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Part of our series on how to save time this holiday season with Google Maps.

It’s crunch time. There are holiday parties to attend and last-minute gifts to be bought and wrapped. When the holidays are only days away even the small things can make a difference. So here’s another helpful trick for how you can save a few extra minutes every time you use Google Maps for directions or navigation.

You can save your home and work addresses in Google Maps, and then select “home” or “work” rather than typing the locations every single time. Just go to “your places” on the side menu and you’ll see “home” and “work” under “labeled places”. Enter the address for each and next time you’re navigating to or from home or work, you can get your directions a little quicker and easier than before.

Every minute matters. Save more every day with Maps Minutes Hacks. Next up: how to get home fast and safe on New Year’s Eve.

Posted by Olga Suvorova, Product Marketing Manager, Google Maps

Part of our series on how to save time this holiday season with Google Maps.

This time of year, millions take a road trip home for the holidays or adventure to faraway places all over the world. Whether you’re traveling abroad or rediscovering your own hometown, it helps to be able to navigate quickly and easily, even with limited mobile data or a spotty internet connection.

Google Maps offline, now available on iOS and Android, can help you get the most out of your holiday travels. You can browse pre-downloaded map areas, search for places, get directions and turn-by-turn navigation–all offline. Because exploring the world shouldn’t require a data connection or excessive roaming charges.

To navigate offline, simply open the Google Maps app and save any area on the map while you have a connection. Search for a place like San Francisco or Mexico City, open the place card and tap the download button. You can adjust the size of the map area you want to download and name it. Once downloaded, that area will be automatically added to your Offline areas in the side menu.

Once you’ve saved a map area, you can search for places and get directions offline. Looking for that famous art gallery or a neighborhood watering hole? You can check out addresses, opening hours, phone numbers and even navigate there–all without internet access.

To explore and navigate the world offline, install the Google Maps app on your iPhone before your holiday journey, or open it on Android along the way.

Get the most of your holiday time with Maps Minutes Hacks. Next up: how to get around faster and safer.

Posted by Dai Pham, Head of Geo and Google Maps Marketing

Part of our series on how to save time this holiday season with Google Maps.

If you’re headed out on vacation, visiting friends and family in a new city or re-discovering your old favorite places over the holidays, this one’s for you. With the Explore feature, available on both Android and iOS, you’ll feel like a local no matter where you are this holiday season.

Android experience
Android users in the U.S. can simply open Google Maps and tap “Explore food & drinks near you” at the bottom of the screen to see local recommendations. You can get results for breakfast, lunch, coffee, dinner and drinks among curated lists like “Where the locals go” or “Best spots for dinner with kids.” Once you’ve tapped on a list, you can swipe through place cards with more details like ratings, review snippets and distance from your location. Pick a place to see the address, up-to-date open hours, popular times, Street View imagery and more.

iOS experience
On iOS, just open the Google Maps app and tap on “Explore around you” at the bottom of the map to see recommendations of places to indulge and imbibe along with places to see and things to do. iPhone users can sort their options by how long it would take to walk or drive to the destinations as well as time of day. Curated lists range from “Local favorites” to “Quick bites” to a special “Featured by Zagat” option. The “Play & see” list will show you places to go like museums, historical monuments, live music venues and more. Simply scroll through the place cards to see abbreviated info and tap on your favorite to get more details.

Whether you’re using Android or iOS, save time this holiday season by checking the up-to-date open hours to make sure you don’t arrive to find a closed sign in the window and reviewing the popular times to avoid holiday crowds.

Make the most of your time with Maps Minutes hacks. Next up: searching for places and getting turn-by-turn directions—all while offline.

Posted by Olga Suvorova, Product Marketing Manager, Google Maps

Part of our series on how to save time this holiday season with Google Maps.

Forget the eggnog for a holiday party? On the road to grandma’s and need to gas up along the way? Or maybe you need to pick up a last-minute gift on the way to your in-laws’ house?

One poorly planned pit stop can add a lot of time to your trip – especially during the holidays when crowds can be bigger and traffic heavier. The good news is that Google Maps can help you make quick pit stops without long detours.

Here’s how it works: When you’re in navigation mode, simply tap the magnifying glass at the top right corner in the app. Pick a category from the drop down menu and you’ll see a few options, along with ratings of businesses, prices at gas stations, and how much time the detour will add to your trip. Once you choose a place, the stop is automatically incorporated into your route. Can’t type and tap while driving? You can use voice commands instead.

