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Google To Add Restaurant Wait Times To Google Search, Maps (techcrunch.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the time-is-money dept.

Google Search and Maps already show you the peak traffic times for your favorite restaurants, but it will soon show you the wait times as well. Google says the feature begins rolling out today, and will eventually expand to include grocery stores. TechCrunch reports: Google's new restaurant wait times also comes from the aggregated and anonymized data from users who opted in to Google Location History -- the same data that powers popular times, wait times and visit duration. In the case of restaurants, Google will now include a pop-up box that appears when you click on a time frame in the popular times' chart. The box shows the live or historical data labeled as "busy," "usually busy," "usually not busy," etc., along with the wait time. Below the popular times chart, there's also a section that helps users plan their visit by offering info on the peak wait times and duration. (e.g. "People typically spend 45 mins to 2 hr here.") The new wait time feature will be supported on nearly a million sit-down restaurant listings worldwide, initially in Google Search.

59 comments

  1. Teh G by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is Teh gOd!

  2. Queuing for food is for fools by ickleberry · · Score: 4, Informative

    I doubt Eric Schmidt stands in a queue waiting for a table to become available and it's a bit of an insult to think he expects other people to do that. If a place is so busy you have to queue, good chance there is a deserted place just down the road waiting to dole out a nice meal. Or if there isn't simply go home and cook your own food just like in the good old days. Save a pile of money too

    Restaurant-queuing seems to be a cultural phenomenon associated mostly with America. It's not unusual to see a mile-long queue for a restaurant in America but in other parts of the world if there's a few waiting by the door people deem it to be busy and quickly move on to the next place.

    1. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Queuing is common in Japan too. If a restaurant has a good reputation people are willing to wait.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by nospam007 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Restaurant-queuing seems to be a cultural phenomenon associated mostly with America. It's not unusual to see a mile-long queue for a restaurant in America but in other parts of the world if there's a few waiting by the door people deem it to be busy and quickly move on to the next place."

      Exactly my thoughts. I would never wait at a restaurant, I eat in restaurant 4-5 times a week an I always have a reservation and I always get my table immediately.
      Either there are not enough restaurants in the US or the management is incompetent or they are just greedy and they accept way too many reservations, just like the US airlines.

    3. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by nospam007 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      " If a restaurant has a good reputation people are willing to wait."

      For restaurants with an excellent reputation I am willing to wait, but not for my table but a couple of weeks for a reservation to get my table immediately when I arrive.

    4. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by tquasar · · Score: 2

      A too busy restaurant can mean you will be served under cooked food or the wrong items. The staff may be stressed trying to meet the demand and wages are low in my area and many depend on tips for income. Servers do not share tips with the kitchen staff.

    5. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Most go out of business within their first year. By most, I mean nearly all. New owner. Repeat.

    6. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Some of it is artificial scarcity. People will only pay a small fortune to eat somewhere if it is exclusive and hard to get a table.

      At least that's what I learned from Frasier.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    7. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by rfengr · · Score: 2

      Supermarket queuing is a Soviet phenomenon. I’ll take American queuing.

    8. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by geekmux · · Score: 4, Interesting

      "Restaurant-queuing seems to be a cultural phenomenon associated mostly with America. It's not unusual to see a mile-long queue for a restaurant in America but in other parts of the world if there's a few waiting by the door people deem it to be busy and quickly move on to the next place."

      Densely populated areas of people with disposable income create a queuing demand. The concept is not unique to America. See well-known noodle shops in Japan where people wait hours for their favorite bowl.

      ...Either there are not enough restaurants in the US or the management is incompetent or they are just greedy and they accept way too many reservations, just like the US airlines.

      There are a metric fuckton of restaurants in the US. The REAL problem is many of them do not accept reservations. They see queues as a way to drive popularity based on hype. Long queues somehow mean it must be the place to eat, and the wait is somehow worth it. This tactic is also a way to drive more revenue by enticing customers to purchase overpriced drinks at the bar while they wait for a table.

      The pathetic part is realizing that this bullshit no-reservation policy works. If we want to change this, then we have to get rid of the fucking stupid mentality that queues are somehow hip and cool.

