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Improvements in the writing and search of hashtags

I'm proposing that when you search for a hashtag, Maps recommends other related hashtags for you to see the results of. I have thought of two ways to implement this:

 

  • Like some social media, where the hashtags would appear below the search text box and you could see their results by tapping them

So, if someone searches for #cupcake some related hashtags that can be tapped would appear below the search text box, in this case it could be #cupcakes, #muffin, #muffins, etc.

 

  • By adding results of related hashtags when the results of the hashtag searched for come to an end.

In this way, when the searcher keeps scrolling down and reaches the end of the results, there could be a text that warned that the following results are from related hashtags, specifying of which related hashtag in each of the related results. So, if someone searches for #cupcake, again, when there are no more posts of #cupcake, it could show results of #cupcakes, and others.

 

Here are some reasons of why I think it would be great to show related hashtags or related results:

  • Not everyone thinks of the same hashtag when thinking of the same thing. For example, someone might write on their review #donuts, but someone might search for #donut. Someone might even write #donutlovers. 
  • Even in the same language and dialect, the same things can be called with different names. This happens all around the world, but talking from experience in South America every country and even provinces can have different words for the same thing. Even though we are so close, we might have no idea how something is called in another place, or if they even call it differently. 
  • Tourists usually write the reviews in their language. Even if they do speak the local language and can write the hashtags in that language, there are many who can't or won't. In very touristic areas, there are reviews in a lot of different languages, not being able to see related results of the same word in different languages would mean seeing just a very low percentage of the actual results.
  • Tourists also would search for the hashtag in their language, if they don't know the local language.

 

In all of these situations, the searcher won't be able to truly take advantage of the hashtags feature, and the places where reviews that don't show up in the results were made won't be considered.

The searcher can try to brainstorm of other hashtags that mean the same or are similar, or search for a translation, but not many people would think of that, or would want to, especially if they didn't get that many results in the first place.

 

With the related hashtags:

  • a tourist searching for #accessible in a country where English isn't one of the official languages would easily be able to see the results of #accessible in the country's language or languages.
  • someone searching for #cake would be able to look at results of #chocolatecake #cheesecake, and more.

i'm sure you can think of other situations.

 

It would also be great although probably complicated to also implement this: when someone searches for #vegetarian, they would see related results of #vegan, but when someone searches for #vegan, it shouldn't show the results for #vegetarian. This could also be applied to other dietary restrictions.

 

I'm sure there are many more ways to solve this problems and/or show the related results, if you have other ideas please write them in the comments!

15 Comments
Connect Moderator

I think that searching for more than one hashtag a time would be very useful in many situations.

 

Here are some of the situations in which being able to search for more than one hashtag would be useful:

  • When you are looking for a restaurant that sells more than one specific food. E.g.: #pasta #pizza
  • When you need a place that has options for people with more than one special diet. E.g.: #vegan #gluten-free
  • When you are looking for accesible and/or pet friendly places, but would like to search for another hashtag too. E.g.: #accessible #petfriendly #hotchocolate

 

The search could be done just by typing the hashtags with a space in the middle, and would only show the places that have all of those hashtags.

 

This idea is related do the new Hashtags feature, if you want to know more about it you can read @AriMar's post about it clicking here.

 

Thank you for reading, I hope you find this useful too!

 

I have already written two other ideas about hashtags, if you're interested in them feel free to click on the links and check them out:

Nice let me try

Hitesh
Connect Moderator

The idea is that as soon as you begin to write a hashtag on a review, a dropdown appears under it that shows "popular" hashtags that also start that way, filling out what you have already written.

They could be organized from more popularity to least, that being most searches to least, or if doing it that way is too difficult, from most results to least. It would be even better if it showed the number of searches/results next to each suggested hashtag. 

 

This is done on many websites and apps, so I think it shouldn't be a problem to add this to Maps.

 

With this implemented, users would know which hashtag would reach more people and also make their review even more helpful. It would also provide some level of standardization.