Every minute counts. Save more time with Google Maps hacks. Next up: turn-by-turn navigation even when you’re offline.

Posted by Dai Pham, Head of Geo and Google Maps Marketing

You may have used Street View to tour the canals of Venice, gazed in wonder at the ice fjords in Greenland, or gone on a virtual safari in Samburu. But did you know Street View can also be a useful sidekick for travel and shopping this holiday season? Now, airports and shopping malls may not be as dramatic to look at as the Pyramids of Giza, but using Street View in your Google Maps app for Android or iOS, gives you a preview of your journey or shopping destination before you head out, reducing some holiday season anxiety. Just check out this map of global airports, transit stations and shopping malls so you can know before you go.

Whether you’re hopping on a flight in Mexico City, managing a tight layover in Madrid, navigating through check-in in San Jose, experiencing a delay in Osaka, or trying to find the quickest exit route to bask in the glorious sun in Bali, Street View gives you a look at the corridors, check-in counters, baggage claims, airport terminals and shops before you land. Pro tip: it’s also a great way to scope out nearby bathrooms if you’re traveling with kids!

If you’re planning to take the train, navigate through Victoria Station in London, Keikyu Shinagawa Station in Tokyo, Milano Centrale in Italy, and Seoul Station in Korea (to name a few!), so you can be one step ahead, whether you’re with a group of friends, family or a baby stroller.

Navigating holiday shopping crowds is never easy. Getting a preview of your shopping destination can save you some time. See the shops before you hit the road, and decide which end of the mall you want to visit, whether you’re picking up gifts at the Strand Arcade in Sydney, Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi or Westgate Center in San Jose, California.

Don’t let seasonal stress get you down during holidays. With Street View in Google Maps on your Android or iOS device, whether you’re trying to navigate smooth travels or tackling shopping madness, you can see how to get where you’re going faster and easier, and hopefully save a little time. Happy holidays!

  Posted by Deanna Yick, Street View Program Manager

Part of our series on how to save time this holiday season with Google Maps.

Whether you’re looking for restaurants open on Christmas Eve, trying to avoid crowds at the gym for a year-end workout, or wondering if you’ll make it before the store closes to grab that last minute gift–Google Maps has you covered.

This year we launched a few updates to the Google Maps app on both Android and iOS that give you up-to-date information about millions of businesses, saving you time both on your holiday to-do list and in your everyday tasks.

Here are some of our favorites:

• Holiday hours. Not only does Google Maps provide up-to-date open hours for businesses, but it also now shows special holiday hours. When you search for a place and a major holiday is within the next seven days, Google Maps tells you whether it has a special schedule.

• Popular times. Avoid long lines at the store by checking out how busy it is before you leave. For many businesses–from restaurants to shops to museums–you can scroll down on the business information page to find the days a place is most popular, and the busiest times on those days.

• “Closing soon” alerts. Google Maps can help save you a wasted trip. When you search for and navigate to a place, Google Maps will show an alert if your destination is closed, or will be by the time you arrive.

Make the most of your time with Maps Minutes hacks. Next up: finding your way through the crowds with Street View by just dropping a pin.

Posted by Olga Suvorova, Product Marketing Manager, Google Maps

Editor’s note: Today’s post is guest authored by Joel Heath, Executive Director of the Arctic Eider Society.

The Arctic Eider isn’t just any duck. The feather of this sea-ice dweller is the warmest in the world—a marvel of nature that allows the Eider duck to spend its winters in one of the most remote and frozen habitats on the planet. And now—thanks to Google Maps, the Inuit community of Sanikiluaq and our small environmental charity the Arctic Eider Society—people from around the world can explore this extraordinary and fragile part of Canadian geography that the Arctic Eider calls home.

The Trekker collects Street View imagery of a Polynya

Last winter, in -50 degree celsius winds, the Google Maps team traveled to the Belcher Islands in Hudson’s Bay and helped the Arctic Eider Society mount the Trekker on a snowmobile to collect stunning Street View imagery from nearby “polynyas”—bodies of open water that form in the sea ice. The polynyas act as an oasis of sorts, providing a habitat for wildlife like eiders who dive under the ice to feed on shellfish and sea urchins.

