10 ms·

How Google Builds Its Maps

281 points by bcrawl 14y ago

ChuckMcM 14y ago
A lot of people under estimate the investment Google has made in their maps product. That we've got two companies doing that (Apple and Google) is a bit mind boggling.
- lachyg 14y ago
  It's not Apple doing it, it's http://www.openstreetmap.org/ http://www.openstreetmap.org/.
  - pkulak 14y ago
    Do they really use Open Street Map? I thought they licences data from TomTom.
    - ceejayoz 14y ago
      Both (and more, too). http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/11/3078987/apple-tomtom-openstreemap-ios-6-maps-app http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/11/3078987/apple-tomtom-opens...
  - taligent 14y ago
    Actually Apple does have a big part in it. They bring together all the data from Tom Tom, Waze, OSM etc as well as the two teams they purchased: C3 and Placebase into one coherent product. It's amazing that Apple has nearly matched Google in some parts (maps, directions) and far exceeded them in others (3D).
    - tonfa 14y ago
      I thought OSM was copyleft similar to the GPL. Can you combine OSM with proprietary data and without the licence forcing you to open up everything?
      - vidarh 14y ago
        Their license used to be horrible for commercial use, but mostly because it was an extremely bad fit for a data collection, leading to lots of confusion over what was ok and not. A better comparison for their current license would be the LGPL - as long as you keep your proprietary data separate from the OSM data, you don't need to release it but you still need to release any changes to the OSM data itself.
        yellowbkpk 14y ago
        To be clear, the license has not changed yet. We're in the process of changing the license (and they recently announced [0]) that the next full-planet data dump will be under the new license, but it hasn't been switched yet. [0] http://blog.osmfoundation.org/2012/09/06/your-first-odbl-planet http://blog.osmfoundation.org/2012/09/06/your-first-odbl-pla...
      - rmc 14y ago
        The old OSM licence was CC-BY-SA, but it is being changed to a new 'database licence'
    - jonknee 14y ago
      I'll take transit navigation and street view before slightly improved 3D any day.
    - te_chris 14y ago
      Apple has not "nearly matched" google, not at all. Maybe in the US they have, but in New Zealand, where google is as good as any of the local street maps/directories, if not better normally, the new ios maps is atrocious. The places are now even worse too, because they're relying on Yelp, who don't have a presence here at all.
      - trips2 14y ago
        Maybe he works for Apple, they're his main client or owns lots of stock or something. The Apple worship is truly mind-boggling. OpenStreetMap is where the crucial data comes from. And if I'm not mistaken it's submitted by volunteers.
        taligent 14y ago
        Yep. You don't like my opinion so clearly I must be working for Apple or own stock. In fact it is neither. And at no point did I say that OSM wasn't responsible for the map data. Only that Apple added other pieces from other companies.
        trips2 14y ago
        No, no, no. No problem with your opinion. You can love Apple if you want. I just struggle to understand how you and others can see Apple in the light that you do, and be blinded to all else. I mean, the value to me is the data and the fact it's online. The database itself. I have my own systems for manipulating the data the way I want it (I would think most HN nerds would have similar skills, but maybe not). That's just me. Others seem to love things because they are produced by some popular company. And for no other reason. I just can't really understand it. These are computers produced in Chinese factories. Getting cheaper everyday. Data can be visualised in myriad ways. Call it like you see it. Minds may differ.
        overcyn 14y ago
        So much condescension...
    - twelvechairs 14y ago
      > far exceeded them in others (3D). Actually Google and Apple have pretty similar systems for 3d maps. Apple are in beta with their new version for ios6, which will have slightly better resolution than (the current, been there for a while) Google Earth, but not hugely so. See for comparison http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/iphone-news/3d-maps-comparison-apple-maps-in-ios-6-vs-google-maps-in-android-4-1-pics/ http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/iphone-news/3d-maps-comparison-... Nokia are producing similar 3d maps, although again slightly lower resolution than Google. I think more importantly than resolution will be coverage. 3d maps of the centre of major cities are one thing, but the whole world is a very different challenge, and one we have no clear idea of a winner on.
      - taligent 14y ago
        Actually we do. Apple supports 26 cities. Google supports 13.
        BitMastro 14y ago
        Where did you get those numbers? As far as I can tell, more that one hundred cities have textured buildings in Google Earth (they were created by building maker https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/earth/learn/3dbuildings.html https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/earth/learn/3dbuildings.ht...) as well as in mobile maps (http://www.google.co.uk/mobile/maps/3d/ http://www.google.co.uk/mobile/maps/3d/ my city has 3d outlines and it's not even in the map). Apple maps too should have at least 40 cities in 3D.
        jonknee 14y ago
        All things equal, Apple doesn't support any cities yet since their mapping program hasn't been released.
      - sxp 14y ago
        This might be the 3D map that Nokia will use in their phone if you want to compare: http://maps3d.svc.nokia.com/webgl/index.html http://maps3d.svc.nokia.com/webgl/index.html
      - Tichy 14y ago
- jimbobimbo 14y ago
  So, Nokia and Microsoft just do not exist in the mapping space?
  - taligent 14y ago
