The happy days of searching, hailing, and paying for an Uber rides inside Google Maps are over as the company in a new support page has confirmed that “You can no longer book Uber rides directly in Google Maps."
But you can still look up the route in the Maps app and then request the ride from the Uber app.
In January of 2017, Google and Uber collaborated for a feature wherein you could search for, book, and pay for an Uber directly inside Google Maps. You didn't even need the Uber app installed.
The ride-sharing tab still exists, but instead of booking an Uber, it just gives you an estimate and offers to kick you out to the Uber app. In the Google Maps app, you can still compare ride services with other ways of getting to your destination, like public transit or walking.
And while the ride-sharing tab supports 17 different services, Uber was the only company that Google allowed to pay for a ride inside Google Maps. But now, if you want to book a ride inside Google Maps, you'll now have to open a second app.
Google rolled back the same service from the iOS months back.
It is still not known why the two tech giants parted ways and decided to put an end to their collaboration, but according to media reports Alphabet’s venture capital business has made a significant investment in Lyft, which is a rival to Uber.
Google has not commented on why the move was undertaken.
