Google To Discontinue Particular person Follower Characteristic On Google Maps By September

Google has announced it can shut down the person follower characteristic on Google Maps later this yr. The change, set to take impact in September, marks the tip of a social performance that allowed customers to comply with different people to view their public exercise, resembling posted opinions, photographs, and movies. This choice comes after Google had already phased out a associated characteristic earlier in January—the flexibility to comply with companies for updates on occasions and promotions.

The person follower system was launched in 2020 as an extension of the 2018 “Comply with” button characteristic (launched in 2019 on iOS), which initially allowed customers to comply with companies. The purpose was to make Google Maps a extra community-driven platform, including a social layer the place customers might have interaction with content material shared by others. Nevertheless, the follower characteristic by no means gained widespread adoption and, in some instances, led to undesirable interactions, resembling spam requests from bots.

With the upcoming removing, Google said that every one follower-related information—each who customers comply with and who follows them—will probably be completely deleted from its servers. The visibility settings of person profiles will stay intact, however there’ll not be a must handle follower requests, particularly for these with restricted accounts. For a lot of customers, this may occasionally come as a reduction because of the restricted engagement and occasional spam related to the characteristic.

Google is encouraging customers inquisitive about neighborhood interplay to transition to Native Guides Join, an official discussion board the place contributors can earn factors for contributing to Maps by writing opinions, submitting photographs, or enhancing place info. This platform is extra centered on sensible engagement moderately than social connections and continues to help listing creation and sharing.

In a separate growth, Google lately expanded its partnership with electrical automobile maker Rivian. Rivian’s vehicles and SUVs are actually adopting a brand new navigation system powered by the Google Maps Auto SDK, changing the previous system that used Mapbox. This replace gives drivers with entry to real-time visitors information and enhanced search capabilities for factors of curiosity, strengthening Google Maps’ function within the EV navigation house.

Filed in Cellphones >Computers. Learn extra about Google and Google Maps.