Though online mapping is a bit mature, we still see innovation and updates from incumbents like Google. In fact, by Google’s own admission, it now has new competition for local business and content discovery from the likes of TikTok. So it now must amp up its differentiation around core products like Maps.
To that end, Google’s latest updates came today, including more 3D aerial views, detailed cycling routes, and improved location sharing and push notifications. Overall, it’s all about maintaining top-of-mind status for finding things to do, buy, see and eat locally… and adding a dash of social relevance.
Bird’s-eye View
Taking the new features one at a time, some are about bells and whistles while others are more functional and foundational. For the former, 3D aerial views were announced at Google I/O, including 3D flyover imagery of landmarks and high-traffic areas. It now covers 100 global locations in total.
As background, the 3D mapping UX includes highly-stylized landscapes, rendered from a combination of Street View imagery, satellite, and aerial images. The result is a detailed bird’s-eye view in which users can pan and zoom for an immersive experience. One use case is scouting vacation destinations.
Beyond top destinations in cites like cities like Barcelona, London, and San Francisco, the eventual goal is for more pervasive coverage. In fact, Google was forthright during the I/O unveiling that it wants this feature to eventually extend to neighborhoods and storefronts, the same way Street View does today.
Again, the play here is to fend off competition from challengers such as Snap Map, Instagram, and TikTok. Beyond SVP Prabhaker Ragvahan’s admission that TikTok presents new competition (as referenced above), Instagram just last week made moves to beef up its mapping features.
Social Signals
Moving on to the second update, it will now feature more detailed cycling routes. This builds on the turn-by-turn cycling navigation it’s had for years with additional metadata like elevation. It also includes contextually-relevant data like bike-sharing locations and car-traffic conditions on a given route.
Finally, the third big update is all about location sharing. Specifically, Google is adding to its existing location-sharing features with more detail and social notifications. For example, it now notifies designated friends when you leave your house or starting point, and when you arrive at a destination.
Though Google has offered location sharing for years (followed by Apple), the idea here is to infuse more social relevance. And this is mostly driven by competition from Snap Map. As we examined recently, Google has an algorithmic edge in mapping, but lacks Snap’s social signals that can add map relevance.
We’ll continue to see features ratchet up and accelerate as more competitors join the mapping landscape – especially Snap, Instagram and TikTok. Meanwhile, all the above features will be available on Google Maps on iOS and Android in a phased-in approach over the next few weeks.
