The views expressed in this newsletter are solely my own, and do not represent the views of my employer. Well, they aren’t solely my own, because I’ve stolen most of them from people smarter than me. But, you get what I’m saying. If you work at the intersection of maps and software, at some point in your life you’ve probably heard yourself muttering some version of the following analogy to a stubbornly confused family member:
It is surprising to me that the author left out live traffic data, which is a major part of Google Maps Platform. In fact, with millions of Android devices moving around the globe, that is one of the biggest advances Google has over the other players. Any thoughts on how the other players could take a lead on this front?
Great post Joe! It would be interesting to think through how Tesla fits into this picture. They are using the same open ecosystem. E.g I believe OSM and Valhalla for routing. They’ve got cameras all over the place and make no secret that they use that data for corporate benefit.
One of Google's biggest strengths with Maps is its mobile integration--especially when paired with Android Auto. The fact I can look up a spot at home, essentially pin it in the browser, then connect a different device--my phone--to the car and have that pin show up is almost magic. MApple might have that feature, but I don't use Apple's products. Is Apple's mobile user-base too small for its mapping alternative to gain traction generally? It would be interesting if Bing could use Android for its maps. Microsoft has done well with product development, such as Office for other platforms, so why not Bing Maps? Just some thoughts.
Your last piece about OSM was also a hit with my newsletter, and I’m excited to share this one too. The piece about imagining an open ‘globe’ app reminded me of a similar program in Snow Crash. We can hope!
As a software engineer and GIS professional, we have been migrating away from Google Maps services for years now one at a time. Google's Map API for just about everything from geocoding to tile requests is just no longer competitive from a price stand point. Across other aspects, such as developer experience, results quality, and performance perspectives, Google wins in only a few areas--such as Earth Engine data/scripting, street view, and local search. In my personal life, I just gave Apple Maps directions a try this year during the pandemic and after a couple months, I uninstalled Google Maps, a thought that would have been crazy to me a year or two ago.
Terrific piece! As a former contractor for both Google Maps and Apple, I can confidently say both developers and consumers will benefit when the competitive field is a bit more level.
After eight years of working on OpenStreetMap, I finally had to realize that OpenStreetMap is not Wikipedia. Despite millions of own additions, apart from card tiles, little details do not reach people. So I have now finished with OpenStreetMap and am now working as a local guide on Google Maps. What I care about is that my involvement meets with immediate feedback from people in my environment. Google Maps is great, and OpenStreetMap Tiles can now be replaced better and more easily with up-to-date aerial imagery and building outlines generated by AI computing.
A detail added by a single user cannot match the plausibility of content that is inclined to smartphone telemetry. What several or many people confirm through repeated use is overwhelmingly plausible.
A good overview of the state of the location and mapping scene, is the Counterpoint annual report. It's a bit like the Gartner report. HERE is not as visible in the consumer space, but very highly rated. The US experience, which I believe is yours, is often much different from the rest of the world's, e.g. Google and Apple might shine in the US, and perhaps EU, but after that a very long thin tail kicks in. That's where, e.g. HERE and TomTom shine. HERE seems to want to be an open neutral platform for everything from logistics, fleet management, navigation, public transit to automated driving, AR/VR and local deliveries. The recent partnership with Amazon will surely only help
I believe Google leads in 3D and street level imaging, but they're rapidly accumulating enemies and anti-trust scrutiny by usurping and starving companies like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Zomato, FourSquare, etc. They might find themselves shackled or facing a spin-out.
One other advantage that Google has for consumer mapping services is it’s smarter text search function. If I type “bike store” into Google Maps I know I’ll get a reliable and comprehensive list of local bike shops. For years, all of the other services would uselessly jump to a single bike shop halfway across the country that whose name happened to exactly match my search query. But lately the non-Google services have gotten less dumb about this, so the evaporation continues.
It is surprising to me that the author left out live traffic data, which is a major part of Google Maps Platform. In fact, with millions of Android devices moving around the globe, that is one of the biggest advances Google has over the other players. Any thoughts on how the other players could take a lead on this front?
Great post Joe! It would be interesting to think through how Tesla fits into this picture. They are using the same open ecosystem. E.g I believe OSM and Valhalla for routing. They’ve got cameras all over the place and make no secret that they use that data for corporate benefit.
One of Google's biggest strengths with Maps is its mobile integration--especially when paired with Android Auto. The fact I can look up a spot at home, essentially pin it in the browser, then connect a different device--my phone--to the car and have that pin show up is almost magic. MApple might have that feature, but I don't use Apple's products. Is Apple's mobile user-base too small for its mapping alternative to gain traction generally? It would be interesting if Bing could use Android for its maps. Microsoft has done well with product development, such as Office for other platforms, so why not Bing Maps? Just some thoughts.
Your last piece about OSM was also a hit with my newsletter, and I’m excited to share this one too. The piece about imagining an open ‘globe’ app reminded me of a similar program in Snow Crash. We can hope!
As a software engineer and GIS professional, we have been migrating away from Google Maps services for years now one at a time. Google's Map API for just about everything from geocoding to tile requests is just no longer competitive from a price stand point. Across other aspects, such as developer experience, results quality, and performance perspectives, Google wins in only a few areas--such as Earth Engine data/scripting, street view, and local search. In my personal life, I just gave Apple Maps directions a try this year during the pandemic and after a couple months, I uninstalled Google Maps, a thought that would have been crazy to me a year or two ago.
Terrific piece! As a former contractor for both Google Maps and Apple, I can confidently say both developers and consumers will benefit when the competitive field is a bit more level.
After eight years of working on OpenStreetMap, I finally had to realize that OpenStreetMap is not Wikipedia. Despite millions of own additions, apart from card tiles, little details do not reach people. So I have now finished with OpenStreetMap and am now working as a local guide on Google Maps. What I care about is that my involvement meets with immediate feedback from people in my environment. Google Maps is great, and OpenStreetMap Tiles can now be replaced better and more easily with up-to-date aerial imagery and building outlines generated by AI computing.
A detail added by a single user cannot match the plausibility of content that is inclined to smartphone telemetry. What several or many people confirm through repeated use is overwhelmingly plausible.
A good overview of the state of the location and mapping scene, is the Counterpoint annual report. It's a bit like the Gartner report. HERE is not as visible in the consumer space, but very highly rated. The US experience, which I believe is yours, is often much different from the rest of the world's, e.g. Google and Apple might shine in the US, and perhaps EU, but after that a very long thin tail kicks in. That's where, e.g. HERE and TomTom shine. HERE seems to want to be an open neutral platform for everything from logistics, fleet management, navigation, public transit to automated driving, AR/VR and local deliveries. The recent partnership with Amazon will surely only help
* https://www.counterpointresearch.com/here-google-tomtom-lead-location-platform-landscape/
I believe Google leads in 3D and street level imaging, but they're rapidly accumulating enemies and anti-trust scrutiny by usurping and starving companies like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Zomato, FourSquare, etc. They might find themselves shackled or facing a spin-out.
One other advantage that Google has for consumer mapping services is it’s smarter text search function. If I type “bike store” into Google Maps I know I’ll get a reliable and comprehensive list of local bike shops. For years, all of the other services would uselessly jump to a single bike shop halfway across the country that whose name happened to exactly match my search query. But lately the non-Google services have gotten less dumb about this, so the evaporation continues.
Footnote 2: "Conspirators" => "competitors" ?