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Google Decides to Monetize Maps

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Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#301

Post by clairity »

dininski wrote: post #4

I can't stress enough how much of a bad idea this is. I was stunned when a few days ago I was looking up something on Google Maps and started seeing advertised locations/suggestions. Even though I love the product and have been a fan of Google products for the longest time, their current strategy of monetizing everything they can is very off putting. The direction Chrome is taking is also concerning. Don't know what…

> "seems like they are aggressively trying to grow even more. Maybe to raise stock price?"

it's interesting to note that google is tacitly admitting that their tentacular data ingestion products (like maps) and their vast machine-learning infrastructure by themselves can't generate the value they're expecting, so they're resorting to direct monetization. otherwise they wouldn't take another PR hit like this.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#303

Post by bduerst »

lalos wrote: post #297
bduerst wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That they live in the same high rise? That they're roommates? Again, this is further to GP's point about exaggeration.

They can easily obtain the SSID of the network they are at and that's it. Or scrape the Uber receipt from relevant gmail accounts the morning after with the appropriate time stamps. It's trivial with a reasonable degree of confidence to deduce it.

Because roommates don't share the same wifi? Or friends crash on each others couches and take an uber the next day? What's next, are you going to say the Nest cam is watching them in the bedroom? Again, this is all hyperbole.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#304

Post by reciprocity »

stunt wrote: post #42
Svip wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OP is not saying they cannot monetise their product as they see fit (it's their product). No one is saying that. But when you have been offering something for free for years, people get used to that being the way of things, users are not going to respond well to the increase in advertisement. Had Google done this from the beginning, people would have been more accepting of it. Generally speaking, if you change a serv…

I think that period was part of their investment and also helped them to improve the product. And like any other investment, they need to make money as well. I can imagine Maps is an expensive product to operate. I also hate ads and I hope they find a different way to make it reasonably profitable.

Google already makes money hand over fist. I am not sure if what you posit holds water.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#305

Post by screye »

sockgrant wrote: post #283
blueski wrote: post #222

Our Google Maps bill went from ~$100k per year to $380k per year as a result of these changes. Needless to say, we're moving over to Mapbox. What Google seems to miss is how this will affect customers' receptiveness to other Google products in the long-term. Having pulled the rug from under us once, there's no way we could consider e.g. a migration to Cloud in case the same happened again (where moving to a different…

There are so many APIs that they've flipped pricing on or flat out cancelled I'm surprised anyone still uses them for absolutely any APIs. Seriously. I can't say this strongly enough: Google APIs and platforms are for building toy weekend projects. DO NOT use them for your business.

I see this as their biggest hurdle when trying to sell GCP.

When Amazon and MSFT have decent products and massive reliability, why even try switching to unreliable Google, irrespective of their technical superiority.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#306

Post by ebg13 »

mrep wrote: post #290
ebg13 wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I do think that advertising has made the world better. A majority of the content on the internet is viable because of it. AKA the "harmful behavior is ok when it's profitable" theory. I don't agree.

Would you rather have every website prompt you with a paywall instead because that is the only other profitable solution I can think of.

You are either ignoring the context of this subthread or agreeing with it. I'll remind you: ashishmalik says "Everything is ok because money!"

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#307

Post by vibrolax »

darkpuma wrote: post #279
Mediterraneo10 wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There aren't a lot of good alternatives to Maps though. For much of the world, OpenStreetMap data is considerably more complete than Google Maps. It is true that there is no website based on OSM that is as convenient as maps.google.com, but more and more people are using maps on mobile, where they are relying on apps and not a website, and OSM-based solutions like Maps.Me are good substitutes for Google’s ecosystem…

> "For much of the world, OpenStreetMap data is considerably more complete than Google Maps." This is particularly true for many not-so-obscure niches, like hiking trails in and around major US cities. Once you stray from roads and business locations, Google Maps gets shockingly sparse. Compare coverage for this park in Seattle: Open Street Map: https://0x0.st/zqAH.png Google Maps: https://0x0.st/zqAo.png Google Maps…

Agree. I rely on OSM for exactly this sort of detail for all kinds of outdoor recreation activities. I contribute missing features when I can.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#308

Post by lalos »

bduerst wrote: post #303
lalos wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can easily obtain the SSID of the network they are at and that's it. Or scrape the Uber receipt from relevant gmail accounts the morning after with the appropriate time stamps. It's trivial with a reasonable degree of confidence to deduce it.

Because roommates don't share the same wifi? Or friends crash on each others couches and take an uber the next day? What's next, are you going to say the Nest cam is watching them in the bedroom? Again, this is all hyperbole.

Welcome to 2014 http://www.whosdrivingyou.org/blog/ubers-deleted-rides-of-gl...

I'm not claiming Google does this, I'm claiming this is very trivial. Of course it will be probabilistic so you can claim something with 95% chance of being true. That's good enough for advertising purposes or just to be put in a box called 'likely to have a one night stand'.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#309

Post by Malic »

> “...You don’t expect them to pull the carpet from beneath you...”

Ah, yes, yes I do.

I work in an agency doing client website development and Google's recent price change for map services caused us to look elsewhere - abruptly. We're all about MapBox now - Google Maps has become too expensive.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#310

Post by Zigurd »

Google already extracts a lot of hard, quantifiable value from Maps, partly in the form of valuable data, but also including ads and other promotions.

This article is about developer pricing for the Maps API. The article doesn't really delve into why Google is squeezing more money out of small app developers. The only plausible thing I can think of is to prevent losing ad revenue to apps that don't include promotions, but that seems like a stretch.

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