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Google Maps Has Introduced So Many New Features and Design Changes in Recent Months That Getting Directions On It is Becoming an Increasingly Challenging Task (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the bloatware-in-apps dept.

Earlier this week, Google announced it is bringing business messaging to Maps, the latest in a myriad of features it has introduced to its mapping platform in recent months. A business that wants to participate will need to use Google's "My Business" verification system and its associated app to send and receive messages. While that could prove useful to a number of businesses and customers, it has raised a concern as well. From a report: But that leads me to my third feeling: what the heck is going on with Google Maps? It is becoming overburdened with so many features and design changes that it's becoming harder and harder to just get directions in it. There's Group Planning, there's a social-esque "follow" button for local businesses, you can share your ETA, there's a redesigned "Explore" section, and there's almost no way to get the damn thing to show you a cross street near your destination without three full minutes of desperate pinching and zooming and re-zooming. It's becoming bloated, is what I'm saying. It's Google's equivalent of Big Blue, as Facebook nicknames its flagship app that does a thousand things across countless strange nooks and crannies. It's as though Google wants to kill off Yelp once and for all, but can't let anybody notice how hard it's trying to do that so it just slow rolls those things into Google Maps instead.

29 of 160 comments (clear)

  1. Inevitable by orev · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It seems like the inevitable fate of any successful product. Wall St demands higher and higher profits, so there is no choice but to keep adding and pushing, even beyond what makes sense. Then the product inevitably becomes so bloated that people only tolerate it until a simpler alternative comes along. Then that becomes successful and the cycle continues...

    1. Re:Inevitable by Nidi62 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's also that as people move on or progress up the chain of command, you have new people taking over or joining the group that want to add new things or features. Because you don't get promoted by maintaining, you get promoted by creating or bringing in customers or revenue. Plus maintaining something is boring. So you inevitably get bloat as people just keep throwing on more and more.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    2. Re:Inevitable by Luckyo · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Is Google really beholden to Wall Street at this point in time though? My understanding is that core group of insiders still holds the stocks necessary for full control of the company regardless of happens to public stock.

    3. Re:Inevitable by alvinrod · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't think it's quite that simple. If it were, the same greedy Wall Street types would stand to make more money recognizing this pattern and stopping their cash cow from dying. Sure, a new product, company, or even industry will come along, but that requires finding a new winner which isn't always obvious. Also, some would probably just demand that no additional features be added to the product either (at least as long as it doesn't allow for greater monitization), as that's money that could be invested elsewhere or returned to shareholders.

      As much as the Wall Street fat cats are responsible for various maladies, software bloat and feature creep is the work another group, or perhaps even several others. I think that it's mostly that the people who make software, often fail to understand what actually makes it great.

    4. Re:Inevitable by Albanach · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It seems like the inevitable fate of any successful product. Wall St demands higher and higher profits, so there is no choice but to keep adding and pushing, even beyond what makes sense. Then the product inevitably becomes so bloated that people only tolerate it until a simpler alternative comes along. Then that becomes successful and the cycle continues...

      Before responding like this, why are we even accepting the premise without testing?

      I just tested. I opened Google Maps (not already running) on my phone. I searched for somewhere random (US Courthouse). I selected a court from the four options and clicked the icon for directions. I had directions on screen in about 20 seconds from my click to launch the app. I didn't need any unnecessary clicks.

      Maybe, since he mentions cross streets, the author is talking about when you search for a place but know you really want to navigate nearby, not to their door. That took me about 35 seconds starting Maps from scratch. You search for your destination, zoom in at the destination to see where you might really want to drive to. Delete the destination and select "Choose from map" and now you can navigate to wherever you place the pin.

      So that's not quite as straightforward, but still it's no where near several minutes. It could do the initial zoom for you, but that would be at the expense of showing you the planned route and alternate routes which, I think, are more useful more frequently.

      Of course none of this is as simple as using the Google Assistant and saying "Hey Google, directions to the United States District Court". which gets me directions in under fifteen seconds with no clicks and a read out of the preferred major road together with an estimated duration.

      Now it's fair to ask whether Maps is becoming too bloated,, but I don't see any evidence bloat is making it harder to get directions.

    5. Re:Inevitable by Luckyo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Yes, but they're not Wall Street, and as a result can plan for long term rather than quarterly profit.

  2. Answer: Brian McClendon. by 110010001000 · · Score: 5, Informative

    The answer is that Brian McClendon, who was vice president of Google Maps, was replaced by Jen Fitzpatrick. Period. People matter.

    1. Re:Answer: Brian McClendon. by gweihir · · Score: 4, Funny

      You specist ass! How dare you compare a nice pig to a repulsive human!

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
    2. Re: Answer: Brian McClendon. by alvinrod · · Score: 4, Funny

      90% of 0 is 0. Math checks out on your claim.

    3. Re:Answer: Brian McClendon. by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I don't know which gender Brian McClendon or Jen Fitzpatrick identifies with.

    4. Re:Answer: Brian McClendon. by desdinova+216 · · Score: 2

      I was thinking either that or you were a meat popsicle

  3. How's that again? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "It's Google's equivalent of Big Blue, as Facebook nicknames its flagship app that does a thousand things across countless strange nooks and crannies."

    Note to millennials: "Big Blue" has been the nickname for IBM for at least 50 years.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
    1. Re:How's that again? by Luckyo · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Most millenials know this. People really need to stop conflating them with generation Z.

