Jesus, that is a gross way to inject advertising into turn-by-turn navigation.
Edit/update from 9to5google so this post does not spread what is apparently inaccurate information: https://9to5google.com/2024/07/08/google-maps-pop-up-quick-detour-ad/
Is it too much to ask for an app that just does one single thing. Everything doesn’t need to be an advertising platform.
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 need the money for the next quarter earnings report.
So do I :((
But line no go up.
The only line I care about is the line that takes me from A to B
Google is definitely turning into IBM where they just exist because of inertia and not because of anything they actually produce.
Those AI electricity bills don’t pay for themselves.
Yeah… we pay…
Is it too much to ask
Are you willing to deliver them consequences if they don’t do it the way you want?
I stopped using Google maps so I guess so
What do you use?
Apple Maps. It sucks lol
Looked pretty good the last couple of times I looked at it. What sucks about it?
Screw off.
Not to defend Google, but it seems unclear right now if this is something that will happen while driving, or similar to something Waze already does.
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.
I do not live in Virginia. Is this law actively enforced? Lots of things are “technically illegal”.
Anecdotal, but a friend of mine was ticketed for it within the first week it went into effect. She (understandably) assumed that being stopped at a stop light was acceptable. That said, I’m not aware of any enforcement since then and wouldn’t be surprised if they deliberately only enforced it right after it took effect.
Still wouldn’t risk it, though.
I’m honestly surprised it’s taken them this long. They bought Waze in 2013. I feel like Waze has been doing this kind of ad for at least that long.
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.
The moment this starts happening to me, I’m going to start giving every single sponsored stop I see a 1 star review.
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.
Google isn’t going to promote small businesses that have no say. Google isn’t putting these ads up for fun. They do it because businesses pay them to.
It’s an ad, not a recommendation. As far as I know, Google doesn’t just serve ads for businesses that don’t pay for them.
Ah, yeah; hat would make sense
Tbh that kind of behavior will almost certainly be stopped automatically
It’ll be fun while it lasts.
i hate the cyberpunk technodystopia we built.
we didnt even get the cool cyborg augmentations or the pew pew lasers. just fucking ads.
Excellent idea. I give gas stations that play lots video ads one star and don’t go back. I give placed that ask for a tip when I do a to go order 1 star as well
Does it have traffic data?
Unfortunately not, and the time estimates are quite inaccurate. Sigh, it’s the price for not having to deal with Googles shit
Sounds like you just have different shit to deal with
No.
The only OpenStreetMap based navigation app with live traffic data is Magic Earth. It’s not foss, but gratis.
They get the traffic data from some third party, not by following their users like gmaps. That is the reason live traffic is only available in just some countries: https://www.magicearth.com/feature-availablity/#hd_traffic
But at that point what are you even gaining? If you’re looking for privacy you’re just trading Google tracking you for “third party service provider” tracking you
No. It means they get the data from somewhere else, maybe from some carsharing app, or from some government db from car counting thingies mounted on traffic lights, etc. There are other sources to get traffic data ftom, but usually following users is more convenient and reliable
They wont tell us where they get it from, they only say it’s not generated via this app. They are followimg someone, but not me.
Thanks for this, I’m going to try this out on my way home. My main use for Gmaps is to determine the quickest way to and from work during peak hour, so keen to see how Magic Earth’s traffic data compares.
the quickest way to and from work during peak hour
Everyone is using Google for that, so on average, traffic on all alternative routes will level out quickly and it doesn’t matter which one you choose.
This assumes everyone has the same destination, which is rarely the case
They get the traffic data from some third party, not by following their users like gmaps.
https://www.magicearth.com/faq-en/
Do you share data with third parties?
We send position data to our traffic provider to generate real-time traffic information. The data is anonymized on the phone, using a changing key (so it’s not linked to you), and it is deleted after 5 minutes.
They have a good privacy policy though. I haven’t really had many issues with their app.
Is there any way I can help contribute public transport information to OSM? It’s the one thing that Google maps does that I can’t replace.