    Well mentioned. Nokia has been far ahead of the curve for turn by turn navigation and Bing's aerial view has almost always surpassed Google. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft's amazing augmented reality research will end up in a mapping product some day soon as well.
    - cromwellian 14y ago
      Google also has aerial view/45 degree imagery for many metro areas. Just keep zooming in the Satellite view. For my neighborhood at least, the Google imagery surpasses Bing's.
  - 7952 14y ago
    And Nasa, Digital Globe, Astrium, CNES, Spot Image, to name a few.
    - ChuckMcM 14y ago
      Hmm, in the interest of full disclosure here I was working at Google when the Ground Truth project went from a 20% project to a more serious effort. My impressions of its impressiveness may be clouded :-). Yes, NASA, Digital Globe, Et Alia, have built geographic information services (GIS), there are constraints, both on the data and on what you can do with the data. Google bought Keyhole [1] (the satellite imaging company) discovered that even if you had a satellite image you don't necessarily get to do what ever you want with it, and went out and funded their own satellite [2]. And of course you drive around cars and take pictures of everything, that seemed a little bit crazy at the time but folks like Trimble wouldn't let you use data about streets for doing directions, and then of course different data sets were all slightly 'off' from one another which is really illustrated in the article. So various folks have invested in one part of the problem, but few have invested in solving the bigger problem, and assembling that solution for disjoint offerings is problematic and expensive at best, and impossible at worst. That is what I considered the mind boggling investment. And of course the recent tit for tat maps announcements by Apple and Google just reminded me that both companies are pouring in a lot of resources. And yes, Microsoft is right up there as well. Its quite the barrier to entry if you want to a map based startup. (or at least a huge dependency on an external parties continued pricing model) [1] http://googlepress.blogspot.com/2004/10/google-acquires-keyhole-corp.html http://googlepress.blogspot.com/2004/10/google-acquires-keyh... [2] http://www.googletutor.com/geoeye-1/ http://www.googletutor.com/geoeye-1/
- spaghetti 14y ago
  Google maps is possibly my favorite app that currently ships with iOS. I think I might give up email and texting on the device before I'd give up maps. I'm disappointed that Google maps isn't shipping with iOS 6.
  - Angostura 14y ago
    I though Google was committed to producing a Map app for iOS 6, no?
    - spaghetti 14y ago
      I've heard this too. However there's a huge difference between having a nice, working maps app on my phone and a promise from Google to make an iOS app. To be fair I'll have to try out the maps from Apple.
  - rogerchucker 14y ago
    I freaking hate the Google maps app on iPhone - I don't have any need for a map app on a mobile device unless it has turn-by-turn voice navigation along with re-routing capabilities. It's only good for looking up locations/directions when I am stuck somewhere for traveling. If I'm home, my macbook's google map is good enough to serve that purpose. So I have no clue why on earth Apple created such a neutered mapping app for a mobile device. Waze saved me.
    - czhiddy 14y ago
      > So I have no clue why on earth Apple created such a neutered mapping app for a mobile device. The terms of the license agreement with Google for maps data likely didn't include the ability to perform turn-by-turn navigation. Another reason why they moved to their own maps backend for iOS 6.
      - rogerchucker 14y ago
        Does that mean by the time Google had decided to work on the iPhone-like Android interface, they had been planning to work on a turn-by-turn navigation system using Google Maps for Android as well?
- icefox 14y ago
  It is funny how much effort google is putting into their maps and yet their interface to the maps (maps.google.com) could still use basic improvements like how 99 out of 100 times I want directions it is to or from my house and yet I have to type in almost my entire address before it appears in the drop down. Considering I am logged into google, have confirmed my address and type in the same address over and over you would think their would be a Home button or at least have recent destinations appear in the drop down initially or whatnot.
  - milkbikis 14y ago
    You can do that by clicking on "My Places".
    - icefox 14y ago
      If I am looking at an address and want directions to it clicking on 'My places' only shows me "my places", it does not give me any obvious way to get directions from the current address to one of "my places". Clicking on any of "my places" will change the map to view that place, causing the user to lose the address of the place they want to go to/from. Edit: I see that "my places" now has a "Home address" which isn't pre-populated with my google account confirmed home address for some reason.... But if I set it and then try to get directions and type in the first letter of my address my home address pops up in the auto complete. This is a big improvement, but of course auto setting the home address from your google account and remembering the last five in the auto complete would make a lot more users happy as that would work by default v.s. forcing the user to do something, most of which will not. The number of people that will set their home address is probably only a bit larger than the number that were using my grease monkey script to add a home button.
      - milkbikis 14y ago
        I absolutely agree that it needs a rethinking in terms of UI. Now that they are trying to consolidate google products, maps should be more aggressive in identifying useful destinations. I'm guessing they want to err on the side of not creeping people out, but I expect a popup introducing these features soon.
- Tichy 14y ago
