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Google doesn't care. Maps is there to sell ad space to companies, you're the product, not the customer. To highlight this, it is literally impossible to choos
by b112 4y ago
Google doesn't care. Maps is there to sell ad space to companies, you're the product, not the customer.
To highlight this, it is literally impossible to choose your own route. Google will randomly redirect you, will keep nagging, while you constantly have to click 'no'.
For example, let's say you are driving from New York to California. There are two main paths, dictated by the mountains.
Google knows this, and lets you pick the southern, or northern route.
The southern route is 5 hours longer, but gee, no snow! Google doesn't have "avoid snow", and 5 hours longer becomes much faster, if the northern route has a storm.
So you pick the southern route.
Congrats! For the next 50 hours of driving, google will happily exclaim "I found a faster route!" and switch you over, unless you click cancel.
This means that you are constantly, sometimes as often as every 5 minutes, forced to interact with maps while driving, or be forced to redirect as google wishes.
This 5 year old bug is well known, people complain about it everywhere, but google could care less.
- xyzelement 4y agoIf I was the product manager on maps, I'd keep it exactly as it is. The worst thing is for maps to be "silent" when there's a route available that can save you half a day of driving. You don't want that but an average driver does. You are basically a power user who knows better than the map which is fine, but then just add a waypoint that forces the Southern route and go on with your life. For the average user, nagging them to get the 5 hour faster route is the right strategy.
- b112 4y agoFor the average user, nagging them to get the 5 hour faster route is the right strategy. Extremes much? You act as if there are two options only. Relentlessly nag the user, and not tell them at all. There is another. Ask the user, and be done with it. When I click on decline, I mean it. Everyone does. And it isn't just nagging, it literally forces you to click no every time, or your route changes. When in traffic. In seconds. Immediately. Over and over. It is a terrible design choice.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- WWLink 4y agoLast time I encountered that, I just ignored it and it kept me on the same route.
- shkkmo 4y agoYou can just add an intermediate waypoint on the southern route.
- mjcohen 4y agoIn the browser desktop maps, you can select your exact route by dragging points on the path. I wish this could be done on the mobile app.