Google Maps is testing a new ad format that gives users the option to add a stop for a sponsored location during navigation.
    • Album@lemmy.caEnglish
      38·
      2 months ago

      I mean… We probably should have seen it coming.

      They’re not a “disruptor” in an industry when they give away the product for free at a loss…they’re just anti-competitive. We got a free ride at the cost of basically destroying all competition for Google. They got to sit back and chill and now they can reap the benefits of zero competition… eg doing whatever the fuck they want since there’s no competitive alternative.

      Uber did this too. Remember when you didn’t have to tip?

      • foggy@lemmy.worldEnglish
        16·
        2 months ago

        It won’t work. It will just lower the barrier to entry. I don’t disagree that this is their angle, it’s just… Short sighted.

        • MrVilliam@lemmy.worldEnglish
          22·
          2 months ago

          I wish you were right. If I thought there was an actual shot at Google suffering consequences for bullshit like this, I’d short the stock. In reality, they’ll somehow be up. They’ll launch some stupid new thing and this will be completely forgotten. It’s bad enough that every time Maps updates, it resets my customization to avoid tolls. I live in NoVA. These tolls are absolute fucking bullshit and I ain’t paying it.

          • Album@lemmy.caEnglish
            3·
            2 months ago

            It’s bad enough that every time Maps updates, it resets my customization to avoid tolls. I live in NoVA.

            Not finding this to be a problem personally. Having lived in multiple areas with tolls.

          • MajorHavoc@programming.devEnglish
            2·
            2 months ago

            I’d short the stock

            I would too, except the hard part isn’t predicting whether there will be consequences, it’s predicting when.

        • corsicanguppy@lemmy.caEnglish
          1·
          2 months ago

          If it’s free, we’re the product.

          That’s where they messed up.

          The product is crowdsourced realtime traffic and editing so searchers can use a mapper that will get them there effectively. They need to understand how it affects ad revenue from search. If the app isn’t easy to use, their editor army and distributed telemetry will dry up.

      • Dasus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 months ago

        They got to sit back and chill and now they can reap the benefits of zero competition… eg doing whatever the fuck they want since there’s no competitive alternative.

        Ah, capitalism. <3

  • Semperverus@lemmy.worldEnglish
    39·
    2 months ago

    Organic Maps (available on F-Droid and the Play store) is the closest FOSS alternative to Google maps i have been able to find. Routes are not perfect (they work but could be better) and time estimations are best-guess as it is completely offline minus map downloads, but its a great alternative and also has killer hiking trail data that beats Google’s by a country mile. The offline bit also means that it works without a data connection, and for the privacy-conscious it’s a major boon.

  • jedibob5@lemmy.worldEnglish
    25·
    2 months ago

    Reminds me of when they started doing that thing where they pretended to be helpful by having the GPS voice call out the name of a business on the corner where your turn is - “Turn left after ‘business’ on the left” - but in reality those businesses were paying to inject their name into your driving directions.

    When it started, I immediately suspected they were possibly paid sponsorships, which was all but confirmed when it told me to turn “after Bank of America, with drive-thru ATM, on the right.” Stealth advertising mid-navigation… insane.

  • flicker@lemmy.worldEnglish
    18·
    2 months ago

    Now: Testing a “feature” that adds sponsored stops to your trip.

    Soon: This “feature” is rolled out. You can’t opt out.

    After: For a small fee, you can use our app without distractions, such as sponsored content.

  • NaibofTabr@infosec.pubEnglish
    12·
    2 months ago

    I’ve been testing Magic Earth recently as a replacement for Google Maps for navigation, and it’s generally pretty good. It uses OpenStreetMap as its map data source, so how up-to-date things are depends on how many OSM contributors there are in your area.

    The benefit it provides over other OSM-based apps such as OsmAnd and Organic Maps is the traffic data. This is real-time-ish based on the movement of other Magic Earth users who consent to sharing their location information - so the accuracy of the traffic data will depend on how many other ME users there are in your area.

    Overall I think it’s an acceptable replacement for Google Maps navigation. However, it’s not good for finding things like restaurants or stores, checking operating hours or reviews, or seeing what a place looks like - for this kind of thing I haven’t found a substitute for Google Maps. I generally find the place I want to go in GM then switch to ME for the actual navigation.