Around the Net
The Problem With Google Maps
- Digital Trends, Friday, March 9, 2012 12:29 PM
As Google Maps continues to lose big name clients, experts are asking what it means for Google, and the future of digital mapping. The most obvious answer is that Google competes directly with the same companies that have recently announced plans to cut back on Google Maps, including Foursquare and Apple. Also, as Digital Trends reminds us, Google unveiled plans to begin monetizing Google Maps nearly a year ago.
The move included a requirement that any new services forward display ads in Google Maps along to end users, so Google could start generating ad revenue from the service.
“The hammer truly dropped in October 2011, when Google finally revealed pricing for Google Maps services,” Digital Trends writes. From that point, services and applications that generated more than 25,000 map loads per day would be charged $40 to $10 for every additional 1,000 map loads. Sure, Google estimated that the usage load limits would impact just 0.35% of its users. “However, if you’re a company like Apple -- with over 180 million iPhones and 60 million iPads in the wild, all with Google Maps built in -- the fees start to add up,” Digital Trends writes.