    9. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly my thoughts. I would never wait at a restaurant, I eat in restaurant 4-5 times a week an I always have a reservation and I always get my table immediately.

      I seriously did not know you could get reservations at McDonald's.

    10. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by rmdingler · · Score: 2

      The pathetic part is realizing that this bullshit no-reservation policy works. If we want to change this, then we have to get rid of the fucking stupid mentality that queues are somehow hip and cool.

      Hear! Hear! Instead of using the time to wait in line, I'd rather barbequeue.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

    11. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you schmuck, mcdonalds is not a restaurant, it is a lavatory with burgers.

    12. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly my thoughts. I would never wait at a restaurant, I eat in restaurant 4-5 times a week an I always have a reservation and I always get my table immediately.

      I seriously did not know you could get reservations at McDonald's.

      No, you can't. But you could get them at Burger King. :p

    13. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Um no. A restaurant that isn't busy is *usually* inferior to a busy restaurant. The reason you see queues in American restaurants is that some restaurants don't take reservations, or people show up without reservations and are willing to wait.

    14. Re: Queuing for food is for fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a perverse belief among many in the west that equates long queues with high quality. So all restaurants have to do is ensure that they have longer queues than their competitors.

      "When a metric becomes a target, it ceases to be a good metric."

    15. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

      Queuing is common in Japan too. If a restaurant has a good reputation people are willing to wait.

      In Japan, often it's more because some people are queuing that other people are tempted to queue as well.

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
    16. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "...are willing to wait" because they are fucking stupid, like everything else in n1ggerstan.

    17. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by mjwx · · Score: 1

      I doubt Eric Schmidt stands in a queue waiting for a table to become available and it's a bit of an insult to think he expects other people to do that. If a place is so busy you have to queue, good chance there is a deserted place just down the road waiting to dole out a nice meal. Or if there isn't simply go home and cook your own food just like in the good old days. Save a pile of money too

      Restaurant-queuing seems to be a cultural phenomenon associated mostly with America. It's not unusual to see a mile-long queue for a restaurant in America but in other parts of the world if there's a few waiting by the door people deem it to be busy and quickly move on to the next place.

      Most of the world figured out that booking is easier than queuing many years ago. Queueing is something that only strokes an owners ego, which is why we only see for certain bars and clubs where insecurity is rife.

      Lets take two cities, London, England vs Perth Australia. London is one of the worlds greatest cities, Perth is an overgrown mining town. I've lived in both and I'll let you guess which one makes me line up to get into a popular bar or club.

      If you guessed London, you'd be wrong. In London I didn't have to queue to get into anywhere, not in the Southbank, not in Piccadilly, hardly anywhere. The only times queues are formed are when fire codes force them to (like Madam Tussauds, although I don't recommend going there if you're in London, plenty of better places to visit without a 2 hour line) because London is competitive and does not allow ego's to be stroked. If you want to make your London club "exclusive" then someone next door will eat your business. Compared to Perth where you can be rejected for entry for anything just to make sure the "right" kind of people get in, well I'm sure you can now see why no-one has heard of Perth, Western Australia or if they had, it was nothing good.

      But I digress, if I want to go to a popular restaurant here in the UK, I ring ahead and make a booking for 6:30, 7, 8 or whenever for my expected party. We then turn up at the allotted time and the wonderful staff direct us to our reserved seating. Queuing is something one does at Macky D's, not at an eatery with any class.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    18. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      McDonald's is not a restaurant. It's a fast-food joint.

    19. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by dreamchaser · · Score: 1

      Actually, criticizing people's free choice to wait in line if they wish to go to a particular place is for fools. Look in a mirror. Personally I make reservations or wait no longer than 5-10 minutes if it's a spontaneous outing.

    20. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by cstacy · · Score: 1

      " I would never wait at a restaurant, I eat in restaurant 4-5 times a week an I always have a reservation and I always get my table immediately. Either there are not enough restaurants in the US or the management is incompetent or they are just greedy and they accept way too many reservations, just like the US airlines.

