4 ms·

It's impossible for Apple or anyone to build a competing search engine in the last decade. The web is extremely hostile to web crawling to anyone but the Googl

It's impossible for Apple or anyone to build a competing search engine in the last decade. The web is extremely hostile to web crawling to anyone but the Google bots. Apple couldn't pull off a competitor to Google Maps, it would have no chance in Search.

bobbylarrybobby 3y ago
Apple Maps sucked (liked, really sucked) when it first came out, but at least in the US I think most people would agree it is very competitive with Google Maps.
- linkjuice4all 3y ago
  I guess…but it’s more than just map quality. Google Maps is good because it’s easy to navigate with AND it has a bunch of scraped search engine data behind it as well. Unfortunately the tentacles of advertising have been creeping into Google Maps for a while - but that’s one more input into the mapping space that Apple can’t replicate (for better and worse).
  - scarface_74 3y ago
    And Apple also refused to give Google real time continuous location data of iPhone users in exchange for turn by turn directions. That’s why they decided to introduce Apple Maps a year early.
- jaimex2 3y ago
  In Australia the POIs are from Tom Tom it seems and they are ancient. A lot of businesses missing or long dead.
toast0 3y ago
Apple can blend their bot traffic in with their customer relay traffic. Blocking iPhones to block Apple's search bots means blocking your more valuable customers. Which is not to say I think Apple can pull off web search, but making the crawling work isn't going to be their problem.
- jaimex2 3y ago
  They're a privacy first company though.
eyelidlessness 3y ago
Apple could, and eventually did, pull off a competitor to Google Maps. It launched highly flawed and incomplete, which earned its bad reputation. But it’s quite good now IME, and I prefer it to GM most of the time.
- Yabood 3y ago
  I second this. I switched to Apple Maps earlier this year and never looked back. I find the UX, especially when driving in CarPlay mode to be superior to Google’s.
  - lamontcg 3y ago
    Third'd. The way directions are presented tends to be a lot better and more natural. "Apple Maps is bad" is a meme that is about a decade old and no longer relevant now.
- felixg3 3y ago
  It’s probably good if you live in North America. In the rest of the world, Apple Maps is unfortunately not very usable (navigation is fine, finding dining options and general locations isn’t)
  - reacharavindh 3y ago
    Yes, I tried to switch to Apple Maps last month in the Netherlands, and it is really not up to date. It did not have 4/10 places I wanted to route to in my neighborhood, and had places that were closed down 6 months ago. Apple is probably only prioritizing North America at this moment. It’s a pity because Google Maps is one of those last Google holds outs for me.
  - jwestbury 3y ago
    TBH, I also find Apple Maps to be generally better in the UK.
lamontcg 3y ago
> Apple couldn't pull off a competitor to Google Maps, it would have no chance in Search. The only problem with Maps was the bad first impression (which clearly consistently lingers to this day even though it is no longer true). With Bing search, everyone already knows that it is inferior to Google search, so there's really no reputation hit to take like that. All they have is upside from making it better than Microsoft could and the story would be all about how close the horserace was getting. Given that they've actually made Maps better than Google, then could make Search better than Google as well.
- firecall 3y ago
  MS has an opportunity though. Google search gets slated by the tech community. As does Bing. MS have sensed the blood in the water, and realise they have an opportunity in Copilot. I wouldn’t be surprised for the Bing brand to go away. Copilot is a far superior brand and opportunity for MS. Google should have learned that the thing that kills you is never what you think it is. You don’t see it coming, and Google clearly didn’t see Copilot coming.
xenospn 3y ago
Apple Maps has surpassed Google Maps quite a few years ago.
- jaimex2 3y ago
  Heh - https://www.reddit.com/r/applemaps/comments/11jf95h/its_seriously_scary_how_inaccurate_the_poi_search/ https://www.reddit.com/r/applemaps/comments/11jf95h/its_seri...

bobbylarrybobby 3y ago

Apple Maps sucked (liked, really sucked) when it first came out, but at least in the US I think most people would agree it is very competitive with Google Maps.

linkjuice4all 3y ago
I guess…but it’s more than just map quality. Google Maps is good because it’s easy to navigate with AND it has a bunch of scraped search engine data behind it as well. Unfortunately the tentacles of advertising have been creeping into Google Maps for a while - but that’s one more input into the mapping space that Apple can’t replicate (for better and worse).
- scarface_74 3y ago
  And Apple also refused to give Google real time continuous location data of iPhone users in exchange for turn by turn directions. That’s why they decided to introduce Apple Maps a year early.
jaimex2 3y ago
In Australia the POIs are from Tom Tom it seems and they are ancient. A lot of businesses missing or long dead.

toast0 3y ago

Apple can blend their bot traffic in with their customer relay traffic. Blocking iPhones to block Apple's search bots means blocking your more valuable customers. Which is not to say I think Apple can pull off web search, but making the crawling work isn't going to be their problem.

jaimex2 3y ago
They're a privacy first company though.

eyelidlessness 3y ago

Apple could, and eventually did, pull off a competitor to Google Maps. It launched highly flawed and incomplete, which earned its bad reputation. But it’s quite good now IME, and I prefer it to GM most of the time.

Yabood 3y ago
I second this. I switched to Apple Maps earlier this year and never looked back. I find the UX, especially when driving in CarPlay mode to be superior to Google’s.
- lamontcg 3y ago
  Third'd. The way directions are presented tends to be a lot better and more natural. "Apple Maps is bad" is a meme that is about a decade old and no longer relevant now.
felixg3 3y ago
It’s probably good if you live in North America. In the rest of the world, Apple Maps is unfortunately not very usable (navigation is fine, finding dining options and general locations isn’t)
- reacharavindh 3y ago
  Yes, I tried to switch to Apple Maps last month in the Netherlands, and it is really not up to date. It did not have 4/10 places I wanted to route to in my neighborhood, and had places that were closed down 6 months ago. Apple is probably only prioritizing North America at this moment. It’s a pity because Google Maps is one of those last Google holds outs for me.
- jwestbury 3y ago
  TBH, I also find Apple Maps to be generally better in the UK.

lamontcg 3y ago

> Apple couldn't pull off a competitor to Google Maps, it would have no chance in Search. The only problem with Maps was the bad first impression (which clearly consistently lingers to this day even though it is no longer true). With Bing search, everyone already knows that it is inferior to Google search, so there's really no reputation hit to take like that. All they have is upside from making it better than Microsoft could and the story would be all about how close the horserace was getting. Given that they've actually made Maps better than Google, then could make Search better than Google as well.

firecall 3y ago
MS has an opportunity though. Google search gets slated by the tech community. As does Bing. MS have sensed the blood in the water, and realise they have an opportunity in Copilot. I wouldn’t be surprised for the Bing brand to go away. Copilot is a far superior brand and opportunity for MS. Google should have learned that the thing that kills you is never what you think it is. You don’t see it coming, and Google clearly didn’t see Copilot coming.

xenospn 3y ago

Apple Maps has surpassed Google Maps quite a few years ago.

jaimex2 3y ago
Heh - https://www.reddit.com/r/applemaps/comments/11jf95h/its_seriously_scary_how_inaccurate_the_poi_search/ https://www.reddit.com/r/applemaps/comments/11jf95h/its_seri...