 

Here's an example on how it would work:

  1. The user begins to write #d
  2. The list appears, showing many results
  3. The user continues writing, and has now written #donu
  4. In the dropdown list, they see that #donuts is more popular than #donut
  5. The user writes #donuts, or clicks on that option on the list.

 

If you have any other idea regarding how to solve this problem, or improvements on my idea, please comment them!

 

I have already written two other ideas about hashtags, if you're interested in them feel free to click on the links and check them out:

Former Google Contributor

Hello @Jesi,

 

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

As you've already suggested a similar idea, I'm going to merge this to Show related hashtags when searching for one.

Due to the volume of private messages Google Moderators receive, I do not read or respond to private messages. Please post publicly so others may benefit from your discussion. If you require urgent assistance, please tag a Google Moderator. Google Moderator Thank you!

Connect Moderator

Hi @Petra_M, could you please keep them separate?

I created three about hashtags, these two are about different things, one about suggestions of popular hashtags to write as you're writing a hashtag on a review and the other about showing similar or related hashtags on the results when you're searching.

I'm asking because I don't think the title of neither of the ideas is related to the other, and the ideas, so I would have toto chan the title to something more general that "improvements when searching or writing hashtags", which I don't think is very descriptive and would leave my other idea on hashtags out (search for multiple hashtags)

If you don't think you can separate them, then could you please merge them all three in the same idea?

Thank you 🙂

Former Google Contributor

Hello @Jesi,

 

Thanks for sharing your idea!

 

All these ideas about hastags are very similar and it's better if they are visible in the same thread, for that reason, I'm merging it to Show related hashtags when searching for one.

Due to the volume of private messages Google Moderators receive, I do not read or respond to private messages. Please post publicly so others may benefit from your discussion. If you require urgent assistance, please tag a Google Moderator. Google Moderator Thank you!

Does anyone else use hashtags I  their reviews? I have found that creating a unique hashtag is a great way to link ALL your stuff 😉 

Former Google Contributor

Hello @MrsFigueroa333,

 

Thanks for submitting your idea!

 

There is an ongoing discussion about hashtags and search via hashtag, so I'm merging your post to Improvements in the writing and search of hashtags.

Due to the volume of private messages Google Moderators receive, I do not read or respond to private messages. Please post publicly so others may benefit from your discussion. If you require urgent assistance, please tag a Google Moderator. Google Moderator Thank you!

Level 7

TLTR: allow users to create custom tags and set their value to true or false. Allows users that follow that same tag (e.g. dog friendly, wheelchair accessible, laptops allowed) to get a more tailored search result.

 

As I wrote earlier in one of my posts here, I often tend to work out of (un)conventional locations (coffee bar, hotel). But not all locations are as willing to have me sit there and consume relatively little for a longer period of time (and that's their right). I would be helped if I could see this upfront.

 

Now admitted, we cannot expect Maps to become tailored for many different 'use cases', but I do believe that 'following' or 'subscribing to' certain tags that are relevant to me, could be a useful function within Maps.

 

This changes the app at two sides:

1. Anyone can add any tag and its value (true, false) to any location.

2. Anyone can subscribe to any tag (and thus always see its value when searching).

 

For example:

I would like to tag a certain place as 'laptop friendly', so I tag it accordingly and provide the value 'true'.

Now when someone has subscribed to this same tag, because he or she is also interested in this, is shown the result with their query automatically.

 

It prevents tag bloating (if you are not following it, you don't see it), but allows to tailor Maps even further. Think: dogs allowed, laptops allowed, wheelchair friendly, etc.

 

I'll be curious to hear your thoughts!

Former Google Contributor

Thank you for reaching out @XanderG,

 

I merged your idea here: Improvements in the writing and search of hashtags since they are the same suggestion. Also, to learn more about hashtags please read the New: Use hashtags in your reviews on Maps topic.

Due to the volume of private messages Google moderators receive, I do not read or respond to private messages. Please post publicly so others may benefit from your discussion. If you require urgent assistance, please tag a Google Moderator. Thank you!