  And Bing? Also Nokia Maps - not sure what they use on the new Windows 8 phones? For a while Nokia Maps at least were available offline for free, but perhaps that advantage has gone now that there is map caching on Android.
  - gman99 14y ago
    Android has map caching, but not for search or turn by turn nav Also, you can't map cache entire continents/countries like on Nokia devices (OK, you can, if you do it tediously in small sections) So Nokia (symbian/windows phone) still holds the edge when it comes to navigation. When it comes to local search/places, the Nokia offering is nowhere near as good as the (online) Google Maps
    - ccozan 14y ago
      Nokia has indeed the best _free_ navigation of all. I am keeping in my car an old E72 just for it, loaded with all the maps of EU. However, even if updates are quite often, sometimes the map is outdated. But anyhow, the navigation is only for orientation and trip data, I mostly drive by signs and, of course, common sense.
- nl 14y ago
  Microsoft is making the same investment with Bing Maps
johanbrook 14y ago
Of all Google's products, Maps is the one I appreciate the most. It got lots of smart features, it's fast, it's got great coverage, and it's easy to use. Truly great work.
- brianfryer 14y ago
  Totally agree. Would also add Chrome to the list of "most appreciated Google products".
n0rb3rt 14y ago
NAVTEQ has been doing this for 15 years. Google learned it from being their customer for much of that time. But of course they get the credit.
- bradddd 14y ago
  Definitely true to a point. I think it's fair to give them some credit though. Despite their obvious motive of reducing their own costs, they've really established an amazing infrastructure, not to mention a rich API.
- molmalo 14y ago
  Yup, Navteq is truly a pioneer and has lots of experience doing this, even when they are not a well know company for people outside this sector. But they deserve some credit.
civilian 14y ago
Phew! I worked in one of Google's data-entry offices for the GT team. I've left, but now I can shoot this article to people to actually describe what I did.
guimarin 14y ago
I've always thought that the real money in mobile comes from very accurate map data, and very accurate personal position data. that way when you're walking around town, you can 'ask' your phone for directions to eat/shop/whatever, and it can give you a great recommendation ( for a price to local restaurants ). I asked Eric Schmidt if this was a powerful motivator behind the android acquisition, as at the time it seemed like a natural fit, and surprisingly he did not say no. And yes I know that Android was bought 'on a whim, gut instinct' but this is the perfect use case for it.
- 7952 14y ago
  This idea is just picking at low hanging fruit. It is like saying that the killer app of the web is retail shopping. Sure Amazon is cool, but the web is so much more than that. Perhaps "location" will be like the web and have millions of little niches. IMHO it won't really take off until you have higher smart phone penetration in the developing world. These kind of apps need a market with lots of pedestrians, not car bound America.
  - Ineffable 14y ago
    America is not the only country in the developed world. Plenty of smartphone wielding pedestrians here in Europe.
7952 14y ago
Google are only a small part of the spatial data capture world. They provide amazing access to a few datasets and completely ignore others. Location searches are laughably bad unless you are looking for a hotel. They do not even come close to providing comprehensive topographic mapping.
- guimarin 14y ago
  I think that traditional topographic mapping is not very useful from a business standpoint. When there are more, or a critical number of the autonomous vehicles from Google deployed in the wild, I fully expect very high resolution 3D maps from all the LIDAR and other data. That will be incredibly cool.
  - 7952 14y ago
    Traditional topographic mapping is still hugely useful in many niches. Try laying a 100 mile pipeline, or building a factory, or organising search and rescue without traditional topo mapping. I would agree that it can be obtusely formatted and wildly expensive. High resolution 3D modelling is already available in much of Norther Europe. It is very cool, but surprisingly difficult to actually make useful. In most applications comic book style generalisations actually work better.
swalsh 14y ago
I work for a company in the telecommunications space. We've talked to several car companies about integrating 4g into their on board computers. I'm really excited for this update. I suppose I haven't really noticed how much better navigation has improved until a few weeks ago. Recently I purchased an 09 infiniti with full tech package. The thing that took me back, was how terrible the navigation system has been inside of Boston (a very complex area). I can't remember the last time Google maps has told me something wrong, but this stale nav system consistently get's confused about 1 way streets etc. What i'd LOVE to see is for Nissan to throw away its custom OS, and replace it with Android... along with that I want google maps (instead of whatever Nissan is licensing). Plus it would be nice to download apps for my car such as a better mileage tracker etc.
- nradov 14y ago
  What I'd love to see is for car manufacturers to throw away integrated navigation systems and replace them with standardized mounting points for smartphones / tablets. I'd like to be able to upgrade my car electronics every 2 years without having to rip apart the dashboard.
  - jzawodn 14y ago
    Yes. That a thousand times.
dclowd9901 14y ago
After reading this article, I realize now that Watson was this cute thing IBM was working on that they thought was novel, while Google was building machines that think, collaborate and formulate, period. They don't just answer questions: they take data and turn it into something we know how to breeze through. I am truly astounded by how quickly we are accelerating through this information era.
- zinkem 14y ago
