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Google sends anti-regulation propaganda to small businesses using Google Maps

arstechnica.com

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Re: Google sends anti-regulation propaganda to small businesses using Google Maps

#91

Post by slownews45 »

durnygbur wrote: post #19
slownews45 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A fair number of HN takes are snark and critique I think these days, it's a bit more reddit now? I think folks underestimate just HOW MUCH data google maps has and how many users it has, and the integration / scale is impressive particularly as some parts of the system are real time. They seem to update both street view and satellite data pretty frequently, and you can go back in time in sat vie as well, so we have a…

> When I do routing I can route by walking, transit, driving etc. It seems to know every train / bus route and stop and even schedule. Not only that but they seem to route through the "most popular" or "most attended routes" crowdsourced by their unaware users. Meanwhile others just calculate the "best time" or "shortest path" routing.

The routing has gotten a bit worse I think.

On a drive I do a fair bit it has me do an unprotected left onto a busy 4 lane road with a blind approach from the right. Miserable.

If it kept me on the other main road 10 seconds longer I'd be merging at a light.

There is new "fuel efficient" and other modes - I've wondered if this is throwing it off somehow.

Re: Google sends anti-regulation propaganda to small businesses using Google Maps

#93

Post by foxfluff »

slownews45 wrote: post #13
scrollaway wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand this take. Google Maps is one of the world's greatest modern achievements. It's an incredible resource, and it's free. I have no idea what the actual numbers are but if you told me it collectively saved hundreds of billions of dollars a year i wouldn't be surprised. Not to mention the cultural value of being able to teleport virtually anywhere in the world and see the streets, visit places etc. Isn…

A fair number of HN takes are snark and critique I think these days, it's a bit more reddit now? I think folks underestimate just HOW MUCH data google maps has and how many users it has, and the integration / scale is impressive particularly as some parts of the system are real time. They seem to update both street view and satellite data pretty frequently, and you can go back in time in sat vie as well, so we have a…

On the contrary, I see gmaps having map and satellite data that has been and still is out of date for years now. OSM has much more detailed data and is up to date here.

So I really don't see what's so impressive about gmaps. The only major advantage they have is the ability to scoop up data from users, as well as the network effects that lead to people posting their photos and other stuff on Google.

As always, I'd rather have all map data be free & open. It's not cool that all this effort is concentrated in the hands of one company who can do whatever they want and prevent you from doing cool & useful things with the data. Crowdsourced data should belong to the crowd.

Re: Google sends anti-regulation propaganda to small businesses using Google Maps

#94

Post by tantalor »

giga_chad wrote: post #26

Google has us all by the balls. As a small business owner, in my particular market, I can't survive without their services, even though they suck and I hate them, and their entire company. My business can be destroyed by Google on a whim at a moment's notice. How did it get to be so bad?

Yellow pages has us all by the balls. As a small business owner, in my particular market, I can't survive without their services, even though they suck and I hate them, and their entire company.

My business can be destroyed by Yellow pages on a whim at a moment's notice. How did it get to be so bad?

Re: Google sends anti-regulation propaganda to small businesses using Google Maps

#95

Post by blinding-streak »

amelius wrote: post #59
yosito wrote: post #29

Google Maps may silently be Alphabet's most powerful property. As someone who has spent the last 8 months religiously degoogling my life, I've found that Google Maps features are incredibly hard to replace, while at the same time, giving Google direct abilities to influence behavior in the physical world. People see it as "just a map", but it's so much more. OSM-based map tools are pretty good as maps, but they utter…

> Google Maps may silently be Alphabet's most powerful property. Except it's easy for a competitor to scrape Maps and build their own using OSM.

"Easy"

Re: Google sends anti-regulation propaganda to small businesses using Google Maps

#96

Post by eru »

deadbunny wrote: post #53
eru wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google doesn't have a search monopoly.

They have over 90% of the search market globally[1]. 1. https://sparktoro.com/blog/as-the-antitrust-case-against-goo...

Yes. That doesn't make them a monopoly, though.

Re: Google sends anti-regulation propaganda to small businesses using Google Maps

#98

Post by mpalmer »

amelius wrote: post #86
y4mi wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except it's not. Apple has basically unlimited resources and tried. While it's a decent navigation option at this point, it continues to fall short wrt everything else if compared to Google maps.

If you have unlimited resources, you can try to contact all business owners and ask them if they would like a presence on Apple Maps. They didn't do that, so my conclusion is either they don't have unlimited resources or they simply didn't really try hard enough.

If Google Maps was little more than a glorified business directory, you might have a point. But nothing else comes close in terms of features and user experience, certainly not Apple Maps.

Re: Google sends anti-regulation propaganda to small businesses using Google Maps

#99

Post by gambiting »

smt88 wrote: post #89
gambiting wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we'll have to have regulators step in at some point in another area - nowadays more and more cars are shipping with Android Automotive where Google Maps are the main(and only) map provider for the satnav. So no matter how you feel about Google - you have to use their product to operate the car fully.

> Google Maps are the main(and only) map provider for the satnav Source? I've never heard of this. Maps has no relationship to the car's built-in navigation anyway. Every car I've used with Google Maps has both, but you have to pay a fee to use the built-in navigation app.

As an example- new Volvos come with Android Automotive as the main OS, and the satnav is just Google Maps. There is no alternative built in. If you don't want google services then you have no satnav at all. Since the main instrument cluster also shows Google Maps if you disable it it just stays completely empty(only displaying basic information like speed and gear you're in).

Source: I drove one.

Second source: https://youtu.be/d8RJsXePE2M?t=28

Re: Google sends anti-regulation propaganda to small businesses using Google Maps

#100

Post by yosito »

amelius wrote: post #59
yosito wrote: post #29

Google Maps may silently be Alphabet's most powerful property. As someone who has spent the last 8 months religiously degoogling my life, I've found that Google Maps features are incredibly hard to replace, while at the same time, giving Google direct abilities to influence behavior in the physical world. People see it as "just a map", but it's so much more. OSM-based map tools are pretty good as maps, but they utter…

> Google Maps may silently be Alphabet's most powerful property. Except it's easy for a competitor to scrape Maps and build their own using OSM.

You missed the entire point of my comment, which is that Google Maps is far more than a maps app, and until competitors realize that, they're bound to fail.
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