When you go to an unknown city for either vacation or personal reasons, one important item to have is a map. A map will help to prevent you from getting lost while you explore the places you aren’t familiar with. As the 21st century is a digital world, you can find help for everything on the web. This includes maps.
Google Maps is an online map, which since its launch in February 2005, has become one of the world’s most popularly used web services and applications today. Google Maps works just as a regular map does with just slight variations due to its digitalization. You can access Google Maps from a device with an online connection or the application on a smartphone. This web service gives you routes to your preferred location.
You could decide to go anywhere. This could be a business place, a mall, a bus station, a park, etc. Once you put in the address or name of any place, an icon will display on a map showing their location and how near or far it is from you. The map shown can be zoomed in and out to show more details about the route you will be taking.
The map will give you information about how much time will be spent if you are going by foot or by car or public transport or a bike (based on the city you’re in). In the case of public transport, it has some drawbacks because it does not show bus lines in many cities. It gives VTC options like Uber or Taxify (based on the city or the service). Sometimes, you may want to drop a pin on a location on Google Maps to allow you to easily find it in the future. For such a scenario, this article covers how to drop a pin on Google Maps.
Advantages of Google Maps
Google Maps comes with a number of perks that makes it loved by many. Some of these advantages are outlined below –
Detailed results
Google Maps shows the location of cities, towns, state boundaries, and satellite images. It gives reviews of restaurants. It shows geographical features and street view perspectives. The Street View feature allows you to see houses and stores from a driver’s viewpoint. There are museums, airports, and some facilities that Google Maps has the interior layout of and they provide all this information publicly.
Sharing
It is possible to share locations on maps or planned routes with associates or family and friends. It is also possible to include information from Google Maps in emails. It is possible to share maps from your social media account.
Different means of transportation
Google Maps give detailed information and directions made by car, foot, bike, or public transportation. For some cities, the map service provides the bus and train schedule which includes their transfer points and bus stops. For air transportation and longer trips, Google Maps provides airline information. These will include carriers and ticket prices.
For Business Purposes
To increase your business visibility in local SEO rankings, Google Maps can serve as a tool. You can build a file in My Business (another Google-owned service). Fill it with contact information or more if you have a physical office or workplace for your business. Following this process will enable your business to be brought up whenever a search is made about a particular sector.
Google Maps functions smoothly and continuously on a webpage thereby permitting navigation. This can happen without leaving the website. So even if you do not have a My Business file, it becomes important to help clients with a detailed map. A very detailed and personalized map will be essential in such cases.
Disadvantages of Google Maps
Some of the downsides of using Google Maps are as follows:
Occasional Inaccuracy
Google Maps may give errors in their directions or information at times. They may sometimes produce a route that will not take you to the expected destination. For instance, Google Maps may not have been updated to show the recent changes in remote areas. It also does not have immediate information such as roads blocked by recent construction activities, roads blocked by flood or other weather conditions, roads that are not in good condition, etc. These can cause Google Maps to give inaccurate information sometimes.
Criminal Implementation
Google Maps is a free web service that is available to everyone and anyone. Unfortunately, these include thieves and criminals. Because of the immediate details, some features like the street view provides, thieves can spot valuables brought to others through open spaces. Criminals have also made applications of satellite images to scan areas where they are willing to attack or break into houses. They have also used this web service to generate alternate escape routes after committing a crime.
Offensive Material
Google Maps provides extra information. The images from street view and public material are disturbing and Google has to take action and tear them down. For instance, criminal behavior is occasionally caught in images on the street view camera. Nauseating images and racist comments have been made on the maps themselves.
Drop a Pin on Google Maps
The ‘drop a pin’ feature on Google Maps enables you to find directions or routes to the point you dropped a pin, from anywhere in the world. This is one of the significance of Google Maps. It is used by selecting formerly pinned locations. If the address is unseen from an overview, you can zoom in, change the camera view, find the location, and pin it.
Those who regularly make searches and inquiries for different routes while transporting can easily pick their desired locations that have already been pinned on Google Maps. They then start receiving directions from the Map service. You can also share locations on social media, via e-mail, or instant messaging to your contacts. You are required to download a route for offline use. So, the question is how do you drop a pin on Google Maps?
How to Drop a Pin on Google Maps
Because of the diversity of operating systems in the digital world today we shall be learning how to drop a pin on the two most leading OS: Android and IOS, as well as on Desktop devices.
For Android Devices
You are not limited to the number of places you can pin on Google Maps. You can pick your desired pinned area and plan roads to get there quickly based on weather solutions. When you have a map showing you how to reach a destination, you know how much time is spent whenever you reach that location.
It is possible too to create a list containing favorite locations or frequently visited areas. This is because you can easily select a location from the list and begin to receive directions to that venue. To drop a pin on Android –
In the search here box, write the name of the area or location you wish to pin
Zoom in and search till you find the location
On the location, a long press and an option stated like ‘dropped pin’ will appear
Click on that option
You can choose to label your pin after you have dropped it. The app allows you to save the drop location with your desired label
Whenever you choose to label, you can find that option at the bottom right corner when a pin has been dropped
For IOS Devices
Google Maps essentially works the same way on IOS and android.
For Desktop
The Google Map homepage looks exactly the same way on a desktop as it does on a mobile device. You can find nearby pharmacies, restaurants, libraries and more with simple steps. To drop a pin on a desktop –
Look for the precise location on the map by zooming in (or out) using the '+' and '-‘ buttons
Left click on that point to open a box containing info about the location, which will pop up at the bottom of the screen
Click on the box to see more options on the left hand side. The options can help you find nearby locations, send location, find directions to the pin and so much more
To save the location, click on ‘save’ and choose the folder you want it to be saved
To send the location to your mobile device, click on ‘send to your phone’ and a box will pop up with different options. These options include your email ID, phone number, mobile name etc
Choose the preferred option
Sending a Dropped Pin Location
At times, you may want to share your pinned location with others. Follow these instructions, if you want to send a dropped pin location –
After you drop a pin on a location, you will see a ‘share’ option at the bottom right-hand part of your screen.
By copy-pasting the location and other methods, you can share the pin with whoever you chose.
Final Thoughts
With its updates, you can now find locations instantly with the Google Maps app and you can drop a pin on it. Dropping a pin is essential to mark out points in a frequently taken route. Plus, you can share your pin info with anyone. No doubt, Google Maps has significance to an individual and business venture.