighted places to eat, drink and other places previously. While lists are not new, Google did change the design of the interface and added new filtering options to the listing to narrow the focus of lists. While you can still display the best restaurants in any place, you can also select specific types such as healthy eating, where the locals drink, or upscale dinners, from the list to focus on those.
Google displays lists pulled from "local experts" or Google's algorithms that highlight the best eats and other top places.
The two biggest changes, probably, are the new "for you" tab and improvements to the recommendation engine.
For You is a new feature that highlights "new" places in the neighborhood. The feature was not enabled yet on my device so that I could not give it a try. It is available in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and Japan for now.
Google highlights new restaurants, coffee bars, and other places of interesting when you open the tab so that you can check them out.
The new "your match" feature is only available if you enable location history. Google Maps displays a value in percent that Google states "tells you how likely you are to enjoy a place" based on your preferences.
You can set food and drink preferences under Menu > Settings > Exploring Places > Food & drink preferences to add interests such as Japanese, pizza, or notable desserts. Google uses these, things you are less interested in, and your feedback to compute the match score for places.
Closing Words
I like the idea of highlighting new places and events to users based on the location. I only wish that exploring would not be restricted to your current location. I tried to use the feature for other locations, e.g. New York and Tokyo, and Google Maps did not display the Explore option. I'd liked it if Google would not block the feature as you could use it to prepare for a trip.
Update: it appears that this is possible, at least for some users. So, that is good.
Whether "Your Match" is something you really need is up for debate. Google mentions that it sorts lists based on those so that it saves time and that is probably something that some users like and benefit from.
Now You: What is your take on the new Explore functionality?
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Doesn’t Windows 8 know that www. or http:// are passe ?
Well it is a bit difficulty to distinguish between name.com domains and files for instance.
I know a service made by google that is similar to Google bookmarks.
http://www.google.com/saved
@Ashwin–Thankful you delighted my comment; who knows how many “gamers” would have disagreed!
@Martin
The comments section under this very article (3 comments) is identical to the comments section found under the following article:
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/15/netflix-is-testing-game-streaming-on-tvs-and-computers/
Not sure what the issue is, but have seen this issue under some other articles recently but did not report it back then.
Omg a badge!!!
Some tangible reward lmao.
It sucks that redditors are going to love the fuck out of it too.
With the cloud, there is no such thing as unlimited storage or privacy. Stop relying on these tech scums. Purchase your own hardware and develop your own solutions.
This is a certified reddit cringe moment. Hilarious how the article’s author tries to dress it up like it’s anything more than a png for doing the reddit corporation’s moderation work for free (or for bribes from companies and political groups)
Almost al unlmited services have a real limit.
And this comment is written on the dropbox article from August 25, 2023.
First comment > @ilev said on August 4, 2012 at 7:53 pm
For the God’s sake, fix the comments soon please! :[
Yes. Please. Fix the comments.
With Google Chrome, it’s only been 1,500 for some time now.
Anyone who wants to force me in such a way into buying something that I can get elsewhere for free will certainly never see a single dime from my side. I don’t even know how stupid their marketing department is to impose these limits on users instead of offering a valuable product to the paying faction. But they don’t. Even if you pay, you get something that is also available for free elsewhere.
The algorithm has also become less and less savvy in terms of e.g. English/German translations. It used to be that the bot could sort of sense what you were trying to say and put it into different colloquialisms, which was even fun because it was like, “I know what you’re trying to say here, how about…” Now it’s in parts too stupid to translate the simplest sentences correctly, and the suggestions it makes are at times as moronic as those made by Google Translations.
If this is a deep-learning AI that learns from users’ translations and the phrases they choose most often – which, by the way, is a valuable, moneys worthwhile contribution of every free user to this project: They invest their time and texts, thereby providing the necessary data for the AI to do the thing as nicely as they brag about it in the first place – alas, the more unprofessional users discovered the translator, the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, the greater the aggregate of linguistically illiterate users has become, and the worse the language of this deep-learning bot has become, as it now learns the drivel of every Tom, Dick and Harry out there, which is why I now get their Mickey Mouse language as suggestions: the inane language of people who can barely spell the alphabet, it seems.
And as a thank you for our time and effort in helping them and their AI learn, they’ve lowered the limit from what was once 5,000 to now 1,500…? A big “fuck off” from here for that! Not a brass farthing from me for this attitude and behaviour, not in a hundred years.
When will you put an end to the mess in the comments?
Ghacks comments have been broken for too long. What article did you see this comment on? Reply below. If we get to 20 different articles we should all stop using the site in protest.
I posted this on [https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/28/reddit-enforces-user-activity-tracking-on-site-to-push-advertising-revenue/] so please reply if you see it on a different article.
Comment redirected me to [https://www.ghacks.net/2012/08/04/add-search-the-internet-to-the-windows-start-menu/] which seems to be the ‘real’ article it is attached to
Comment redirected me to [https://www.ghacks.net/2012/08/04/add-search-the-internet-to-the-windows-start-menu/] which seems to be the ‘real’ article it is attached to
Article Title: Reddit enforces user activity tracking on site to push advertising revenue
Article URL: https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/28/reddit-enforces-user-activity-tracking-on-site-to-push-advertising-revenue/
No surprises here. This is just the beginning really. I cannot see a valid reason as to why anyone would continue to use the platform anymore when there are enough alternatives fill that void.
I’m not sure if there is a point in commenting given that comments seem to appear under random posts now, but I’ll try… this comment is for https://www.ghacks.net/2023/09/28/reddit-enforces-user-activity-tracking-on-site-to-push-advertising-revenue/
My temporary “solution”, if you can call it that, is to use a VPN (Mullvad in my case) to sign up for and access Reddit via a European connection. I’m doing that with pretty much everything now, at least until the rest of the world catches up with GDPR. I don’t think GDPR is a magical privacy solution but it’s at least a first step.