Why Google Maps has disappeared in France and how to get it back
Searches for place names no longer lead to the online map
The European Union’s new Digital Markets Act aims to prevent web giants from monopolising the digital space
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Search for a place in Google and you will no longer see Google Maps in the results.
The strange, and somewhat annoying, disappearance of Google Maps from Google searches is due to the European Digital Markets Act (DMA), which aims to improve competition in the digital sphere.
The DMA came into force on March 6, 2024, preventing web giants such as Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, Meta (Facebook), and Microsoft from sharing data between their own services in order to stop them monopolising people’s online experiences.
Some examples of this banned monopolising are:
- Facebook opening Whatsapp calls (both owned by Meta)
- Bing searches prioritising Linkedin results (both owned by Microsoft)
- Google searches showing Youtube videos (both owned by Alphabet)
Read more: Explore 13 French landmarks with 3D Google Maps
Where has Google Maps gone?
Google Maps has not disappeared per se, it is simply no longer brought up automatically when searching for places on Google search.
However, its sudden disappearance from search results is particularly annoying for people looking for a map, who are forced into taking the extra step of searching directly for ‘Google Maps’.
You can authorise Google Maps to appear in search results by giving your explicit consent for it to do so.
To do this:
Open your Google account (Gmail for example)Click on ‘Manage your Google account’ (top-right on Gmail)Click on ‘Data and privacy’Scroll down to ‘Linked Google services’ and click ‘Manage linked services’Tick the boxes next to ‘Search’ and ‘Google Maps’Click ‘Confirm’ then ‘Done’
The change may not come into effect immediately.
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