Google Maps has quickly grown into a service that tries to do everything for its users. What once started as a simple mapping and navigation app now is a competitor to Yelp and TripAdvisor, with reviews and suggestions and business listings you can now follow so you never miss out on any events or updates. Now, the company is allowing businesses to further incentivize us to tap that button, for they can offer welcome deals starting today.

When a place offers a discount coupon for following it, a little badge with a price tag will appear on the Follow button. After tapping the button, you'll see what offer exactly you received, and it will be saved to your Offers folder.

The off-set website button on the right is making me uncomfortable.

There are some additional updates to Maps which mostly affect business owners. They can help users find them faster by applying for short names and custom URLs. In their listings, they are now allowed to choose their own custom cover photo and add logos. You also might see more Google Maps advertisements in cafés and stores as the company offers free promotional material a lá "review us on Google" and other posters for businesses.

The deals-on-follow feature should start rolling out today and will become available to users as businesses adopt it. Depending on how active places are on Maps in your area, it might take a while until you start getting offers, so hang tight.

Source: Google