Google Maps has become an eyesore • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#321

Post by WeylandYutani » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 10:35 AM UTC

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…

It's funny Maps has become so crap that I paid 10 euro for OSM.

But I think open street maps has a killer feature that Google doesn't have: the community.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#322

Post by lawgimenez » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 10:35 AM UTC

I just came home from driving and using Google Maps and not only it has become an eyesore, it also has become a resource hog. Can’t count how many times it freezes during intermittent mobile signal.

Also the directions are not accurate and updated anymore.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#323

Post by samanator » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 10:37 AM UTC

h1fra wrote: post #264

I understand the ads and everything else, I don't not enjoy it but I understand. What I really don't get is the product is hiding a lot of stuff for no reason. Whenever I zoom in my neighbourhood: it doesn't display all the streets, some shops are missing even at maximum zoom, search is removing some results that should match my query, etc... I have slowly lost trust in the products (except for navigation), it's stil…

> Yet no matter how far in I zoom in, Google Maps doesn’t always apply a label to the street I’m standing on. It just remains blank.

The same thing happens to me. The most useful piece of information is hidden. I've never understood that decision.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#324

Post by ilyt » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 10:37 AM UTC

kirushik wrote: post #287

makeitdouble wrote: post #182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Maps has its pitfalls, but it's by far the most up to date in the cities I've used it. OSM lacks a lot of details that completely change how you'd move from point A to point B (I was missing overpass bridges and crossable paths in residential neighboorhoods), and point to point navigation is also not great. Then it completely lacks all the more commercial features Google has built on top of Maps (store details…

I'm curious if that's US vs Europe thing? For me in Europe, Google Maps coverage quality can be best described by this personal anecdote. I used to live in Nürnberg, which is in top 10 German cities by population, and where are some major and well-recognized international companies are headquartered. Nürnberg has a subway system (U-Bahn) since 1980s, and it's significant enough: a few dozen stations over three lines…

Here in Poland it's fine. Maybe that's due to the war Germans waged on google street view ? I'd think some of that was also used for mapping

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#325

Post by esperent » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 10:40 AM UTC

anigbrowl wrote: post #166

xcdzvyn wrote: post #9

It's inflammatory, but this website is worse. There's some video playing of a stranger eating mustard skittles taking up the bottom quarter of the screen.

Vivaldi's ad blocker thankfully means I have no idea what you're referring to. Stay tuned though, by next year they'll have ads of your friends eating mustard skittles, whether they do or not.

Huh, I have uBlock on mobile and I still got the video - which is not an ad, it's just really shitty web design.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#326

Post by feintruled » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 10:40 AM UTC

DoingIsLearning wrote: post #112

khazhoux wrote: post #41

> 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.

No, mapping 101 is showing me a scale. Without a scale it is a drawing not a map. A for everyone telling me I can enable it always in settings, I will answer that it still gets removed when you start navigation with 'Directions'. But I still agree street omission is pretty bad.

Something that catches me out when driving is the scale adjusting for speed. It makes sense, but a junction that looks quite close suddenly starts moving further away from you as you slow down for it and the maps zooms in. It's an odd UI quirk.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#327

Post by throwaway9621 » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 10:41 AM UTC

Fnoord wrote: post #272

aembleton wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worth adding that information to open street maps so that it available for other maps too.

For sure, but for many people there's only Google Maps, and maybe Apple Maps. On the short term, catering to Google Maps makes sense. They'd add to another project if it were to be popular enough, and the network effect keeps Google Maps popular. Hence they get away with enshittification.

>They'd add to another project if it were to be popular enough, and the network effect keeps Google Maps popular. Hence they get away with enshittification.

Ah yes, the chicken and egg logic of network effect excuses all.

How about if people, idk, just evangelized more about the things they love to be smug about on HN?

People should be shamed off enshittified platforms. Be "that guy" - or be a hypocrite. For Google it might a little more complicated, but for each one of us it's exactly this simple.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#328

Post by Knee_Pain » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 10:42 AM UTC

The funniest thing to me is that Google Maps seems to be the "normal person" option and yet only OSM tells me where water fountains are.

Millions of tourists worldwide use GMaps to navigate around in foreign places and yet they have no option to see where the closest place to refill their bottles is? Especially in the summer?

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#329

Post by lawgimenez » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 10:42 AM UTC

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:…

I noticed this one too as I was planning my route last night. Google Maps can’t detect one way streets anymore and suggested roads that are marked no entry. I’m glad I zoomed in and was able to read the sign.

I am not sure what is happening to Google Maps lately but this is bad.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#330

Post by aden1ne » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 10:43 AM UTC

My main gripes with Google Maps is that it seems to work OK if you know the name of the place you are looking for, but not its location. But it really doesn't work if you know the location but not the name. If there's any clustering of stores, you can zoom in all you want but it will only show 1 in 2 stores, sometimes even fewer.

Also annoying is the sort order of many searches these days somehow giving you random residential locations at the very top. I suppose these are small webshops ran out of homes for the same search term. But that's rarely what I want to find when I'm using google maps.