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Google Maps' Moat

justinobeirne.com

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Re: Google Maps' Moat

#301

Post by reacweb »

zaptheimpaler wrote: post #160
puzzle wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The more pedestrian reason for Google's investment for its own maps was that the licensing costs for data to use in turn-by-turn navigation, which is many times as expensive compared to simpler uses, were going to skyrocket once mobile adoption took off as projected. You could give millions or billions to TomTom, which is what Apple has been doing, or you could pour the same amounts into creating your own datasets, a…

Agree, Google has fundamentally understood the power of information/data since the very beginning - its part of their DNA.

I think Google is not seeking power for power or money for money. Google's focus is AI. Google needs the full view of people behaviour in order to build AI. Traveling is a good domain to study human behaviour and traffic optimisation. What motivate the choice of an itinerary ? Why someone choose to not follow waze advices ? What would be the best strategy ?

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#302

Post by kogepathic »

mhaymo wrote: post #281
kbart wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Google maps are so much better than anything out there." I'd take Nokia's Here anytime instead of Google Maps (offline maps alone are worth it). Also, I honestly don't understand a logic behind crediting something as complex to a single person ("a hero") -- "S. Jobs created iPhone", "M. Mayer created Google Maps" etc., there were whole teams of smart people working on these projects, I'm sure they would have been fi…

The Google Maps app on Android has offline maps.

Does Google Maps offline functionality include POIs?

The last time I tried/was allowed to save Google Maps offline (it's not available in all regions) you could not navigate or search for POIs while offline.

Here allows both navigation and POI search using an offline map. This is incredibly useful if you are in a country without service or where roaming data is very expensive.

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#303

Post by gaius »

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…

I would actually give lot of credit to Marissa Mayer

Would you also credit her for the rise in Yahoo!'s share price, or did she merely happen to be there when the earlier investment in Alibaba started to pay off?

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#304

Post by exikyut »

mafro wrote: post #295
dannyw wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can actually edit it yourself and make a correction. A local guide community member will review it.

I've done a few similar minor-edits to maps and they're always approved. This ultra-localised data needs to be crowd-sourced.

Interesting.

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#305

Post by exikyut »

dannyw wrote: post #254
exikyut wrote: post #235

I doubt anybody will see this comment, but I'll leave it here anyway just in case. While using Maps the other day to get bus directions I got pulled up short and had a very big laugh after Maps gave me a route that would have required I walk through my neighbor's living room and backyard, and then jump my back fence in order to get home. :D Maps apparently thinks that the internal roads in the townhouse complex next…

You can actually edit it yourself and make a correction. A local guide community member will review it.

Oh. Thanks!

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#306

Post by rhetina »

nkristoffersen wrote: post #247
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.

My understanding is Netflix uses their own CDN for delivery not AWS.

That's what I know too: AWS is used only during spikes

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#307

Post by erdbeerkuchen »

aluhut wrote: post #292
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…

No love for OpenStreetMaps here? In Germany it is often superior to everything out there. Especially due to the mappers/updaters motivation and nice gamification tools like StreetComplete or more professional tools like Vespucci. https://github.com/westnordost/StreetComplete http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Vespucci

Incredible. I'm a big fan of google maps but the map of my neighborhood is much much clearer on openstreetmaps than on google maps.

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#308

Post by gmueckl »

chairmanwow wrote: post #265
gaius wrote: post #253

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 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.

Not sure if there is. Google and MS have tons of cash to burn during the early life cycle of a new product. Thus they can iterate long and fast to get something the market wants. However, Microsoft got bashed for abusing one successful product (Windows) to eliminate competition for another (Internet Explorer and Windows Media Player). Google comes close to this with the behaviour of thier search engine which has been judged to give unfair boosts to other Google products.

This kind of anticompetitive behaviour would be news. A big bank account all by itself is not.

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#309

Post by aluhut »

tigershark wrote: post #297
aluhut wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No love for OpenStreetMaps here? In Germany it is often superior to everything out there. Especially due to the mappers/updaters motivation and nice gamification tools like StreetComplete or more professional tools like Vespucci. https://github.com/westnordost/StreetComplete http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Vespucci

Last time that I checked google maps was vastly superior in all the aspects.

I use it frequently. It's not. Especially regarding updating businesses, small roads (and road quality), paths, opening hours, closed roads&paths/construction sites, bike maps, everything regarding detailed information basically. I have been adding bus stop markers for blind people or types of pedestrian crossings, recycling containers, street light, to OSM with StreetComplete. There is so much more there. Next time, please elaborate on such blunt statements since I believe it may be worse somewhere but it's not generally.

Re: Google Maps' Moat

#310

Post by freshyill »

I come from a small town with a very large ZIP code that encompasses several other very small towns. Sure, they have the shapes of buildings, but business locations from eight miles away are shown in the wrong town because they’re both on Main Street in the same ZIP code. It’s the same on both Google and Apple Maps. Neither has been responsive to my corrections through the appropriate channels.

Who cares about the shapes of buildings if their directions send you to the wrong town?

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