I’ve told readers on more than one occasion that I ditched Google Search. It started with the iPhone, where I set DuckDuckGo as my default search engine years ago. After beta testing the Google Search alternative, I took the plunge for my desktop browsers and switched away from Google there, too. Now that I also have ChatGPT Search, I’ve got nearly all my bases covered.
But the more I used alternatives, the more I realized there was one key Google Search feature I started missing—a key feature I had taken for granted all these years. That’s the business information that Google Search displays prominently at the top of relevant searches, including store hours. It turns out that’s the kind of information I really need in my search experience.
Still, I didn’t go back to Google Search as my main search engine. Instead, I’ve started relying on a different Google product that I actually still enjoy using. I’m talking about Google Maps, which displays business information for any company you might need. Google Maps shows the opening and closing times for stores, restaurants, and businesses I might consider visiting.
Anyone using Google Search probably knows what I mean. Imagine looking for a specific store in your neighborhood, a shopping center, a clinic, a tourist attraction, or anything else where you would want to know the business hours. Google Search will surface all sorts of information about businesses, including a panel that gives you key details at a glance.
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After years of using Google Search, I’m trained to look for that information every time I google a business that I need to visit. I only realized how important that information was once I started using DuckDuckGo more seriously. I thought they all displayed that sort of information because all tech products borrow features from each other.
It might seem trivial until you experience disappointment. The first thing I did was load Google Search and perform the same store search to find the business hours I needed.
That’s when it dawned on me how critical Google’s entire ecosystem of apps is for Google Search. The store information I wanted comes from Google Maps, which is the place for any company to list business hours and other store information that consumers might need.
Add the Google Maps reviews system, and you get another key feature I take advantage of all the time when traveling. It’s the main way I search for restaurants whenever I’m in a new city looking to carb-load before a race.
Google Maps reviews. Image source: Google
Rather than go back to Google Search, I just taught myself to search for business information with Google Maps. I use it on my iPhone and my Mac whenever I need to figure out store opening and closing times. I’ll often want to get directions to that place anyway.
My transition from Google Search to Google Maps happened a while ago, so why am I bringing it up now? For starters, we’re in the busy Black Friday and Christmas shopping season. It’s a reminder that Google Maps can be an incredible tool for getting things done if you have to visit physical stores during the holidays.
More importantly, various things have happened to search now that genAI products are available. ChatGPT Search is available to more users, not that I’m ready to trust the AI with business hours just yet. Gemini AI is also baked into Google Search. But Google has added new AI features to Maps that will make the app even more useful.
You can use Google Maps to search for specific products, and the app will tell you which retail stores around you have them. Gemini is also coming to Google Maps, which means you can ask the AI for information about interesting places around you in a conversational matter. The feature should be even better when you travel to new places and want to figure out what’s worth checking out in the area.
