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Google·Software Engineer·Onsite - Product Sense / Strategy·Senior

Senior
May 2026

Summary

Google PM interview question about managing restaurant data on Maps. Single product sense question, no info on outcome or round specifics.

Questions Asked (1)

Q1

As the PM owning the restaurant section of Google Maps, how would you go about collecting and validating restaurant hours of operation?

Product Sense & IdeationProduct StrategyProduct Analytics & Metrics
Author's notes

This one has more layers than it looks.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start by clarifying the goal: ensuring accurate and up-to-date restaurant hours on Google Maps to improve user experience and trust. Then outline a multi-source data collection strategy (e.g., owner-provided, user-reported, automated extraction) and a validation process that combines automated checks with user feedback and machine learning. Finally, discuss how to handle conflicts and edge cases, and propose metrics to measure success.

Pro tip: Emphasize the importance of designing for scalability and freshness: hours change frequently (holidays, temporary closures), so the system must handle updates efficiently. Also, consider incentives for business owners to keep information accurate.

1. Clarify Goals and Constraints

Define what 'accurate hours' means (e.g., regular hours, holiday hours, temporary closures) and the constraints (e.g., scale, latency, cost). Identify key stakeholders: users, business owners, Google.

2. Data Collection Strategy

Identify and prioritize data sources: business owners (via Google My Business), users (crowdsourcing), third-party APIs, web scraping, and phone calls. Design incentives for owners to provide updates.

3. Validation and Verification

Implement a multi-layered validation approach: cross-reference multiple sources, use ML to detect anomalies, leverage user reports (e.g., 'hours are wrong'), and possibly automated calls to verify. Establish a confidence score for each data point.

4. Conflict Resolution and Updates

Define rules for resolving conflicting information (e.g., owner-provided > user-reported > third-party). Design a feedback loop to continuously improve accuracy, including periodic re-verification.

5. Metrics and Iteration

Define success metrics (e.g., percentage of restaurants with accurate hours, user reports of incorrect hours, owner engagement). Monitor and iterate on the system based on these metrics.

Key Points to Mention

  • Leverage existing Google My Business data and encourage owner updates through incentives.
  • Use crowdsourcing from users but implement mechanisms to prevent abuse and ensure reliability.
  • Apply machine learning to detect patterns and anomalies in hours data (e.g., sudden changes, inconsistencies).
  • Consider edge cases: holidays, temporary closures, and businesses with irregular hours.
  • Define a confidence score for each data point and use it to decide what to display.
  • Measure success with metrics like accuracy rate, user satisfaction, and reduction in user-reported errors.

AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.