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I was talking only about geo services (aka the APIs), you're talking about the consumer products (the app and the site). But more to my point Google and MSFT h
by spaceflunky 9y ago
I was talking only about geo services (aka the APIs), you're talking about the consumer products (the app and the site).
But more to my point Google and MSFT have a "multi-faceted" geo business so they can make money in many different places. Whereas someone like Mapzen or Mapbox ONLY has the geo services/APIs end. So where can the go to subsidize the cost of the services? The answer is they cant so the revenue from the services to carry the entire cost of their efforts.
- huac 9y agoSure, we're on the same page. For Google, building out a Maps service is a way to increase inventory for an ad platform. They can accept much lower margins on the geo services business, since they have high margin ads efforts. Theoretically, if Mapbox could get enough views, they could also enter the advertising market. But from my understanding of their company and business model, that would be a really tough sell.
- spaceflunky 9y agoThe first Maps API dropped in 2008. No one company has figured out ads on geo APIS. Not Google. Not FB, MSFT, or anyone else has figured out how to put ads on geo apis. I think its safe to say its never going to happen.
- kbyatnal 9y agoGoogle already has ads in Maps & Waze