Google Promotes a "Photo-First" Approach to Search

Google is launching a “photo-first” search result listing interface that is going live in France, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and the U.S. It will appear in Google Maps listings to show photos above the other parts of the listing, like the company name, star reviews, address, phone number, and other location details. Google will be leveraging its AI to pick which photos will be presented in Google Maps.

With a photo-first approach, a businesses' listing, name, star reviews, address, phone number, and location are all secondary (or underneath) posted images. Google's decision to feature photos first comes directly from what local searchers want to see, meaning it's informed by what users have said.