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Google Decides to Monetize Maps

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Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#71

Post by JohnFen »

Tsubasachan wrote: post #54
cageface wrote: post #17

Google is really leaving the door open here for Apple to step in and offer a services bundle with a monthly fee that doesn’t involve stuffing advertising into every nook and cranny of the user experience. I generally prefer Google’s services to Apple’s but there might be a tipping point soon where I’m willing to sacrifice some features in exchange for a generally less creepy product.

You are assuming people would pay for an ad free GMAPS. Google tried this with YouTube Red. It doesn't work. Apple users may be willing to pay for apps, Android users don't swing that way.

> Google tried this with YouTube Red. It doesn't work.

YouTube Red isn't a good example. It seems to work just fine. Google is famous for being willing to cut loose efforts that don't work, and they haven't stopped YouTube Red -- they only rebranded it.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#72

Post by maracuja-juice »

cageface wrote: post #38
js2 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple maps still has a ways to go. I say this as someone who tries to use it frequently because I much prefer its UI, especially with Carplay. But it still has much worse traffic data, still sometimes sends me on weird routes through neighborhoods that don't save any time nor distance, and lately has a fun glitch where it sometimes instructs me turn left instead of right or vice/versa because it apparently thinks my…

Apple maps is inferior to Google in almost every respect in Asia. I open it now and again just to see if it’s improved and always switch back immediately to Gmaps. With hardware sales slowing Apple has a lot more incentive to improve it than they did when the iPhone gravy train seemed unstoppable though.

In China I experienced that it's exactly the other way around.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#73

Post by twothamendment »

technotony wrote: post #25
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…

Why should they offer a free maps service? They are a business with shareholder responsibilities, not a charity, and maps must cost them a ton of money to operate.

You are correct. The reverse is true too, why should contribute data to their maps service for free? I've done lot of work to add and correct roads, update business info and addresses in my area. If they want to fill the map with ads they have that right - but when they drive me (and people like me) away, their product will suffer.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#74

Post by snaky »

cageface wrote: post #57
Tsubasachan wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are assuming people would pay for an ad free GMAPS. Google tried this with YouTube Red. It doesn't work. Apple users may be willing to pay for apps, Android users don't swing that way.

Ad free won’t be enough. I predict there will be some kind of monthly bundle that includes a lot of different services. News, music, video and premium features on top of things like maps. Getting people to pay small amounts for a bunch of individual services is harder than charging them one lump sum per month for everything.

We can imagine something like 'an iPhone experience' pack for Android, and it's technically feasible - and may attract some attention from the customers.

But the question is - if you could get 'a pretty much iPhone' in your $200 Android for a couple of bucks a month, why would you ever buy an actual iPhone for $1000?

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#75

Post by sabareesh »

JohnFen wrote: post #66

I stopped using Google Maps a few years back. I received a notification on my phone that a store I was near was having a sale. It was clear that something was leaking my location, and that was being used to push ads to me through Android itself. A little investigation revealed that the culprit was Google Maps. I uninstalled it at that point and never looked back.

So what do you use now

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#76

Post by mtmail »

tzfld wrote: post #56
jfoster wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OSM has impressive geographical data now, but in the meantime Google Maps has gone well beyond "we can help you find that street address." Their places data, reviews, photos, navigation, and street view are all adding a massive amount of value. They have shifted the goal posts.

>Their places data, reviews, photos, navigation, and street view are all adding a massive amount of value. This is where OSM should move.

There's https://openstreetcam.org/ and https://www.mapillary.com/ for anybody who want to contribute. It's a huge operational cost to run such a service for free. OSM doesn't run donation campaigns like wikipedia/wikimedia does.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#77

Post by gowld »

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.

There is a fine line between "investment to build a product" and "dumping below cost to win consumers over via low prices, then raising prices"

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#78

Post by bhhaskin »

taurath wrote: post #40
technotony wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should they offer a free maps service? They are a business with shareholder responsibilities, not a charity, and maps must cost them a ton of money to operate.

What changed over the last 10 years, and why wasn’t it monetized earlier? Maybe because then they wanted to make a useful service and get some data for their search ads, and now they just want more money.

They ran all of their competition out of business.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#79

Post by [deleted] »

js2 wrote: post #32
cageface wrote: post #17

Google is really leaving the door open here for Apple to step in and offer a services bundle with a monthly fee that doesn’t involve stuffing advertising into every nook and cranny of the user experience. I generally prefer Google’s services to Apple’s but there might be a tipping point soon where I’m willing to sacrifice some features in exchange for a generally less creepy product.

Apple maps still has a ways to go. I say this as someone who tries to use it frequently because I much prefer its UI, especially with Carplay. But it still has much worse traffic data, still sometimes sends me on weird routes through neighborhoods that don't save any time nor distance, and lately has a fun glitch where it sometimes instructs me turn left instead of right or vice/versa because it apparently thinks my…

[deleted]

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#80

Post by jandrese »

Gene_Parmesan wrote: post #46
nullc wrote: post #29

Maps has been awful and getting worse for a long time. If it's not routing me 25+ miles further to save "1 minute" (really a multi-minute slowdown in the 90th percentile) then its failing to give comprehensible directions in order to interpose business names. Maybe the monetization is finally makes competing with it attractive enough.

And the app has become absolutely atrocious performance-wise. It used to load nearly immediately, but starting ~1.5 years ago I began noticing extreme slowdowns. Now it's barely functional for me. Every part of the UI is appallingly unresponsive -- taps that take 5 seconds to register, hitches in animation, etc. From tapping on the icon to being able to get underway (including typing in an address) used to be about f…

On my old iPhone the performance is still fine, but the volume controls have been broken for ages. Basically you can only change the volume while it is speaking (otherwise it changes the ringer volume). So you have to guess when the phone is speaking and then smash the volume up button in the hopes that you guessed correctly. And of course you have to do this blind because you're driving at the time to trigger the turn prompt. Very annoying.
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