  I didn't get that impression at all, I got the impression Google is using humans to do the thinking to make it easier for the computers to crank through the algorithms.
- rprasad 14y ago
  Watson is a research product that aims to create artificial intelligence from the ground up, i.e., true artificial intelligence. Google is merely processing massive data sets using manually crafted algorithims. This is a complete different project, which has little or nothing to do with artificial intelligence.
  - magicalist 14y ago
    > Google is merely processing massive data sets using manually crafted algorithims That is what Watson is. There's not really any "true" artificial intelligence since the term is so poorly defined, but you could make a good argument that your description above fits humans pretty well, too.
rburhum 14y ago
Live edits of OpenStreetMap http://live.openstreetmap.fr/ http://live.openstreetmap.fr/
- sjwright 14y ago
  That is the most awesome thing ever invented anywhere. Though it would be nice if it showed a clearer diff, perhaps having the before and after renderings displayed intermittently in a tick-tock manner.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
a3_nm 14y ago
> An exclusive look inside Ground Truth, the secretive program to build the world's best accurate maps. Meanwhile, there is another program to build the world's best maps, which is quite the opposite of secretive, involves hundreds of thousands of volunteers around the world, offers public dumps under a free license, and has already outperformed Google for some areas and use cases: http://www.openstreetmap.org/ http://www.openstreetmap.org/
- tonfa 14y ago
  If they built the same kind of tools as what GT uses, maybe they could make better use of the thousand of volunteers?
  - molmalo 14y ago
    Or... Google could open source their software, leverage the thousands of volunteers and let a giant leap be made by both, their own projects and OSM-related ones.
    - rmc 14y ago
      Google could let OSM users trace from their aerial imagery or from their street view data. That would be a massive boost to OSM. Microsoft let OSM trace from aerial.
      - beej71 14y ago
        In certain cases the Bing data is better, and in most, I think it's on par for my region (Northern California). Half of the Sierra in the newest Google images is snow-covered... not so useful. But you're right—more would be better. I'm a little surprised MS went for it, but I doubt Google will.
  - yellowbkpk 14y ago
    After seeing tons of videos detailing the tools Google uses for their maps and using Google Map Maker, the OSM tools are much better at empowering the mapper to create map data. OSM might not have the computer vision tools or the Street View imagery, but there's still plenty of work to do with the existing tools and data.
lkbm 14y ago
> Google is locked in a battle with the world's largest company, Apple Wait, what? By what measure?
- defen 14y ago
  Market capitalization. Saudi Aramco is worth more, but they're 100% owned by the Saudi Arabian government and not for sale.
sebastianavina 14y ago
basically, they don't care to show their technology, because there is no way another company can develop their technology in the short time, and if some company adventures on it, when they reach google technology, google will be far, far beyond them. now, that's what i call competitive advantage.
cpeterso 14y ago
If you are a cartographile, I recommend watching The Beauty of Maps and Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession, two four-part BBC documentaries: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s2w83 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s2w83
- ajtaylor 14y ago
  Thanks for the link. I've added it to my watch list. IMHO, you can't get much better than BBC documentaries. Especially when it comes to my favorite - Sir David Attenborough.
jilt 14y ago
Don't miss this part: 'Not to detour too much, but what you see above is just the beginning of how Google is going to use Street View imagery. Think of them as the early web crawlers (remember those?) going out in the world, looking for the words on pages. That's what Street View is doing. One of its first uses is finding street signs (and addresses) so that Google's maps can better understand the logic of human transportation systems. But as computer vision and OCR improve, any word that is visible from a road will become a part of Google's index of the physical world. Later in the day, Google Maps VP Brian McClendon put it like this: "We can actually organize the world's physical written information if we can OCR it and place it," McClendon said. "We use that to create our maps right now by extracting street names and addresses, but there is a lot more there." More like what? "We already have what we call 'view codes' for 6 million businesses and 20 million addresses, where we know exactly what we're looking at," McClendon continued. "We're able to use logo matching and find out where are the Kentucky Fried Chicken signs... We're able to identify and make a semantic understanding of all the pixels we've acquired. That's fundamental to what we do."' That is scary. They could read license plates and tie them to addresses. They could read bumper stickers and determine your politics, whether your kid was an honor student at what school, etc.
- andyking 14y ago
  Only if you're already public enough with your political views, the name of your kids' school and so on to stick that data on the back of your car anyway. If you really wanted to keep your politics secret, you wouldn't put a political sticker on your car. All anyone sees on my car is what radio station I listen to.
kalleboo 14y ago
You really don't appreciate how much great data Google have in their maps until you try to use anything else. Apple have a lot of work to do to get iOS 6 maps on-par (for instance, I still haven't managed to do a successful search here in Japan - I have to carry around an Android phone for maps and train directions)

