How You See Traffic Conditions On Google Maps

A notification about traffic conditions on google maps is one thing. But first, let me set the premise of how I arrived at this topic. I was planning a long road trip to visit a friend of mine. After the preparations were complete, as I was about to set off on my journey, I keyed in the target address into Google Maps. I then set off on my long drive. Half an hour into the journey, I received a notification from the app. The notification stated that there was heavy slow-moving traffic on my current route, and the app suggested a longer detour with smoother traffic. I was opportunistic, and took the detour. That’s when the question hit me: how did Google Maps know of the traffic conditions? I started investigating, and my investigation has led me to write this article. If this is a question that intrigues you as well, read on.

The Use Case of Google Maps

In our today’s smart world, many of us use the Google Maps service that Google provides for helping with our commute to reach destinations. The typical use case is quite simple: such a service helps you get from point A to point B. It helps you by guiding you along the way. You get to see your live position on the map as a blue arrow. Your optimal path is highlighted by a blue line along the map. It is intuitive and user-friendly. More recently google enabled a live traffic feature that also notifies users about upcoming traffic conditions like traffic jams or dense traffic. Over the years, we’ve also grown seamlessly accustomed to this feature. But how in the world is it done?

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Global Positioning System (GPS) – Location and Speed

All of today’s smart phones and many smart devices are equipped with a GPS-system. You remember the blue arrow that marks your position on the map? Well, to be able to pin-point your position ‘live’, Google (or any such service) uses your GPS data. This means that there is constant stream of GPS data packets that your phone sends to google to help you. Google uses this data to work out your position as well as the speed at which you are moving. This combination is almost all that it needs to notify you about upcoming traffic conditions

Network Effects

Now you have to take into account that you are not the only one sending GPS-based position and speed information to google. When more and more people send Google their GPS-data, the internet giant is able to build network models that show the state of traffic on a given route or road or highway on a live basis. To put it in short: A bunch of phones moving at speed help Google workout traffic density. If there are a lot of GPS-tracked phones moving at speed, you might be notified of ‘dense but fast traffic’. If there are a lot of GPS-tracked phones moving slowly, you might be notified of ‘dense and slow moving traffic’. That’s pretty much it. Now, Google being an internet data giant, also has information to other data sources (like construction sites or accidents) which helps it to enhance the service even further.

Can One Fake a Traffic Jam on Google Maps?

Now that we know basically how the system works, could one use this information to fake a traffic jam? Well, it turns out that there are people who have already asked this question, and luckily have a funny answer as well. Checkout the video below if you wish to have a laugh whilst learning the answer to this question:

Does Google get my location data even when I’m not using Google Maps?

The answer to this question depends on what exactly the user has agreed to. But in most cases, we are inclined to think ‘yes’. Companies like Google thrive on the data that they gather and process, and have such agreement clauses bundled in products like Google Maps among others. So, if you are using services from Google, there’s a good chance that you are sending location information (among others) to the internet giant.

It is a bit sad, but we often agree to stuff that we don’t fully understand. It is the use case that entices us in the moment, and our inclination towards instant gratification makes us click on the ‘Agree and Continue’ button without reading the terms and conditions. We could go deeper into this, but it’s a topic for another day.

For now, I hope you found this article interesting and useful. If you’d like to get notified when interesting content gets published here, consider subscribing.

Further reading that might interest you: Are We Living in a Simulation and Is Technology Dependency Really a Concern?