Google Maps tests new pop-up ads that give you an unnecessary detour (Update)
www.androidauthority.com
Google Maps is testing a new ad format that gives users the option to add a stop for a sponsored location during navigation.
  • errer@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    2 months ago

    I have an iPhone and while I don’t like Apple Maps, I will absolutely switch to it in a heartbeat if this is added.

    • torsday@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      It’s gotten so much better. Once they brought offline maps I made the full switch.

    • cmbabul@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      I’ve preferred Apple Maps for a few years now, Googles used to be top of the game but it’s fallen off while Apple’s have IME improved

      • howlingecko@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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        2 months ago

        Same here. I have been happy with Apple Maps.

        I was an early adopter for Waze and helped them build and fix their maps. I loved Waze. Several months after Google bought Waze, I repeatedly noticed battery draining faster and location was more frequently being used by Waze. I wrote to them about it. After some time passed and no response or change, I ditched them.

    • Dran@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      Same, I wonder if there would be any way to report it to the state AG, maybe some pressure to ban it could hit google

  • Konala Koala@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    2 months ago

    For some reason, this got me imagining an ad causing an unnecessary detour the wrong way on a one way road and cause a head-on collision. which is going to get them hit with a class action lawsuit that could send their line graph all the way down into the ground.

  • BReel@lemmy.oneEnglish
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    2 months ago

    I remember a long time ago when I was considering using Waze, had heard really good things. Then I was driving with a friend who used it and it served an ad saying “click here to take a pit stop at McDonald!”

    I never downloaded Waze so… good luck google.

    • PrincessLeiasCat@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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      2 months ago

      It sucks because Waze is really great, and Googlenshittification had to get in on it and now it’s a shell of its former self. I still use it because many of the core features that made it great are still there, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time at this point.

  • Freefall@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    2 months ago

    Google also notices a spike in Google searches for “alternative to Google maps”…ignores it.

        • deczzz@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
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          2 months ago

          Thanks for the reference. Will try it out. Always had issues using openstreetmap for some reason. This seem more integrative rather than have the navigation app and the actual map being two separate entities.

          • llii@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
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            2 months ago

            Yeah, it’s worth a try. The usability depends on the trips you take and other factors. You need to download the maps beforehand.

            I like it when I’m on foot or when I ride my bike, but for longer car trips I use other (online) apps for the traffic warnings and because I only have local maps downloaded.

    • Chee_Koala@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      I have been testing OsmAnd for daily use today, and I’m gonna be closing my maps presence in the coming months :-) . I was really happy how it worked and felt, very close to what I want. After some extra tweaking, it’s bound to be fantastic!

    • Takios@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
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      2 months ago

      Openstreetmap is really good…except for the detailed information about shops which is why I still use Google Maps if I need to know opening hours and other information.
      OSM is just not widespread enough to be on the radar of shop owners to put their information on it themselves so volunteers have to do it. :/

    • zewm@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      I’m sorry but as long as Apple Maps rely on and force you to install the Yelp app for reviews, I’m never using it.

      • baggachipz@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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        2 months ago

        They’re moving away from that, only using Yelp for backfill when they have no data. There is instead a “thumbs up/down” set of buttons (because the 5-star system is uselessly Boolean anyway). Contribute to the ecosystem by rating places using this, and eventually it will reach parity with Google.

    • Zron@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      Bought iPhone last year.

      Tried Apple Maps the first week.

      Put in address to friend’s new condo building.

      Took me to a parking lot behind a grocery store next to the building, and then acted like I could drive through an old wooden fence to get to the condos.

      5/10 I only had to drive to the other end of the block to find the only entrance to the property.

      • 2xsaiko@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
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        2 months ago

        At one point Google Maps moved my whole apartment building/address three streets from where it should be. It was wrong for months even though I reported it when I had to keep telling delivery people that got misdirected because they used it to navigate. Anecdotal evidence etc.

    • thatKamGuy@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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      2 months ago

      The only thing Apple Maps lacks now is a Waze-like ability to report hazards, speed-traps, road closures etc. along with the active user base required to crowd source the datapoints.

