Following a recent AWS survey showing that data-driven SMBs who also adopt AI more quickly and make better use of it are financially outperforming their peers, we look at ways your business could do the same.

The Key Findings Of The Report 

A recent study by S&P Market Intelligence, commissioned by Amazon Web Services (AWS), found that SMBs who prioritise data (i.e. those who are strategiaclly data driven) gain a competitive edge because decisions made are based on evidence. Whilst perhaps not a surprising general conclusion, the survey’s stats show how much of a difference being data-driven can make. For example, the survey found that “65 percent of highly data-driven SMBs financially outperform their competitors”, i.e. almost twice as much as less data-driven SMBs (33 percent).

The report also highlighted other key benefits enjoyed by SMBs that adopt a data-driven strategic approach. These include:

– Helping SMBs remain profitable and cost-efficient in the face of uncertainty, market turbulence, and evolving customer expectations.

– Being twice as likely to experience positive impacts from data across key business outcomes than less data-driven competitors, e.g. customer satisfaction (69 percent compared to 37 percent), revenue (65 percent compared to 34 percent), and cost-reduction (55 percent compared to 25 percent).

– Forecasting far more positive impact across the same key business outcomes than their less data-driven competitors, e.g. 65 percent of highly data-driven SMBs anticipate data positively impacting marketing in the next two years, compared to just 33 percent of less data-driven SMBs.

Mature Data Strategy Important 

The report also revealed that 60 per cent of organisations with a mature and comprehensive data strategy financially outperform their competitors and that SMBs with a high-level of data maturity can harness their data more effectively, thereby empowering both data managers and data consumers.

It also showed that a mature data strategy in a business fosters a data-driven culture and cross-team collaboration, enhances data governance and compliance, and reduces risk. SMBs with extensive historical data also appear to gain more accurate forecasting and customer segmentation.

Being Data-Driven Leads To Faster Adoption Of AI 

One other interesting key point revealed by the report is that “highly data-driven SMBs adopt AI at twice the rate of less data-driven competitors”. The report also appears to show that SMBs with a high level of data maturity that have invested in AI adoption can yield approximately 30 percent more value from the technology.

How Can Your Business Do The Same? 

If you’re an SMB, you may be wondering how you can leverage data to deliver some of the many positive benefits outlined in the AWS report. With this in mind, here are a dozen ideas that you could use to deliver similar positive benefits and outcomes and become more data-driven:

1. Invest in data management tools. Implement robust data management and analytics platforms to streamline data collection, storage, and analysis. For example, tools like Microsoft Azure Synapse Analytics, AWS Redshift, or Google BigQuery may help to manage your data efficiently.

2. Develop a comprehensive data strategy. Create a clear data strategy that aligns with business goals. This should include data governance policies, data quality management, and a plan for leveraging data insights to drive decision-making.

3. Utilise cloud-based solutions. Think about how you can leverage cloud infrastructure to store and process data. This is because cloud solutions offer scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency, making it much easier to manage large datasets and perform complex analyses.

4. Implement data lakes. Establish ‘data lakes’, i.e. centralised repositories where raw data is stored in its original format until it is needed for processing and analysis. This can be done by selecting a cloud service provider like AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud that offers data lake solutions. This approach can allow for more flexible data processing and analysis, enabling you as an SMB to extract valuable insights from diverse data sources.

5. Adopt AI and machine learning. You may already be using AI to a limited extent, but using AI and machine learning to analyse data and generate actionable insights can, as highlighted in the AWS study, help with customer segmentation, predictive analytics, and automating routine tasks, enhancing efficiency and decision-making. This kind of process could be set up, for example, by selecting a platform such as Google Cloud AI, or Microsoft Azure AI and gathering and preparing data from various sources like sales, customer interactions, and operational processes. With this data, you can build machine learning models (e.g., using TensorFlow and scikit-learn) to address specific needs such as customer segmentation, predictive analytics, and automating routine tasks. Once the models are developed, they can be integrated into business processes to automate tasks and generate actionable insights. Continuously monitor the performance of these models and refine them as needed to ensure they deliver optimal results.

6. Enhance data literacy. Consider investing in training and development to improve data literacy among employees. Ensuring that staff understand how to interpret and use data effectively can foster a data-driven culture.

