Google Maps turns 20, adds AI features, new countries to beat Apple

Two decades ago, Google co-founder Larry Page he had an idea that would forever change the way we navigate the world.

“Larry drove down some of these roads with a video camera and handed it to someone and said, ‘Hey, what can you do with this?’ “said Maria Biggs, technical program manager at Google Street View, a prominent feature in Google Maps. .

In a car equipped with the latest Street View camera, Biggs took CNBC on a ride near Google’s headquarters in Silicon Valley. Introduced for the first time in 2022, it is the first camera model that can be added to any car, instead of being integrated into the vehicle.

“We’re going to Hawaii with these next-generation camera systems because we don’t have to ship the whole car,” Biggs said. “We can just put the camera system in a box and ship it here, and then rent the car when we’re there.”

Biggs said the new technology will allow Google to update data in some locations for the first time in 10 years.

“We should be able to easily move these cameras around and have more freshness in our maps,” he said.

With more than 2 billion monthly usersGoogle Maps is the world top navigation app. As Maps approaches its 20th anniversary in February, Google is working hard to maintain that lead, with the help of new cameras, as well as generative artificial intelligence.

Faster cameras allow Google to make updates to dozens of countries. It has also mapped at least three new ones – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Namibia and Liechtenstein. Street View cameras are a significant part of how Google collects data for Maps, but it also relies on satellite and aerial imagery, and information from more than 1,000 third-party sources, such as local governments and users . That massive data collection system allows Google to offer maps in more than 250 countries and territories.

Gemini also enabled voice-activated reports in Waze, which Google bought in 2013 for $1.3 billion. That data is fed into Google Maps to help warn drivers on both apps about hazards in real time.

“We hope our products help people navigate more confidently and safely,” said Chris Phillips, vice president and general manager of Google Geo, the division that manages Maps. He said Waze also helps improve road safety by “letting people know that a particular road has had problems in the past, and we’ve seen a noticeable change in people’s behaviors when driving on those roads “.

Waze is also known for offering alternative routes.

“We’re going to give you some more challenging maneuvers along the way,” Phillips said, when it comes to “beating traffic and getting around.”

But there are alternative routes too aggravated traffic in some neighborhoods, where small roads can be ill to handle many cars.

Phillips said Google only uses public roads and works with local authorities to adhere to road-specific rules.

“The use of these navigation apps, whether embedded or on smartphone devices, is almost universal,” said James Hodgson, who covers automotive for ABI Research.

Hodgson said one problem currently is that the technology is targeted on a user-by-user basis. To improve efficiency, he said, “we’re getting to a point where there needs to be a broader view, almost at the fleet level.”

A big “perception barrier” that Google has faced, Hodgson said, is around data privacy.

Identifying information like faces and license plates are blurred in Google Maps, and users can request the blurring of an area in Street View to prevent a risk such as thieves analyzing their property.

Users can also turn off location history or delete locations they’ve been to. Some places like abortion clinics or domestic violence shelters they are self-deleted. In December, Google began keeping location history on devices instead of in the cloud, making it harder for authority to access the history of the place.

How much Google spends, and makes, on Maps is shrouded in secrecy. The parent company Alphabet did not share Maps in its earnings reports, adding it with other services like Search and YouTube. One of the only estimates comes from a 2019 Morgan Stanley Maps forecast report will go from $2.95 billion in revenue in 2019 to $11 billion in 2023.

Revenue is largely built on a model that Google knows well: advertising.

“We’re always focused on giving people the result, when they’re looking for a restaurant or a venue, that most closely matches what they’re looking for,” Phillips said. “And merchants have the opportunity to actually pay for advertising so that their place appears on that list.”

Google also makes money by selling a software interface with detailed data solar companies looking for new customers. It has highly accurate roof images, measurements, elevation and shading for approximately 480 million buildings in 40 countries.

Google sells access to its Platform Maps to companies including Wayfair and dominoes. Developers have used it to build more than 10 million sites and apps for things like food delivery, ridesharing and real estate. For example, in 2019, Uber he said paid Google $58 million for its mapping technology in the previous three years.

Google Android Automotive operating systemwith Maps, it also makes money. It powers the infotainment systems in many cars from Polestar, Volvo, Honda, GM and Ford.

As robotaxis become mainstream, accurate mapping is crucial, and a huge opportunity for Google.

Waymo belongs to the alphabet dominated the US robotaxi market in 2024, and passengers in Phoenix can hail one of the fully autonomous cars directly from the Google Maps app. Robotaxis also presents the potential for a virtuous cycle.

“I think an ambition for Waymo, and something we see from almost all other autonomous vehicle platform providers, is to try to close that loop and use the same vehicles that benefit from the map to also contribute to the creation of that map.” Hodgson said. “This is the future of where mapping is going for autonomous driving.”

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