Google Maps Gets New Capabilities That Give a New Purpose to the Platform

But at the same time, Google is also providing customers with the Google Maps Platform, which is more of an offering aimed at developers whose purpose is to sport additional capabilities, all based on the mapping service that everybody knows.

Today, Google is announcing a new solution that allows for on-demand rides and delivery support, essentially building the whole infrastructure that companies would need for such services.

Based on the ridesharing implementation that Google announced in 2018, and which only provided in-app navigation for their products, the new solution makes it possible for businesses to run their on-demand rides and deliveries services entirely on Google Maps.

“Building on 15 years of experience mapping the world, the On-demand Rides & Deliveries solution helps businesses improve operations as well as transform the driver and customer journey from booking to arrival or delivery–all with predictable pricing per completed trip. Let’s take a look at how the solution and its new capabilities improve every step of a trip,” Google explains.

Needless to say, the purpose here is to make easier for businesses to build a platform that allows them to manage deliveries, get arrival time predictions, price estimates, and all the information a customer would need when accessing such a service.

On the other hand, it’s not a secret that many companies have already built their own solutions based on a similar approach, and in the long term, it’s hard to believe that the industry giants would just give up on their own in-house platforms and go for Google Maps.

If anything, the new solution would come in handy for startups that are now trying to grow their businesses, especially during these times when on-demand deliveries are growing at a fast pace.