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Get Ready To Be Bombarded With Ads When Using Google Maps (news.com.au)
An anonymous reader writes: The chance to squeeze some extra advertising dollars is something rarely missed by Google. This week the company quietly announced changes to two of its most widely used services, offering businesses the chance to pay for featured advertisements in Google.com and Google Maps. In a blog post, Google senior ads vice president Sridhar Ramaswamy outlined the likely changes to Google Maps that will see users met with pop-up ads for local businesses when they use the GPS-based app. The announcement has been facetiously described online as "the Ad-pocalypse" but Google has shown more tact in their use of language, referring to the ads as "promoted pins".
I got an offer for an Uber coupon while using Google Maps on my phone the other day.
It was a text ad and wasn't very intrusive. Still, though, unsettling.
joes diner: great food, cursed cheese cake provides listeria as advertised.
mega dental: Excellent, fast service set to the pace of a live speed metal band. understandable you must work the sound board properly.
Wal Mart: Theme park for the well to do. Got to beat a real human being with a sack of potatoes. set fire to aisle 12 and dispatched my own fire department. Holiday shopping for boiled shrimp and car tires unfortunately interrupted by Aer Lingus flight 8901 coming in from heathrow.
Good people go to bed earlier.
It depends on how intrusive or useful this is. Featured ads when I am searching generally (for food for instance) that are appealing would be fine, and fit in with what you see on other search pages (amazon, yelp, other companies do this). If it shows up in a way that it makes my search longer however - less welcome. If I'm searching for an address and have to dismiss an ad to get to it, google maps on my phone will have for many situations become unusable. It already takes ages to load.
So what other apps are out there worth using? Android Central - Alternatives (Click "view all").
I am constantly surprised by how good it is. It has paths in there that Google has never heard of, ones up mountains that might not even be 1ft wide, new and old. It doesn't look quite as polished and smartphone-oriented as the Almighty GOOG's version but the maps themselves are more detailed and more accurate
Repeat it to yourself: "Google is an advertising company."
Why would "ads" be a problem for ANYONE in this day and age? Block'em. All of them. My computer, my rules. No pop-ups, pop-ins, pop-unders allowed. No banners. No Flash. No Javascript. Just what I choose and allow to be downloaded and displayed.
I use the Google Maps on my iPhone for navigating when I'm driving someplace unfamiliar. Does this mean that I'll have to be dismissing ads in order to see continue to have a useable navigation tool? I'm also not wild about the idea of pop up ads drawing my attention away from the road. Time will tell.
You keep your data. You are not SPAMed. You help the community if you annotate or fix mistakes in the map if you find some.
I'd take the incorporated-ads if they'd undo the long span of terrible changes they've made to the service (particularly web, but also mobile) over the years. How is it that one of the most popular products of one of the world's largest corporations has such a mishmash / poorly thought-out interface, a low detail-level which can't be altered by the user, and terribly drawn graphics (their terrain in particular is an embarrassment)? If they'll fix the interface and our penalty as users is to suffer through ads... then bring on the ads.
Honestly, "promoted pins" could be done in a non-intrusive manner.
1) Only show things relative to the layers that the user has enabled. If they don't have restaurants on, don't insert pins for promoted restaurants.
2) Handle them via the culling algorithm. Map details must inherently be culled when zoomed out so that the screen isn't just a giant jumbled mess; as you zoom in and objects on the map move further apart, you have more room to insert more objects, so you cull less. When it comes to "promoted pins", a fair way to deal with them would be to give them a higher priority than unpromoted pins in the culling algorithm, so that they're more likely to show up when zoomed further out.
Friends! Help! A guinea pig tricked me!
Please, please, please, Google, allow me to pay you the revenues you generate from advertisers directly in the form of a subscription fee, and then DO NOT SERVE ME ADS, DO NOT TRACK ME, AND STOP BEING EVIL.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
I was using Google Maps a few days ago and came to the startling realization that the information was presented too clearly, the results were simply too useful, and my satisfaction with the product was simply too high. Thank goodness Google is listening to their customers and doing something to reverse this worrying trend!
