Google Maps Overhauls App with Agentic Ordering, Hotel Metasearch

Google has revamped its mapping app, Ask Maps, with several new features aimed at making travel and ordering food easier. The update includes agentic food ordering, hotel and event discovery, Gmail-linked personalization, and live transit data.

The most significant change is the ability to order food through the app. Users can ask for specific dishes, such as 'order spicy pad kee mao with seafood for me to pick up on my way home,' and the system will process the request by identifying open restaurants along the user's route, filtering them against menu data, and weighing saved places and dietary requirements.

The launch partners for this feature are point-of-sale providers Square and Toast. The integration of these systems within the app reduces intermediation and places transactions closer to the operator.

Other new features include hotel metasearch and ticketing capabilities, which allow users to compare real-time prices and check availability in one query. Event results will also be displayed with ticket links.