    2. Re:How's that again? by ArchieBunker · · Score: 2

      Google has way more influence in our everyday lives than IBM ever did. IBM could only manipulate the PC and server market.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    3. Re:How's that again? by farble1670 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Wrong. Generation Z is characterized by tattered clothing, open sores, and groaning.

  4. What? by JohnnyBGod · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Uh... what is this guy on about? The interface for getting directions hasn't changed a bit since the last major redesign.

    1. Re:What? by ranton · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm also confused at how anyone can be confused when using Google for directions. I can understand a learning curve on the new features, but getting directions is very easy and has only gotten easier lately.

      My guess is the article's author simply had a deadline to produce a story, and this was the best he could think of.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    2. Re:What? by Kaenneth · · Score: 2

      But instead of a few seconds, it now takes a few MINUTES for Google Maps to start on my phone after asking the search box for directions. Frustrating minutes that I could be using to travel.

      Google Maps on my Android device literally takes longer to start than booting Windows and going to the website.

  5. Classical "smart people" screwup by gweihir · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Lots of intelligence, but really limited real-world understanding at Google. What they have done here is known as the "Second System Effect", nicely described by Brooks in 1975. It is a sign of amateurs at the controls.

    Not that I mind. Google has gotten far too evil, far too powerful and far too arrogant. Anything that speeds their demise is a good thing.

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  6. As a transit user, my directions have got worse by DigitAl56K · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The app no longer reflects whether transit is on time, early, or late (which is reported by our MTS), so now even if I know the route it's harder to make my connections.

  7. Re:Google wouldn't know UI if it bit them on the a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So we can end up with Waze? Something that worked great until Google started *tinkering* with it?

  8. Punked by Realtors by jtara · · Score: 4, Insightful

    They've been punked by Realtors and real estate developers, as well.

    Where Google Maps used to show the names (whether formally-adopted or not) of long-established neighborhoods in San Diego, it now shows the names of new condo complexes.

    These are not neighborhoods!

    - Spruce Canyon Townhomes
    - India Street Lofts
    - Southpark Townhomes
    - Mississippi Street Condos
    - The Village in University Heights
    - Florida Gardens
    - Fashion Walk Condos
    - Judson St Condos

    They are shown in the same typeface, size, and color as ACTUAL neighborhoods:

    - Linda Vista
    - Little Italy
    - Hillcrest
    - University Heights

    etc.

    Google.... you been punked!

    1. Re:Punked by Realtors by jtara · · Score: 2

      BTW, while some of these are large, sprawling developments, many are not - some are a single small building.

      It looks like some of society's nastiest vultures (sorry Realtors and real estate developers...) have found a loophole.

  9. Poster-child for 'bloated web app' by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 2
    Up until recently I'd been babying along an old AMD-64 single-core system, but it would choke out so bad on Google Maps that it was nigh-unto unusable; I'd have to sit there for at least a full minute before it would all load. For what should be a simple mapping webpage you shouldn't have to have a quad-core 3GHz system with graphics card in a PCIE x16 slot, FFS. Face it: it's bloated as fuck.

    Thanks, Javascript!

    1. Re:Poster-child for 'bloated web app' by bluegutang · · Score: 2

      It worked fine with Javascript until they moved from image-tile-based maps to vector maps (each of the streets is drawn on the map one by one in Javascript, which allows for more customization, but is slower). This change is several years old, though. I don't notice any changes of significance in recent weeks.

  10. Different Philosophies by DaveM753 · · Score: 2

    Unix Philosophy: "Do one thing and do it well."

    Google Philosophy: "Make 57 different apps to do 57 different things in mediocre fashion, then bring those features that consumers seem to like into one single, bloated app that focuses on "monetization opportunities". Oh, and "do no evil" (ha ha ha)."

    Apple Philosophy: "Do one thing and do it well, but charge exhorbitant fees and make sure the hardware ensures vendor lock-in."

    Microsoft Philosophy: "Don't do a damn thing. It's broke, don't fix it but do charge for it. Sell ads and personal information."

    Facebook Philosophy: "Fuck everyone and fuck you, too. --Sincerely, Mark Z."

  11. Reading Street Names by WalrusSlayer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    All the other commentary aside, could they one day fix my pet peeve: the fixed-size, microscopic font for the street names. Doesn't matter how goddamn close you zoom, it always reduces the street name back down to the 0.4 point font. Yeah, I'm a 50-something now who's eyes aren't what they used to be. But I'm pretty sure that even when my eyesight was better, I would still have trouble reading the tiny print. Is it such a crime against humanity to set a zoom threshold where the text size starts to grow with the other features of the map?

  12. I'm just glad ... by aix+tom · · Score: 2

    ... the search feature on Openstreetmap is finally becoming usable.

    Die DISPLAY of the maps has been dozen times better than Goggle maps for quite some time now, but sometimes you had to search for a place on Google Maps, to figure out where it was, and then switch top Openstreetmap to get some Idea of what is actually there....

  13. Re:Only MILLENNIALS use APPS! by farble1670 · · Score: 3

    Which is great, until you hit a spot in the middle of nowhere, and you don't have cell/data coverage; and you need a map to get out.

    Good thing Google Maps has an offline mode that allows you to select arbitrary areas to cache graphically on a map. OTOH, but it'd be better to have every cache 23GB of a map data, in case they need it.