An Uber Ride Won't Be Booked Directly From Google Maps

According to a blog post from Google, the company has removed the ‘Request a ride’ feature in the Google Maps app. This means from now on, users can no longer book an Uber ride directly from the map service. Instead, for those who are in need of booking a cab have to do it separately in the Uber app. Until now, both Google and Uber have not stated any reasons about the removal of this feature.

The ‘Request a ride’ feature had dated back to 2016 when Google introduced it to let its users book a ride directly from Maps for the first time. As a part of it, the tech giant partnered up with Uber and Ola, which are the most popular ride-hailing platforms in India at present. Users were able to search the direction to their own destination, then book a ride from Google Maps itself. The feature makes users easily send a request to ride-hailing platforms without switching between apps. Thanks to the old feature, users could save a lot of time looking for directions as well as making an appropriate choice of booking.

Now, Google Maps will still show you the direction to your destination and also an estimated fare. However, you will need to register your ride with Uber app separately. This will consume a lot of time because you will have to follow the process when the ease of booking had not been made. Without the integration of ‘Request a ride’, it’s likely to get a little awkward for those who get used to with the feature.

In case you try to book a ride, the map service will prompt a "You can no longer book a Uber ride directly in Google Maps" instead of "Request a Ride". In the new update, the "Request for a ride" feature has been removed from both iOS as well as Android devices.