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Google Maps has become an eyesore

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Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#251

Post by bandrami »

summerlight wrote: post #76
AlbertCory wrote: post #34

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…

I personally think that ads on maps were a bad idea even for monetization. At glance, this seems to be a plausible ads inventory for local businesses but in reality this doesn't scale very well compared to Search or App ads (or even Display) since most of ads will be limited to a very narrow area so big advertisers don't feel as strongly as other channels. They could design ad campaigns specific to local areas but th…

The author notes that Google does seem to be leaning in to the sector where they really make a lot of sense, hotels. I'm going to Delhi for work next week and how I picked a hotel was going to maps, zooming out from the venue a bit, and letting hotel pins appear.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#252

Post by astrange »

neilv wrote: post #65

I recently was browsing a university neighborhood on Google Maps, and a large condo building had a pin in it... for a bed bug extermination service. I don't know whether the business owner lived there, or an opportunistic business unrelated to the location was just using it to advertise in college (i.e., bed bug) neighborhood, or it was sabotage by someone who wanted to depress market value of the building, or someth…

> I don't know whether the business owner lived there

This is almost always the reason. Either they're a mobile business or their data source picked up the business owner's address rather than the business address from the local government DB.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#253

Post by b112 »

CydeWeys wrote: post #116
dietr1ch wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If google can't make money with maps, why isn't Maps taken out of google into a charity/non-profit backed thing. There's OpenStreetMap, and Wikipedia wouldn't mind having a Map I guess. That way it'd help a bit with the monopoly heat and maintaining it could be slightly cheaper. I don't know the legal stuff, but I'd rather have a company supporting a non-profit than burning money internally, so I hope the incentives…

It takes serious funding to make an excellent mapping app that contains worldwide business info, and a whole hell of a lot of paid review staff. A non-profit/charity can't really tackle this well. And since having a good mapping app is so important to the use of a smartphone generally, it makes sense for the two major smartphone OS vendors to each have a platform-standard mapping app.

I'm pretty sure you could use AI these days, to replicate the accuracy of Google Anything.

And there isn't a paid review staff, people who filter maybe, but Google doesn't review anything.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#254

Post by ogou »

In Berlin, Google Maps shows bike share and scooter clusters on the same layer as public transport. Searching for a bus or tram stop with all that noise is punishing. Also the icons for the bus and bike are very similar at the default zoom level. You have to zoom in constantly to differentiate and inevitably it's a marker for Donkey Republic or nextbike, instead of the bus. They don't even mark actual docking stations. It's just sidewalk areas. I assume those companies had access to a bulk map update API and just claimed spots all over the city. The result is a mess.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#256

Post by pronik »

tannhaeuser wrote: post #192
AlbertCory wrote: post #34

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…

Just a couple weeks ago, Google announced they're going to re-photograph Street View in my country, though, which is still running on the initial 2007ish data. How would that be profitable? The idea of virtual ads placed onto pseudo 3D walls was already present when Street View started but apparently didn't deliver economically. Maybe they want to break resistance this time around as they had lots of data protection…

Are you talking about Germany? Google never stopped creating new images in Germany, they've just decided they would put the new images online (which they already did).

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#257

Post by gniv »

not_your_vase wrote: post #2

Every time I use Google Maps, I feel so helpless, and frankly, stupid. On Desktop, I simply can't figure it out how to switch to A-B route mode, nor how to trigger street view. I literally just click randomly in a more and more frustrated way until suddenly the option appears. And on Android I just avoid the app. I hate that I couldn't turn off the automatic compass. Every time I finally manage to orient myself when…

The other way to get streetview is to turn it on as a layer on top of the map. You do that by hovering over the square on the bottom left. The most used layer is probably satellite imagery, but I occasionally use traffic and altitude lines as well.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#258

Post by scrollaway »

anigbrowl wrote: post #165

All of these criticisms are very valid, especially the street name one, which is a great example of core functionality being sacrificed to...whatever this is. But then the end: And as annoyed as I am by all those unwanted pins on my screen, I still often need some of those points of interest, such as popular times, live foot traffic data, reviews, photos, and other useful data that help me plan an outing. It’s nice t…

You really can’t conceive that this stuff might be useful information to someone who isn’t exactly you?

Seriously, how arrogant is that?

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#260

Post by baz00 »

LimeLimestone wrote: post #193

Is it just me or have you guys also noticed that the routes suggested by Google Maps have gotten worse? 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:…

It's even worse for us cyclists. Regularly tries to kill me in the routes it picks.
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