Google Maps Removes Uber Integration (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Back in January 2017, Google and Uber teamed up to put a cool feature in Google Maps: You could search for, book, and pay for an Uber all directly from Google Maps. You didn't even need the Uber app installed. Now, 18 months later, the feature is dead. Google posted a new support page (first spotted by Android Police) that flatly states, "You can no longer book Uber rides directly in Google Maps."

The feature would have you search for a location in Google Maps and ask for directions like normal, but instead of choosing walking, driving, biking, or mass transit directions, a tab for ride-sharing would allow you to book a ride directly. The ride-sharing tab still exists, but instead of booking an Uber, it just gives you an estimate and offers to kick you out to the Uber app.

Comments

Quit using Uber months ago

[DogDude]

Meh. We replaced Uber with Lyft, anyway. Uber is a shitty company.

Re:Quit using Uber months ago

[bobbied]

Like Lyft is better... LOL.. Who's paying more?

Re:Quit using Uber months ago

[rockout]

Yeah, +1 to that. How is Lyft better than Uber? They seem about the same to me, except that there's more Uber drivers available near me, so 90% of the time I choose an Uber ride because it's the one that'll get to me quicker.

Re: Quit using Uber months ago

[sexconker]

Homer Simpsons says that public transportation is for "suckers", as well as "jerks and lesbians".

Re: Quit using Uber months ago

[Anonymous Coward]

I wouldn't use either unless there was no other option, which is never the case

Google integration

[Anonymous Coward]

Makes *me* want to rely on Google for my backend components. Not.

How's this any different than people complaining here about having been burnt by "M$" back in the 90s?

"Ride sharing"

[110010001000]

Let us stop calling Uber "ride charing". Let us call it what it is: "an illegal taxi service app powered by Neural Network Deep Learning AI".

Re:"Ride sharing"

[bobbied]

Let us stop calling Uber "ride charing". Let us call it what it is: "an illegal taxi service app powered by Neural Network Deep Learning AI".

Um.. It's really "an illegal taxi service" the rest of that is as much hype as my stereo enhanced "motor sounds" in my F-150....

Re:"Ride sharing"

[rockout]

I don't think the word "illegal" means what you think it means.

Seriously, I'm kind of surprised by all the hate here in Slashdot for Uber. With the site populated heavily by neo-libertarians, you'd think the people defending taxis and their artificially inflated prices would be at a minimum. Can someone explain this to me?

Re:"Ride sharing"

[Gojira Shipi-Taro]

I'm fairly certain at least one of these taxi shills is a current or former employee of a cab company.

Re:"Ride sharing"

[Anonymous Coward]

Says the privileged urbanist without regard to us otherwise stranded suburbanites/ruralites.

How's your temple of Self–Righteousness going, cuz I can‘t get to it without Uber/Lyft and you wouldn't want that!

Bigot.

Re:"Ride sharing"

[Anonymous Coward]

In most municipalities you need to be licensed to be a taxi. Uber and Lyft are not licensed. Hence, illegal.

Re:"Ride sharing"

[Anonymous Coward]

Either that or the logical conclusion: Uber and Lyft are not taxis.

Does a soccer mom need a taxi license to drive the neighbor's kids to soccer practice?

Re:"Ride sharing"

[dgatwood]

Does she charge them money to do so? Beyond other parents chipping in for gas, I mean?

Re:"Ride sharing"

[SvnLyrBrto]

I really suspect that the bulk of the anti-user slashdotters (And anti-Uber people win general) live in places where they drive to work, don'r go out drinking or clubbing (Assuming the latter are even available out in the suburbs.), and never had to rely on taxies; except maybe a couple of times a year to go to and from the airport. That, or they're too young to remember the days before Uber & Lyft, when it was taxis or MUNI's "Owl" service, or nothing. So they just don't know just how terrible traditional taxies are. I, OTOH, have lived in a city where taxis are the occasional necessity since well before Uber existed; and had to suffer the awfulness of cabbies for many years. Then things changed. I started using Uber when they still called themselves Ubercab, were available only in San Francisco, and the only option was the black car service the ran about 50% more expensive then the taxis they replaced. And I never looked back.

And traditional taxis are really just bloody awful. If traditional taxis were not so spectacularly craptacular, Uber, Lyft, and the like would never have gotten a foothold in the first place. And the taxi corporations are just bad as Uber ever has been. And they've been at their shenanigans for a good half-century, or linger, before Uber was even a thing. It's just that Uber's problems came to light in the social media era; where the taxis have buried the worst of their misdeeds (Bribing politicians into erecting barriers to entry like the medallions, for example.) in the annals of history.

For my part, if my choice is between a scummy company where the car actually shows up when I summon it, the drivers never (and don't have the option to) try to run the "my credit card machine is broken, cash only" scam, who don't bitch (or refuse to take me at all) if I need to go out to the avenues, who will actually pick me up in those same avenues, and whose cars have never smelt of smoke, pee, or vomit; versus an equally scummy company where none of that is true, and which has been scummily abusing the public since before I was born; I'll take the former every time.

Re:"Ride sharing"

[dabadab]

With the site populated heavily by neo-libertarians, you'd think the people defending taxis and their artificially inflated prices would be at a minimum

Uh, what neo-libertarians hate is taxes, not taxis.

Re:"Ride sharing"

[Anonymous Coward]

It's only illegal where it is illegal. In some places it has been legalised.

