Google Maps begins updating the administrative map of Vietnam

On the morning of March 18, many Google Maps users discovered that the application had updated the map according to the new administrative boundaries. New places can be accessed both on Google’s website and smartphone applications without updating. For example, when searching for Phu Tho province, the map fully displays the new administrative boundaries, including the former Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, and Hoa Binh provinces.

However, this update is only taking place in some places. In some provinces and cities, the map still displays the old administrative boundaries or is not displayed when searching. In addition, commune and district boundaries still follow previous map data.

Google has not commented on this yet.

Google’s update takes place more than 8 months after Vietnam merged provinces and cities, bringing the total number of provinces and cities from 63 to 34, and the number of communes and wards reduced from about 10,000 to more than 3,300. Recently, many services, especially delivery services, also soon updated these place names, but mainly in text form. Many people expect map applications like Google Maps to soon update so that users can look up synchronously according to new locations.

Previously, in a technical document posted on IssueTracker – Google’s official change tracking system for the developer community, the platform said it expected to make changes in mid-February and asked developers to update the API to use Google Maps Platform services.

Google Maps Platform is the base map data source for Google Maps and many other digital services such as location search, car booking, and delivery. Platform changes can have a knock-on effect on how addresses are displayed and processed in end-user mapping applications.

Minh Quan, a technology engineer who is participating in developing applications using Google Maps, said that when the classification of place names changes, services such as location search, address suggestions or location determination may not be synchronized immediately. This expert also believes that Google’s adjustment of map data is necessary to be close to reality, but may cause disturbances in the early stages. For example, in a short time, users may experience parallel display of old and new addresses.