Culture
Here's What Google Maps' Customization Might Mean in Practice
The new maps may eventually funnel us each into different experiences of the same neighborhood. Is that a bad thing?
If you were quick to click for an invite to the new Google Maps two weeks ago, when the tech giant first announced a major overhaul of the eight-year-old service, you're probably in by now, wandering around for transit directions and restaurant reviews, and giving Google an ever-wider window into your personal preferences in the process.
As we've previously written, the new platform differs dramatically from the old one in that Google is using everything it learns about you to build you dynamically customizable maps – an idea that we're not entirely sold on. If you're poking around, though, it may be a little hard to appreciate exactly what this means in practice (by definition, it's impossible to see what's not being shown to you).