Google Maps India has launched driving directions feature enabling users to look for directions on the map. The feature was first introduced in Mapmaker (around Feb timeframe) and the same is now available on Google Maps.
In India, Google has collected good landmark data through user-created “Points of Interest” in Google Map Maker. Google’s new algorithm determines which of these landmarks are most useful for navigation, based on importance, and closeness to the turns that the user is making and other available signals. With this launch, Google will now combine landmark data, counted turns (“the 2nd right”), intersection names, and road names, and try to use whatever information is most relevant and useful.
Google is providing two kinds of landmarks, to identify where users need to turn, and to provide confirmation that they’re on the right track. Google also encourages users to help make directions even better for millions of users in India by enriching landmarks data via Google Map Maker.