  • M0oP0o@mander.xyzEnglish
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    2 months ago

    Thanks I hate it. Also not even new, this shit was what killed in dash sat navs…

    • T156@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      Nitpicking, but I’m not sure that it was ads that killed dash sat navs. At least in my experience, they never really developed to that point where car companies would put ads in.

      It was more that they were expensive options to install, a pain to keep updated, and generally weren’t all that good.

      Even before the live traffic and automatic detour features, phones didn’t cost money to keep the onboard maps up to date, and you already had one, so you didn’t need to either buy an add-on, or get a special unit for it.

      With android CarPlay and Apple Auto, you could just put your phone map on the screen, which was basically the same thing, but a cheaper equivalent, since the hardware was on your phone instead.

      • M0oP0o@mander.xyzEnglish
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        2 months ago

        So I was around during this time and yes ads did play a part in this, but not like you think. The ads where how these companies planned to pay for the sat nav data (came on a DVD). They had restaurant and gas station suggestion with the same detour “feature”.

        Fun part is that it fell apart quick since almost no one updated there sat nav and you can still get a 2008 acura with recommendations for places long long gone. Its also fun to see people talking about Zagat rated places on forums from the time.

        https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-audio-bluetooth-electronics-navigation-294/zagat-guide-questions-833757/

      • RunawayFixer@lemmy.worldEnglish
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        2 months ago

        I’m absolutely certain that it wasn’t ads that put a firm like TomTom on a downward slope. This was actually the first time that I’ve heard someone proclaim that ads are the reason.

        If your business is to sell maps + navigation devices for money and then the times change and now nearly everyone already owns a smartphone with built in gps + some car manufacturers provide sat nav as a default + another company is giving access to a map away for free, well then your business is in trouble.

        I’ve never even heard of ads in TomTom or Garmin, since I stopped using a dedicated sat nav once I had a smartphone, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was one of the things they tried to stay afloat after smartphones became ubiquitous.

        • madcaesar@lemmy.worldEnglish
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          2 months ago

          They were just way waaay to expensive to update. I remember having to jail brake it and sideload updates.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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      2 months ago

      And unfortunately, for maps, it’s basically just Apple and Google. I’m trying to get used to OSM, but it just isn’t easy to do the things I want to do: find directions to a store.

      • Grass@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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        2 months ago

        osm sucks at addresses. The only way I can use it for navigation is doing google to coordinate conversion and just saving all the places. I haven’t seen this new google change but we’ll see if its enough to make me drop the last google service I use.

      • w2tpmf@lemmy.worldEnglish
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        2 months ago

        MapQuest is still a thing. Bing maps… exists. Wave, even though owned by Google, hasn’t been fucked yet.

        Magic Earth is another open source alternative besides OSM.

  • ripcord@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    2 months ago

    Well, this might be something that drives me to Waze (also owned by Google and which may also end up with these). But it’s yet another thing that would potentially drive me back to Apple.

    Edit: never mind on Waze, I forgot they already do something like this. Although for whatever reason it doesn’t seem quite as invasive.

  • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.worldEnglish
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    2 months ago

    “Google, tell me how to get to this place”

    “Here are your directions, including a McDonalds break! You deserve a break today, with a delicious tiny BIG MAC being sold for 400% of what it was 5 years ago, at 50% the size.”

    “…when did the movie idiocracy go from being a mockumentary to a documentary?”

      • Blackmist@feddit.ukEnglish
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        2 months ago

        Google execs already thinking “shit, buy some electronic billboards and show relevant ads as each phone goes past”.

        Sad that will be the only part of Blade Runner we get. Where’s the flying cars, dammit!

    • EtherWhack@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      With gmaps constantly suggesting off-ramp->on-ramp detours at over/underpasses to help you shorten your eta by 1 minute increase merging traffic, I doubt they would have any ethical hesitancy behind it.

      Honestly, I imagine they may already have a deal (possibly under the table) with clearchannel and the likes.

    • madcaesar@lemmy.worldEnglish
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      2 months ago

      This man has manager written all over him! Put him in charge of google maps! - Google probably