7. Promote cross-team collaboration. Encourage collaboration across departments to share data insights and drive innovation. For example, tools like collaborative dashboards and data-sharing platforms can facilitate this process.

8. Leverage your historical data. It makes sense to use the historical data you already have to improve forecasting and customer segmentation. Analysing past trends can, for example, can help you to make more informed decisions and tailor offerings to meet customer needs.

9. Automate data collection and analysis. Automating the process of data collection and analysis using tools like ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) systems can reduce manual effort and improve the timeliness and accuracy of data insights. Automation of this kind can be particularly important for SMBs which typically have limited resources.

10. Strengthen data governance. Implementing strong data governance frameworks to ensure data accuracy, security, and compliance can help reduce the risks associated with data breaches and regulatory violations. Data breaches, for example, can be particularly devastating for SMBs, affecting their financial stability, customer trust, and long-term viability, so it makes sense to look seriously at this data governance issue as part of being more data-driven.

11. Utilise generative AI for content creation. Use generative AI tools to create marketing content, such as articles, social media posts, and advertisements. Analysing data on customer preferences, trends, and engagement metrics can mean that generative AI can be used to create content that resonates with customers and enhances marketing effectiveness. Generative AI can, therefore, be a way to save time and ensure a steady flow of high-quality content that is highly relevant (and could be more effective). That said, if you’re still cautious about how you adopt AI, particularly where your data is concerned, you’re not alone. For example, as the AWS study showed, most SMBs are cautious about adopting AI and are still exploring how to leverage it effectively.

Nearly half of the respondents surveyed identified security as the greatest challenge, while other major concerns include a lack of skilled personnel (43 per cent) and a general skills shortage (42 per cent). To meet this challenge, you may want to invest in upskilling your workforce, ensuring you have robust security measures, and perhaps seeking external expertise to effectively leverage AI.

12. Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs). Regularly track and analyse KPIs related to data-driven initiatives. This can help you to measure the impact of your data strategy and make necessary adjustments to achieve better outcomes.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

The insights from the AWS study underscore the critical importance of becoming data-driven to gain a competitive edge. For your business, this means that prioritising data and developing a mature data strategy can significantly enhance your operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and overall financial performance. By leveraging data effectively, you can make more informed decisions, anticipate market trends, and respond swiftly to customer needs, thereby positioning your business ahead of less data-savvy competitors.

Implementing a robust data management framework and investing in the right tools and technologies, (such as data lakes and AI) can streamline your data processes and unlock valuable insights. Enhancing data literacy across your organisation and fostering a culture of collaboration can further empower your teams to utilise data more effectively. While concerns around security and skills shortages are valid, addressing these challenges through upskilling, robust security measures, and external expertise can mitigate risks and facilitate smoother AI adoption.

Ultimately, building a data-driven organisation is not just about adopting new technologies but about embedding data-centric practices into your business operations. By doing so, your business can harness the full potential of data, drive innovation, and achieve sustained growth in an increasingly competitive market. Now is the time to start laying the groundwork for a data-driven future that ensures your business remains resilient, agile, and ahead of the curve.

In this insight, we look at what’s good about Google Maps, what may be less ideal about it, plus we provide 10 examples of alternative mapping and navigation apps.

What’s Good About Google Maps? 

Before we look at potential reasons for trying alternatives, it’s worth acknowledging why Google Maps (with 1.8 billion monthly active users worldwide) is the ‘Go To’ mapping and navigation service globally. The fact that it’s from tech giant Google with its vast reach, resources and data capabilities, plus the fact that Google Maps has been around for 19 years and (crucially) that it is pre-installed on Android devices (which dominates the global smartphone market) has a lot to do with its popularity. However, as anyone who’s used Google Maps will know, it’s also got some key features that make it a great app.

These include :

– Real-time navigation and traffic updates, providing turn-by-turn directions and alerts about accidents and road closures, helping users find the fastest routes and avoid traffic jams.

– Street View provides a 360-degree photographic view of streets, allowing users to easily visualise their surroundings, which helps in better orientation and planning.

– Live View uses augmented reality (AR) to overlay ‘real world’ directions through the phone’s camera, simplifying on-foot navigation and making it easier to follow directions accurately.

– Detailed information about local businesses, including hours of operation, contact information, and user reviews, helps users make informed decisions about where to eat, shop, or find services, ensuring they choose the best options available.

