Ask Maps now takes food orders through Square and Uber Eats as well as Toast

ZDNET's reviewer, sizing up a new restaurant in Atlanta, opens the Know Before You Go tab in Google Maps to read what other diners say about parking ^[4]. The same reviewer finds that the trending spots on the Explore tab around Atlanta are the ones from recent viral Instagram and TikTok videos ^[9].

Going by the data Google published with this update, users ask Maps for directions. The first fan-favorite list ranks the places Maps users search directions to in each city, split into meals, beverages and sweet treats ^[8]. Its trend figures track interest, such as micheladas up 78% in Santiago and ube up 75% in Melbourne ^[7].

Ask Maps was built for users who name a craving in one sentence and let the same chat place the order ^[1]. The report does not say how many orders it has placed or how many restaurants are connected.

ZDNET's case for the update is that Google has "basically been giving you more reasons to not use other apps such as Yelp and instead make Maps your first stop when deciding what's for dinner" ^[11]. On discovery, the evidence backs that up. Review tips and trending lists already sit inside Maps ^[4][9]. Orders go via Toast, Square or Uber Eats ^[2]. For Uber Eats, Maps becomes another place orders come from.

The partner list has gone from one to three since August ^[10]. That widens which restaurants can be ordered from inside a Maps chat.

This is for the restaurant whose next customer has not heard of it yet. Where it sits on a simple grid depends on how new customers arrive: mostly through search, or mostly as regulars. It also depends on whether online orders already run through Toast, Square or Uber Eats.

- Search-led, already on a partner: the restaurant gains a route to orders with no switching cost. Its Maps listing and its reviews now carry more of the sale. - Search-led, on another system: the case for switching is strongest here, and it rests on a feature with no published usage figures. - Regular-led, on a partner: little changes. Regulars already know where to order. - Regular-led, elsewhere: nothing in this update justifies a move.

I'd hold off on switching providers for Ask Maps alone until Google or one of the three partners publishes order volumes from Maps. Waiting costs the search-led restaurants most. A competitor already on Square or Uber Eats collects whatever Maps orders exist in the meantime.