Google Decides to Monetize Maps • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#101

Post by hedora » Thu, Apr 18, 2019, 4:24 PM UTC

johnchristopher wrote: post #43

technotony wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should they offer a free maps service? They are a business with shareholder responsibilities, not a charity, and maps must cost them a ton of money to operate.

It's not free and installed by default on every android devices ? You mean, I can buy a subscription and not rent the service with my search history ? Where's the sign-up button ?

There are tons of viable competitors to google maps, even on Android, last time I checked.

They all have different monetization strategies, and all provide good enough turn by turn directions. I regularly use Here WeGo for its offline support. Sygic is probably still fine.

I think Sygic moved to a freemium model, and I get the impression Here is subsidized by luxury car manufacturers.

Yelp crushes google maps on search.

I really don’t understand why google maps is so popular. Like search, maps is a capital intensive, commodity product with near-zero switching cost. I guess the same can be said of Coke and Pepsi, and they’re chugging along just fine. It’s a good thing I don’t work in brand management!

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#102

Post by julkali » Thu, Apr 18, 2019, 4:29 PM UTC

ketcomp wrote: post #94

I only have Google Maps on my phone because I am location sharing with my family. Is there an alternative? I will gladly uninstall it then.

There are always alternatives. For Maps, check out

.) OsmAnd (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.osmand)

.) MAPS.ME (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mapswithme...)

For other alternatives to avoid getting your habits turned into money by big companies, check out https://ethical.net/

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#103

Post by kentosi » Thu, Apr 18, 2019, 4:30 PM UTC

ketcomp wrote: post #94

I only have Google Maps on my phone because I am location sharing with my family. Is there an alternative? I will gladly uninstall it then.

I've been using Google Maps for years and didn't even notice this feature. Wow.

If you're on an iPhone there's Find My Friends that I use often.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#104

Post by JohnFen » Thu, Apr 18, 2019, 4:30 PM UTC

cageface wrote: post #57

Tsubasachan wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are assuming people would pay for an ad free GMAPS. Google tried this with YouTube Red. It doesn't work. Apple users may be willing to pay for apps, Android users don't swing that way.

Ad free won’t be enough. I predict there will be some kind of monthly bundle that includes a lot of different services. News, music, video and premium features on top of things like maps. Getting people to pay small amounts for a bunch of individual services is harder than charging them one lump sum per month for everything.

> News, music, video and premium features on top of things like maps.

I wonder how well such an approach would do. I know that it wouldn't interest me, as I don't want the "premium features" you mention, I'd just want maps. Others might only want the news and not the other stuff, etc.

But I don't know how many people are like me.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#105

Post by JohnFen » Thu, Apr 18, 2019, 4:32 PM UTC

snaky wrote: post #74

cageface wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ad free won’t be enough. I predict there will be some kind of monthly bundle that includes a lot of different services. News, music, video and premium features on top of things like maps. Getting people to pay small amounts for a bunch of individual services is harder than charging them one lump sum per month for everything.

We can imagine something like 'an iPhone experience' pack for Android, and it's technically feasible - and may attract some attention from the customers. But the question is - if you could get 'a pretty much iPhone' in your $200 Android for a couple of bucks a month, why would you ever buy an actual iPhone for $1000?

iPhones don't appeal to me regardless of price point. I would guess that people for whom an iPhone-like experience is appealing would buy an iPhone. You can pick up older used models in the $200 price range right now.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#106

Post by Rafuino » Thu, Apr 18, 2019, 4:33 PM UTC

nullc wrote: post #29

Maps has been awful and getting worse for a long time. If it's not routing me 25+ miles further to save "1 minute" (really a multi-minute slowdown in the 90th percentile) then its failing to give comprehensible directions in order to interpose business names. Maybe the monetization is finally makes competing with it attractive enough.

What I wonder is why Google spends tons of CPU resources to calculate routes that would take me much longer to get where I'm going.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#107

Post by joshfraser » Thu, Apr 18, 2019, 4:35 PM UTC

Google tracks your exact location every few seconds. They know which stores you visit, which restaurants you frequent, which friends you spend the most time with, how often you go to the gym, who you're sleeping with and much more. The targeted advertising and surveillance capabilities that are possible as a result of this level of data collection are absolutely terrifying.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#108

Post by JohnFen » Thu, Apr 18, 2019, 4:36 PM UTC

jfoster wrote: post #21

pojntfx wrote: post #3

May OpenStreetMap prevail!

OSM has impressive geographical data now, but in the meantime Google Maps has gone well beyond "we can help you find that street address." Their places data, reviews, photos, navigation, and street view are all adding a massive amount of value. They have shifted the goal posts.

> in the meantime Google Maps has gone well beyond "we can help you find that street address."

None of which has any real value to me.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#109

Post by JohnFen » Thu, Apr 18, 2019, 4:38 PM UTC

thinkingemote wrote: post #11

clydethefrog wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wish there was an app using OSM that had at least some usability and design. I tried some but had to quit out frustration.

Sometimes you have to sacrifice usability for something more important. AMP is a good example. Users love it. It's more usable, but HN thinks it's evil.

> Users love it. It's more usable

Not all users. I hate it, and I don't really find it more usable. I find it more limiting.

The complaints about AMP are not unique to HN, either. I see them in all sorts of other places.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#110

Post by Skunkleton » Thu, Apr 18, 2019, 4:39 PM UTC

sabareesh wrote: post #75

JohnFen wrote: post #66

I stopped using Google Maps a few years back. I received a notification on my phone that a store I was near was having a sale. It was clear that something was leaking my location, and that was being used to push ads to me through Android itself. A little investigation revealed that the culprit was Google Maps. I uninstalled it at that point and never looked back.

So what do you use now

Not OP, but I waffle between apple maps and google maps. I leave google maps due to the privacy concerns, switch to apple maps, then get mislead a few times, then end back up on google maps. Rinse repeat.