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Tech

Google Maps Drops Plans to Stalk You With Location-Based Ads

Yelp and Foursquare may have one less thing to worry about.
Image: Pixabay

Local business and discovery apps often tread a line between being useful and being glaringly thirsty—if you've ever used Foursquare, you've probably been pinged multiple times outside of storefronts.

Being conscious of that, Google reportedly shuttered its plans for Google Here, a utility attached to Google Maps, because it could have been too invasive for users' likings, according to a document first obtained by Fortune. The company also wasn't sure how large the demand for the service would be.

Here's how it would have worked. A partnering retailer would need to host a Bluetooth beacon—a low-energy wireless transmitter that could push services to your phone depending on where you were. When a Google Maps user is near a retailer, it could pull up a rewards card in a store. Or it could let you pay a parking meter if you were close to one with a beacon. If a partner has an app, Google Here could suggest that you download it.

The impetus? Smartphone users aren't downloading new apps, so much as they're using the ones they already have. It's easier to attach features to apps that people already use—Google Maps is #6 on US download charts. And so from a marketing standpoint it might have been more effective to pursue the path of least resistance for users; pushing notifications rather than expecting them to look things up.

But those plans probably won't see light, at least for now. Alphabet CEO Larry Page reportedly called for it to be shut down, and at the end of the day, that's one less ad pushed in front of your eyes.