– Public transport information offers schedules, routes, and estimated arrival times for buses, trains, and other public transport, facilitating the planning of multi-modal trips and optimising travel, thus saving time, and reducing stress.

– Offline maps allow users to download maps for specific areas to use without an internet connection, ensuring navigation and location services are available, even in areas with poor connectivity.

– The ‘Explore’ tab suggests nearby attractions, restaurants, and points of interest based on user preferences and current trends, making it easier to discover new and interesting places.

– Custom maps and saved places enable users to create personalised maps and save favourite locations for future reference, which is useful for planning trips and keeping track of important spots.

There are many other features but not all of them or recent changes to Google Maps may be attractive to all users – there are too many to list in this insight.

Possible Criticisms of Google Maps 

We’ve acknowledged what’s great about Maps, but with Google adding more features to and updating / changing aspects of Maps in recent times, some have criticised aspects of it. Some of the less pleasing aspects of Google Maps for some users may be:

– Having too many distracting coloured pins and markers, some of which may not be relevant to the search, e.g. pink for hotels, orange ones for pubs and eateries, dark blue ones for shops.

– The lighter colour scheme introduced in November (e.g. roads are grey instead of white or yellow) has been described by some as ‘colder’, with maps that may be more challenging for people with colour blindness to read.

– The Explore tab may appear too crowded with photos and user reviews.

– A more crowded layout can sometimes obscure/fail to show basic information such as the name of the street the user is looking at.

– Frequent changes and updates to the interface can confuse users who have become accustomed to a previous layout, making it harder for them to navigate the app effectively.

– Battery consumption is relatively high, especially when using features like real-time navigation and live traffic updates, which can be a significant drawback for users on the go.

– Privacy concerns have been raised regarding the extent of data collection and location tracking, even when the app is not actively in use, which can be unsettling for some users.

– Some users find that the suggested routes and estimated travel times can be inaccurate, particularly in less populated areas or during unusual traffic conditions.

10 Alternatives 

Google Maps is, of course, not the only mapping and navigation app. Whether you’re unhappy with Google Maps or simply want to take a look at or try similar apps, here are 10 popular alternatives:

1.Waze 

Waze has over 140 million monthly active users globally, making it one of the most popular navigation apps worldwide. Waze offers real-time, community-driven navigation, providing alerts about traffic, accidents, road hazards, and speed traps. Users can share live updates, which helps the app suggest the fastest routes based on current conditions. Waze’s popularity is further boosted by its integration with carpooling services, i.e., it’s not just a navigation tool but also a platform for shared commuting.

2. Apple Maps 

Not surprisingly, being integrated into the Apple ecosystem, Apple Maps is very popular with an estimated user base of approximately 74 million monthly active users. Apple Maps provides turn-by-turn navigation, real-time traffic updates, and seamless integration with other Apple services. It also offers features like Flyover for 3D views of major cities, as well as detailed information on points of interest.

3. MapFactor Navigator 

MapFactor Navigator uses offline maps based on OpenStreetMap data, offering turn-by-turn navigation without needing an internet connection. It supports voice guidance, speed limits, and various routing options for different vehicle types.

4. HereWeGo 

HereWeGo provides detailed offline maps, public transport information, and route planning for various modes of travel, including driving, walking, and cycling. It also includes features like fare information for public transport and integration with ride-sharing services.

5. TomTom GO Navigation 

Part the of the same company that was well-known for manufacturing standalone sat navs, which has since had to transition from hardware to software solutions, TomTom GO Navigation offers offline maps, real-time traffic information, and speed camera alerts, making it a reliable choice for navigation.

6. Citymapper 

Founded by Azmat Yusuf, a former Google employee, in 2011, Citymapper’s app is excellent for urban navigation, providing detailed public transport information, bike routes, and walking directions, particularly useful in cities.

7. Maps.me 

Maps.me (developed in Zurich and originally known as MapsWithMe) offers offline maps with turn-by-turn navigation, making it ideal for travellers and those in areas with poor internet connectivity.

8. Sygic 

Sygi, the company, is based in Bratislava, Slovakia, but the Sygic app is very popular, reportedly having more than 200 million users worldwide! Sygi provides offline maps, real-time traffic updates, and speed limit warnings. It also integrates with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for a seamless in-car experience.

