191–200 of 705 posts
> Why won't you show me the street name? I've been running into this a lot lately. No matter how much I zoom -- no street name. This is Mapping 101.
I worked on Google Maps monetization, and then on Maps itself. Monetization was a dismal failure. I don't know how well they're doing now, but Maps was a gigantic money-loser, forever. I'd be a little surprised if it didn't still lose money, but maybe less. I don't what those "pin ads" cost, but I'd bet it's way less than a search ad. If you don't believe that, that's fine. "What about indirect revenue?" you ask? Goo…
It seems that it only takes into account current traffic jams and not the ones which will occur 30mins into the trip.
For instance, there's this spot in my city where I know there is a traffic jam at around 3:20 PM every day. I usually set off from home around 2:50 PM, which means I'll hit that congested area by 3:20 PM. Interestingly, there are a couple of alternative routes I could take to avoid getting stuck. However, Google Maps keeps pushing me towards the route that's bound to get jammed, simply because there's no traffic showing at the exact moment (2:50 PM) when I'm starting. Doesn't it make sense for the app to use past data to predict the traffic jam?
On the other hand, it often insists on taking me through strange shortcuts and weird backroads just to save a minute or two.
I would add to this article that a major issue with Google Maps has been businesses trying to SEO-pad their business names on Google Maps, to the detriment of readability. This is also against their TOS – the "business name" form is supposed to be their legally registered business name, the one that they probably have signage for. Moderators simply don't enforce this, and with Map Maker basically gone, the community…
I worked on Google Maps monetization, and then on Maps itself. Monetization was a dismal failure. I don't know how well they're doing now, but Maps was a gigantic money-loser, forever. I'd be a little surprised if it didn't still lose money, but maybe less. I don't what those "pin ads" cost, but I'd bet it's way less than a search ad. If you don't believe that, that's fine. "What about indirect revenue?" you ask? Goo…
How can google maps monetize when openstreetmaps exists?
"Google Maps" is a misnomer. Call it "Google Business Search" or something similar, and the perceived problems disappear. Google Maps provides a small fraction of the functions of a real map. And this fraction does not even cover the fundamentals: Street names, landmarks/points of interest, being able to draw or create marks on the map, and perhaps making basic measurements. Its main view has marginally more informat…
Can be done. Right-click on PC, drop a pin and then choose "Measure distance" on mobile.
>being able to draw or create marks on the map
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/. Seems like they forgot to shut it down - it's design wasn't updated since 2013.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
My wife and I prefer navigating with Apple maps after Google Maps stagnated for years and years. Apple's voice instructions are incomparably better.
Apple maps is the only mapping software that's taken me to the wrong place, and it's done it several times. It also tried to put me into a permanent loop once, in Branson. Luckily it was a very small loop, or I might not have noticed, being a tourist.
In the end I took the backroad and ended up just making it after driving on the "empty tank" light for about 80km (which is surprising how long it lasted!). My fault for zoning out and blindly trusting GPS!