Google adds wait times to local results in search and maps

Wait times for some local listings, such as restaurants, are Google’s latest addition to its local search results, appearing when people view those listings in web search. Eventually, this information will appear on Google Maps, as well.

The new feature will appear near the popular times information, which currently shows users how busy a venue is at a particular time and day. Like the popular times feature, wait time estimates are based on anonymized historical data.

In that section, an estimated current wait time — for that very moment — will appear. Users can then tap on any of the chart’s hour bars, and will see the estimated wait for the selected time period. People can also scroll left and right to see a summary of each day’s wait times below the hour bars — so they can plan ahead to beat the crowds.

Here is a GIF of it in action:

About The Author

Barry Schwartz

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry's personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.