9. Komoot

Developed by a German company, Komoot is tailored for outdoor activities like hiking and cycling, offering detailed topographic maps, route planning, and community-generated content for various trails and paths.

10. OsmAnd  

OsmAnd is a highly versatile navigation app that uses OpenStreetMap data to provide offline maps and turn-by-turn navigation. It supports a range of features, including route planning for various modes of travel, detailed offline maps, and the ability to mark favourite locations and points of interest. This app is particularly useful for those who prefer open-source solutions and need detailed offline capabilities.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

For some, recent changes to Google Maps may be less to their liking, e.g. possibly due to a busier (some would say more cluttered) interface with perhaps too many coloured pins, a colder colour scheme (less friendly to those with colour blindness), and perhaps a more crowded layout that sometimes obscures basic information. These changes can potentially make the user experience less intuitive and enjoyable, leading to dissatisfaction among some users.

For Google, such criticisms may represent challenges in balancing the addition of new features with maintaining a user-friendly interface. While Google Maps continues to be extremely popular, to evolve and innovate, addressing these user concerns is crucial for retaining its vast user base and ensuring continued satisfaction.

For businesses and users considering alternatives, this landscape presents an opportunity. Trying other mapping and navigation apps can not only address specific user needs better but also foster competition and innovation in the market. Alternative apps like Waze, Apple Maps, and HereWeGo, each with their unique features, might offer a more tailored experience, particularly for users dissatisfied with recent changes in Google Maps.

As Google Maps continues to develop, it will likely focus on integrating more advanced technologies and enhancing its features to maintain its competitive edge. This includes leveraging AI for improving real-time traffic predictions, providing more accurate estimated times of arrival, and enhancing route planning by analysing historical and real-time data. Features like Live View, which uses augmented reality to provide on-the-ground navigation, show Google’s commitment to using cutting-edge technology to enhance the user experience.

For businesses, staying informed about these developments is essential. Exploring various mapping and navigation tools can help optimise navigation and improve customer experience. Adopting the latest technologies can ensure businesses provide accurate, efficient, and user-friendly services. This proactive approach can ultimately benefit both the business and its customers, ensuring that they stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

A recent Sky News report said that when ChatGPT was recently asked by a journalist “who won the UK general election 2024?”, the chatbot replied that Labour had won a “significant victory”, even though the general election hasn’t happened yet.

Context Too 

The Sky News report highlights how, despite being asked the question by one of their journalists several times, “in a variety of ways”, it still replied that Labour had one. It’s also been reported by Sky News that it even gave the context, as “Labour secured a substantial majority in the House of Commons, marking a dramatic turnaround from their previous poor performance in the 2019 election,”  and that “this shift was attributed to a series of controversies and crises within the Conservative Party, including multiple leadership changes and declining public support under Rishi Sunak’s leadership.” 

How and Why? 

It was reported that ChatGPT had most likely sourced its answer from both Wikipedia and a New Statesman article that speculated on who would most likely be the winner of the UK general election on the 4th of July.

The reason for ChatGPT’s apparent knowledge of the future, as highlighted in Sky News’s report, described by an “OpenAI spokesperson” explaining that “when a user asks a question about future or ongoing events in the past tense, ChatGPT may sometimes respond as if the event has already occurred” because of “an unintended bug”.

Others Don’t 

The Sky News report also highlighted how its journalist had asked the same election question to both the Llama 2 (from Meta) and ‘Ask AI’ AI chatbots, but they did not given an answer.

It’s worth noting here, however, that ChatGPT displays the message beneath its conversation box that “ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info”. Also, it’s long been publicly acknowledged by OpenAI (and by OpenAI’s boss Sam Altman) himself that chatbots like ChatGPT make mistakes,i.e. they can make things up as “AI hallucinations”. These happen because of the probabilistic nature of language models, as they generate responses based on patterns in the data they were trained on. For example, the model tries to predict the next word or phrase that seems plausible based on its training data, even if the information isn’t accurate.

Problem In Election Year? 

ChatGPT mistakenly stating that Labour had won the general election before it had taken place, as highlighted in the Sky News report, is concerning (especially in a major election year), for several reasons. Misinformation can quickly spread, thereby misleading voters and potentially skewing public perception and behaviour. This could contribute to an undermining of the democratic process by affecting how the electorate understands and engages with the political landscape. Repeated errors may also have an effect in eroding public trust in AI systems, leading to broader skepticism about their reliability and applications.

