I'm surprised Apple hasn't scooped up Foursquare. They seem to have a great database of location information that seems like it'd complement Apple's location services nicely.
Google Maps' Moat
451–460 of 619 posts
Re: Google Maps' Moat
#452This starts with the assumption that Google Maps is better.
I don’t get it.
It’s literally worse at everything I try to use it for.
- Directions are so bad I have to recommend Uber drivers not use it.
- The mobile website is practically unusable with an appallingly bad UI
- The mobile app is not much better, and continually tries to upsell to other google apps.
The strange thing is: they own Waze which is better at basically everything.
Maybe the experience on Android is better, and their desktop site is great, but I’ve been using Apple Maps and Waze and it’s just so much of a better experience that I think they’ve lost me for good.
Re: Google Maps' Moat
#453Many 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…
What I don't realize is how Waze, owned by Google, has more roads (like 50% more, easily) and has house numbers compared to google maps, which has no house numbers and barely any roads, here in Lithuania.
This is their answer to how, though it doesn't answer the "why" question:
"The maps are completely separated. Waze and Google do share traffic info and reports.
Waze uses Google maps database for search (besides our own db ofcourse).
Sometimes Google maps data is imported into Waze. Streets, streetnames, parking lots.."
Re: Google Maps' Moat
#454Earlier this year, Google Maps was directing people traveling to my newly-constructed home to a different location several miles away. I reported the problem to Google via their app, which prompted me to indicate the correct location on a map. The new location was in their database within a day or two, and I received a thank-you email from Google. Amazing.
They've definitely gotten better at accepting corrections. Five years ago we just had to tell customers not to look for a driveway that didn't exist a mile away from our actual business. Now it's easy to correct any problems one notices.
Re: Google Maps' Moat
#455If I'm not mistaken, Bing maps had 3D building information years ago already, before Google Maps. The author seems completely unaware of that.
Re: Google Maps' Moat
#456One thing I really appreciate about Google Maps is how accurate the times are. There have been numerous times where google maps says is will take x minutes to get there and I think "Nah, I'll be able to get there faster than that." Nope, I've never had google maps be off by more than a minute or so. I think it must take into account not just road conditions and traffic, but also how much I am likely to go over the sp…
Very much agree, with only one caveat: unpaved roads. Google Maps estimates are wildly off when parts of the drive are along unpaved roads in Australia. It assumes a ludicrously low speed of 30-40 km/h for such roads, when most cars are able to go 80+ km/h, depending on the road. I've beaten Google arrival estimates by more than 2 hours on some drives. When planning drives involving unpaved sections, we usually ask G…
I don't think the paving has as much to do with this as the smartphone traffic. I find drives on rural paved roads with no cell reception and low population are often overestimated by 30%. Maybe I drive too fast on these roads. I certainly appreciate Google keeping other drivers off these roads, however.
Re: Google Maps' Moat
#457Many 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
Sure, but I can Google map small locations you have never heard of in Africa. it's freaking nuts!
Re: Google Maps' Moat
#458I prefer to use google maps when I am in USA. In China, I have to use Gaode maps with iPhone, China even banned Appple's maps.
I've resorted to Baidu at the moment. Google maps in China is garbage. Hot steaming garbage.
Re: Google Maps' Moat
#459One thing I really appreciate about Google Maps is how accurate the times are. There have been numerous times where google maps says is will take x minutes to get there and I think "Nah, I'll be able to get there faster than that." Nope, I've never had google maps be off by more than a minute or so. I think it must take into account not just road conditions and traffic, but also how much I am likely to go over the sp…
Very much agree, with only one caveat: unpaved roads. Google Maps estimates are wildly off when parts of the drive are along unpaved roads in Australia. It assumes a ludicrously low speed of 30-40 km/h for such roads, when most cars are able to go 80+ km/h, depending on the road. I've beaten Google arrival estimates by more than 2 hours on some drives. When planning drives involving unpaved sections, we usually ask G…
Interestingly enough i was really surprised when i used Gmaps in Thailand and Cambodia with the exact same issue of bad roads. It was usually accurate. However i think i always had cell signal so your assumption likely is right.
Re: Google Maps' Moat
#460One thing I really appreciate about Google Maps is how accurate the times are. There have been numerous times where google maps says is will take x minutes to get there and I think "Nah, I'll be able to get there faster than that." Nope, I've never had google maps be off by more than a minute or so. I think it must take into account not just road conditions and traffic, but also how much I am likely to go over the sp…
I wish they introduced a "motorcycle" vehicle type. At least for cities, it makes a big difference in arrival time estimations.
I sometimes got the impression they do but still present it as car. I've got highly unrealistic driving times of a car in Bangkok that were very close to my actual driving time on a scooter for example.