Thursday, October 29. 2009

My Thoughts on Google Navigation Beta

Last I looked there some 300 news articles about Google announcement yesterday of the beta of Google Navigation for the Android (and perhaps other) platforms. Stocks of PND players like TomTom and Garmin were down (though there were other reasons for the slipping stock prices, too). Mostly, though the sentiment was "Google will be killing off another industry." Perhaps.

After a day of watching I have just a few thoughts.

Back when Tele Atlas and NAVTEQ were acquired by TomTom and Nokia the general sentiment was that no one could possibly challenge "the big two." Why? Collecting and confirming mapping datasets for the large areas they already cover (with very good, if not perfect, accuracy) was too hard and costly and they had such a big headstart. Smaller players, like AND and Germany's United Maps, have toughed it out, working to state their differentiations (better licensing for the former and feet on the ground to fill in the holes for the latter). Neither has taken on the big two, but my sense after speaking to senior company reps recently is that they are doing fine, thank you. No, no one seemed to think that Google, the company that wants to organize the world's information, was going to work to collect and conflate and update geodata. But, apparently, we were not thinking like Google. Sure Google still licenses some data (parcels and imagery and even some road data) but clearly, they've taken on the big two, the two that now have no only a headstart with data, but also a headstart in cell phone hardware and navigation, when paired with their larger owners.

My other thought as the errors in Google's dataset become the butt of James Fee's jokes and real concern by those in Canton, Ohio, is that most people are doing just fine with the data. I'm one of them. Even though we at Directions Media were the ones to contact Tele Atlas to confirm Google was using its own data in the U.S. a few weeks back, I use Google Maps exactly as I have in the past. In fact, two weeks ago I routed myself to, then printed out Google Maps of key areas in a marathon my friends were running north of Boston. No issues. In fact, until I returned home from the event, it didn't occur to me that maybe, just maybe that was not such a great choice. For most people, for most things, Google Maps seems to work fine. And, as many are pointing out, online navigation services that use NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas data have errors and sometimes route "oddly." Google has an edge that will likely get their quirks fixed better and faster: the "report a problem" button. I've written time and time again how the Yahoo and MapQuest and Ask.com (and other services) don't provide direct ways to report errors. Nor do NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas. Oh, the websites are out there (and TomTom does have MapShare). The number of people using those tools can't possibly compare to those using Google's in app "report a problem." The tools never got the buzz that Google Maps is getting, either.

Finally, on the day Google rolled out the new app NAVTEQ reported on a survey (which I guess it financed, though it was not stated in the press release) that showed that 72% of users of nav tools it powers are "ok" with ads in the apps and some 19% click on the ads. Another 6% actually visit the businesses. So, it seems Google's business model (advertising) is a good one.

Posted by Adena Schutzberg in Google, Satellite Navigation, Tele Atlas, NAVTEQ at 06:49 | Comments (8) | Trackbacks (0) |

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I this the analysis by GPS Business News on free nav by Google is a nice add on to your thoughts:

Europe?
Today Google Maps Navigation is free mainly because Google has developed its own map database in the US; this is however not yet the case in other geographies, which might slowdown the expansion of its customer base worldwide. Nevertheless, Google has already signed a deal with digital mapmaker AND to source map data for a certain number of European countries. Unlike Tele Atlas or NAVTEQ, which licenses are different according to the usage of the map - map display versus turn-by-turn, AND offers one license that covers all usages which means Google will be able to use it for turn-by-turn navigation at no additional cost.

AND currently has navigable maps for Austria, Belgium, Denmark Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Maps for Spain, Portugal, France, the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Italy are currently into production.

#1 Bob Mission on 2009-10-29 09:24 (Reply)

I guess the source is this?
http://www.gpsbusinessnews.com/Analysis-Google-reshuffles-the-cards-in-the-nav-market_a1836.html (paid article)

I want to give our friends at GPS Business Review credit. They do a nice job over there.

BTW, look for an interview with AND CEO Maarten Oldenhof here in the next few weeks.

#1.1 Adena Schutzberg (Link) on 2009-10-29 09:52 (Reply)

That is correct, the source was the article you mention.

I am looking forward to that interview as AND seems an interesting 'upcoming' company with fast expanding coverage. Just hope CEO Maarten Oldenhof has some interesting insights. When do you expect to publish it?

#1.1.1 Bob Mission on 2009-10-30 04:55 (Reply)

I think it will be next week. It'll be a podcast and be posted on this blog.

#1.1.1.1 Adena Schutzberg (Link) on 2009-10-30 06:55 (Reply)

Why will AND fare any better than Tele Atlas and NAVTEQ? Won't Google just use them to get started, abuse their generous license terms, build their own map through Street View and then dump them and ruin their business? I'd be interested to hear Martin's thoughts on the long term strategy.

#1.1.1.1.1 Marc Prioleau on 2009-10-30 10:18 (Reply)

You have to assume that wherever they they have been collecting Street View imagery they were collecting road centreline as well.

#1.2 Mark Hardman on 2009-10-30 01:39 (Reply)

That is true and Street View is expanding quickly in Europe as well. However, you can not create a reliable navigation system with only centre lines. You need many attributes and collecting them from European governments is a huge job. Therefore, I guess the analysis from GPS Business News might be correct as Google has already signed a deal with digital mapmaker AND.

#1.2.1 Bob Mission on 2009-10-30 05:01 (Reply)

You're right that most of us in the industry are probably still using GoogleMaps the same way we were before the announcements of late. But think about the 99% of the general population who don't even know that Google has switched their data source. That 99% never knew who Tele Atlas or Navteq were to begin with, so to them this really is no news at all. They just keep on using their favorite online map platform.

Presumably people who buy $199 nav systems might be more likely to know who Navteq and Tele Atlas are, but even then it's a minority (based on my informal quizzing of people I know).

Google's strategy is likely to work regardless of what data underlies it because consumers aren't even aware of it. It's about the application.

To everyone not on the inside, this is at most about Google vs. TomTom vs. Garmin. But even then, it's less about Google stealing customers from the other two. I see this about Google capturing the whole segment of consumer who currently don't use any existing platform for turn-by-turn. People who don't know (or care) that Google's data isn't as good as the other two (yet).

#2 Darrin (Link) on 2009-11-01 07:10 (Reply)

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In reply to	[ Top level ]#1: Bob Mission on 2009-10-29 09:24   #1.1: Adena Schutzberg on 2009-10-29 09:52     #1.1.1: Bob Mission on 2009-10-30 04:55       #1.1.1.1: Adena Schutzberg on 2009-10-30 06:55         #1.1.1.1.1: Marc Prioleau on 2009-10-30 10:18   #1.2: Mark Hardman on 2009-10-30 01:39     #1.2.1: Bob Mission on 2009-10-30 05:01 #2: Darrin on 2009-11-01 07:10
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