You’ll see from the images that it’s not just ducks up here in the cold. The Inuit of the Belcher Islands have also lived here for centuries. This community, a hamlet of just 850 people, has an important relationship with the eider duck—aside from providing them a traditional source of warmth and food, the bird’s feathers are ingrained in their history, used to create traditional parkas unique to the Inuit of this region.

The Arctic Eider duck takes flight in Street View

But this is an ecosystem under threat. The region has suffered from a lack of environmental stewardship, and the sensitive sea-ice—critical to the eiders and Inuit– is suffering as a result of hydroelectric development around Hudson Bay. Large die-off events of eiders and beluga whales have been occurring as changing ice conditions trap the animals until they starve or run out of air.

Our partnership with Google Maps is helping to support research programs designed to preserve these winter sea ice habitats. We’re combining imagery captured by the Trekker with data and knowledge from the local Inuit and Cree communities and mapping by the Arctic Eider Society to create a platform where we can all track and report on the local wildlife, together. This mix of new and old, combining indigenous knowledge with Google Street View and the Arctic Eider Society’s mapping, may be just what’s needed to address the impacts hydroelectricity heating is having on the bird that produces winter’s warmest feather.

Take a moment to visit Google Maps to better understand this amazing bird and the community who relies on it. Take an icy walk down the streets of Sanikiluaq, climb onto a snowmobile and explore the amazing sea-ice the Arctic Eider calls home. Eider down parka not required.

Posted by Joel Heath, Arctic Eider Society

To learn more about the unique relationship between the community of Sanikiluaq and the Arctic Eider, be sure to watch the critically acclaimed award winning film People of a Feather that started it all.

Part of our series on how to save time this holiday season with Google Maps.

The holiday season often means rushing around—both out on the roads and inside malls, airports and stores. Did you know that Google Maps can help you navigate both? Many malls, airports, museums and stadiums have indoor maps and floorplans in Google Maps so you can quickly find your way around and get to where you want to go.

Whether you want to locate that toy store in the mall, find the men’s shoe section in a department store, or track down a coffee shop on the way to your gate at the airport, indoor maps can help save you precious minutes.

Just zoom in to see the indoor floor plan of a building and search for places inside. Use the level switcher in the bottom left-hand corner to move from floor to floor.

During the hectic holiday season, indoor Google Maps can help you get the lay of the land and save time and hassle inside airports, malls, museums and sports venues. Check out locations with indoor floor plans, available on Android and iOS.

Minutes count. Save more with Google Maps hacks. Next up: running errands in no time with up-to-date information about businesses.

Posted by Dai Pham, Head of Geo and Google Maps Marketing

Santa doesn’t spread cheer across the globe all by himself. As soon as the first frost is on the mistletoe, hundreds of helpful elves work day and night to make sure jolly old St. Nick is ready for flight. Santa’s Village is a hub of activity as the elves code algorithms to tune Santa’s sleigh, translate “Happy Holidays” into Elvish and Danish, and practice their cartography with Dancer, Prancer, Donner and Vixen… all to get Santa ready for his trip around the world on December 24.

And you can join in. Visit the brand-new Santa’s Village every day to prep alongside the elves, test weather conditions with Rudolph, skydive with Santa, learn about holiday traditions like kallikántzari—little creatures from Greece that eat Christmas cookies—and much more. A new experience will appear each morning leading up to December 24. Here’s a peek at what you’ll unwrap in Santa’s Village:

Now before Santa flies like the dawn of a thistle, pay his village a visit—and help him and his elves get ready for the day Santa hits the clouds.

Posted by Sandy Russell, Santa Launch Strategist

This post is the first in a series about how you can use Google Maps to save time this holiday season.

Your time is finite. But what if you could save all the minutes you waste in traffic, standing in lines, or shopping and spend them on what you love?

In December when things sometimes get a tad bit crazier, make the most of the time you do have. In the next few weeks we’ll share simple Google Maps hacks you can use to save time during the holidays.

We’re starting with…traffic. Why? Because no one likes traffic. Whether you’re driving to your once-a-year family gathering or trying to get to the mall in time for last-minute shopping, beating bumper-to-bumper traffic just might be one of the best holiday gifts you receive this year.

Google Maps gives you the best route, based on real-time traffic and historic traffic information. All you need to do is hit the navigation button and Google Maps takes care of the rest. You’ll even get an explanation for why it’s the fastest route and updates when your ETA changes.