The first time I see an ad obstructing the view of my map, or my GPS says "In 500 feet, turn left for Nissan's Memorial Day Sales Event at Bob's Auto" I'm done. Full stop. I have never been disappointed enough with Google Maps to seek out alternatives, but there's a map in the glove box that is a pretty low bar to beat regarding convenience. If Google can't keep above that bar, I'm sure someone else does.
I gave up on Google Maps years ago. I've been using OpenStreetMap for a long time, with better results.
Use maps.here.com and the associated offline navigation apps. They are far far better than Google maps, the navigation is light years ahead and the location search actually finds the correct location, not a spammers fake promotional location.
The apps can download their maps offline, FREE, and they're comprehensive worldwide maps too.
Waze, now owned by Google, has already had popup ads and promoted pins for awhile.
While the ads are a bit annoying, they only show when you are stopped.
The pins really do not make much of a difference.
A few months ago Google must have made some change to their maps, because Firefox on all my boxen goes crazy and chews up oodles of CPU. Here, mapquest, and openstreetmap still work well.
The LAST 5 times I tried to use google maps for routing it was wrong. I gave up using them and switched to tomtom GO.
Just yesterday went to drop off a package at the DHL hub. Google maps had me go one more street past and told me the empty field was my destination.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Adblock on, sunglasses set to "Max", cynicism set to "11"....and I'm ready.
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
Fooled you, then.
How dare Google try and make a profit off this product that they provide to the public without charge. The nerve!
Well, that will likely make Google Maps less functional. If I have to struggle an extra 30 seconds per session removing popups just to get directions, I'll probably move to a different product.
Because it already loads so quickly...
Google Maps has become increasingly bloated nonsense and this is the last straw. Please suggest alternatives? Not Microsoft!
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Been using Google Maps since the beginning... it's an awesome product that I've never paid a dime for (other than having Google scrape my geo-search related data). I don't mind seeing a few "sponsored pins" here and there.
Google has always done a good job with unintrusive ads... and I will give them the benefit of the doubt here.
I used to think it was just the spammers and other shady types, but I've realized they're all just scamming gullible businesses.
Companies pay Google megabucks to run these ads, and they have no effect on the companies' sales.
Google is hiring UX designers, perhaps you should join up? https://www.google.com/about/c...
I'd take the incorporated-ads if they'd undo the long span of terrible changes they've made to the service (particularly web, but also mobile) over the years. How is it that one of the most popular products of one of the world's largest corporations has such a mishmash
Once upon a time, I could map out routes in Google maps that wre not quicktaketheinterstate two choices.
Then this year I tried again. Holy hell - it simply does not work at all, unless you walk it through by splitting your trip into 5 or more trips.
The feedback has been universally and emphatically negative, as in "this friggin thing doesn't work any more". Almost worthless now. And now- just serving ads.
AdChoices H^H^H^H^H^H^H Google - bite me.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
Distracted by popups ads in Google Maps, man causes chain reaction accident killing dozens. news at 11.
My Google Map on iOS has been doing ads on and off for at least 18 months now. Usually it's a slightly larger dot that you think it's a search result but it's a sponsored location. One time I searched for a donut shop and selected the first result without looking. It routed me to a hotel. When I looked more carefully it was a sponsored result. Sometimes when I search for a business and I know the exact name, the first few results aren't that business it's a competitor. I think a couple months ago it routed me to a location of a competitor of a business in the same category without showing me an indication that it was sponsored pin. Couple of times Google Maps move the business I was looking for down very low on the list even when I was really close to the location (less than 3 blocks away) and pushed me to businesses much further away. I think I was looking for a Japanese BBQ place that time. I knew the name but forgot where it was. I was in the complex next door. The dot for the business was there just smaller than the other (probably sponsored) business.
It works very similar to the initial ads on Bing Maps for iOS when that first came out back 2009(?).
openstreetmap.org /. supposed to be home of the skilled nerds.
don't be an idiot please.
