Instagram is starting a new live test and is launching the Map Search feature for the first time. Did the social app copy again from Snapchat?
Good news for all business owners: Instagram is now officially experimenting with a new map search feature. The social platform with its function in Australia and New Zealand is the first to go into the test phase. With the new map feature, users can find companies listed within the app as well as publicly viewable posts about the location. Restaurants, shops or other shopping options can also be found via hashtag. That is, there is a user #Takeaway on Map Search, it will show you where to find takeaway products in your area.
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The new feature can be called up via an icon next to the search bar in the Discover tab. It is obvious that this can be very practical not only for private users. An Australian business operator told the online magazine Mumbrella:
We’re excited about the launch of Map Search. Instagram is such a big platform that despite being a Redfern local of more than three years, we have some neighbours that are only just discovering us now. Map Search could also be a helpful tool to someone who just moved into a new neighbourhood for discovering cafes and restaurants around them.
Map Search: Instagram copies Snapchat again
It’s no secret that Facebook has taken inspiration from the competition for the feature development of its own platforms at one point or another. The social group recently copied the functionality of the trend app TikTok and turned it into the short video format Reels for Instagram. Now it seems to have hit Snapchat again. Because after Facebook already cloned the stories and made them a success feature, the Map Search feature is now also using the Snap Map copied. Here users can search for companies, restaurants and popular places using the same principle. The map feature is very popular in the innovation app. Information provided by Snap Inc., the company behind Snapchat, said 250 million people will use the Snap Map in the second quarter of 2021. Facebook could expect usage in the same area for the new search map.
It is still unclear when the map function for Instagram will also come to Germany.
