With gmaps constantly suggesting off-ramp->on-ramp detours at over/underpasses to help you shorten your eta by 1 minute increase merging traffic, I doubt they would have any ethical hesitancy behind it.
Honestly, I imagine they may already have a deal (possibly under the table) with clearchannel and the likes.
I've not seen gmaps taking these kinds of routes. I'm UK based if it makes any difference at all, but I'm always grateful for my route seeming to prefer a smooth choice to the absolute fastest.
Personally I been using organic maps because Osmand isn't giving me better directions and it needs more permissions and it doesn't have working voice directions
Did Osmand change that bullshit where if you changed your device you can fuck right off with your previously bought maps and pay for them again because they didn't tie them to store account
OSM doesn’t really track live and exact public transport schedules (you can define static routes and say which interval the tram/whatever comes but that’s about it). Organic Maps is working on implementing live data: https://github.com/organicmaps/organicmaps/issues/5331
Interesting to observe how our intuition is failing us while dealing with digital products.
When someone gives you something for free on the street, naturally you get suspicious and start asking yourself "where is the catch?" But when there's a free app - no second thought. Everyone is using it so it must be ok. Well, Google and Facebook are nothing but glorified advertising agencies. The whole reason of their existence is to make money on ads.
Edited: typos.
They used to have a reputation for employing smart people... Dumbass middle managers took over a while back and started making the stupidest decisions.
I've been getting a lot of 'suggested' locations and sponsored pop ups in Google Maps the few weeks. I get that it's a 'free' product, but ugh. My GPS while I'm driving down the highway is one of those things that really, really needs to be clutter-free.
It is by no means free tho. They are making lots of money from selling your location data and furthering their market dominance by forcing it on everyone by default
They get that same location data with or without maps. As long as you are using stock android, Google knows exactly where you've been even if you enable airplane mode. They get your position with WiFi networks and other phones around you and store that data with timestamps. Maps doesn't give them any extra data, it simply binds you into their ecosystem.
And unfortunately, for maps, it's basically just Apple and Google. I'm trying to get used to OSM, but it just isn't easy to do the things I want to do: find directions to a store.
osm sucks at addresses. The only way I can use it for navigation is doing google to coordinate conversion and just saving all the places. I haven't seen this new google change but we'll see if its enough to make me drop the last google service I use.
Edit/update from 9to5google so this post does not spread what is apparently inaccurate information:
I know we are desperate for content here on Lemmy, and I can google hate circle jerk with the best of them, but maybe just delete the post if it is a complete clickbait lie… you could also reword the post as a fact check, ‘no, google isn’t injecting adds into maps.’
Excellent idea. I give gas stations that play loud video ads 1 star and don’t go back. I give places that ask for a tip for a to-go order 1 star as well
I get the feeling, but if the business has no say in getting recommended, aren't you just punishing businesses that may not even know this program exists? That would suck for very small businesses.
Edit: my brain was thinking recommendations not paid ads so please disregard.
I have been using Kagi as an alternative search engine for over a month now and can't see me going back to Google anytime soon. Googles results are just full of adverts and garbage.
Google expected infinite growth in a finite system. Now that the growth is slowing they are trying to increase yield from their current pool of resources instead.
Why dont these companies accept theybarent worth as much any more and just provide less services until they balance off.
The stuff they cant afford to provide could be taken on by someone else. Being a one company does all type master of none sort of thing is clearly bad for society and the economy.
I dont really know what im talking about but i just dont get why they see losses and an end to growth but take the position of "we need to find a way to keep this going" instead of "we need to sell off things until our company is making money again, even if its less money"
Gmaps has been actual hot trash for way the hell too long now.
GraphHopper, OSRM, and Valhalla all blow Google's shitty routing algorithm out of the water.
OSMAnd really the only mobile app competitor worthy of putting gmaps out of its misery. The only problem is it still uses a renderer from the stone age and has lackluster address data despite the fact that said data is available for free online from several open source mapping projects (there's some nice github scripts that can import ir for you).
Garmin forgot to invest in mobile technology. Sygic went to crap. Waze is just Gmaps+. Maps.me died even harder than Sygic.
It's 2024 and yet some of the best navigation tech I've seen is from 15+ year old devices.
I've been using Gmaps since forever and can say I've never had any problem with it. I mean, it took me to the business office instead of the main entrance to a theme park once, but I can hardly fault it for that. Calling it actual hot trash just seems so out of nowhere to me. It's a fine product that I've had great experience with.
