Using business listings in Maps

Search for any address, contact, business or attraction by tapping the search key and then typing or speaking your destination. We'll search for bike shops nearby. Maps will drop a pushpin or pushpins onto your map view. Zoom out to view more results on the map.

Tap any pushpin to get information on a location. For some entries, you'll see a star rating out of five. This is based on user reviews submitted by Maps, Latitude and Google+ users. You'll sometimes also see a green Open or red Closed notice This means the business owner has shared its business hours with Google.

With an entry selected on the map, tap the bubble to get more information. Here, you'll see an address, often a phone number, in some cases when the business closes for the day and a website URL. You can also see the location's distance from you and if your phone has a compass, in which direction it lies. In the top right of this screen, tap the gray star icon to add this location as a map favorite. Now, it turns up as a star and will remain on your map. Tap the star to go back to the business details.

If you tap the URL, you'll be taken to the business's own web site. Hit the hardware Back button on your phone and you'll be taken back to the business's Maps page. Tap the phone number to go straight to your dialer. Again, Back will return you to the listing.

There are several buttons that run across the top of this page. Tap the Map button or the hardware Back button to return to your search results. We'll cover Directions in-depth in another tutorial in this series. There's also a button to Call the business and a More button.

Tapping on More brings up a wealth of other options to choose from. Check in here will let you check in via Google+. You can leave a comment which will be posted to your G+ profile. You can also set options to automatically check in next time or receive a check-in reminder. Tapping Street View gives, as the name suggests, a view on the location from street level. Choose Share this place to send a link to the business details and location via installed apps on your device. You can share via email, SMS, Facebook or other apps that support sharing.

Tap Search nearby if you want to, for example, search for a restaurant, gas station or parking near the destination. Tap Add as a contact and you'll be taken into your address book with much of the data already populated. Just tap Done to save. Below the row of buttons, tap Hours to expand and you'll see the locations' full hours of operation. Below that, you can check in or add a photo that will be associated with the venue.

Tap the Rate and review bar to add your own user review. Tap a star to give an overall rating out of five. Tap the box for "What stands out?" to add items to your review. This is things like "great service" or "speedy repairs." For positive attributes, tap the smiling face. For negative attributes like "overpriced" or "weird smell emanating from the basement" tap the frowning face. Write out a full review if you want to and when you're done, hit the Post button to share.

Finally, we get to the user reviews. Scroll through to read what other people are saying about the venue, including individual star ratings. Tap More to read the a longer review in full. At the very bottom of the business listings page, you'll see Related places. These are places nearby that offer similar products or services, along with star ratings, addresses and distance.