Building H Index

 

Google Maps

 
 

INDUSTRY

transportation

Category

mapping and directions service

products Profiled

Google Maps app and website

 
 

H-Score

 

57

ranked 6th of 7 within transportation industry

ranked 14th of 37 overall

 
 

product descriptions

 

Google Maps is a full-featured mapping and directions service, enabling search, directions, and real-time turn-by-turn directions. It offers directions for using cars, public transportation, walking, cycling, shared scooters from several companies and ride hailing. It includes real-time transit info throughout the U.S. Google Maps offers detailed information, including user reviews and photographs on businesses, institutions and other sights.

 

product usage

 

Google Maps is available for use as a website; as an app for both Android and iOS mobile devices; and on smartwatches using Google’s WearOS and Apple’s WatchOS (Apple Watch) operating systems. It is also available through automobile infotainment systems that use Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. Users launch the app and can search for a type of destination (e.g. “food nearby”), or a specific destination. Once a destination has been determined, users can ask for directions, which will be offered for driving directions, walking directions, or transit directions. (It’s not clear which mode will be offered first.) Once a user selects a destination and a route, they can execute directions and the app will offer turn-by-turn directions though both visual and verbal cues.

 
 

influence on health-related behaviors

 
 

EATING

neutral to slight positive influence

 

Building H consumer research shows that 51% of mapping and directions app users use the apps to find a place to eat sometimes (34%), usually (10%) or always (6%)(1), so the apps influence eating to the extent that their search results lead users to healthy vs. less healthy food options.

If you search for nearby food on Google Maps, you will get a list of restaurants and grocery stores, which can be sorted by relevance or distance and then filtered by cuisine and a number of other attributes. “Healthy” is not one of the options, although “vegetarian options” is a secondary filter attribute. However, you can search explicitly for “healthy food.” According to Google, Google Maps uses a variety of factors, such as relevance, distance and user opinions (from reviews and other mentions on the web) to generate search results from healthy foods.

Google has piloted a feature to make the grocery store pickup process easier, letting people know when to leave and alerting the store with their ETA. They have also integrated information about grocery pickup and delivery in the stores’ business profiles. In this sense, they are facilitating access to fresh food.

Google has recently added information on food banks to its Maps service, making it easier for people who are food insecure to locate food.

 

opportunities:

  • Work across the industry to pursue options to rate food establishments on the basis of how healthy their menus are and then integrate these ratings into search results. Options for this integration could include using the ratings to filter search results or to raise healthier establishments higher in result lists; or displaying the ratings in the results lists.
  • When presenting directions, encourage people to stop and pick up fresh food by highlighting fresh food outlets that are on their way.
 
 

PHYSICAL ACTVITY

neutral influence

 

The influence of Google Maps on physical activity stems from the degree to which its use leads to more adoption of active transportation modes -- cycling, walking, and, to a lesser degree, use of scooters and public transportation -- instead of automobile transportation.

In Building H consumer research, strong majorities of Americans say that mapping and directions apps do not lead to increases (74%) or decreases (84%) in their use of any transportation modes. However, 15% do report increased automobile use, versus only 5% who report decreased auto use.(2) The impact on usage of other transportation modes -- biking, walking, scooters and public transit was reported as neutral.

When a user asks for directions, Google selects an initial transportation mode and the user can select an alternative mode. Google selects this initial transportation mode through a machine learning model that’s based on multiple factors, including distance and users’ revealed preferences (i.e. the mode that a user typically chooses in similar situations).(3) To the extent that the transportation preferences for most Americans tend toward using automobiles for most trips(4), including relatively short trips, basing recommendations on personal and community habits could reinforce unhealthy habits, biasing users to less active transportation modes.

Google Maps facilitates the use of automobiles by excelling at driving directions. It offers smooth experiences for both route planning and then driving, through turn-by-turn navigation. Google recently introduced integrations with two parking app vendors, improving the experience for drivers who need to arrange for parking.

Google Maps is rolling out more granular detail of street features, like sidewalks, crosswalks and pedestrian islands, that could be helpful to pedestrians, cyclists and people riding scooters or wheelchairs. Google Maps also offers augmented reality turn-by-turn directions for pedestrians.

Google Maps offers a number of features to support cycling: its cycling directions are available throughout the U.S.; it offers real-time info on availability of shared bikes; and it has information on route elevation, enabling users to select a less elevated route, if preferred.

Google Maps has also integrated with Lime, Spin and Bird, major providers of shared scooter services, to provide scooter-specific directions and information on locations and battery range of available scooters.

Google Maps includes a number of features that facilitate use of public transportation options within its directions service and offers real-time information on arrival times. It will also make predictions on how crowded arriving trains or buses will be. Google Maps users can pay for public transportation through Google Pay. In addition, Google Maps has added directions for multi-mode trips (e.g. bike share plus subway).

 

opportunities:

  • Use defaults and recommended travel modes to shift social/behavioral norms toward greater use of active transportation modes, e.g. walking, biking, for trips of short distances (subject to weather conditions, individual abilities and other factors).
  • Continue to improve the walking, bicycling, scootering and public transit user experiences.
  • Offer experiential options such as “scenic route,” “nature route” or “social route” for walking and biking directions, as alternatives to the fastest routes.
 
 

Sleeping

neutral influence

 

Google Maps has no obvious direct effects on sleeping, although to the extent that it influences physical activity and time spent outdoors, it could indirectly influence sleep as both of those behaviors are positively correlated with better sleep.

 

opportunities:

  • Integrate neighborhood nighttime noise level information into maps.
 
 

Engaging Socially

neutral to slight positive influence

 

Google Maps has no obvious direct effects on the degree to which people engage socially. 

To the extent that Google Maps facilitates people leaving their homes by making it easier to get to places, it could lead to casual social interactions, which have been shown to have a positive effect on mental health.

Google Maps has a robust Explore feature that includes user-generated suggestions for local activities and experiences.

 

opportunities:

  • Create “social route” option (see above) that would increase casual social interactions among walkers.
  • Experiment with offering opportunities to provide feedback on public transportation rides, e.g. by rating experiences or reporting harassment.
 
 

Getting Outdoors

slight positive influence

 

One could argue that mapping services by their very nature facilitate the action of leaving one’s home and going outside (with the significant exception of door-to-door car trips from one indoor experience to another). 

All of the features that facilitate walking, biking, and (to a lesser extent) public transit facilitate spending more time outdoors.

Google Maps has a robust Explore feature that includes user-generated suggestions for local activities and experiences. It’s easy to search for parks, hiking and biking trails.

 

opportunities:

  • Pursue opportunities for alternative routes (see above) that would encourage longer walks or bike rides.
 
 
 
 

Notes

 

  1. Steve Downs. A Survey of Modern Life: Mobility. Building H on Medium. January 12, 2022

  2. Ibid.

  3. Dane Glasgow. Redefining what a map can be with new information and AI. The Keyword (Google blog). March 30, 2021

  4. Building H’s consumer research showed that a majority of users of mapping and directions services used automobiles for trips of less than one half mile. See Downs (2022