New Google Maps Feature Makes The App Feel More Like A Virtual Tour Guide
Quick Facts displays information about certain landmarks and buildings, as the company demonstrated in an announcement post to Google+ (via 9to5Google).
The information cards provide facts and a brief overview of the history behind a certain place by pulling data from Google's Knowledge Graph into Maps.
The details vary from place to place depending on how much information is readily available. For example, when searching for Columbia Law School, Quick Facts offered up a brief description, when the school was founded, and statistics relating to its current enrollment and acceptance rate. Other venues, such as Katz Delicatessen, were accompanied by a short description but no other specific bits of data.
It's not a groundbreaking addition, but it does show that Google is funneling more it its search resources into Maps - which could make it an even more formidable rival against competitors such as Apple Maps, Bing Maps, HopStop, and other navigation apps.
The feature is only available for the desktop at the moment, but we wouldn't be surprised to see it roll out to mobile sometime soon.