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What’s Google doing to help you find a parking spot?

Answer: predicting how bad the parking is at your destination

While it won’t tell you whether a space is actually available, Google Maps’ new feature will identify how difficult it may be to find parking at your destination based on “historical parking data.”

The new function is similar to one Google introduced last fall that tells users in real time how busy a restaurant, store or other location is. The new parking feature isn’t able to give current parking conditions, but uses the search engine’s massive database to predict whether parking difficulty will be “Limited,” “Medium” or “Easy” once a destination is input into the app.

The option is currently only available on Google Maps for Android, and the company is initally launching the feature in 25 U.S. metro areas, including San Francisco, Chicago and Boston.
 
Lauren Kinkade is the managing editor for Government Technology magazine. She has a degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and more than 15 years’ experience in book and magazine publishing.