A few days ago, my roommate ordered a Vietnamese sub from a restaurant (Truong Thanh Restaurant in Vancouver) for the two of us through an app on his phone which allows home delivery. Note, he used ‘his’ phone. Mobile delivery methods are becoming increasingly popular and most restaurants now offer custom apps.
Location Intelligence In Action
Later that day, after the food was brought to the house, I got a notification from Google. It was asking if I could answer a few quick questions about Truong Thanh Restaurant. Here is a screenshot of my phone with this notification - While this instance inches closer to the ‘creepy’ line, it is something to delve into.
Mapping Based On Addresses
The reason I received this notification is that the food delivery address is marked as ‘home address’ on my phone.
The app that was used to order the food must have been integrated with Google in some way - maybe simply with Google Analytics.
Since Google understood that this food was delivered to my home address, it assumed that I was ordering this meal.
A Growing Trend
I have noticed on numerous occasions now that when I enter a new restaurant, I get a similar notification urging me to answer a few quick questions.
This is a result of location intelligence and the efforts of Google to continue improving maps, local content, and data tracking.
Room For Improvement
However, they must still have a few of their initiatives in testing phases. I should not have received that notification on my phone.
I mean, what if there are 4 people living in a house, each with the home address marked on their phone. If one of them places an individual order, are all 4 members going to get this notification?
The testing phase is used to uncover such challenges and then modify a program accordingly. But I thought this was a great, real-life example to share with regards to the use of location intelligence.
Also, I was skeptical about having a Vietnamese Sub but it turned out to be absolutely delicious!