If public transport mapping is your goal, it might make sense to try out the MapComplete Train Station https://mapcomplete.org/stations and Bus Routes https://mapcomplete.org/transit themes which give an easier, more focused, mapping interface. Quest apps like Street Complete can also make getting into OSM a bit easier, though OSM Beginners Guise is great too. https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Beginners'_guide
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
Yes! https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Public_transport though it is a bit complex to fully add routes, adding stops is super easy!
Id recommend osmand over organic maps
I don’t like how OsmAnd limits the number of maps you can download for free, Organic Maps’s donation model is much better in my opinion.
Organic Maps is fine. It’s what I use, although I am not located in a great area for OSM. Are there any specific benefits to OSMand?
Contributing by updating roads and POIs is fairly straightforward and can be pretty fun ^^ https://openstreetmaps.org/edit
Of course! I do that all the time, and I agree it’s fun. OrganicMaps uses the same data, I just find it a little simpler to use and clearer to read.
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
Osmand would be the best one if it wasn’t so slow. Compared to organic maps the rendering lag is not only noticeable but very annoying
I wish I could get satellite view but I totally get why that’s not a thing
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.
Apple Maps fuckin sucked ass at first, now it hasn’t failed me in years.
You’re completely right. I won’t use any other map thing now.
RIP MapQuest
Remove the detour by drinking a verification can
Welp time to stop using google maps I guess
What would you move to?
I smell reVanced Gmaps coming soon…
Waze works well also.
Google appears to have borrowed this ad format from Waze, which has delivered similar ads for quite some time.
OsmAnd is getting there tho.
Waze has plenty of ads in it though
Really? I’ve never actually noticed one.
Maybe because of the ad blocking stuff I use on my phone.
I will say that I’ve noticed less ads lately than I have in the past, so it may have been toned down after some backlash. I will start using openstreetmap only in the near future though, I can’t stand this type of thing
Also owned by Google, so this change might make it over
The article mentioned this ad format showed up in Waze first.
I’m willing to pay for an ad-free version. Google maps are very useful. I don’t need it to be free. But ads are poison.
I would too, but they need to also not collect my data. Like, at all. I’d pay $2-3/month for that.
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.
I understand it’s business. I’m just not going to participate in them making anymore money off ME.
I’d much rather pay with money than data.
You’ll pay with money and they’ll still harvest your data.
Exactly. I would be happy to pay for a privacy-focused version of these products, but those doesn’t exist. You can pay facebook to not show you ads, but they never promise to stop harvesting your data, so you would be actually just paying them twice, no thanks, as much as I hate ads.
The EU needs to step up and start regulating data more. Every person should be the legal owner of their data. Meaning not just personal data, but also data synthesized from their behaviour (it is illegal to follow me in a cat during the day and take photos of my activities without my permission, the same should be the case in the digital world). And every person should have a right to sell the rights to collect and use this data, but it shouldn’t be mandatory for the usage of any app. So you could decide to keep your data private, and pay a monthly fee to use apps like navigation, or social media, or you could decide to give access to your data, and use these apps for free.
Me too. Problem is, that’s not an option. They’re taking your data regardless, so if you pay them, you’re paying them to take your data.
Magic Earth works really great for me :)
I have an iPhone and while I don’t like Apple Maps, I will absolutely switch to it in a heartbeat if this is added.
I’ve preferred Apple Maps for a few years now, Googles used to be top of the game but it’s fallen off while Apple’s have IME improved
Same here. I have been happy with Apple Maps.
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.
It happened to me yesterday in SoCal and I immediately switched to Apple Maps
It’s gotten so much better. Once they brought offline maps I made the full switch.
Siri, why are we back at the adult book store?
Bob, based on you browsing history, this is the place you are most likely to visit on a daily basis at 7 am before work…
“Google, tell me how to get to this place”
“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?”
2016
Legit had an Idiocracy-watching party in 2016 hahaha
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.
