The new feature allows you to search for places and businesses to discover by looking for them directly on the map, nearby or anywhere in the world
There's a new feature on Instagram, and it's arrived in Italy too: it's called "Search on the Map" and it's a sort of Google My Business in social sauce. As the name suggests, the new Instagram feature is used to find places to discover, nearby or anywhere in the world.
And discovering a place, for a true Instagrammer, means photographing it with plenty of hashtags. In fact, the social interaction of users in a given place is the key factor that makes a given place appear, or not appear if the interaction is low, on the map. If many Instagram users post photos taken in a place, then, that place is much more likely to appear among the first that the social suggests when we search on the map. A little artificial intelligence and a whole lot of hashtags #restaurant, #sushi, #bar and the like, on the other hand, allow Instagram to group points of interest by category.
How to use Search on the Map
The new Search on the Map feature is accessible to all users, in two ways: the first is by tapping on the map icon in the top right corner (it's new, if you don't see it yet update the app), the second is by doing a normal search by hashtag and then tapping on the map that appears at the top of the screen with the results.
At this point, simply tap the map to explore the various points of interest (commercial, artistic, scenic, and so on) and to find new places to go. It's clear that if a place is little frequented by Instagram users, the results offered will be less.
What's the use Search on the map
The new feature is already available in Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal, in the future it will come to other countries. Indirectly, therefore, it will also have a touristic value: by searching for generic hashtags, or directly on the map (it is also possible to move around, you don't just see the attractions nearby), it will in fact be possible to discover new places when we are on vacation.
It is clear that this new function also has strong commercial implications: in a first phase we will probably see a boom of activity on Instagram by owners of accommodation and catering businesses, and communication agencies, in a second phase it is likely that sponsored results will appear among the first ones shown in Search on the map.