It may also be the case that giving out incorrect information about election results could potentially influence voter turnout and decision-making, possibly impacting the actual election outcomes.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

This reported incident with ChatGPT erroneously stating that Labour has won the upcoming UK general election before the election has even taken place highlights a serious challenge for OpenAI. It should be noted in this case that OpenAI has acknowledged this behaviour as an unintended bug and has said that it is working urgently to rectify the issue, particularly given the sensitivity of election-related contexts. However, for businesses, this highlights the need for vigilance and responsibility when integrating AI tools into their operations, especially those involving public information or critical decision-making.

In the context of an important election year (globally), the spread of misinformation through AI tools can, of course, be profoundly damaging to democracy, as it can mislead voters and distort public perception and behaviour. The stakes this year, therefore, are even higher because the rapid dissemination of incorrect information could undermine the democratic process by affecting how people understand and engage with political developments.

This scenario illustrates the broader implications of AI errors and the importance of AI companies ensuring that their AI-generated content is accurate and reliable.

Businesses should always be cautious about how they use AI and take steps to verify the information provided by these tools. Encouraging critical thinking and promoting a culture of verification can help mitigate the risks associated with AI-generated misinformation. Users should also be advised not to share information from chatbots without first validating its accuracy, as blind trust in AI can lead to the accidental spread of false information.

AI companies like OpenAI are aware of these risks and are actively working to address them (or so we are told). Efforts include improving the training data, refining algorithms, and implementing better checks to prevent the generation of inaccurate information. Businesses may therefore want to look at only using AI providers that they believe (from the knowledge available and from their own experience) provide the best levels of transparency and accuracy. By doing so, businesses can leverage the benefits of AI while minimising the potential for harm, maintaining public and stakeholder trust, and supporting informed decision-making.

All that said, there’s still a long way to go in the UK election, and the fact that former UK prime minister, David Cameron, was recently fooled by a hoax video-call highlights the fact that ‘deepfakes’  and related digital scams are likely to be as much a problem (if not more so) than chatbot answers in the election process going forward.

Following the success of their partnership last year, Google has announced that it has acquired Cameyo, thereby enabling virtualised Windows apps to be integrated into ChromeOS.

Why?

Google says that its research (such as a new Forrester study) has highlighted a “fundamental shift in how businesses operate”. Google says that businesses are now turning to “web-based applications” to unlock significant advantages over their competitors, such as “security, reduced costs, and enhanced user experiences”. The Forrester study referenced by Google shows for example that “90 per cent of IT respondents envision a world where applications reside in the cloud, not on the desktop” and that “seventy-eight percent of respondents indicated that companies that don’t embrace the web will be left behind”.

Cameyo? 

Cameyo, a US-based company, formed in 2018, specialises in virtual application delivery, i.e. they create software solutions that enable users to access Windows and internal web applications securely from the cloud, from any device, to help facilitate remote work and enhance productivity. For example, their technology means that Windows apps can be virtualised so that they can run on non-Windows machines and within web browsers. Cameyo essentially virtualises apps (such as popular Windows apps) and then serves them from a public cloud (like AWS), or a private cloud, alternatively an on-premises data-centre, or perhaps a hybrid cloud environment.

Last Year’s Partnership Leads To Acquisition This Year 

Last year’s partnership between Cameyo and Google led to the launch of a “seamless virtual application delivery experience fully integrated with ChromeOS”. This means that Cameyo’s technology has enabled virtual Windows apps to be integrated within (and run within) Google’s ChromeOS. This enabled local file system integration and the ability to deliver virtual apps as progressive web apps (PWAs) and enhanced clipboard support, providing improved functionality for copying and pasting text, images, or other data between different applications or environments (between virtual or remote desktop environments).

Google said the partnership was “incredibly successful” and has now announced that as a result, it has acquired Cameyo.

How This Helps Businesses 

For Business users of the ChromeOS, the acquisition of Cameyo and the integration of its technology with ChromeOS could help them accelerate their adoption of web-based technology by:

– Simplifying application deployment. Virtualised apps can, for example, be easily deployed and accessed across the business, regardless of device or location. This means ChromeOS users can get greater access to Windows apps without the hassle of complex installations or updates. It also gets around the issue of half of apps still suffering the limitations of being client-based (Forrester).