281 points by bcrawl 14y ago

A lot of people under estimate the investment Google has made in their maps product. That we've got two companies doing that (Apple and Google) is a bit mind boggling.

lachyg 14y ago
It's not Apple doing it, it's http://www.openstreetmap.org/ http://www.openstreetmap.org/.
- pkulak 14y ago
  Do they really use Open Street Map? I thought they licences data from TomTom.
  - ceejayoz 14y ago
    Both (and more, too). http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/11/3078987/apple-tomtom-openstreemap-ios-6-maps-app http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/11/3078987/apple-tomtom-opens...
- taligent 14y ago
  Actually Apple does have a big part in it. They bring together all the data from Tom Tom, Waze, OSM etc as well as the two teams they purchased: C3 and Placebase into one coherent product. It's amazing that Apple has nearly matched Google in some parts (maps, directions) and far exceeded them in others (3D).
  - tonfa 14y ago
    I thought OSM was copyleft similar to the GPL. Can you combine OSM with proprietary data and without the licence forcing you to open up everything?
    - vidarh 14y ago
      Their license used to be horrible for commercial use, but mostly because it was an extremely bad fit for a data collection, leading to lots of confusion over what was ok and not. A better comparison for their current license would be the LGPL - as long as you keep your proprietary data separate from the OSM data, you don't need to release it but you still need to release any changes to the OSM data itself.
      - yellowbkpk 14y ago
        To be clear, the license has not changed yet. We're in the process of changing the license (and they recently announced [0]) that the next full-planet data dump will be under the new license, but it hasn't been switched yet. [0] http://blog.osmfoundation.org/2012/09/06/your-first-odbl-planet http://blog.osmfoundation.org/2012/09/06/your-first-odbl-pla...
    - rmc 14y ago
      The old OSM licence was CC-BY-SA, but it is being changed to a new 'database licence'
  - jonknee 14y ago
    I'll take transit navigation and street view before slightly improved 3D any day.
  - te_chris 14y ago
    Apple has not "nearly matched" google, not at all. Maybe in the US they have, but in New Zealand, where google is as good as any of the local street maps/directories, if not better normally, the new ios maps is atrocious. The places are now even worse too, because they're relying on Yelp, who don't have a presence here at all.
    - trips2 14y ago
      Maybe he works for Apple, they're his main client or owns lots of stock or something. The Apple worship is truly mind-boggling. OpenStreetMap is where the crucial data comes from. And if I'm not mistaken it's submitted by volunteers.
      - taligent 14y ago
        Yep. You don't like my opinion so clearly I must be working for Apple or own stock. In fact it is neither. And at no point did I say that OSM wasn't responsible for the map data. Only that Apple added other pieces from other companies.
        trips2 14y ago
        No, no, no. No problem with your opinion. You can love Apple if you want. I just struggle to understand how you and others can see Apple in the light that you do, and be blinded to all else. I mean, the value to me is the data and the fact it's online. The database itself. I have my own systems for manipulating the data the way I want it (I would think most HN nerds would have similar skills, but maybe not). That's just me. Others seem to love things because they are produced by some popular company. And for no other reason. I just can't really understand it. These are computers produced in Chinese factories. Getting cheaper everyday. Data can be visualised in myriad ways. Call it like you see it. Minds may differ.
        overcyn 14y ago
        So much condescension...
  - twelvechairs 14y ago
    > far exceeded them in others (3D). Actually Google and Apple have pretty similar systems for 3d maps. Apple are in beta with their new version for ios6, which will have slightly better resolution than (the current, been there for a while) Google Earth, but not hugely so. See for comparison http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/iphone-news/3d-maps-comparison-apple-maps-in-ios-6-vs-google-maps-in-android-4-1-pics/ http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/iphone-news/3d-maps-comparison-... Nokia are producing similar 3d maps, although again slightly lower resolution than Google. I think more importantly than resolution will be coverage. 3d maps of the centre of major cities are one thing, but the whole world is a very different challenge, and one we have no clear idea of a winner on.
    - taligent 14y ago
      Actually we do. Apple supports 26 cities. Google supports 13.
      - BitMastro 14y ago
        Where did you get those numbers? As far as I can tell, more that one hundred cities have textured buildings in Google Earth (they were created by building maker https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/earth/learn/3dbuildings.html https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/earth/learn/3dbuildings.ht...) as well as in mobile maps (http://www.google.co.uk/mobile/maps/3d/ http://www.google.co.uk/mobile/maps/3d/ my city has 3d outlines and it's not even in the map). Apple maps too should have at least 40 cities in 3D.
      - jonknee 14y ago
        All things equal, Apple doesn't support any cities yet since their mapping program hasn't been released.
    - sxp 14y ago
      This might be the 3D map that Nokia will use in their phone if you want to compare: http://maps3d.svc.nokia.com/webgl/index.html http://maps3d.svc.nokia.com/webgl/index.html
    - Tichy 14y ago
jimbobimbo 14y ago
So, Nokia and Microsoft just do not exist in the mapping space?
- taligent 14y ago
  Well mentioned. Nokia has been far ahead of the curve for turn by turn navigation and Bing's aerial view has almost always surpassed Google. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft's amazing augmented reality research will end up in a mapping product some day soon as well.
  - cromwellian 14y ago
    Google also has aerial view/45 degree imagery for many metro areas. Just keep zooming in the Satellite view. For my neighborhood at least, the Google imagery surpasses Bing's.
- 7952 14y ago
  And Nasa, Digital Globe, Astrium, CNES, Spot Image, to name a few.