How is it that one of the most popular products of one of the world's largest corporations has such a mishmash / poorly thought-out interface, a low detail-level which can't be altered by the user, and terribly drawn graphics (their terrain in particular is an embarrassment)? If they'll fix the interface and our penalty as users is to suffer through ads... then bring on the ads.
You're totally forgetting about the speed.
On my Galaxy S4, Google Maps still seems to be OK, but for the web version, it's ridiculously slow these days. I don't know WTF happened, but Google Maps used to be snappy on a decent computer, but now it's the slowest web page I use. Panning around, zooming, everything is horribly, horribly slow. It's almost unusable. I'm probably have to start looking more seriously at Bing Maps when I'm on a PC (and I'm a huge MS hater).
As for this "promoted pins" crap, it's all a bad idea. donowant. I don't care if I'm looking at restaurants; I don't want to see whatever shitty greasy spoons have paid to have themselves promoted. And I really don't want my screen filled with a bunch of stupid icons for shitty businesses I'm not interested in. If Google resorts to this crap, it's going to be time to look at competing mapping apps such as Bing.
It's pretty sad that I'm having to serious consider Microsoft products because Google is going down the drain so fast. There's a few other navigation apps out there too; I'll have to look at those.
Won't work. He'll propose stuff in the interview that's totally antithetical to their crappy new UX philosophy and won't get hired. They're only going to hire people who've drunk the same Kool-Aid as themselves.
Just like map quest, I will stop using Google Maps the second a single ad gets in the way of the product functioning properly. And just like Mapquest, once I'm gone I'll never be back. Ever. I expect many others feel the same.
It's your fault we have all these shitty ads by these shitty companies. I fucking hate Google more than Microsoft. I didn't think it was possible.
I don't Google, just like I was never a Yahooligan. Problem solved.
Google and their like sound more and more like addicts. They keep escalating the intensity and obnoxiousness of adverts but getting less and less satisfaction from them. And unable to even conceive that the problem might be their own behaviour.
They also change flavors too frequently to follow through on any plans to fix things within the current flavor's ideology. You have to have drank the stuff, and also be ready to switch to the new flavor.
I think you might be pointing out a part of the problem and not the solution - I'd rather have Google fire all their so-called designers and let the coders build the interfaces...
"I'm not anti-anything, I'm anti-everything, it fits better." - Sole
Did the job openings begin with an internal conversation including the phrase "well, if you won't do this ..."? Just wondering. Few recent changes to Google Maps these days arrive with the new car smell of employee self-esteem.
You didn't pay for Google Maps (either on a one-time basis or an ongoing charge.) Yep, you bought an Android phone, but navigation is hardly a core part of Android.
Google has a great number of money-losing products and services. Google Maps is one of them (especially without these ads.) Compared with how much it costs to collect and maintain the mapping data (not to mention the development and infrastructure cost for the application), they most certainly lose money on it. (Google tracks and uses your location to serve you search ads with or without the use of Google Maps if you have an Android phone or use any Google product or browse to any site serving Google ads on your computer.)
Google is making precisely bupkis on self-driving cars, Google Voice, Google Docs (at least the non-commercial version), etc.
How is it that one of the most popular products of one of the world's largest corporations has such a mishmash / poorly thought-out interface. . .
Maps is Google's iTunes.
People still use google maps? I switched to bing...works better..and doesn't blank out every single time I drag a direction.
I've noticed the speed problem as well -- just a couple years ago Google Maps was quite speedy. Now, it's glacial (and my download bandwidth has increased by 80GB in that time-frame). Maybe the revenue from the pins will fund 100,000 new servers to serve Google Maps and solve the problem?
Bing maps is much faster and I've been leaning more towards it. Unfortunately, its version of street view covers much less territory and (I find) is more awkward to use. However, Bing seems to be better at finding most addresses I'm looking at -- esp. in rural areas - Google maps is often miles off and I go to Bing and it nails it - I was a bit surprised by that.
