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Google Maps' Moat

justinobeirne.com

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Re: Google Maps' Moat

#261

Post by dnautics »

sytelus wrote: post #142

Many people don't realize why Google maps are so much better than anything out there. I would actually give lot of credit to Marissa Mayer who suddenly became in charge of maps from otherwise more higher position. Thanks to her influence in Google SLT and ability to make impressive arguments, she was able to make a case for maps as core pillar in Google's offering and consequently obtain huge investment and large tal…

>you can bet Apple is going to have a giant hole in their balance sheet.

I wouldn't be so dramatic. My roommate uses mostly Google products but she gets by with apple maps because her car only speaks that over Bluetooth. It's not the worst experience in the world.

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#262

Post by MrMid »

Our local map server, Mapy.cz, has also mapped almost every building in Czech Republic (or at least it seems from my usage of the map)[1], with, presumably, waayy smaller budget. They have also the best tourist ang cycling navigation for our country. [1] https://mapy.cz/s/2gTui

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#264

Post by ktta »

clairity wrote: post #244
tatersolid wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then why is Netflix depending on AWS for the core of their business (their delivery platform)? Prime video is their main competitor. It’s like UPS renting its trucks from fedEx.

netflix realized that content delivery is no longer a core part of the business when they stopped sending out DVDs in the mail. instead, they've spent all their energies since on amassing the most lucrative content they can. this is why they started making their own original series and why disney has (implicitly) made the argument that they should be allowed to buy fox. same as in the UPS & fedex example. the trucks…

>when they stopped sending out DVDs in the mail.

Don't they still do?

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#265

Post by chairmanwow »

gaius wrote: post #253
shubhamjain wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting how Google's projects don't spell financial returns immediately but a few years hence, they are the dominant player in that field. Management deserves credit for nurturing these project but it has always been characteristic of Google to support ambitious ideas. Google Maps was more ready than anyone else to ride the smartphone explosion. I guess they will also be more ready than everyone to cash on s…

It's interesting how Google's projects don't spell financial returns immediately but a few years hence, they are the dominant player in that field Hmmm, wasn't this Microsoft's business strategy too, until the regulators got involved?

Wait. What are you talking about? This seems like a noteworthy story.

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#266

Post by clairity »

ktta wrote: post #264
clairity wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

netflix realized that content delivery is no longer a core part of the business when they stopped sending out DVDs in the mail. instead, they've spent all their energies since on amassing the most lucrative content they can. this is why they started making their own original series and why disney has (implicitly) made the argument that they should be allowed to buy fox. same as in the UPS & fedex example. the trucks…

>when they stopped sending out DVDs in the mail. Don't they still do?

ha, yes, you are correct, there it is at https://dvd.netflix.com

it seems like ages ago that anyone has mentioned getting a netflix dvd in the mail.

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#267

Post by wingworks »

ghaff wrote: post #146
jonknee wrote: post #111

Google also has a giant lead in trails / feature names. I hike a ton and Google has been adding trails at a brisk pace. I just checked the Snoqualmie Pass area about an hour outside of Seattle and Apple Maps has almost no trails, named mountains or named lakes (even quite large ones). A few trails show up as unnamed roads. There's also no relief shading to tell where the mountains are or a terrain view for contour li…

Although I find, in a lot of places, that OpenStreetMaps is a lot better than Google for hiking trails.

Yeah I agree 1000%, at least for New Zealand, any tracks that art super popular aren't on Google, but most are on OSM.

Not to mention, I find seeing Googles walking tracks kinda hard, especially if you're new to an area and want to see what tracks are around.

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#268

Post by jldugger »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #130

A couple of things stand out for me from the article, one is that this sort of aerial image to detailed map was one of the things the US Government was doing with satellite images in the 70's, and with Google's compute resources if it this seems like the kind of 'side' use that would be encouraged. It is certainly a more useful use of compute resources than computing cryptohashes :-). The second thing was that Google…

> And if you turn the problem into an algorithm that can be parceled up between machines, you have way more of that than people. It's the one thing that the previous generation of computer companies didn't get

And some open source data initiatives. Open Street Map, for all it's glory, is surprisingly anti-automation. There's a lot of stuff that could probably be done with programs that they refuse because it's too hard to peer review the massive resulting changesets. Which is unfortunate, because there's a huge potential for processing images from places like Planet to provide new data and annotations that we'll just straight up miss out on.

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#269

Post by wingworks »

Tempest1981 wrote: post #207
_s4qd wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've added a lot of those places manually through the "Add a missing place" in the menu. The review process either takes 2 days or stays in limbo forever. Google maps also gamified the contribution process so you can get internet points for improving their maps.

I was curious about these "internet points", and found this: https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/13/google-maps-updates-it-loc... "... guides who get to level four will now get three months of free access to Google Play Music and 75 percent off rentals in the Google Play Movie store."

Yep, it's a shell of its former glory. They used to give out Google Map shirts at the end of the year if you contribute allot, as well as 1TB of free Google Drive storage for a year. You also sometimes get invited to try some map-related apps before it becomes public. Very rare though.

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#270

Post by dx034 »

gaius wrote: post #255
NegativeLatency wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I prefer apple maps to google maps for most use cases.

Nokia's Here Maps is likewise superior.

I often heard that but always found Google's navigation better. Esp in European cities, where Google Maps will show street names in the map and Here won't (as of 6 months ago). I really wanted to get away from Google maps (to not use Google for everything) but found it to be clearly superior.
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