Google Brings Google Maps Indoors to Malls, Airports

Google has announced that Google Maps 6.0 will help you figure out your location and where you want to go while you're inside.

Google Maps has become a massively useful tool for when we're visiting new cities, driving through an unfamiliar part of town or trying to find the nearest subway station. However, the tool has always been more of an outdoors thing. Sure, it can tell you where you are on the streets of Los Angeles and how far away from Dodgers' stadium you are, but you're on your own if you're planning to spend the day shopping at the Beverly Center. At least, until today, you were.

"When you’re inside an airport, shopping mall or retail store, a common way to figure out where you are is to look for a freestanding map directory or ask an employee for help," writes Brian McClendon, VP of Engineering, Google Earth and Maps. "Starting today, with the release of Google Maps 6.0 for Android, that directory is brought to the palm of your hands, helping you determine where you are, what floor you're on, and where to go indoors."

Now, if you zoom in close on a building, detailed floor maps will automatically appear where indoor map data is available. The floor plan will change if you go up or down a level in the building and the familiar blue dot that so many of us trust to get us to dinner on top will indicate your location accurate to within several meters. Check out this before and after example from Mall of America:

At the moment, the feature is only in place for roughly 60 places (retailers and airports) in the United States and Japan, but Google will continually add new indoor maps to public buildings across the world. Business owner interested in getting their location’s floor plan included in Google Maps can visit maps.google.com/floorplans for more information.