Google does not have money-losing or break-even products for any length of time. They have ventures that may or may not be profitable and as soon as they determine any given product won't make money, the product is gone. The cost to collect and maintain mapping data is...well, I guess we could ask OpenStreetMap. Or any of the many companies that have or use satellites. It is quickly becoming a commodity. All other Google products you list are mined to death by Google. They get to collect and crunch vast amounts of data and sell info on that data. That's hardly making no money. Google didn't make billions by providing products that don't make money!
Something changed, it's extremely frustrating now to draw out motorcycle routes. The route is always adding new points instead of moving existing waypoints, and then accidental waypoints need to cook for like 10 seconds before the "click to delete" becomes available. Add in the constant zoom-out, and it's a big headache.
There's a program called Missionplanner for autonomous drone waypoint planning. It uses google maps, and can precache the maps (aka download google maps). Just select your area, select prefetch, and you'll have the maps at whatever zoom level you choose to go to.
Can adblock+ do 16 things hosts do 4 speed, security & reliability:
1.) Protect vs. bad sites (past ads)
2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stop C&C talk
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4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stop C&C talk
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6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoning
7.) Protect vs. trackers
8.) Protect vs. spam
9.) Protect vs. phish
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11.) Get past dns blocks
12.) Keep off dns request logs
13.) Speed up surfing (adblock & hardcoded favs)
14.) Works on anything webbound multiplatform.
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16.) Block ads better vs. addons more efficiently
* ANSWER ="NO" on ab+ doing it as well or @ ALL + hosts = on devices natively.
APK
P.S.=> Ab+ does less vs. hosts less efficiently - hosts do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ kernelmode IP stack before REDUNDANT slow usermode inefficient addons BEGIN operation (as 1st resolver).
APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-4 32/64-bit http://www.bing.com/search?q=%...
Less power/cpu/ram + IO use vs. DNS/routers/addons/antivirus (slows you) + less security issues/complexity. Compliments firewalls (w/ layered drivers blocking less used IP addys vs. hosts blocking more used domains) & DNS (lightens dns load). Gets data via 10 security sites.
Ads rob bandwidth/speed, security (malvertising), privacy (tracking) + anonymity.
Hosts add speed (hardcodes/adblocks), security (bad sites/poisoned dns), reliability (dns down), & anonymity (dns requestlogs/trackers) natively. Hosts != ClarityRay blockable (vs. souled-out to admen inferior wasteful redundant slow usermode addons)
Works vs. caps & HTTP PUSH ads w/ firewalls.
Avg. webpage = big as Doom http://www.theregister.co.uk/2... & ads = 40% of the size.
APK
P.S. - Safe https://www.virustotal.com/en/... (Verified by Malwarebytes' S. Burn "I've seen the code & it's safe" http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi... )
APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-4 32/64-bit http://www.bing.com/search?q=%...
Less power/cpu/ram + IO use vs. DNS/routers/addons/antivirus (slows you) + less security issues/complexity. Compliments firewalls (w/ layered drivers blocking less used IP addys vs. hosts blocking more used domains) & DNS (lightens dns load). Gets data via 10 security sites.
Ads rob bandwidth/speed, security (malvertising), privacy (tracking) + anonymity.
Hosts add speed (hardcodes/adblocks), security (bad sites/poisoned dns), reliability (dns down), & anonymity (dns requestlogs/trackers) natively. Hosts != ClarityRay blockable (vs. souled-out to admen inferior wasteful redundant slow usermode addons)
Works vs. caps & HTTP PUSH ads w/ firewalls.
Avg. webpage = big as Doom http://www.theregister.co.uk/2... & ads = 40% of the size.
