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Google Decides to Monetize Maps

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Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#81

Post by gowld »

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.

Using your activity as a substrate for ads has always been Google's business model, and never been a secret. You don't have to go along with it, but it's not a revelation.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#82

Post by Depooty »

sabareesh wrote: post #75
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

A sextant

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#83

Post by gowld »

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 gets the wealthy high margin market, Google gets the mass market. People buy iPhones to keep up with fashion, but most of them won't pay for maps because they can't show that off to their acquaintances.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#84

Post by dontbenebby »

I guess that explains why Google started nudging people to log in when using the iOS maps app.

They made it really hard to click through and use it without an account recently. Between that and that story about giving map data to LEAs[1] I removed it from my phone entirely.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/13/technology/google-sensorv...

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#85

Post by dontbenebby »

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.

>Why should they offer a free maps service?

Have you heard of a "loss leader"[1]?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_leader

Users are unlikely to use Google for maps and say, Bing for their searches. Maps drives traffic to search. Conversely, making maps overly commercial will drive traffic away from search.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#86

Post by rayiner »

coldtea wrote: post #69
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.

> Why should they offer a free maps service? The shouldn't. They should be forced to close, and Maps and Search should be provided by a non-profit, internationally controlled (UN etc), organization, not a for-profit company. That's my opinion of what would be best. Some services (like "indexing the world's knowledge") are too important to be left to private interests and be monetized via ads...

Some things are too important to be left to completely ineffective quasi-governmental organizations.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#87

Post by pdimitar »

snaky wrote: post #74
cageface wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

- Better battery life (if you disable background app refresh).

- Unified and consistent UI (subjective but I like it).

- No ads or privacy threats in general unless you try really hard to make them work on your iDevice.

- Guaranteed OS updates for 5+ years.

I'm probably forgetting some more.

An "iPhone experience" on an Android won't be even close to an iPhone. It could be used as a tease to prompt people to switch to an iPhone, though.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#88

Post by ddingus »

coldtea wrote: post #69
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.

> Why should they offer a free maps service? The shouldn't. They should be forced to close, and Maps and Search should be provided by a non-profit, internationally controlled (UN etc), organization, not a for-profit company. That's my opinion of what would be best. Some services (like "indexing the world's knowledge") are too important to be left to private interests and be monetized via ads...

I agree. When people are using this in the car, I sure hope the audio prompts are left alone.

"You are passing a rare gem, take exit 20..."

Well, it was a rare gem, until exploited for a buck. No way I want to go now. All sorts of ugly can happen here.

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#89

Post by dontbenebby »

gowld wrote: post #83
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 gets the wealthy high margin market, Google gets the mass market. People buy iPhones to keep up with fashion, but most of them won't pay for maps because they can't show that off to their acquaintances.

You don't need to buy a new phone. I have an older model iPhone. It still gets security updates. I had to pay to replace the battery after a few years, but otherwise it works fine.

In fact, arguably better, since it has a headphone port ;)

Re: Google Decides to Monetize Maps

#90

Post by ucaetano »

coldtea wrote: post #69
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.

> Why should they offer a free maps service? The shouldn't. They should be forced to close, and Maps and Search should be provided by a non-profit, internationally controlled (UN etc), organization, not a for-profit company. That's my opinion of what would be best. Some services (like "indexing the world's knowledge") are too important to be left to private interests and be monetized via ads...

There's nothing stopping governments from offering their own maps and search products.
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