If you find yourself in a jam caused by an accident or construction, Google Maps lets you know how long you’ll be at a standstill and automatically re-routes you if there’s a faster path.

Every minute counts, so hit the road and enjoy the ride—Google Maps has your back this holiday season.

Stay tuned for more Maps Minutes hacks. Next up: flying through airports with indoor Google Maps.

Posted by Olga Suvorova, Product Marketing Manager, Google Maps

It’s that time of year again. Next week, tens of millions of us will hit the roads, consume millions of pounds of turkey, and then spend billions on Black Friday deals. Google Maps looked at Thanksgiving trends from the last three years to uncover the most useful information to make your holiday plans go a little bit easier. Whether you’re traveling, doing some last-minute grocery shopping, or Black Friday deal-dashing, here’s our day-by-day guide to braving the holiday crowds.

Tuesday: No travel day leading up to the holiday is going to be a breeze, but if you can, start driving Tuesday rather than Wednesday. Yes, it’s still the second-worst travel day of the week, but according to Google Maps searches, for the last three years Wednesday has been the worst travel day—with the exceptions of Boston (Tuesday), and Honolulu, Providence and San Francisco (all Saturday).

Wednesday: Americans are pretty predictable when it comes to the holidays: for the third year in a row, “ham shop” was the #1 trending destination search on Google Maps the day before Thanksgiving. Whether you’re running out to a ham shop, pie shop (#2), or liquor store (#3), make sure you don’t head all the way there just to find it closed. This year Google Maps and Google Search have added holiday hours, so when you search for a business, you’ll see its updated holiday schedule.

Thanksgiving Day: Maybe folks were put off by the trauma of last year’s burnt turkey? Nationwide, “buffet restaurants” were the #1 trending Google Maps term on Thanksgiving Day. But locally, folks were heading in other directions. In Houston, “doughnut shops” were trending on Thanksgiving. It was “bars” in Chicago— maybe people needed a break from their families. And Miami residents were interested in looking their holiday best—”beauty salons” were among the trending searches by the South Beach crowd.

Black Friday: The top Black Friday Google Maps trends nationwide were predictably of the “electronics store” and “outlet mall” variety—with “Christmas tree farms” not far behind as people looked ahead. Digging into local trends, however, things get more surprising. New Yorkers were on the hunt for tattoo shops, among other things, Angelenos for hookah bars, and people in Detroit spent their Black Friday on the lookout for hamburgers. Whether you’re in the market for a Christmas tree tat or shopping deals, here’s a tip: use the Explore feature on Google Maps to discover the stores, restaurants and local entertainment around you.

The weekend: Traffic patterns show that you’re better off driving home from a long weekend on Sunday rather than Saturday—traffic can be up to 40% worse on Saturday. And Google Maps will be with you all the way home, helping you check out gas prices and add detours to your route, without having to exit out of navigation.

Posted by Pierre Petronin, Google Maps

Picking the right place to go can be tough—whether you’re looking for a night out with friends, a quiet weekend away with family, or just a neighborhood coffee shop. To help make these decisions easier, we’re expanding the Local Guides program in Google Maps, which gives you the chance to share your discoveries directly to the map, making it more useful for everyone.

Local Guides is a global community that helps you explore the world while earning perks. Once you sign up, every place you contribute to in Google Maps earns you points towards unlocking something new—from early access to new products to exclusive contests and events, bonus Drive storage, and more.

You can earn points and level up by writing reviews, uploading photos, adding new places, fixing outdated information, and answering simple questions. Each contribution type is worth one point, so you can earn up to five points per place.

The more you contribute as a Local Guide, the more benefits you’ll enjoy. Here’s an overview of what you’ll unlock at each level:

• Level 1 (0 – 4 points): Enter exclusive contests (think new Google devices!) in select countries. 
• Level 2 (5 – 49 points): Get early access to new Google products and features. 
• Level 3 (50 – 199 points): Show up in the Google Maps app with your official Local Guides badge. 
• Level 4 (200 – 499 points): Receive a free 1 TB upgrade of your Drive storage, allowing you to keep all the stories, photos, and videos from your travels in one safe place. 
• Level 5 (500+ points): The very top Local Guides will become eligible to apply to attend our inaugural summit in 2016, where you’ll be able to meet other top Guides from around the world, explore the Google campus, and get the latest info about Google Maps. Look out for details early next year.

Posted by Mara Chomsky, Local Guides Community Management Lead