I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that. Today you are going to Vape Palace in Swindon, sponsored by CryptoPonzi++: you put the coins, we loot the coins!
If you’re using a device or network-wide ad-blocker like I do, then you won’t see them. When I try to use Waze on somebody else’s phone, the ads are unbearable.
Last I knew, yeah. Google bought them years ago. Moreover, I don't remember that "feature" being in Waze before Google acquired them. Those ads were the biggest reason I dropped Waze a while back.
Openstreetmap is really good...except for the detailed information about shops which is why I still use Google Maps if I need to know opening hours and other information.
OSM is just not widespread enough to be on the radar of shop owners to put their information on it themselves so volunteers have to do it. :/
I have been testing OsmAnd for daily use today, and I'm gonna be closing my maps presence in the coming months :-) . I was really happy how it worked and felt, very close to what I want. After some extra tweaking, it's bound to be fantastic!
Took me to a parking lot behind a grocery store next to the building, and then acted like I could drive through an old wooden fence to get to the condos.
5/10 I only had to drive to the other end of the block to find the only entrance to the property.
At one point Google Maps moved my whole apartment building/address three streets from where it should be. It was wrong for months even though I reported it when I had to keep telling delivery people that got misdirected because they used it to navigate. Anecdotal evidence etc.
They’re moving away from that, only using Yelp for backfill when they have no data. There is instead a “thumbs up/down” set of buttons (because the 5-star system is uselessly Boolean anyway). Contribute to the ecosystem by rating places using this, and eventually it will reach parity with Google.
The only thing Apple Maps lacks now is a Waze-like ability to report hazards, speed-traps, road closures etc. apparently that’s been a thing for a few years now, thanks!
I’ll have to check it out where I am, but I have a feeling that there might not be a big enough active user base to sufficiently crowd source the datapoints.. I guess, be the change you want to see in the world!
"Here are your directions, including a McDonalds break! You deserve a break today, with a delicious tiny BIG MAC being sold for 400% of what it was 5 years ago, at 50% the size."
"........when did the movie idiocracy go from being a mockumentary to a documentary?"
I love organic maps and openstreetmaps. The biggest thing missing is satellite view. I like to wander around and explore an area on maps before visiting. OSM has more interesting/relevant details and better visual color coding than the vector street map on google. Google has a satellite map, which is non-negotiable for me especially if I need to quickly orient myself while driving in a new place. I use three layers loaded into qgis for planning trips: OSM, google maps satellite, and a topographic map from USGS. I sometimes use organic maps on my phone if I don’t have access to a computer with qgis. I rely on Google while on location because organic maps lacks a satellite feed.
This won't always work, but I get it to stop changing the fucking route by putting it in airplane mode while I'm driving. It's locked in to the route I picked, GPS still works, no distractions.
Apple Maps sure had a rough start back in the day, but I will always use that over Google/Waze. It’s just so much better now and no worries about this type of junk.
Just a reminder about the open-source OpenStreetMap. You can improve it online by adding features like a Wikipedia for maps. You can even use the gamified app StreetComplete to add stuff and get points for walking around and mapping.
I remember a long time ago when I was considering using Waze, had heard really good things. Then I was driving with a friend who used it and it served an ad saying “click here to take a pit stop at McDonald!”
It sucks because Waze is really great, and Googlenshittification had to get in on it and now it’s a shell of its former self. I still use it because many of the core features that made it great are still there, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time at this point.
I was an early adopter for Waze and helped them build and fix their maps. I loved Waze. Several months after Google bought Waze, I repeatedly noticed battery draining faster and location was more frequently being used by Waze. I wrote to them about it. After some time passed and no response or change, I ditched them.
I saw these on my wife's browser and was completely appalled. I am not receiving them for some reason, but I'm also running privacy badger and ublockO.
Interesting, you don't think they make enough off your data already? I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I will never pay google a single cent for anything they have to offer, ever.
There is no such thing as making "enough" money under the chicago-school dominated business thought. A business should always make as much money as it can for its investors, always. A friend who read Friedman's works says that the Friedman doctrine makes room to say that a wise business will optimize investor outcomes by investing in its product, workforce, and other smart long-term choices, but in practice, nobody ever reads that deep into the Friedman doctrine. It's just "philosophical" license to make (and demand, on the part of investors) the shallowest slash-and-burn business decisions possible to make line go up NOW. I will accept arguments about how it's capitalism, but I'd like to point out that we experienced a very distinct culture shift in business leadership starting around the time that Chicago school thought became all the rage.
