• Google is working on a feature on Google Maps that could suggest stops for you based on ads you’re being fed.
We’re all aware of how our electronic devices are “listening in” on us. Conversations, search engine searches, ads that appear on streaming services, and it goes on – all those are being registered somewhere.
Get ready for more intrusion. Google has been working for some years on a “content-aware audio navigation” function. This would suggest destinations based on the ads you hear on the radio or podcasts you listen to, as demonstrated by a recently discovered patent application.
That application, first spotted by the Auto Evolution outlet, was filed in 2020 by Google, but was not published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) until this week.
The new feature would be able to do is analyze the audio content being played to suggest new destinations. For example, you're driving through a city and an ad for a restaurant chain comes on. Google could then take advantage of a pause in the content broadcast to vocally suggest a stop at that location. The system could then direct drivers to the new suggested destination.
The challenge, of course, is the superimposition of audio sources. You may have already experienced a situation where you use voice recognition to give a command to the vehicle at the same time as the navigation system is giving a directive. The system hears two sources of information, which distorts the data and often cancels out your instructions. That's why Google is reportedly looking at using pauses in streaming to broadcast the suggestions.
The system could then direct drivers to the new destination if desired.
Google is also considering enabling the system to “listen” to local radio ads to suggest destinations.
Fortunately, it appears that users would be able to opt out of this feature if it is ever integrated into a future Google Maps update. Some users might not appreciate being force-fed suggestions to destinations they have no intention of visiting, based on ads they did not ask to hear in the first place.
On the positive side, the system could prove useful, for example on a trip to discover a city, with the system suggesting stops based on local advertising.