  - ChuckMcM 14y ago
    Hmm, in the interest of full disclosure here I was working at Google when the Ground Truth project went from a 20% project to a more serious effort. My impressions of its impressiveness may be clouded :-). Yes, NASA, Digital Globe, Et Alia, have built geographic information services (GIS), there are constraints, both on the data and on what you can do with the data. Google bought Keyhole [1] (the satellite imaging company) discovered that even if you had a satellite image you don't necessarily get to do what ever you want with it, and went out and funded their own satellite [2]. And of course you drive around cars and take pictures of everything, that seemed a little bit crazy at the time but folks like Trimble wouldn't let you use data about streets for doing directions, and then of course different data sets were all slightly 'off' from one another which is really illustrated in the article. So various folks have invested in one part of the problem, but few have invested in solving the bigger problem, and assembling that solution for disjoint offerings is problematic and expensive at best, and impossible at worst. That is what I considered the mind boggling investment. And of course the recent tit for tat maps announcements by Apple and Google just reminded me that both companies are pouring in a lot of resources. And yes, Microsoft is right up there as well. Its quite the barrier to entry if you want to a map based startup. (or at least a huge dependency on an external parties continued pricing model) [1] http://googlepress.blogspot.com/2004/10/google-acquires-keyhole-corp.html http://googlepress.blogspot.com/2004/10/google-acquires-keyh... [2] http://www.googletutor.com/geoeye-1/ http://www.googletutor.com/geoeye-1/
spaghetti 14y ago
Google maps is possibly my favorite app that currently ships with iOS. I think I might give up email and texting on the device before I'd give up maps. I'm disappointed that Google maps isn't shipping with iOS 6.
- Angostura 14y ago
  I though Google was committed to producing a Map app for iOS 6, no?
  - spaghetti 14y ago
    I've heard this too. However there's a huge difference between having a nice, working maps app on my phone and a promise from Google to make an iOS app. To be fair I'll have to try out the maps from Apple.
- rogerchucker 14y ago
  I freaking hate the Google maps app on iPhone - I don't have any need for a map app on a mobile device unless it has turn-by-turn voice navigation along with re-routing capabilities. It's only good for looking up locations/directions when I am stuck somewhere for traveling. If I'm home, my macbook's google map is good enough to serve that purpose. So I have no clue why on earth Apple created such a neutered mapping app for a mobile device. Waze saved me.
  - czhiddy 14y ago
    > So I have no clue why on earth Apple created such a neutered mapping app for a mobile device. The terms of the license agreement with Google for maps data likely didn't include the ability to perform turn-by-turn navigation. Another reason why they moved to their own maps backend for iOS 6.
    - rogerchucker 14y ago
      Does that mean by the time Google had decided to work on the iPhone-like Android interface, they had been planning to work on a turn-by-turn navigation system using Google Maps for Android as well?
icefox 14y ago
It is funny how much effort google is putting into their maps and yet their interface to the maps (maps.google.com) could still use basic improvements like how 99 out of 100 times I want directions it is to or from my house and yet I have to type in almost my entire address before it appears in the drop down. Considering I am logged into google, have confirmed my address and type in the same address over and over you would think their would be a Home button or at least have recent destinations appear in the drop down initially or whatnot.
- milkbikis 14y ago
  You can do that by clicking on "My Places".
  - icefox 14y ago
    If I am looking at an address and want directions to it clicking on 'My places' only shows me "my places", it does not give me any obvious way to get directions from the current address to one of "my places". Clicking on any of "my places" will change the map to view that place, causing the user to lose the address of the place they want to go to/from. Edit: I see that "my places" now has a "Home address" which isn't pre-populated with my google account confirmed home address for some reason.... But if I set it and then try to get directions and type in the first letter of my address my home address pops up in the auto complete. This is a big improvement, but of course auto setting the home address from your google account and remembering the last five in the auto complete would make a lot more users happy as that would work by default v.s. forcing the user to do something, most of which will not. The number of people that will set their home address is probably only a bit larger than the number that were using my grease monkey script to add a home button.
    - milkbikis 14y ago
      I absolutely agree that it needs a rethinking in terms of UI. Now that they are trying to consolidate google products, maps should be more aggressive in identifying useful destinations. I'm guessing they want to err on the side of not creeping people out, but I expect a popup introducing these features soon.
Tichy 14y ago
And Bing? Also Nokia Maps - not sure what they use on the new Windows 8 phones? For a while Nokia Maps at least were available offline for free, but perhaps that advantage has gone now that there is map caching on Android.
- gman99 14y ago
  Android has map caching, but not for search or turn by turn nav Also, you can't map cache entire continents/countries like on Nokia devices (OK, you can, if you do it tediously in small sections) So Nokia (symbian/windows phone) still holds the edge when it comes to navigation. When it comes to local search/places, the Nokia offering is nowhere near as good as the (online) Google Maps
  - ccozan 14y ago
    Nokia has indeed the best _free_ navigation of all. I am keeping in my car an old E72 just for it, loaded with all the maps of EU. However, even if updates are quite often, sometimes the map is outdated. But anyhow, the navigation is only for orientation and trip data, I mostly drive by signs and, of course, common sense.
nl 14y ago
Microsoft is making the same investment with Bing Maps

