I moved to United States almost a decade ago. Coming from background of Indian vegetarian family, I struggled to find Indian or vegetarian food around my area, because non-vegetarian food is available everywhere. Just relying on word of mouth to find good vegetarian restaurants was quite frustrating, as making decision based on someone else’s experience sometimes is not very effective. I could neither see pictures nor read reviews about food. Some local business owners even don’t have websites too and thereby making it even difficult to find any information about the business. On the other hand, If I go to some place and I would like to share my review about the place with my friends and family, it was very hard to find such trustworthy and widely used platform where you can share. As soon as Google Map Mobile App became available, we started using it mostly for directions. Then, we got more features on it, so I started reading business reviews on it, but I did not know that I can post reviews too.
My Love with Google Maps started two years ago when I started posting reviews about some businesses and then I wrote another review and so on. There are couples of reasons I love about Google Maps and What I care about sharing on it. The thing I love most about Google Maps is writing reviews for vegetarian restaurants/food. Over 10 years, I figured out multiple veggie options in Mexican, Mediterranean, Italian and Thai varieties. I review veggie food dishes from multiple angles, for example food, authenticity, quality, quantity, ambiance, hospitality, wait time, service, etc. Because, it is not only about food while eating at restaurant/place but overall time I spent over there with family and friends. I can share pictures, videos and answer questions. This helps other customers to make their decisions. Similarly, I also read reviews which help me make my choices. Additionally, my reviews help business owners to learn about :
- How they are doing
- What people love about them
- In what areas they can improve, because small business owners sometimes don’t have website where all information is available.
So, I think it helps two ways : customers and business owners.
Why I love Google maps is because, it has made all these possible at finger touch with most intuitive and simplest way. It keeps track of places I visited, so just tap on place and start writing, upload snaps and videos. More importantly, I can keep adding this information at my disposal. Lastly, I feel extremely happy and satisfied when my posts and reviews help others with similar interests.
I think Google Maps gave me power to express my views about anything on the world.
Overall, it’s a complete package It**’s not just a map to guide roads but a guide to all other things that I never thought before.**
