Google's New Map Features Gives Me Hope
When you’re considered a leader in ecommerce services and search engines and Web services, it’s easy to force-feed users. For some time Google has known this, and I’ve worked with many struggling online store owners trying to get around issues with Google Checkout and find affordable means of using AdWords. But perhaps the company’s latest Map offering gives us hope…
New Google Map features have brought me back to using it as a viable tool for trip planning. With it’s new Drag ‘n drop feature, Google Maps leaves Mapquest lingering quite a ways behind. And for a feature that’s totally free to its users, I applaud the Seattle-based corporation for once again catering to our needs.
If you haven’t yet checked out the new features, don’t hesitate - visit video tour and examples - then get click happy plotting a ride through your city.
What’s this have to do with learning from mistakes? Simple. When Google’s search engine emerged, it took the Web by storm. Finally we were able to find what we needed, sans all the “in your face” advertising and pop-ups. Then came disappointment as accurate results on somewhat common terminology became cumbersome to locate. Online moguls like eBay flooded listings and we were back to square one. (Yes, I know they have to make money… that’s beside the point I’m making). Google AdWords was very promising to the smaller guys when it launched, but today I have too many clients who simply can’t afford to keep up with competitors.
Hopefully the latest Map offerings give some indication to the company’s desire to return to what we need most - key services and search results, all the while saving us time and allowing small businesses to actually make a living. That’s my hope, at least.
Google Maps has continued to supersede competing services, and that’s where mistakes lie. Mapquest has become less user-friendly and less accurate over the years - take that from a directionally challenged, u-turn addict. I always found standalone software (Rand McNally) to be better, but with ever changing roadways and expansions, it’s difficult to keep it all up to date. Simply put, whatever direction I’m facing? That’s NORTH - and you can’t tell me differently. Thus, I need reliable mapping that’s quick to draw and print (since I’m also out the door at the very last minute, and direction lookup is the last thing I do).
You may wonder why Google would offer such a robust service at no cost to us. The fact is, the company does make money, even while offering freebie services that keep their servers busy. I can’t tell you how the numbers work, but I can say that offering things that make current and potential customers feel all warm and fuzzy inside, like you actually mean something to them, makes a difference. Until this latest update, I’d been meandering away from most of Google’s services (except for the calendar, and only because there’s syncing available between that and my Treo), and test driving the new features made me revisit other services I’d given up on some time ago (to find even more useful tools to whet my appetite).
Now, if they could just integrate this Drag ‘n drop in with my Garmin Mobile GPS. I’d need to keep refueling the charge on my Treo, but maybe I’d save some time and finally arrive somewhere early.
