Launched in 2018, Google could abandon the “Followed Places” feature. The latter allows users to receive notifications from their favorite places.
If you are an avid Google Maps user, you may have lists with your favorite routes, but it is also possible that you follow certain places in order to receive their news. We learn via Android Authority that this functionality could disappear.
Follow me I run away
This feature launched in 2018 allowed you to follow your favorite places on Google and find different updates such as events at the location or even certain offers. Everything could be found in the “recorded” tab and the “follow-up” button. A functionality that does not seem to convince, the company having over time hidden this option in different locations until it disappeared. In any case, this indicates Android Authority after seeing seen in the v11.134.0103 beta version of Google Maps lines of code suggesting the removal of the functionality.
By going to Google Maps and based on different places searched, we no longer find the possibility of following a company. Google support documents also follow the approach: we no longer find traces of the functionality. There remains only a section helping you to “unfollow an establishment in Google Maps”. Rest assured, it is always possible to find the list of all the places you have visited in the past (if you have saved them) they are grouped together in the “saved” tab.
Google is not saying goodbye to its discovery possibilities: the only persistent tracking functionality is that of following the profiles of other users leaving reviews. You can find them in the “discover” tab or follow them in your “news” feed.
If this location tracking functionality disappears in 2025, the company nevertheless continues to develop its application and enrich its search experience. The company is preparing generative AI functionalities in order to best guide you in your searches based on the weather, for example.