Apple and Google on Online Mapping: On the Same Wavelength, or on a Collision Course?
Is Apple planning to take on Google Maps? ComputerWorld recently reported that Apple bought online mapping service Placebase.com back in July, for an undisclosed sum.
Apple hasn’t released an official statement, so its intentions are unclear. But in light of its recent rejection of Google Latitude — a “location-aware” app that allows users to see friends’ locations — for the iPhone, and Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s departure from Apple’s Board of Directors in August, there are those in the industry, like TechCrunch and ZDNet, that wonder if this Placebase acquisition signals another potential rivalry between Apple and Google. Indeed, as the two technology giants expand their market reach, more and more of their products overlap, if not directly compete. Think Android OS vs. iPhone OS, for example, or the upcoming Google Chrome OS vs. Mac OS X.
Currently, Apple uses Google Maps on the iPhone, iPod Touch and its iPhoto software. Placebase — founded in 2005 by Jaron Waldman, who’s now part of Apple’s mysterious and unexplained “Geo Team” — can potentially allow Apple to create its own digital mapping service. After all, Placebase held its own against Google Maps for several years by offering customization features, and by integrating layers of data sets, including demographics, commercial info and crime data onto its maps, notes a 2008 GigaOM report.
So if Apple were indeed planning on a Google Maps replacement, would it be a wise move? It would probably be easier to simply add value to Google Maps than to replace it, says PCWorld writer David Coursey. “If Apple is good enough, people will switch and eventually the rest can be moved over by force, if necessary,” Coursey notes. “But, only after Apple Maps does everything that Google Maps does — and then some.”
That’s quite a tall order. Currently, Google Maps is the de facto online mapping service for most users. Web analytics firm Compete notes that as of September, Google Maps had 57 million unique visitors, up 47 percent from a year ago. Mapquest.com, another online mapping service, had 44 million unique visitors and is on the decline. Other mapping services, like Yahoo! Maps and Bing Maps, are trailing far behind.
Google is also continuing to invest in its mapping service. It recently added improvements, such as Google Earth buildings, Street View, and a crowdsourcing function, which allows users to point out gaps or report mapping errors. Google also improved the overall aesthetics of its maps, making them more legible and easier to follow. What’s more, in response to strong consumer demand, Google just unveiled “Google Maps Navigation,” a free, browser-based GPS navigation tool for its Android 2.0 devices. Currently in beta, it includes useful features like 3D views, turn-by-turn voice driving instructions and automatic rerouting.
No doubt, Google Maps is a formidable opponent. But maybe Apple is not seeking to challenge Google per se, but is simply looking to incorporate geo-savvy features to its own products, such as a triangulation feature that would approximate the latitude or longitude of a Mac, says Wired reporter Brian X. Chen. That’s certainly a possibility. After all, AppleInsider notes that Apple has filed a number of location-based patents for its products with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, among them an automated home screen providing local info based on an iPhone’s location.
Whatever course Apple plans to chart for the future, one thing is for sure: being geo-savvy is fast-becoming a key factor for getting more ad dollars, especially at a time when advertising is on a decline and users are responding better to a targeted approach [see our previous post on mobile ads].
As a recent study by marketing research firm comScore shows, 10 percent of display ads across four major markets — Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. — are locally targeted. "Locally targeted ads are an increasingly important component of the digital ad landscape because they represent a more efficient allocation of ad dollars," said comScore Vice President Brian Jurutka.
Integrating location-aware features into one’s products, whether through in-house or rented technology, and enabling hyperlocal or targeted marketing, as Google Maps has done and as Apple seems keen to do, can help a company to remain competitive.
