Google Maps testing new feature to allow users to attach food photos to restaurant locations

The new feature for uploading food-related snaps will detect when a photo is taken at a restaurant or food serving establishment and offer to attach it to the company’s location on Google maps for the world to see.

For now it will only be available to Google’s Local Guides who are ranked level three and above. Local Guides are essentially communities of reviewers who level up as they write more reviews and receive rewards as along the way.

No name has been given to the feature however it resembles the food photography service called Tablescape which Google trialled earlier this year where users could upload photos of food and place them in specific categories to coincide with related content. It did not last long and was cancelled in June, however Google aid that it wasn’t “giving up on photography”.

The latest feature, which will only be available on Android for now, could have a significant impact for restaurants that will now essentially have customers advertising for them. As long as a reviewer has a level three or above Local Guide ranking they will be able to affect a company’s online presence with their photos.

While this is already possible with written reviews, the immediate impact of a photo on a platform like Google Maps may be enough to convince people whether or not to visit a restaurant without having to read a single word.