What makes Google Maps so popular? A case study



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By Riley Panko

If you have a smartphone and are looking for a route, it is likely that the first application you open will be Google Maps.

Google Maps is the preferred navigation application of a large number of smartphone owners in the United States. This was reported in a 2016 survey, in which 69% of iPhone and Android users have labeled Google Maps as their favorite map application.



Why does Google Maps far outpace competitors like Apple Maps? Its popularity can largely be attributed to its attention to detail, made possible by Google's mbadive data collection efforts.

The History of Google Maps

Google Maps began in Australia, with the start of digital mapping of Sydney. 2 Technologies. In 2004, Google acquired Where 2 Technologies – at the time, the second acquisition of Google. At the same time, Google also acquired Zipdash, a traffic badysis company, and Keyhole, a geospatial data visualization company.

These technologies provided the backbone of Google Maps.

Flash forward to 2008. That year, Google launched Ground Truth – an initiative to combine all Google map data to create the most accurate maps possible.

The data comes from satellite and aerial imagery, as well as from Google's Street View program, which sent 360-degree cameras around the world to document streets (as well as trails, trails, and even the Great Barrier Reef and inside the White House) ground level.

This aggressive and somewhat secretive approach to data collection has proven to be a victory for Google Maps. Google is refining its increasingly extensive maps with more and more data

Details, Details, Details

Google Maps does not collect and display only data. He even began to badyze this data and use it to present the navigation in a new way.

For example, Google Maps highlights the "areas of interest" of cities with darker shadows.

Downtown Seattle with "areas of interest" shown in darker shadows.

Google Maps is able to do this by computing years of collected data compiled from its various efforts.

With satellite and aerial imagery, it captures the exact location and shape of buildings. With Street View images, Google can better identify buildings and high-density areas. In addition, Google also has a fleet of volunteer cartographers who help edit its maps, encouraged by its Local Guides Program

Together, all of these elements help Google Maps determine where the most densely populated areas are located cities. Google Maps Go From Here?

It will stop relying on third-party data – which critics note as one of the biggest flaws of Apple Maps. Instead, Apple Maps will anonymously collect data from iPhone users, as well as from its own satellite and aerial imagery. In 2015, Apple also launched its own fleet of ground mapping vans, similar to Google's Street View program.

Still, Google Maps has years ahead of how much data it has collected. Apple Maps may be too small, too late.
Meanwhile, Google Maps announces the integration of incident reporting, a feature adopted by the Waze navigation app, acquired by Google in 2013. This feature, which provides information about the flows of traffic, construction work and other navigation obstacles Google data badysis.

Overall, Google Maps holds the throne for GPS applications. Given that he is so far ahead of his competitors with respect to the amount of information that he has collected, it is unlikely that he will soon be dethroned.

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Riley Panko is a Senior Content Developer and Marketer at Clutch, a Washington, DC-based search, rating, and commenting platform for B2B services. She conducts relevant research that aims to help consumers improve their businesses and select the services and software best suited to their needs.


Filed under: Computer Animation and Video Program,


Source: Digital Media Online.
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