Google is sitting on a gold mine of custom maps and is doing nothing with it

I recently rediscovered a Google Maps feature that I completely forgot existed, but you can’t really blame me. If you frequent travel subreddits and forums, you’ll likely be familiar with My Maps, Google’s custom map creation platform. However, if you’ve only ever experienced Google Maps on an Android phone, I’d be surprised if you’ve heard of it, unless you’ve accidentally scrolled to the bottom of the You tab.

My Maps is an obscure but powerful tool for creating personalized maps. Users can command various mapping features, including pinning custom markers on places, adding notes and images, routing info to and from multiple points, KML and GPX info, and layering all this data onto existing map visualizations. In short, My Maps allows users to bend Google’s mapping products to their will in impressive ways. Sounds great, right? Well, after spending a few days browsing the various and adventurous custom maps users have created and a few more tests of the limits of the tool myself, I realized one important thing: My Maps is brilliant, but the company is letting this feature wither and decay.

My Maps is a potent tool that has the potential to change how you use Google Maps. While Maps already has a social aspect that hinges on public discovery and crowdsourced information, discovering new places to visit can be tricky. As My Maps allows experienced community members to create custom maps of their regions and travels, easily accessing these through Google Maps would theoretically make it one of the best travel research and planning tools around.

Here’s an example. If I were traveling to Paris and wanted a list of cultural touchstones to visit, I could load a custom map detailing museums, churches, and monuments. Cinephiles could pin filming locations for various New York-based flicks, aspiring trekkers could track out the Pacific Crest Trail’s entire span, or geography teachers could plot out a list of capitals of all 50 states. I’ve seen some users plot locations of KFCs in their city, detail where victims of serial killers were found, plot the path of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and pin the locations of famous location-based world records. The possibilities are quite literally limited by your imagination.

My Maps is also a brilliant personal record tool. I’ve found several online users who note down their favorite visits, hiking trails, and seasonal bike rides using My Maps. Eat at a restaurant or visit a campsite? Place a pin on it. Visited a town on your wishlist? You guessed it! Eventually, a custom map can record one’s travel history long-term — a digital scratch map. Of course, custom maps created don’t need to be shared with the world.

In short, My Maps is a hugely impressive custom map creator that, if better integrated into Google Maps, would only improve it.

I should mention that while Google Maps can read custom maps created within My Maps, there is a lack of synergy between these platforms. As I see it, there are two major problems with My Maps as it currently stands: custom maps are almost impossible to find as there’s no central repository or official discovery tool for them, and it’s almost entirely cut off from Android.

Let’s start with the first problem. Custom maps can only be created and edited via a web browser. I’ve tried using Chrome on Android for this purpose, but I’d argue that a chocolate teaspoon is a far more effective tool. If you want to use this Google product, you’ll need to boot your computer, open a browser window, and get editing with a mouse and keyboard. This workflow may have been the only logical option back in 2014 when Android wasn’t dominant, but, remarkably, Google hasn’t realigned My Maps to fit within its navigation framework in those 11 years since.

Then there are other silly My Maps limitations. Custom maps created on the platform are saved to your Google Drive account first, and can be found in the Maps section within the You tab on the Google Maps app second. These maps open as a layer, but that’s about it. This means you must hone and polish the map on a browser before loading it on Maps itself, as you cannot edit or tweak anything on mobile. And if you find a custom map stored on another user’s Google Drive, it doesn’t simply open on Maps. I had to switch between my default browser, Chrome, and eventually Maps before it worked. Sometimes, this dance just didn’t.

In short, Google Maps feels like it merely accommodates custom maps rather than fully embracing them. My Maps did have an app of its own at one point, and I don’t expect Google to revive it for Android 16 suddenly, but there’s no doubt that for the platform and its products to be relevant in 2025, it needs to be fully integrated into Google Maps.

Android’s premier mapping app could only benefit from better travel planning tools, and the app’s search and recommendation features can pull from when navigating a new town or country. My Maps would be an incredible addition, especially if positioned alongside a repository where users can search for, save, share, and comment on custom maps. Imagine browsing ready-made travel plans, grabbing hiking trails and the secrets along them, or getting insights on the most affordable coffees in a city. Mesh this with the power of reviews, photographs, and comments, and you have a publicly-propelled and maintained travel guide baked right into Google Maps.

This would also make custom maps easier to find. As I’ve mentioned, there’s no central hub where those who’ve created custom maps can share them. Third-party options, subreddits, and forums exist, but no official Google-backed portal exists. Notably, Google once believed that this was a great idea. In 2014, it launched My Maps Gallery, a literal gallery that allowed users to browse publicly available custom maps. It has, too, been left to rot into obscurity and ruin.

I’m glad that I rediscovered My Maps. Browsing various forums has helped me uncover some truly great custom maps. I’m currently creating my own map detailing the multiple hikes I’ve completed along South Africa’s Garden Route. Not only has this been incredibly therapeutic, but it’s also been a wonderful way to relive these adventures. I wish I could discover similar custom maps from within Google Maps, and I hope Google opens its eyes to My Maps’ potential lying beneath sheets of dust.

Look, My Maps can continue to function as is, mostly separated from Google’s prime navigation tools and Android itself, isolated to the web and essentially cut off from public discovery. Or it can be the basis of a brilliant new travel planning and plotting feature for Google Maps users. I know which one I want.

I know that Google can’t resist adding AI to everything right now, and I admit that some features are genuinely useful. But instead of constantly launching and inevitably discontinuing new apps, I wish Google would focus more on reinventing and reintegrating legacy features into existing apps. My Maps is a brilliant place to begin. It has the nuts and bolts of a custom mapping service built into Google Maps that allows private map creation or public map discovery, with a useful social element. All the ingredients are there; Google just needs to put them together.