      In the US, lots of people live in the suburbs, and the restaurants are mostly national or regional chains clustered near a shopping mall. When middle-class people to out to eat, this is where they go. And those restaurants do not take reservations. The normal wait time if you arrive before the worst rush hour will be 20-50 minutes. A few will be able to fit in the bar and drink, the rest will be in a line outside. Everyone will have a pager.

    21. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by cstacy · · Score: 1

      Exactly my thoughts. I would never wait at a restaurant, I eat in restaurant 4-5 times a week an I always have a reservation and I always get my table immediately.

      I seriously did not know you could get reservations at McDonald's.

      McDonalds normally has lines from 5 to 20 minutes to order (at the counter).

      Same in the drive-thru, but their you are sitting down in the car and have a radio to keep you entertained, so it may feel faster than going inside.

      Lately they have these electronic ordering kiosks. However, after ordering on the screen you have to still get in the 20 minute line to the register to pay. Then you still have to wait another 10-15 minutes to get your burger. Because they eliminated staff when they got the kiosk and apparently McDonalds does not hire any OR mathematicians.

      What they really want you to do is download their app and order on your phone. (Then get in line.) This is the same as the kiosk, except that they get to track you and spy on you with the app. I haven't tried it, but I assume it tracks you all the time so that if you get near a McDonalds it can pop up a notification that you might need a Big Mac right now. And whatever other profiling info they want to grab - not sure what permissions it asks for. Probably all of them like most spyware.

    22. Re: Queuing for food is for fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's a United States customary fuckton (colloquially known as an imperial fuckton) you clod!

    23. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by cstacy · · Score: 1

      Most of the world figured out that booking is easier than queuing many years ago.

      Decades ago, reservations were the norm in the US. You call ahead earlier in the day, and you are seated when you arrive. This is now a rarity. Most restaurants do not accept reservations at all. Those that do have a waiting line when you arrive at the scheduled time. (You show up at 7:00 and are greeted, yes you're right on time. Please wait here. For about 45 minutes. While we try to get you a table.) The norm is no reservations: they hand you a pager and you wait in line outside.

    24. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow, that is very different. Restaurants in Europe tend to be located in inner cities, town centres and shopping streets, they accept reservations more or less universally and they rarely if ever belong to chains. If I would see a line outside a restaurant, I would look for another restaurant.

    25. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by geoscodin · · Score: 1

      When I lived in Memphis in late 90s, it was not uncommon in my part of town to have lines at every restaurant in the area, in part because they were so short-staffed. And they all had banners offering cash signing bonuses for servers. I stopped eating out weekend evenings and Sunday mornings.

    26. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by bigdavex · · Score: 1

      I doubt Eric Schmidt stands in a queue waiting for a table to become available and it's a bit of an insult to think he expects other people to do that.

      Isn't avoiding the queue the point of the feature? Instead of arriving at the restaurant and discovering it has an unacceptable wait time to me, I can select another restaurant without physically visiting the one with the large queue.

      --
      -Dave
    27. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is how me and a friend decided where to eat on a trip to Japan. We would wander around till we saw a restaurant with a small line out the door. Figured if the locals were willing to wait for it, it was probably damn good.

    28. Re: Queuing for food is for fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The ... West ?

      Do you people try to be fucking ignorant and full of white western guilt at all times ?

      There's a phenomenon in Singapore where people will simply jump in a queue - BECAUSE it's there. Find out why all the people are lined up later. But clearly first priority is to get a good spot in that queue.

      The real thing most americans are ignorant about is how similar shitty parts of other countries are to our own (eg. there are dumb people everywhere, there are racists everywhere (and mostly far worse than america!), there are homophobes everywhere (again, far worse than america!)), and for some reason try to shame themselves/country. It's fucking perverse.

    29. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by larryjoe · · Score: 1

      Restaurant-queuing seems to be a cultural phenomenon associated mostly with America. It's not unusual to see a mile-long queue for a restaurant in America but in other parts of the world if there's a few waiting by the door people deem it to be busy and quickly move on to the next place.