Re:"Ride sharing"

[Anonymous Coward]

That would be fair, except...Uber acts a lot more like "crowdsourced taxis with an APP!" than "an app to help you and your neighbors ride-share more easily". To claim otherwise is kinda disingenuous, no?

Re:"Ride sharing"

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting. I've used taxis on occasion; my only complaint is that they're too expensive (everything is; I'm a cheapskate). I've never run into any of the problems you've described.

Yeah, Uber is cheaper when you can get a ride (my one attempt at getting an Uber was from the airport in my city at midnight; "no rides are available"). Why? Because they blatantly skip all the regulations on transportation services! Regulations that are designed to prevent violent criminals from driving a taxicab as a way of fishing for their next murder victim.

Those regulations aren't perfect, I'll admit. Perhaps we'd be better off as a community by relaxing those regulations (and that's an inherently local conversation). Perhaps we need different regulations or (gasp) even more regulations. But instead of starting a thoughtful debate, Uber is blatantly operating a taxi-like service without the costs *or* benefits of those regulations.

Re:Now if we could remove Trump / Russia integrati

[Anonymous Coward]

Donald Trump's campaign manager is in prison right now. That's a good start.

Lock him up!

In less than a year you will be diagnosed with cancer which will be terminal.

On that day will will realize what a waste of your life your juvenile posts about Trump really were.

hmm

[thebullshitpatrol]

why would google give business to goober when they have stake in lyft?

Retaliation for Waymo?

[Anonymous Coward]

Title says all

Boo

[TimMD909]

I liked being able to compare Uber and Lyft prices before hopping to the respective app.

Good.

[Anonymous Coward]

It wasn't a cool feature, and I stopped using Google Maps because of it. Fuck Uber.

Re: Good.

[jrumney]

I can't say I ever noticed it, but Uber shut down in my area a few months ago anyway. What out me off Google maps though is I tried searching for directions from the hotel I'll be staying tonight to where I'll be going tomorrow, and the only thing Google wants to show me is the rates for the room I've already booked.

Intellectual honesty?

[raymorris]

I suspect people call Uber a taxi service because - it's a taxi service. "Ride sharing" is BS, and that's quite obvious.

I too slightly surprised at how many people acknowledge that plain and simple fact rather than pretending to believe some BS, happily surprised.

Even if a political agenda were ALL that mattered, of one had no care for the truth, you don't get intelligent people to support you and your agenda by telling them ridiculous lies.

If you want to end "big taxi", you can more effectively do so with an honest argument:
Some say unregulated taxis would cause big problems.
Uber is unregulated taxis.
Uber doesn't cause those problems.
Therefore, they are mistaken - unregulated taxis, like Uber, don't cause major problems.
Taxis should therefore be deregulated.

Re:Intellectual honesty?

[Anonymous Coward]

In Sweden, Uber Pop was cancelled because too many drivers were convicted of driving a taxi without a license. Uber black, etc still exists and just requires the driver to have a taxi license in order to operate on Uber.... Because Uber is a taxi service.

Re:Intellectual honesty?

[scamper_22]

I wouldn't go that far.

I've lived in more problematic parts of the world and there is a big distinction between 'government/metered taxis' and unofficial 'taxis'.

Generally if you want to be 'safe' you take the government taxi. Otherwise you use the non-regulated ones.

Sure, it's not a problem in Canada or the US yet, but it's still good to keep 'official' taxis.

Also, part of the issue is that Uber had to operate in a questionable manner. Like many established entities, they're not going to allow you to try. So you can't prove if the amount of regulation is needed. You need a risk taker like Uber to skirt the law, show the society that some of the regulations are not actually needed/protecting the public. They're simply increasing costs and monopolizing the industry. Then things can adjust.

It's just a part of society I guess for risk takers to oeprate illegally to make change.
Will legal pot destroy society? You can't know until enough people break the law to show society works okay with some weed.
Will school choice destroy social harmony... you can't know until you try.
Will selling beer at corner stores lead to mass alcohol social problems?
Will selling unpasteurized milk cause mass disease ...

Great!

[Ark42]

So now Google Maps will stop suggesting a 4000 yen Uber ride as a great alternative to a 200 yen train fare?

No Uber hate here .... but ....

[King_TJ]

I'm not surprised Google pulled it from Maps either. IMO, it just crosses a line allowing a free map service to allow purchasing a commercial service on it. I mean, if they're going to let you hail an Uber without even installing Uber's app for it, why don't they support every other service that needs your location?

I have a buddy with a mobile mechanic business. Can he expect Google Maps to allow easy requests for mobile car repair to be built in? Why does Uber get special treatment?

I think it makes much more sense to show all the available public transit options as those are taxpayer funded and not private, for profit businesses.

All in all, I rooted for Uber's success when municipalities were trying to crush it. That doesn't mean I excuse some of the company's misbehavior. But ultimately, if I need a ride someplace and I can get it via a convenient app on my phone, complete with a system that lets me just charge it to a credit card, rate my driver afterwards, and sends me a detailed receipt of the trip? I'm going to take advantage of it when needed, and let sexual harassment issues back at the corporate HQ or disputes over pay rates between them and drivers sort themselves out.

Waymo

[Anonymous Coward]

Now that google has a taxi service why would they give business to Uber. I suspect we will see Waymo as the default taxi service. How about in Arizona, maybe it's there already.

Re:Now if we could remove Trump / Russia integrati

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, in all fairness, according to Trump supporters, patriotism can easily be achieved by doing any one of the following:
  * Waving a 'Mercan flag
  * Standing for the national anthem
  * Thanking a vet