- cross-posted to:
- nottheonion@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- nottheonion@lemmy.world
Jesus, that is a gross way to inject advertising into turn-by-turn navigation.
Edit/update from 9to5google so this post does not spread what is apparently inaccurate information: https://9to5google.com/2024/07/08/google-maps-pop-up-quick-detour-ad/
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How long before they weight routes based on the billboard ads you’ll see along the way.
Man. I almost downvoted you purely outta anger for that idea lmao. Fucking hell.
With gmaps constantly suggesting off-ramp->on-ramp detours at over/underpasses to help you
shorten your eta by 1 minuteincrease merging traffic, I doubt they would have any ethical hesitancy behind it.Honestly, I imagine they may already have a deal (possibly under the table) with clearchannel and the likes.
This man has manager written all over him! Put him in charge of google maps! - Google probably
Does it have traffic data?
No.
The only OpenStreetMap based navigation app with live traffic data is Magic Earth. It’s not foss, but gratis.
They get the traffic data from some third party, not by following their users like gmaps. That is the reason live traffic is only available in just some countries: https://www.magicearth.com/feature-availablity/#hd_traffic
They get the traffic data from some third party, not by following their users like gmaps.
https://www.magicearth.com/faq-en/
Do you share data with third parties?
We send position data to our traffic provider to generate real-time traffic information. The data is anonymized on the phone, using a changing key (so it’s not linked to you), and it is deleted after 5 minutes.
They have a good privacy policy though. I haven’t really had many issues with their app.
But at that point what are you even gaining? If you’re looking for privacy you’re just trading Google tracking you for “third party service provider” tracking you
No. It means they get the data from somewhere else, maybe from some carsharing app, or from some government db from car counting thingies mounted on traffic lights, etc. There are other sources to get traffic data ftom, but usually following users is more convenient and reliable
They wont tell us where they get it from, they only say it’s not generated via this app. They are followimg someone, but not me.
No, if you want that, just use Magic Earth. It’s a great app, btw.
Is it too much to ask for an app that just does one single thing. Everything doesn’t need to be an advertising platform.
But line no go up.
The only line I care about is the line that takes me from A to B
Is it too much to ask
Are you willing to deliver them consequences if they don’t do it the way you want?
I stopped using Google maps so I guess so
What do you use?
Apple Maps. It sucks lol
Looked pretty good the last couple of times I looked at it. What sucks about it?
Those AI electricity bills don’t pay for themselves.
Yeah… we pay…
Interesting to observe how our intuition is failing us while dealing with digital products. When someone gives you something for free on the street, naturally you get suspicious and start asking yourself “where is the catch?” But when there’s a free app - no second thought. Everyone is using it so it must be ok. Well, Google and Facebook are nothing but glorified advertising agencies. The whole reason of their existence is to make money on ads. Edited: typos.
Damn Google be speed running how quickly they can make me replace all their services. Google Maps and Youtube are about the only 2 I still use.
They used to have a reputation for employing smart people… Dumbass middle managers took over a while back and started making the stupidest decisions.
That’s what happens when MBAs start to weasel their way into any business.
Heard someone assert that MBA’s have ruined the world. Seemed a hyperbolic statement at the time. Though casting my eyes around an ever more enpoopified landscape, it’s tough to disagree.
Having taken some “Business for IT” courses… It’s buzzwords all the way down. The buzzwords are defined with buzzwords that are defined with buzzwords that…
MBA are stupid people who think they’re intelligent. I have my M.S. in CS earned summa cum laude and some of these business idiots think their grad degree was even remotely as difficult as mine.
Revanced on my android.
I’ve been getting a lot of ‘suggested’ locations and sponsored pop ups in Google Maps the few weeks. I get that it’s a ‘free’ product, but ugh. My GPS while I’m driving down the highway is one of those things that really, really needs to be clutter-free.
It’s not a free product, your data is being sold.
I know. I’d assume everyone on Lemmy knows. That’s why I said ‘free’ in scare quotes and not free.
Oh I didn’t notice the quotes lol that’s what I get for being tired on a Monday ☠️
clutter-free is OsmAnd (Open Street Map) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OsmAnd
This ad company is becoming a huge nuisance.
And unfortunately, for maps, it’s basically just Apple and Google. I’m trying to get used to OSM, but it just isn’t easy to do the things I want to do: find directions to a store.
osm sucks at addresses. The only way I can use it for navigation is doing google to coordinate conversion and just saving all the places. I haven’t seen this new google change but we’ll see if its enough to make me drop the last google service I use.
MapQuest is still a thing. Bing maps… exists. Wave, even though owned by Google, hasn’t been fucked yet.
Magic Earth is another open source alternative besides OSM.
Edit/update from 9to5google so this post does not spread what is apparently inaccurate information:
I know we are desperate for content here on Lemmy, and I can google hate circle jerk with the best of them, but maybe just delete the post if it is a complete clickbait lie… you could also reword the post as a fact check, ‘no, google isn’t injecting adds into maps.’
Wait dude, you interrupted me mid jerk. Shame on you.
Here, something to keep you going.
Sure, I could. But I wanted to leave the original post as it was for transparency. I figured that was the most “open” thing to do.
You can edit titles on Lemmy, make say “BS journalists throwing google under the bus to get more ad revenue from google ads.”
Fair enough, but reading the comments it appears your edit isn’t explicit enough, or people just read the headlines I guess.
It’s possible former Redditors don’t realize you can edit the title of Lemmy posts.
I dont know if i can keep using google stuff if this is the way they are going.
Why does everything have to be a fucking advert.
Who even likes adverts?
Just fuck off.
who even likes adverts?