      In certain countries, especially in Europe, restaurant patrons often spend the entire evening eating dinner, i.e., there is no turnover. For those situations, queues obviously wouldn't exist. In contrast in the US, the restaurants try to encourage turnover.

    30. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by bws111 · · Score: 1

      Either there are not enough restaurants in the US or the management is incompetent or they are just greedy and they accept way too many reservations, just like the US airlines.

      How about the most obvious answer: people do not want to make a reservation. I also eat at restaurants frequently. The only time we ever make a reservation is if there will be a large group, or we have to be somewhere at a specific time after dinner, or if it is a place that is impossible to get into without a reservation. We would MUCH rather have to wait a while for a table than be tied down to having to be at a specific place at a specifc time just to eat dinner.

      Also, US airlines do not 'accept way too many reservations'. The only people who believe that are the dopes who think over-booking is the same as over-selling.

    31. Re: Queuing for food is for fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what you're saying is you're not an American. Bravo. Go kneel to some Queen or something...

    32. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      The pathetic part is realizing that this bullshit no-reservation policy works. If we want to change this, then we have to get rid of the fucking stupid mentality that queues are somehow hip and cool.

      It doesn't help that since the invention of online reservations, actual reservation fulfillment has dropped - instead of people making one reservation ahead of time and going to that restaurant, they make 10 reservations through OpenTable and then pick one of those and screw the other 9.

      So restaurants have two options - one is to take a credit card and have a "no-show" fee for reserving a table you're not going to occupy (but it costs the restaurant a table and creates a queue outside), or simply not take reservations at all.

      And yes, no-shows are a big deal, because they occupy a table that could otherwise be used to serve a walk-in guest. Instead, that guest is now sitting waiting for a table, creating a queue. Yes, there are restaurants who hate queues too - they want guests in and eating and out so t hey can serve the next round - high throughput for high profits.

    33. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by geekmux · · Score: 1

      The pathetic part is realizing that this bullshit no-reservation policy works. If we want to change this, then we have to get rid of the fucking stupid mentality that queues are somehow hip and cool.

      It doesn't help that since the invention of online reservations, actual reservation fulfillment has dropped - instead of people making one reservation ahead of time and going to that restaurant, they make 10 reservations through OpenTable and then pick one of those and screw the other 9.

      What happens when you reserve an Uber or Lyft and you do not show up?

      Exactly. It's amazing how well you can curb asshole behavior when fees are involved. Change the OpenTable TOS to hold a credit card and enforce fees for cancellations. Problem solved.

      So restaurants have two options - one is to take a credit card and have a "no-show" fee for reserving a table you're not going to occupy (but it costs the restaurant a table and creates a queue outside), or simply not take reservations at all.

      And yes, no-shows are a big deal, because they occupy a table that could otherwise be used to serve a walk-in guest. Instead, that guest is now sitting waiting for a table, creating a queue. Yes, there are restaurants who hate queues too - they want guests in and eating and out so t hey can serve the next round - high throughput for high profits.

      Part of the reason people don't mind waiting in queues and hanging out paying for overpriced drinks is they are enjoying the experience. The experience is exactly the reason I'll happily take 3+ hours to eat dinner at a restaurant. High-throughput is not my priority when I'm enjoying a meal out somewhere. Making it worthwhile and memorable is.

    34. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      Exactly.
      When I go into a restaurant in the evening, I sit for hours.
      If I'm acquainted with the staff/owner I often stay till it closes.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    35. Re:Queuing for food is for fools by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      In Germany/France a reservation gets void 15 minutes after the appointed time.
      I never saw a queue in front of a restaurant anyway.
      And clubs that fancy queues I don't visit ... not worth it anyway as they close in a few months :)

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    36. Re: Queuing for food is for fools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is true, they have a group mentality. Others waiting there means it's the right thing.

  3. How will thet measure it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The location tracking can easily tell how long you stay at the Restaurant, but how will it know if you are waiting or seated? When it detects that you are at a Restaurant, will it prompt you to indicate when you stop waiting?

    1. Re:How will thet measure it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      GPS position difference between waiting and seating areas.

