Free: Assessment Does your website build trust with buyers and bring in revenue?

Score My Website
Close

Free: Assessment

Does your website build trust with buyers and bring in revenue?
Take this free 6 question assessment and learn how your website can start living up to its potential.
Score My Website
Search Engine Optimization  |   News

Google to roll out new privacy options for Maps

Vin Gaeta

By Vin Gaeta

Oct 7, 2019

Google to roll out new privacy options for Maps

You heard that right, “Incognito Mode” is finally coming to Google Maps! 

Way back in May at its I/O event, Google mentioned privacy options coming soon to allow users to better control their data. 

One of the major items on that privacy option checklist was rolling out Incognito Mode for Google Maps — which will be coming to Android later this month and iPhone shortly after that.

Currently, there is no Incognito Mode option — the only way to navigate without your searches being tracked in Maps is to physically log out of your Google Account.  

What it means

Previously, you could technically use Maps without signing in, which is basically the same thing as using Incognito Mode. The update simply allows you to toggle back and forth more easily — without having to sign in and out of your account. 

All of the geolocation data for targeting your ads and campaigns is still saved, but what the update actually hides is location search history, whether you actually traveled there or just searched it.

Google Maps also won’t utilize these locations for personalization. So, if you go into Incognito Mode and search a local jeweler, for instance, you won’t be bombarded with engagement ring ads. (This happened to me and almost blew the surprise!)

Fret not. The tracking and analytics sourced from Google Maps will still be collected for non-Incognito Mode users in aggregate, so this won’t completely impact targeted ads. Rather, this update is really about users being able to control how their data is collected.InCognito Mode.gif

The gif above from Google shows how easy it is to turn Incognito Mode on and off in the new update. Simply tap your user icon, and switch to Incognito Mode — and vice versa.

It does appear that the “use Maps without an account” option will be removed, likely due to the overlap with Incognito Mode. 

What this means for you

On the marketing side, this update doesn’t affect a whole lot. Data is still going to be collected on the backend in aggregate from those not using Incognito Mode. Thus, there’s no direct impact on Google’s ability to collect location information for analytics — or even target ads based on location.  

To remove all of that geek-speak, don’t freak out. The information you need to target campaigns and ads will largely remain unaffected by this update.  Local businesses, too, need not worry. 

On the human side of things, any update that allows users to control more of their privacy is a good thing for consumers. Steps such as this help to promote trust and confidence in brands and platforms — especially during a time when we’re all rightfully skeptical as to what our data is being used for

All that being said, the update is a step in the right direction for users to be able to control how their data is being tracked. Location data can be extremely helpful to give you the fasted route around traffic or to deliver ad campaigns to folks in a specific area. However, it can also be a bit creepy when you’re being targeted locally for a random search you made in Maps — when all you wanted to do was find a jeweler! 

Free: Assessment

Does your website build trust with buyers and bring in revenue?
Take this free 6 question assessment and learn how your website can start living up to its potential.

Related Articles

Content Marketing and AI-Powered Generative Search

September 20, 2023
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

9 SEO Best Practices for Stronger Organic Traffic in 2023

November 18, 2022
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Video SEO: How To Optimize Videos To Drive Traffic to Your Website

May 9, 2022
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

37 Eye-opening SEO Statistics To Nail Your 2022 Search Strategy

April 28, 2022
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

10 Reasons Why Your Website Is Not Ranking In Google

February 10, 2022
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Google Shares New Tools to Audit Website User Experience

August 12, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Google: Website Content Quality More Important Than Quantity

August 10, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

How Long Tail Keyword Research Can Drive Business

August 9, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

How to Optimize Videos On Your Business Website for Search

July 23, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Google: 'Here's how to prepare for the future private web'

July 16, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Too many internal links in content can confuse Google about site structure

July 9, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Google July 2021 core update rolling out over next 2 weeks

July 2, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Inbound Marketing Help: My Traffic And Leads Are Down. What Can I Do?

June 28, 2021
John Becker John Becker

Finally, Google page experience core update is rolling out

June 18, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

What is a Featured Snippet? [Definition + Examples]

June 10, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Google June 2021 core update live, July core update coming

June 4, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Google's June page experience core update will be mobile first, then desktop

May 21, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Google confirms demise of Q&A search feature, Question Hub lives on

April 26, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Big Google algorithm update moved to June with new performance report

April 21, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

No, changing page publish dates won't increase Google search rankings

April 10, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Google: 'zero-click search' claims and data 'misleading'

April 5, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

3 quick SEO fixes that will increase your website rankings right away

March 30, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

10 Google Analytics metrics you absolutely must track (updated)

March 29, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Meet the new Google My Business review management view

March 20, 2021
Vin Gaeta Vin Gaeta

Google Ads help: Top 10 reasons your Google Ads campaigns are failing

March 10, 2021
Jason Linde Jason Linde