Instagram is launching a new product in Australia which displays a map featuring popular tagged locations around them.
The tool, Map Search, makes it easier for users to find small businesses in their area. The tool is being launched in select markets, including Australia and New Zealand, but Instagram says it hopes to expand it around the globe.
Map Search can be accessed by a new icon on Instagram’s Explore page. Once nearby places are shown on the map, users can then filter them by categories such as restaurants and beauty salons.
Results for Map Search will also be displayed when users search for certain hashtags, such as #takeaway.
Map Search on Instagram
Instagram is billing the tool as a way to support small businesses who have been hit hard by the pandemic. More than 200 million businesses around the globe use Instagram each month.
“The majority of our customers are on Instagram, so when we decided to change our whole operation from face-to-face to online-only during lockdown, Instagram allowed us to communicate with our customers in an efficient and visual way,” says Kenneth Rodrigueza, founder and director of Redfern-based Donut Papi.
“We’re excited about the launch of Map Search. Instagram is such a big platform that despite being a Redfern local for more than three years, we have some neighbours that are only just discovering us now. Map Search could also be a helpful tool to someone who just moved into a new neighbourhood for discovering cafes and restaurants around them.”
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