– Enhancing security. Google says both ChromeOS and Cameyo provide “zero trust security”, and together deliver deep protection of data and systems from vulnerabilities.

– Improving productivity. By using virtual cloud-based apps, employees can access the apps they need quickly and easily as a PWA directly from the ChromeOS shelf (a taskbar at the bottom of the ChromeOS screen), without the frustration of compatibility issues, slow performance, or virtual desktops to navigate.

– Reducing IT costs. The streamlining of application management, support processes, and the removing infrastructure requirements may translate to significant cost savings over time.

What Will The Move Do For Google?

The move by Google to gain control of the integration of Cameyo’s technology (by acquiring Cameyo) is likely to help Google make its ChromeOS more attractive to the lucrative business and education markets by simplifying access to their most used apps, whether they work with Windows and ChromeOS, or they move away from Windows. It will also mean that Google owning Cameyo will keep its technology out of the hands of competitors, thereby giving Google a competitive advantage.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Google’s acquisition of Cameyo could bring substantial benefits to both companies and their users. For Google, integrating Cameyo’s virtual application delivery technology into ChromeOS could strengthen its position in the business and education markets. By enabling seamless access to Windows applications on ChromeOS, Google will make its platform more versatile and appealing to organisations that rely on a mix of web-based and legacy applications. This move may not only enhance ChromeOS’s functionality but also align with the growing trend towards cloud-based applications, reinforcing Google’s commitment to innovation and flexibility in the workplace.

For Cameyo, becoming part of Google will mean an expanded reach and the resources to further develop and enhance its technology. The integration into Google’s ecosystem will provide Cameyo with a broader platform to demonstrate the value of its virtual application delivery solutions, potentially reaching millions of new users. This acquisition will likely accelerate Cameyo’s growth and innovation, allowing them to leverage Google’s extensive infrastructure and market presence.

Business users of ChromeOS are likely to experience significant advantages from this acquisition. The ability to access virtualised Windows applications directly from ChromeOS simplifies application deployment and management. This means businesses can avoid the complexities of traditional software installations and updates, leading to smoother operations and reduced IT overheads. Enhanced security through zero-trust frameworks ensures that data and systems are better protected, addressing one of the primary concerns of modern enterprises.

Also, the improved productivity facilitated by Cameyo’s technology allows employees to work more efficiently. They can access necessary applications quickly, without compatibility issues or performance slowdowns. This ease of access is further supported by features like enhanced clipboard support and integration with the ChromeOS shelf, making everyday tasks perhaps more seamless and intuitive.

Ultimately, the acquisition appears to be a potential strategic win for Google, Cameyo, and business users alike. It represents a step towards a more integrated, secure, and productive work environment, leveraging the strengths of both cloud-based and legacy applications. As businesses continue to evolve and embrace digital transformation, the combined capabilities of Google and Cameyo could help provide another way to boost future growth and innovation.

At Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC24), the company announced the launch of its new, standalone, homegrown, password manager app for iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro, Mac and Windows.

The free app, simply called ‘Passwords’, an extension of Apple’s iCloud Keychain feature, is set to debut with iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS 15, and is designed to streamline and enhance password management for Apple users.

The ‘Passwords’ app can store and sync passwords, passkeys, and two-factor authentication codes across Apple devices and Windows PCs, organise logins into categories, autofill usernames and passwords, and generate new passwords. Apple’s new ‘Passwords’ app is already being hailed as a rival to password managers like 1Password, LastPass, and Dashlane.

Google has announced that Google Maps Timeline (formerly known as Location History) data will be stored locally on users’ devices instead of their Google account (in the Cloud) from December 1, 2024. Timeline helps users track routes, trips, and places they have been to over time if Location History and Web & App Activity settings are enabled.

The change, first announced in December 2023, is understood to be a move to help with user privacy and control of their data, e.g. following allegations that Google misled consumers and illegally tracked their movements despite turning off Location History, and to reduce the risk of unauthorised access and data breaches.

Also, the move may help Google to comply with increasing data protection regulations. Google says, however, that since the data shown on a user’s Timeline comes directly from their device, Timeline won’t be available on Maps on the user’s computer after their data is moved to their phone but there is the option for users to back up Timeline data to the cloud with end-to-end encryption.