‘Navigate’ query prompts Google to ask, ‘Where do you want to go?’

A new one-box answer now gives you quick access to driving directions in Google Maps.

Chat with SearchBot

Google Navigate Open

Go to Google and search for [navigate] or [navigation] or [directions] or something similar and you will get a direct answer/one box result at the top asking you “where do you want to go?”

Google will then ask you to enter in your starting point and destination and then show you a map of the trip, as well as a link into Google Maps for driving directions.

Google Navigate Complete

Why does this matter? For one, this helps searchers quickly get directions and see overviews of their upcoming travel. But it also can impact GPS services like TomTom and Garmin who try to rank well in Google for searches like navigation and others. This new smart answer pushes down the web results and shows Google’s own service above it.


About the author

Barry Schwartz
Staff
Barry Schwartz is 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 can be followed on Twitter here.

Get the must-read newsletter for search marketers.