johanbrook 14y ago

Of all Google's products, Maps is the one I appreciate the most. It got lots of smart features, it's fast, it's got great coverage, and it's easy to use. Truly great work.

brianfryer 14y ago
Totally agree. Would also add Chrome to the list of "most appreciated Google products".

n0rb3rt 14y ago

NAVTEQ has been doing this for 15 years. Google learned it from being their customer for much of that time. But of course they get the credit.

bradddd 14y ago
Definitely true to a point. I think it's fair to give them some credit though. Despite their obvious motive of reducing their own costs, they've really established an amazing infrastructure, not to mention a rich API.
molmalo 14y ago
Yup, Navteq is truly a pioneer and has lots of experience doing this, even when they are not a well know company for people outside this sector. But they deserve some credit.

civilian 14y ago

Phew! I worked in one of Google's data-entry offices for the GT team. I've left, but now I can shoot this article to people to actually describe what I did.

guimarin 14y ago

I've always thought that the real money in mobile comes from very accurate map data, and very accurate personal position data. that way when you're walking around town, you can 'ask' your phone for directions to eat/shop/whatever, and it can give you a great recommendation ( for a price to local restaurants ). I asked Eric Schmidt if this was a powerful motivator behind the android acquisition, as at the time it seemed like a natural fit, and surprisingly he did not say no. And yes I know that Android was bought 'on a whim, gut instinct' but this is the perfect use case for it.

7952 14y ago
This idea is just picking at low hanging fruit. It is like saying that the killer app of the web is retail shopping. Sure Amazon is cool, but the web is so much more than that. Perhaps "location" will be like the web and have millions of little niches. IMHO it won't really take off until you have higher smart phone penetration in the developing world. These kind of apps need a market with lots of pedestrians, not car bound America.
- Ineffable 14y ago
  America is not the only country in the developed world. Plenty of smartphone wielding pedestrians here in Europe.

7952 14y ago

Google are only a small part of the spatial data capture world. They provide amazing access to a few datasets and completely ignore others. Location searches are laughably bad unless you are looking for a hotel. They do not even come close to providing comprehensive topographic mapping.

guimarin 14y ago
I think that traditional topographic mapping is not very useful from a business standpoint. When there are more, or a critical number of the autonomous vehicles from Google deployed in the wild, I fully expect very high resolution 3D maps from all the LIDAR and other data. That will be incredibly cool.
- 7952 14y ago
  Traditional topographic mapping is still hugely useful in many niches. Try laying a 100 mile pipeline, or building a factory, or organising search and rescue without traditional topo mapping. I would agree that it can be obtusely formatted and wildly expensive. High resolution 3D modelling is already available in much of Norther Europe. It is very cool, but surprisingly difficult to actually make useful. In most applications comic book style generalisations actually work better.

swalsh 14y ago

I work for a company in the telecommunications space. We've talked to several car companies about integrating 4g into their on board computers. I'm really excited for this update. I suppose I haven't really noticed how much better navigation has improved until a few weeks ago. Recently I purchased an 09 infiniti with full tech package. The thing that took me back, was how terrible the navigation system has been inside of Boston (a very complex area). I can't remember the last time Google maps has told me something wrong, but this stale nav system consistently get's confused about 1 way streets etc. What i'd LOVE to see is for Nissan to throw away its custom OS, and replace it with Android... along with that I want google maps (instead of whatever Nissan is licensing). Plus it would be nice to download apps for my car such as a better mileage tracker etc.

nradov 14y ago
What I'd love to see is for car manufacturers to throw away integrated navigation systems and replace them with standardized mounting points for smartphones / tablets. I'd like to be able to upgrade my car electronics every 2 years without having to rip apart the dashboard.
- jzawodn 14y ago
  Yes. That a thousand times.

