Local Guides in Google Maps are about to become more visible. The service continues to become more social by allowing Maps users in several cities to follow Local Guides who offer recommendations on places to go and things to do, and the filtering feature in Maps provides a search-like feel. 

Think of the filters as a search feature and the recommendations as reviews.

London, Mexico City, New York, Bangkok, Delhi, Osaka, Tokyo, San Francisco and São Paulo will become test cities. The Local Guides were selected to test the feature based on opt-in cities, how often they share recommendations, and quality and frequency of contributions on Maps.

Google boasts an active communities in 24,000 cities and towns, hosted by 120 million Local Guides on Google Maps. These guides are passionate about sharing their experiences. They contribute reviews, photos, lists and more to the site so visitors can get a honest perspective of the locations they visit.

For example, Melvin John, a Local Guide in Bangalore, reviews and recommends microbreweries. Ayaka Ohkawa’s photography shows off Tokyo’s landmarks, cuisine and culture.

The destinations appear under the “For You” local discovery tab at the bottom of the Google Maps app.

With the holidays upon us, Google Maps will become one of the more important tools in the company’s repertoire. It has become an important navigational tool when it comes to finding directions to a store or exploring new cities and gems in locations across those previously traveled.

The “For You” tab was introduced in Google Maps last year, December 2018.

Google recently added the tourist attractions feature, serving it up more prominently on Maps, is a helpful feature when traveling. The company also made changes to the way Local Guides manage their privacy when people use the app.