Maps now puts its new cal Guides reviews front center, giving star status to those who blanket the service with their take on where you should hang out.

cal Guides is a rebring of the City Experts program, which is ‘s effort to get more user reviews inside of Maps. 

It’s part of ‘s effort to compete with Yelp, which is currently synonymous with local reviews. By getting more of these impressions inside of Maps, the company hopes you’ll spend more time there— hopefully click on an ad or two, no doubt—instead of leaping over to Yelp. 

The new cal Guides effort works roughly the same as it did under the previous bring. Those who sign up get the cal Guide tag once they hit 50 “high quality” reviews. In some cities throws invite-only parties or offers other perks for those most highly involved with Maps reviews.

If you sign up for cal Guides, Maps will also start to nudge you about places you’ve visited, encouraging you to give it a star rating write up your impressions.

Version 9.4 is making its staggered rollout through the ay Store. An A is also available if you would rather get it now.

The story behind the story: After several buyout offers fell through, started competing with Yelp directly. cal Guides is the latest move to make Maps more than just a digital imprint of the world, but a full-blown guide for discovering new places. evious Maps updates added Uber integration, shareable directions, suggestions for nearby restaurants.