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A POP is an intermediate location between a GCP region and the end user. This location could be a third party datacenter or collection of hardware .POP is a mid‑network routing point, while an Edge POP is a nearby entry point where user traffic is terminated and accelerated.

Difference in Real‑World Latency (One Example)

Example:
A user in Amsterdam accessing an application hosted in GCP europe‑west4 (Netherlands).

Without an Edge POP (Regular POP / Direct to Region)

User
  |
  |  Public Internet (ISP hops, IXPs) ~40 ms
  |
POP (routing only)
  |
  |  Google network ~10 ms
  v
GCP Region

Result

• Traffic stays on the public internet longer.
• POP only routes traffic; no acceleration.
• Typical latency: ~50 ms

With an Edge POP (Ingress + Acceleration)

User
  |
  |  Short ISP hop ~5 ms
  v
Edge POP (Amsterdam)
  |  - Connection terminates
  |  - TLS / LB / CDN
  |
  |  Google private backbone ~5 ms
  v
GCP Region

Result

• User enters Google’s network almost immediately
• Traffic rides Google’s private backbone
• Typical latency: ~10 ms

One‑Line Takeaway

A POP is a mid‑network routing point, while an Edge POP is a nearby entry point where user traffic is terminated and accelerated—cutting real‑world latency from ~50 ms to ~10 ms.