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Smarter Location Decisions Start Here: Places Insights in BigQuery Is Now Live

  • Writer: 28East
    28East
  • Oct 15
  • 2 min read

In April, the Google Maps platform announced its preview of Places Insights in BigQuery. This enabled users to make informed location decisions, such as planning a new store or expanding into a new market.


This functionality is now generally available to customers across industries, empowering businesses to make smarter and faster decisions. Let’s dive into how that works.

What Can Places Insights Do For You?


Understanding location data is essential for business growth, but traditional methods are often time-consuming and inaccurate. Places Insights in BigQuery addresses these challenges by providing aggregated insights to analyse. 


It does this by combining Google’s Places data with the analytical abilities of Google Cloud’s BigQuery for statistical analysis. Here’s what that means for you.

Access fast, accurate Places data


You’ll have access to Google’s accurate and comprehensive dataset of over 250 million places worldwide, refreshed on a monthly basis.


This allows you to analyse over 300 place types and 70 attributes to better understand the location. 

Work securely 


You can securely combine your proprietary data with Places data in a safe environment within BigQuery.


With these safety measures, you can run an analysis without ever having to worry about exposing sensitive information. 

Use familiar tools 


Use the tools you already know by bringing Google’s aggregated data directly to your existing BQ environment.


Or take advantage of new tools like BigQuery ML, Vertex AI, and Locker to streamline your process. 

How Places Insights is Driving Impact 


Many organisations are already using Places Insights to make smarter business decisions. 

For example: 


  • Retailers are finding better store locations by analysing foot traffic, surrounding amenities, and competitor density.


  • Developers are planning residential areas with insights into what infrastructure is already nearby and what’s missing.


  • Disaster planning teams are mapping healthcare and education facilities to improve emergency response strategies. 


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Here’s how Places Insights can help your business too: 

1. Choose better locations 


Places Insights can help you spot high-potential areas based on what’s nearby and build custom scores that reflect your business goals.


You can also use heat maps to visually explore opportunity areas, helping you decide where to expand.

2. Understand why some locations perform better


You might find that your best-performing branches are surrounded by highly-rated, mid-priced restaurants. This insight can inform things like your marketing and expansion plans. 

3. Smarter marketing 


If you’re running ads, Places Insights can help you tailor messaging based on nearby places and focus your ad spend on areas where your audience is most likely to be. 

4. See the competitive landscape 


With Places Insights, you can quickly map out where your competitors are, where gaps exist, and how your offerings compare based on things like reviews, opening hours, and amenities. 

Why It Matters for African Businesses


At 28East, we help businesses across Africa unlock the power of location data.


Tools like Places Insights in BigQuery are a game-changer, especially for those operating in fast-growing cities or underserved areas where up-to-date location info is hard to find.


If you want to learn how Places Insights can support your business, we can help. Get in touch with us today to learn more.


 
 
 

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