dclowd9901 14y ago

After reading this article, I realize now that Watson was this cute thing IBM was working on that they thought was novel, while Google was building machines that think, collaborate and formulate, period. They don't just answer questions: they take data and turn it into something we know how to breeze through. I am truly astounded by how quickly we are accelerating through this information era.

zinkem 14y ago
I didn't get that impression at all, I got the impression Google is using humans to do the thinking to make it easier for the computers to crank through the algorithms.
rprasad 14y ago
Watson is a research product that aims to create artificial intelligence from the ground up, i.e., true artificial intelligence. Google is merely processing massive data sets using manually crafted algorithims. This is a complete different project, which has little or nothing to do with artificial intelligence.
- magicalist 14y ago
  > Google is merely processing massive data sets using manually crafted algorithims That is what Watson is. There's not really any "true" artificial intelligence since the term is so poorly defined, but you could make a good argument that your description above fits humans pretty well, too.

rburhum 14y ago

Live edits of OpenStreetMap http://live.openstreetmap.fr/ http://live.openstreetmap.fr/

sjwright 14y ago
That is the most awesome thing ever invented anywhere. Though it would be nice if it showed a clearer diff, perhaps having the before and after renderings displayed intermittently in a tick-tock manner.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

a3_nm 14y ago

> An exclusive look inside Ground Truth, the secretive program to build the world's best accurate maps. Meanwhile, there is another program to build the world's best maps, which is quite the opposite of secretive, involves hundreds of thousands of volunteers around the world, offers public dumps under a free license, and has already outperformed Google for some areas and use cases: http://www.openstreetmap.org/ http://www.openstreetmap.org/

tonfa 14y ago
If they built the same kind of tools as what GT uses, maybe they could make better use of the thousand of volunteers?
- molmalo 14y ago
  Or... Google could open source their software, leverage the thousands of volunteers and let a giant leap be made by both, their own projects and OSM-related ones.
  - rmc 14y ago
    Google could let OSM users trace from their aerial imagery or from their street view data. That would be a massive boost to OSM. Microsoft let OSM trace from aerial.
    - beej71 14y ago
      In certain cases the Bing data is better, and in most, I think it's on par for my region (Northern California). Half of the Sierra in the newest Google images is snow-covered... not so useful. But you're right—more would be better. I'm a little surprised MS went for it, but I doubt Google will.
- yellowbkpk 14y ago
  After seeing tons of videos detailing the tools Google uses for their maps and using Google Map Maker, the OSM tools are much better at empowering the mapper to create map data. OSM might not have the computer vision tools or the Street View imagery, but there's still plenty of work to do with the existing tools and data.

lkbm 14y ago

> Google is locked in a battle with the world's largest company, Apple Wait, what? By what measure?

defen 14y ago
Market capitalization. Saudi Aramco is worth more, but they're 100% owned by the Saudi Arabian government and not for sale.

sebastianavina 14y ago

basically, they don't care to show their technology, because there is no way another company can develop their technology in the short time, and if some company adventures on it, when they reach google technology, google will be far, far beyond them. now, that's what i call competitive advantage.

cpeterso 14y ago

If you are a cartographile, I recommend watching The Beauty of Maps and Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession, two four-part BBC documentaries: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s2w83 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00s2w83

ajtaylor 14y ago
Thanks for the link. I've added it to my watch list. IMHO, you can't get much better than BBC documentaries. Especially when it comes to my favorite - Sir David Attenborough.

jilt 14y ago

Don't miss this part: 'Not to detour too much, but what you see above is just the beginning of how Google is going to use Street View imagery. Think of them as the early web crawlers (remember those?) going out in the world, looking for the words on pages. That's what Street View is doing. One of its first uses is finding street signs (and addresses) so that Google's maps can better understand the logic of human transportation systems. But as computer vision and OCR improve, any word that is visible from a road will become a part of Google's index of the physical world. Later in the day, Google Maps VP Brian McClendon put it like this: "We can actually organize the world's physical written information if we can OCR it and place it," McClendon said. "We use that to create our maps right now by extracting street names and addresses, but there is a lot more there." More like what? "We already have what we call 'view codes' for 6 million businesses and 20 million addresses, where we know exactly what we're looking at," McClendon continued. "We're able to use logo matching and find out where are the Kentucky Fried Chicken signs... We're able to identify and make a semantic understanding of all the pixels we've acquired. That's fundamental to what we do."' That is scary. They could read license plates and tie them to addresses. They could read bumper stickers and determine your politics, whether your kid was an honor student at what school, etc.

andyking 14y ago
Only if you're already public enough with your political views, the name of your kids' school and so on to stick that data on the back of your car anyway. If you really wanted to keep your politics secret, you wouldn't put a political sticker on your car. All anyone sees on my car is what radio station I listen to.

kalleboo 14y ago

You really don't appreciate how much great data Google have in their maps until you try to use anything else. Apple have a lot of work to do to get iOS 6 maps on-par (for instance, I still haven't managed to do a successful search here in Japan - I have to carry around an Android phone for maps and train directions)