4 ms·

Is this price increase imposed on X-sharing outfits like Uber/Lyft/Lime/Bird/etc.?

by abduhl 8y ago

adamrezich 8y ago
I'm sure it is, but they can afford it...
- abduhl 8y ago
  This is actually my real question: can these companies afford it? If a company has X months of runway and their Maps costs just went up by a factor of 11 then Google may have just gone from "less than payroll" to "more expensive than our devs". Is this Google trying to move into a new space?
  - izacus 8y ago
    Do you really think you can just jumpstart a project like Google Maps with a few devs?!
    - abduhl 8y ago
      My question is pointed at companies that rely on Google Maps, not Maps itself. If a company is spending 80% of their cash on HR related items and 20% on miscellaneous infrastructure costs (hosting, Maps API access, etc) with 25% of that misc cost being maps then monthly expenditures just increased by ~23% (and runway decreased by ~19%)
ericd 8y ago
Users at that scale typically have an enterprise plan which is handled differently (you have an account manager rather than using Google's API console billing), and pricing is totally different. It's been a while since I had a GMaps enterprise plan, though, so I'm not sure if they're bumping the pricing on that side. At the time, the pricing was closer to the new prices they're rolling out than they were to the old API console billing prices.
joeblau 8y ago
It's imposed on every commercial user of their API which is why a lot of companies are also leaving Google Maps. I talked about this in another post, but Apple[1], Tesla[2], and Uber[3] are all getting off of Google Maps. It seems that Google raised prices to the point where it's actually cheaper to just go and build your own maps or find a lower cost alternative. [1] - https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/29/apple-is-rebuilding-maps-from-the-ground-up/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/29/apple-is-rebuilding-maps-f... [2] - https://electrek.co/2017/07/03/tesla-map-navigation-open-source-platforms/ https://electrek.co/2017/07/03/tesla-map-navigation-open-sou... [3] - https://www.uber.com/newsroom/mapping-ubers-future/ https://www.uber.com/newsroom/mapping-ubers-future/
- X-Istence 8y ago
  Apple hasn't used Google Maps in years...
  - joeblau 8y ago
    Yeah, I think that was an early sign of what was coming. The symptom then, is the same symptom now.
spaceflunky 8y ago
IIRC Google Maps via the iOS/Android SDKs remain free, so theoretically the price increase does not apply to mobile-first X-sharing outfits like Uber/Lyft/Lime/Bird/etc.
paxys 8y ago
Large customers always pay lower negotiated per-unit prices due to volume.

Is this price increase imposed on X-sharing outfits like Uber/Lyft/Lime/Bird/etc.?

by abduhl 8y ago

Is this price increase imposed on X-sharing outfits like Uber/Lyft/Lime/Bird/etc.?

adamrezich 8y ago

I'm sure it is, but they can afford it...

abduhl 8y ago
This is actually my real question: can these companies afford it? If a company has X months of runway and their Maps costs just went up by a factor of 11 then Google may have just gone from "less than payroll" to "more expensive than our devs". Is this Google trying to move into a new space?
- izacus 8y ago
  Do you really think you can just jumpstart a project like Google Maps with a few devs?!
  - abduhl 8y ago
    My question is pointed at companies that rely on Google Maps, not Maps itself. If a company is spending 80% of their cash on HR related items and 20% on miscellaneous infrastructure costs (hosting, Maps API access, etc) with 25% of that misc cost being maps then monthly expenditures just increased by ~23% (and runway decreased by ~19%)

ericd 8y ago

Users at that scale typically have an enterprise plan which is handled differently (you have an account manager rather than using Google's API console billing), and pricing is totally different. It's been a while since I had a GMaps enterprise plan, though, so I'm not sure if they're bumping the pricing on that side. At the time, the pricing was closer to the new prices they're rolling out than they were to the old API console billing prices.

joeblau 8y ago

It's imposed on every commercial user of their API which is why a lot of companies are also leaving Google Maps. I talked about this in another post, but Apple[1], Tesla[2], and Uber[3] are all getting off of Google Maps. It seems that Google raised prices to the point where it's actually cheaper to just go and build your own maps or find a lower cost alternative. [1] - https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/29/apple-is-rebuilding-maps-from-the-ground-up/ https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/29/apple-is-rebuilding-maps-f... [2] - https://electrek.co/2017/07/03/tesla-map-navigation-open-source-platforms/ https://electrek.co/2017/07/03/tesla-map-navigation-open-sou... [3] - https://www.uber.com/newsroom/mapping-ubers-future/ https://www.uber.com/newsroom/mapping-ubers-future/

X-Istence 8y ago
Apple hasn't used Google Maps in years...
- joeblau 8y ago
  Yeah, I think that was an early sign of what was coming. The symptom then, is the same symptom now.

spaceflunky 8y ago

IIRC Google Maps via the iOS/Android SDKs remain free, so theoretically the price increase does not apply to mobile-first X-sharing outfits like Uber/Lyft/Lime/Bird/etc.

paxys 8y ago

Large customers always pay lower negotiated per-unit prices due to volume.