The Prickly Partnership Between Uber and Google

HughPickens.com writes Google, with billions of dollars in the bank and house-by-house maps of most of the planet, seemed like the perfect partner for Uber, the hugely popular ride-hailing service. But Mike Isaac writes in the NYT that just two years after Google's venture capital arm poured more than $250 million into Uber there are signs that the companies are more likely to be ferocious competitors than allies. Uber recently announced plans to develop self-driving cars, a longtime pet project at Google. Travis Kalanick, Uber's CEO, has publicly discussed what he sees as the inevitability of autonomous taxis, saying they could offer cheaper rides and a true alternative to vehicle ownership. "The Uber experience is expensive because it's not just the car but the other dude in the car," Kalanick said at a technology conference in 2014, referring to the expense of paying human drivers. "When there's no other dude in the car, the cost [of taking an Uber] gets cheaper than owning a vehicle." Uber is also adding engineers who are experts on mapping technology. And the company, based in San Francisco, has been in talks with Google's advertising archrival, Facebook, to find ways to work together.

Not to be outdone, Google has been experimenting with a ride-sharing app similar to Uber's and both companies have long toyed with the idea of offering same-day delivery of items like groceries and other staples. Last month Google announced it would start presenting data from third party applications inside Google Now, a service that displays useful information prominently on the screen of Android smartphones. Google said it had struck deals to draw data from such apps as Pandora, AirBnb, Zillow, and the ride-sharing service Lyft. The company most obviously missing from that list? Google's old and possibly former friend, Uber. According to Isaac, for young companies, even one as well funded as Uber, dancing with giants is a part of doing business — even if there is always a risk of getting squashed. "There are some hard lessons about the dangers of cooperation that are strongly in the memories of these companies," says John Morgan. "Something that makes partnering harder, even when it might make economic sense to do so."

Comments

So...

[someone1234]

I'm not fond of Uber (not an user, and read some horror stories about raping, etc).
I'm also a Google fan.
But this story reminds me of M$ eating up smaller fish who thought it is safe to partner up with the shark.

Re:So...

[Grishnakh]

I've used both Uber and Lyft several times each (probably about 10-15 trips total, more of them with Lyft because it's cheaper). It's always worked out pretty well, though there's times when there's no drivers nearby (seems to be more of a problem with Lyft actually) so you'll wait a while. However, this compares favorably to regular cabs where I've taken those in the same area as I used Lyft/Uber and had to wait an hour for them to show up. The prices are much, much lower with Uber/Lyft too: taking a cab anywhere at all costs $20, but with Lyft/Uber it was usually under $10. And of course there's the massive convenience factor. The cab companies are stuck in the 1970s: you have to look them up in a phone book, call them, ask for a cab to come to your location, give them your street address, etc. Then you have to actually tell the stupid driver where to turn and navigate for him because he doesn't know where the hell anything is and doesn't use GPS.

Sure, taxis are fast and convenient in Manhattan because they're plentiful and the drivers actually know where stuff is, but anywhere else in the country, taxis are a giant, expensive, pain in the ass.

Re:Self-driving cars and hacking

[gstoddart]

Technically, I think you'd be able to steal it without ever being near it. And this has been true all along.

And suddenly I'm picturing self-driving cars put into Mayhem Mode where you plow them through crowds or buildings.

Suddenly Google's self driving cars become WMDs.

It sounds far fetched, but if they're at all vulnerable, it seems like something which is going to happen just simply because it's an attractive target.

"But hey come drive for Uber!"

[meta-monkey]

"The Uber experience is expensive because it's not just the car but the other dude in the car," Kalanick said at a technology conference in 2014, referring to the expense of paying human drivers. "When there's no other dude in the car, the cost [of taking an Uber] gets cheaper than owning a vehicle."

Be an Uber driver! Great way to make some extra cash! Gosh we love our Uber driving partners!

But they're sucking up all that sweet sweet moolah that could go into our coffers instead, so let's work to get rid of them. But in the meantime, keep driving for us so we can keep the money coming in for R&D to get rid of you!

Self driving?

[jythie]

That type of research really does not seem like something Uber really has the resources for. Google has money to burn so they can have these kinds of pie in the sky research projects, but what has Uber really done from a technological perspective? A cell phone app and some centralized logistics? They did an ok job scaling, but it is still not that impressive of a technical accomplishment.

That being said, the idea of Uber running self driving cars is kinda scary. The company already has a reputation for skirting or ignoring laws/regulations and treats things like insurance as 'customer beware'. In fact their general attitude of 'look out for yourself' would speak to some potentially scary vehicle behavior settings.

Goober

[orgelspieler]

I totally think Google should just buy Uber and change it's name to Goober. That would be awesome.

Free cars?

[OzPeter]

"The Uber experience is expensive because it's not just the car but the other dude in the car," Kalanick said at a technology conference in 2014, referring to the expense of paying human drivers. "When there's no other dude in the car, the cost [of taking an Uber] gets cheaper than owning a vehicle."

I thought that when you signed up to be an Uber driver you had to have access to a less than 5 year old car. In other words you were footing the bill for the capital required to provide the service, as well as on-going maintenance etc.

If Uber ditches the drivers, then who is going to be paying for the cars that Uber uses?

Or If, in the future, you need to own a self driving car in order to sign up with Uber, won't Uber have lost all pretense that it is a ride sharing company?

Yeah man, I own a 2022 Ford Chauffeur and it pays for itself. I just let it drive around all day by itself and collect fares for me!