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Google Maps' Moat Is Evaporating

joemorrison.substack.com

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Re: Google Maps' Moat Is Evaporating

#141

Post by Daniel_sk »

Pamar wrote: post #140
marbu wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mapy.cz covers most of other use cases as well, including business info, public transport and other details. I personally find mapy.cz more tailored to pedestrian/public transport navigation within european city. The only feature which I go to google maps is the mentioned estimation of how crowded a place is (as this comes from android data, and google has an clear edge there).

Just tested for Germany (where I am living currently) and it is not very good: at the map level it shows the correct street number but it seems unable to use it for actual route planning (i.e. if you are in a street with numbers from 1 to 200 it seems to always calculate your arrival point at #1 even if you specificy that you are looking for "72/b"). Also, is it available as an app on iPhone?

Yes, it's available on iPhone. The company is based in Czech republic and originally they were focused on Czech and Slovak market, but they cover the whole world. I haven't tried the navigation, I only use it mostly for navigation outside of cities for hiking - I can have the whole tourist map in my pocket and offline at any time.

Re: Google Maps' Moat Is Evaporating

#142

Post by sonotmyname »

aikinai wrote: post #59
snowwrestler wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a joke.

An simple outlandish claim doesn't make constitute a joke unless it's referencing something. I think that reference is what GP is asking about.

No, it’s clearly a joke - it made me laugh! It doesn’t need another reference point because the claim’s very existence is a reference to people’s reticence to admit their own age (due to vanity) or fear (of facing one’s mortality). That has been a common point of humor for ages (pun also intended).

Re: Google Maps' Moat Is Evaporating

#143

Post by bikingbismuth »

sonotmyname wrote: post #138

I switched to Apple Maps long before it was believed to be good enough for 2 features that Google Maps will never (likely) implement - random identifiers and location fuzzing. These privacy-first features are important to me. Now that Apple Maps has had many years to get a lot better, I genuinely prefer it to Google Maps - even setting aside the privacy issues. I love in California, so I understand there may be local…

I've used Apple maps in Phoenix for a while and prefer it over Google maps as well. Google doesn't always update their maps in a timely fashion and will display closures that have since cleared up, especially on rural sections of highways.

Re: Google Maps' Moat Is Evaporating

#144

Post by juliansimioni »

joejoebags wrote: post #79

What’s up HN?! Always fun to find an article of mine on here. What I’ve learned so far: I’ve underestimated the important of their place data to the rest of the search apparatus, and likely underestimated the relevance of Maps to their autonomous vehicle strategy. What I remain curious about that I’d love your speculation on: why do they bother with the Google Maps Platform at all? They have plenty of ways to monetiz…

my guess/understanding is that every team at Google is under significant pressure to monetize. Unlike the old days where there was more of a strategy of "build anything that brings people in, search/ads will monetize those eyeballs".

The 2018 google maps price increase could have given some execs HUGE bonuses under that new model, even if it isn't ideal from a Google-wide standpoint

Before the 2018 price increase I was convinced Google didn't care to have lots of little customers paying for Google Maps. It was all peanuts compared to their main income

Re: Google Maps' Moat Is Evaporating

#147

Post by dleslie »

Google Maps lost its luster for me when they made it difficult to plot arbitrary routes and draw regions.

Once upon a time, I would use google maps to plot hiking routes and draw regions to describe destination areas. Ie, "in this neighbourhood one can find good street-level shoppes".

You can still do these things, but it's cumbersome and buried in the menus; whereas I recall this behaviour being first-class.

Re: Google Maps' Moat Is Evaporating

#149

Post by burnthrow »

barnacled wrote: post #22

One thing I have noticed and found really irritating is the degradation of the street view functionality in Google maps. They have got lazy. I used to be able to click or keyboard navigate through a route but now it either stops responding to clicks, transports me onto a nearby motorway randomly,or gets massively unresponsive. I am very glad there is some competition coming, as good as Google maps is they are clearly…

Also, if you drop a pin while zoomed out at all, you are going to look at a user's PhotoSphere, no questions. I've tested this at length, no degree of precision in your pin drop will avoid the PhotoSphere, it owns the pin drop region at most zoom levels.

Re: Google Maps' Moat Is Evaporating

#150

Post by dleslie »

treis wrote: post #112
joejoebags wrote: post #79

What’s up HN?! Always fun to find an article of mine on here. What I’ve learned so far: I’ve underestimated the important of their place data to the rest of the search apparatus, and likely underestimated the relevance of Maps to their autonomous vehicle strategy. What I remain curious about that I’d love your speculation on: why do they bother with the Google Maps Platform at all? They have plenty of ways to monetiz…

Google wants to control all the ways people search the web so that they don't have to share profits and so that a competitor can't emerge. That's why we have Maps (location), Android (mobile), Home & Assistant (voice), and Chrome (URL bar).

GMail and whatever their chat is called this week (social), Daydream (VR/AR).
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