Google Maps is becoming a lot less useful for people who prefer to browse the web anonymously. The tech giant has quietly started restricting access to some of its most popular features for users who aren’t signed into a Google account.
If you visit Google Maps today without logging in, you might hit a new “limited view.” This change, which users on Reddit and tech sites like 9to5Google began noticing around Valentine’s Day, effectively locks the community-driven parts of the platform behind a login wall.
The biggest loss for anonymous users is the ability to read reviews. While you can still see the overall star rating for a business, the actual written feedback, photos, and videos uploaded by other visitors are completely hidden. You can see that a restaurant has 4.5 stars, but you can’t read why.
The restrictions go beyond just opinions. The “limited view” also strips away helpful data like the “popular times” graph, which shows how busy a location is at specific hours. For restaurants, you won’t be able to see built-in menus or check if they offer dine-in or delivery options without signing in first.
Google does leave the bare essentials alone. You can still get directions, see the address, check opening hours, and find the phone number. The core navigation tool still works. However, the app is clearly trying to nudge people toward logging in. When you encounter this mode, a pop-up message might claim the service is experiencing “high traffic” or blame your browser extensions, before suggesting that signing in is the way to fix it.
While Google hasn’t officially explained the pivot, it follows a broader trend of tech companies tightening access to their data. PCMag confirmed the change is happening across both mobile and desktop versions of the site. For now, if you want to know if the food at a new spot is actually good, you will have to let Google know who you are first.
