Google adds business foot-traffic data to search

Consumers that want to avoid sharp elbows and waiting in line can now check out when a store is likely to be busy thanks to a new Google feature.

by Helen Leggatt

Google has unveiled a new feature that aims to help consumers save time and enhance their shopping experience by showing them a store's busiest times.

The information can be found by searching for a business. Results will now show not only a store's contact information and opening hours, but also a scrollable bar graph that shows foot-traffic fluctuations across the week, by hour, at the location being searched. However, while an idea of the ebb and flow of foot-traffic is illustrated, no guide is given to wait times.

To build the graphs, Google uses the same anonymized location data as it does for Google Maps traffic information. Therefore, the foot-traffic is an estimation because Google isn't able to ascertain how many people are inside a store or business at any one time.

Not only is the new feature handy for consumers, but it could perhaps also help retailers. If consumers know to avoid a location during busy hours, the workload and performance of businesses could be improved by evening out foot-traffic throughout the day, and week