  4. id rather by mapkinase · · Score: 1

    them make Waze learn about traffic lights

    --
    I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
  5. Wait time at a restaurant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Do people actually wait at a packed restaurant until a table is available? I haven't really encountered this problem, but I suppose I would simply go to a different restaurant.

    1. Re:Wait time at a restaurant? by cstacy · · Score: 1

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  6. Can't wait for the complaints. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No restaurant will want to display a 2 hour wait time, this will lead to complaints and abuse by employers fudging the wait time listings.

  7. How about a "Pitstop" button in Navigation? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'd really like to have a gas/food/pee pitstop button that finds a place that is:

    (0) IN FRONT OF YOU
    (1) Close to the highway
    (2) Easy to get into and out of
    (3) Clean
    (4) And no kid's play areas...it's either 45 minute delay and tears/anger!

    OK, maybe not (4), but definitely the others.

  8. I wouldn't use this feature by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Therefore they should not make it. /s

  9. What they need to do is focus on the menus by ThomasBHardy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The "big thing" would be if they spent some effort getting menu info. If i could ask google maps where the closest place is that has fish and chips, or massaman curry and get a list of places that had the dish and with ratings at the dish level, it would totally change how we pick restaurants.

    --
    Warning: Teh poster of this messaeg is lysdexic
  10. No reservations accepted? by h4ck7h3p14n37 · · Score: 2

    What do you do about restaurants that don't take reservations?

    There's a burger place called Au Cheval in Chicago that has 90+ minute wait times every day and it's been open for almost 4 years. People are lined up outside an hour before it opens.

    Hot Doug's is now closed, but the line was out the door, around the corner and down the block every day for lunch.

    Chicago’s 10 Toughest Tables and How to Snag Them

    1. Re:No reservations accepted? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't go there. Seriously, why spend your time waiting at a restaurant for a table?

  11. More useful alternative, for most folks by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    Google Maps should list the wait time at the McDonald's Drive Thru.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  12. Google for Yuppies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This story proves it. Google serves the interests of young rich millennials and nobody else. We used to call those people yuppie scum. Yes I'm old. I'm just not "with it" because I'm over 30 which is too old for tech.

    Well I'm off to eat pizza crusts out of the dumpster behind the food bank. Thanks for ageism.

  13. I have been seeing this for a while by HalAtWork · · Score: 1

    Am I living in the future?

    --
    Twinstiq, game news
    1. Re:I have been seeing this for a while by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You were selected to be an unwitting beta tester.

  14. Non-restaurants by thereitis · · Score: 1

    Hospital wait times and walk-in clinic wait times would be fabulous.

    1. Re:Non-restaurants by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are a handful of billboards near me that have a digital clock readout saying hospital wait times. Its usually 3-5 minutes. Kinda scared if it were to raise higher than that honestly.

    2. Re:Non-restaurants by thereitis · · Score: 1

      That's amazing. I've heard of people waiting up to 11 hours in the hospital emergency where I live in Canada.

  15. Right. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The same guys who didnt know for twi yearz my favorite Vietnamese joint moved down the block are going to tell me when its busy?

    Try updating your Streetview of my town more than once every 5 years and you might have something Google.

  16. How does Google estimate the wait time? by larryjoe · · Score: 1

    I can see how Google Location can record the times of arrival and departure at an address. However, how would they know when a patron is seated? Does the phone user have to push a button? Or does Google have knowledge of the interior layout of the restaurant along with a method for determining interior location? Aside from the difficulty in obtaining interior table mapping, many restaurants have waiting areas within a few feet of the nearest table, necessitating location tracking to a resolution of a few feet. If explicit user input is required, then the times are likely biased across the population of restaurants due to the distribution of opt-in tendencies of phone users.

    Or does Google simply assume that the wait time is a function of the total sojourn time at the restaurant? I.e., that the average eating time across all restaurants is constant or at least can be estimated?

  17. The wait is on purpose by albeit+unknown · · Score: 1

    The establishment wants you to go sit in the bar for a while and spend extra money on drinks before being seated.