In Virginia, at least, it's not a meaningful distinction.
There used to be an exception for GPS, but the state changed the law a few years ago so that any non-hands-free use of a phone in a non-parked is a ticketable offense. Swiping away an ad at a red light would technically be illegal.
Waze has popped up ads on me plenty of times while I'm driving. Yes it knows I'm driving, the map is still scrolling along my route. At one point it was bad enough that the ads were remaining after every stop light, and finally clearing about half way to the next light. I haven't seen it happen in awhile though, maybe they finally got it fixed.
I've had something like this happening to me a long time ago. While going from a city in Uruguay to a city in Argentina, Google Maps "suggested" a route that was 2 hours longer but took me through the ferry (a paid business). Even though I chose "keep my route" several times, from time to time, the suggestion popped up with a "time limit" to confirm. If I failed to notice it, the suggested route would be selected.
Nitpicking, but I'm not sure that it was ads that killed dash sat navs. At least in my experience, they never really developed to that point where car companies would put ads in.
It was more that they were expensive options to install, a pain to keep updated, and generally weren't all that good.
Even before the live traffic and automatic detour features, phones didn't cost money to keep the onboard maps up to date, and you already had one, so you didn't need to either buy an add-on, or get a special unit for it.
With android CarPlay and Apple Auto, you could just put your phone map on the screen, which was basically the same thing, but a cheaper equivalent, since the hardware was on your phone instead.
I'm absolutely certain that it wasn't ads that put a firm like TomTom on a downward slope. This was actually the first time that I've heard someone proclaim that ads are the reason.
If your business is to sell maps + navigation devices for money and then the times change and now nearly everyone already owns a smartphone with built in gps + some car manufacturers provide sat nav as a default + another company is giving access to a map away for free, well then your business is in trouble.
I've never even heard of ads in TomTom or Garmin, since I stopped using a dedicated sat nav once I had a smartphone, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was one of the things they tried to stay afloat after smartphones became ubiquitous.
So I was around during this time and yes ads did play a part in this, but not like you think. The ads where how these companies planned to pay for the sat nav data (came on a DVD). They had restaurant and gas station suggestion with the same detour "feature".
Fun part is that it fell apart quick since almost no one updated there sat nav and you can still get a 2008 acura with recommendations for places long long gone. Its also fun to see people talking about Zagat rated places on forums from the time.
As far I knew it was already a thing, kind of. They know what you search for and route you near those things… and make sure the businesses show up on the map.
Openstreetmaps has been treating me pretty well. They don't have all the business information like gmaps does, but that's what TripAdvisor and Yelp are for.
I've been getting little bubbles for store/restaurant logos popping up on the map for about a month as I drive, and I assumed that's what it was. So every time I see one, I make a point to not eat/go there for awhile just out of spite.
Popups while driving? With buttons that have to be pressed for it to go away? What could possible go wrong diverting the attention of a driver this way?!
I suspect they were already doing this just to populate data. There are times I got sent on god-forsaken routes and persistently had the route I had selected overwritten with new ones. At least this tells you what it is and lets you choose.
I had downloaded OsmAnd but forgot about it. After reading this post, I fired it up. It took a minute to download a map for my area. It returned a map of Kansas. I'm in Texas 🤔 I guess I gotta fix that somehow.
Thanks, guys, I got it to update with the correct map. This thing has a ton of options! Those of you who want granular control over apps, this is right up your alley.
This is the last product I still make sacrifice to keep it working on my degoogled devices, because lets be honest, this is the best ("free") GPS there is out there. I've tried so many others but nothing comes close. I dunno what I'll do if (when) they launch this kind of crap here...
Well, this might be something that drives me to Waze (also owned by Google and which may also end up with these). But it's yet another thing that would potentially drive me back to Apple.
Edit: never mind on Waze, I forgot they already do something like this. Although for whatever reason it doesn't seem quite as invasive.
For some reason, this got me imagining an ad causing an unnecessary detour the wrong way on a one way road and cause a head-on collision. which is going to get them hit with a class action lawsuit that could send their line graph all the way down into the ground.