APK
P.S. - Safe https://www.virustotal.com/en/... (Verified by Malwarebytes' S. Burn "I've seen the code & it's safe" http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi... )
Can UBlock do 17 items hosts do 4 speed, security, & reliability:
1.) Protect vs. bad sites (past ads)
2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets
3.) Protect vs. dyndns botnets
4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets
5.) Protect vs. downed DNS
6.) Protect vs. poisoned dns
7.) Protect vs. trackers
8.) Protect vs. spam bad links
9.) Protect vs. phish bad links
10.) Protect vs. caps
11.) Get by dns blocks
12.) Avoid dns request logs
13.) Speed up 2 ways (adblocks + hardcodes)
14.) Work on anything webbound multiplatform.
15.) Ez data control
16.) Block ads more efficiently
17.) UBlock now uses hosts (no DNS benefits vs. tracker or dns poisoning) - poor imitation = "sincerest form of flattery"
?
Hosts = native vs. illogically "Bolting on 'MoAr'" & not ClarityRay blockable like addons.
APK
P.S.=> Hosts do MORE w/ less in fast kernelmode & start before REDUNDANT inefficient slow usermode addons (as 1st resolver)
Hosts ~3mb (current data) vs. threats/ads. UBlock = 63++ MB -> http://cdn.ghacks.net/wp-conte...
APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-4 32/64-bit http://www.bing.com/search?q=%...
Less power/cpu/ram + IO use vs. DNS/routers/addons/antivirus (slows you) + less security issues/complexity. Compliments firewalls (w/ layered drivers blocking less used IP addys vs. hosts blocking more used domains) & DNS (lightens dns load). Gets data via 10 security sites.
Ads rob bandwidth/speed, security (malvertising), privacy (tracking) + anonymity.
Hosts add speed (hardcodes/adblocks), security (bad sites/poisoned dns), reliability (dns down), & anonymity (dns requestlogs/trackers) natively. Hosts != ClarityRay blockable (vs. souled-out to admen inferior wasteful redundant slow usermode addons)
Works vs. caps & HTTP PUSH ads w/ firewalls.
Avg. webpage = big as Doom http://www.theregister.co.uk/2... & ads = 40% of the size.
APK
P.S. - Safe https://www.virustotal.com/en/... (Verified by Malwarebytes' S. Burn "I've seen the code & it's safe" http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi... )
APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-4 32/64-bit http://www.bing.com/search?q=%...
Less power/cpu/ram + IO use vs. DNS/routers/addons/antivirus (slows you) + less security issues/complexity. Compliments firewalls (w/ layered drivers blocking less used IP addys vs. hosts blocking more used domains) & DNS (lightens dns load). Gets data via 10 security sites.
Ads rob bandwidth/speed, security (malvertising), privacy (tracking) + anonymity.
Hosts add speed (hardcodes/adblocks), security (bad sites/poisoned dns), reliability (dns down), & anonymity (dns requestlogs/trackers) natively. Hosts != ClarityRay blockable (vs. souled-out to admen inferior wasteful redundant slow usermode addons)
Works vs. caps & HTTP PUSH ads w/ firewalls.
Avg. webpage = big as Doom http://www.theregister.co.uk/2... & ads = 40% of the size.
APK
P.S. - Safe https://www.virustotal.com/en/... (Verified by Malwarebytes' S. Burn "I've seen the code & it's safe" http://forum.hosts-file.net/vi... )
Google owns Waze, which does these sponsored pop-up ads. I tried using Waze as an in-vehicle navigator, but it constantly pops-up nearly-full-screen ads for every imaginable thing along the route. They totally obscure the map and are very difficult to dismiss (must pick up the phone and carefully click just-so to get rid of the ad; basically impossible to do safely while driving). This is why I don't use Waze, and have stuck with Google Maps.
1. Looks like it's time to buy (a) Garmin device that might not be as smart, but doesn't spam me. (b) NTS - buy GRMN
2. No longer need anything like my Note 5 (primary app was Google Maps and GasBuddy), maybe a tiny iPhone is better?
Since my flirtation with Waze, I have been wondering, "When will Google push this horrible lossage into Maps?"
Wait no more, the future is here.
And it is crap-tastic!