Advertisers
I have been using Kagi as an alternative search engine for over a month now and can’t see me going back to Google anytime soon. Googles results are just full of adverts and garbage.
Google expected infinite growth in a finite system. Now that the growth is slowing they are trying to increase yield from their current pool of resources instead.
Why dont these companies accept theybarent worth as much any more and just provide less services until they balance off.
The stuff they cant afford to provide could be taken on by someone else. Being a one company does all type master of none sort of thing is clearly bad for society and the economy.
I dont really know what im talking about but i just dont get why they see losses and an end to growth but take the position of “we need to find a way to keep this going” instead of “we need to sell off things until our company is making money again, even if its less money”
In the US everyone just wants to see the line go up, they don’t care how it happens. They are beholdent to a corrupt and inept class of disconnected aristocrats that don’t know their face from their ass
I dont think it’s unique to the US, companies in other countries have to play the same game or be lost to obscurity.
The moment this starts happening to me, I’m going to start giving every single sponsored stop I see a 1 star review.
Excellent idea. I give gas stations that play loud video ads 1 star and don’t go back. I give places that ask for a tip for a to-go order 1 star as well
Gmaps has been actual hot trash for way the hell too long now.
GraphHopper, OSRM, and Valhalla all blow Google’s shitty routing algorithm out of the water.
OSMAnd really the only mobile app competitor worthy of putting gmaps out of its misery. The only problem is it still uses a renderer from the stone age and has lackluster address data despite the fact that said data is available for free online from several open source mapping projects (there’s some nice github scripts that can import ir for you).
Garmin forgot to invest in mobile technology. Sygic went to crap. Waze is just Gmaps+. Maps.me died even harder than Sygic.
It’s 2024 and yet some of the best navigation tech I’ve seen is from 15+ year old devices.
Edit: Also Android Auto can go to hell.
The old maps.me is reborn and active as Organic Maps now.
+1 for Organic Maps though I feel it’s lacking in some basic features.
Still renders much better and smoother than OSMAnd.
Yeah. OsmAnd (at least for me) suffers from the rather typical opensource thing that it can do lots of things and can be configured in a myriad of specific ways, and to use it you have to dive into it to configure them; Organic Maps, on the other hand, does less, but much slicker and simpler.
Is there an alternative to android auto?
Practically speaking, a dedicated head unit that runs its own software or a head unit that simply mirrors the output from a phone.
Both exist but the former has become rare in terms of quality UI and Navigation
I’ve been using Gmaps since forever and can say I’ve never had any problem with it. I mean, it took me to the business office instead of the main entrance to a theme park once, but I can hardly fault it for that. Calling it actual hot trash just seems so out of nowhere to me. It’s a fine product that I’ve had great experience with.
Give it time. This shit gets worse every year.
Yeah. It was great for me on vacation. Searching for nearby restaurants or tourist attractions worked well.
It’s great on road trips! About a decade ago, my wife and I loaded up the car and just sorta started heading south. We were on the road for about four weeks using nothing but Yelp and Gmaps. It was great!
Any links for the OS data street-number scripts?
This is an excellent resource!
2D and 3D map render took a hit, which may be why it is not added to the mainline maps.
I’ll keep the street number map deactivated, and enable when needed.
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Ok google take me to Liverpool.
I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that. Today you are going to Vape Palace in Swindon, sponsored by CryptoPonzi++: you put the coins, we loot the coins!
Screw off.
It would be considered illegal where I live to interact with that popup while driving.
Same, I wonder if there would be any way to report it to the state AG, maybe some pressure to ban it could hit google
They’d rather you be forced to have it on your screen, like old school tv ads.
I smell reVanced Gmaps coming soon…
Waze works well also.
Edit: I’m getting a lot of down votes and just wanted to clarify that I have never seen an ad in Waze.
I 100% believe people saying there are a lot of ads. I think the way that I have my phone setup is why I’m not getting ads.
Will definitely have to look into the others mentioned here.
Also owned by Google, so this change might make it over
The article mentioned this ad format showed up in Waze first.
Oh fuck me
Google appears to have borrowed this ad format from Waze, which has delivered similar ads for quite some time.
OsmAnd is getting there tho.
Waze has plenty of ads in it though
Really? I’ve never actually noticed one.
Maybe because of the ad blocking stuff I use on my phone.
I will say that I’ve noticed less ads lately than I have in the past, so it may have been toned down after some backlash. I will start using openstreetmap only in the near future though, I can’t stand this type of thing
PSA: Apple Maps used to suck badly but now it’s way better than Google Maps.
Bought iPhone last year.
Tried Apple Maps the first week.
Put in address to friend’s new condo building.
Took me to a parking lot behind a grocery store next to the building, and then acted like I could drive through an old wooden fence to get to the condos.
5/10 I only had to drive to the other end of the block to find the only entrance to the property.
I’m sorry but as long as Apple Maps rely on and force you to install the Yelp app for reviews, I’m never using it.
They’re moving away from that, only using Yelp for backfill when they have no data. There is instead a “thumbs up/down” set of buttons (because the 5-star system is uselessly Boolean anyway). Contribute to the ecosystem by rating places using this, and eventually it will reach parity with Google.
LOL
The only thing Apple Maps lacks now is a Waze-like ability to report hazards, speed-traps, road closures etc.apparently that’s been a thing for a few years now, thanks!I’ll have to check it out where I am, but I have a feeling that there might not be a big enough active user base to sufficiently crowd source the datapoints… I guess, be the change you want to see in the world!
You can report hazards, speed checks, and crashes in Apple Maps.
Huh, TIL - thanks!
I’ve updated my original comment to reflect this.
