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

Twenty years ago, Google co-founder Larry Page had an idea that might ceaselessly change the best way we navigate the world.

“Larry drove down a few of these streets with a video camera and handed it to someone and said, ‘Hey, what are you able to do with this?'” said Maria Biggs, technical program manager at Google Street View, a outstanding feature in Google Maps.

In a automobile equipped with the newest Street View camera, Biggs took CNBC on a ride near Google’s Silicon Valley headquarters. First introduced in 2022, it’s the primary camera model that will be added onto any automobile, quite than being built into the vehicle.

“We’ll Hawaii with these next generation camera systems because we do not have to ship the entire automobile,” Biggs said. “We will just put the camera system in a box and ship it there after which rent the automobile once we’re there.”

Biggs said the brand new technology will allow Google to update data on some places for the primary time in 10 years.

“We’ll have the option to simply move these cameras around and have more freshness in our maps,” she said.

With greater than 2 billion monthly users, Google Maps is the world’s top navigation app. As Maps approaches its twentieth anniversary in February, Google is working hard to maintain that lead, with the assistance of the brand new cameras, in addition to generative artificial intelligence.

The more nimble cameras are allowing Google to make updates to dozens of nations. It is also mapping not less than three latest ones — Bosnia and Herzegovina, Namibia, and Liechtenstein. Street View cameras are a big a part of how Google gathers data for Maps, but it surely also relies on satellite and aerial images, and data from greater than 1,000 third-party sources, comparable to local governments and users. That mass data collection system allows Google to supply maps in greater than 250 countries and territories. 

In October, Google enabled Maps with Gemini, its generative AI chatbot. Gemini might help find places that meet an in depth set of specifications, like a dog-friendly sports bar with TVs and outdoor dining. It might probably summarize 1000’s of reviews, give drivers real-time reports of disruptions like unplowed roads or flooded areas, and overlay weather conditions on an immersive view along the best way.

On public transit,  there are actually delay reports, alternate routes, and details like subway entrance locations. On the destination, Maps could make parking suggestions after which help with walking directions from there. 

Gemini can be enabling voice-activated reports in Waze, which Google bought in 2013 for $1.3 billion. That data gets fed into Google Maps to assist alert drivers on each apps about hazards in real time.

But alternate routes have also worsened traffic in some neighborhoods, where small roads will be unwell equipped to handle many cars.

Phillips said Google only uses public roads and works with the local authorities to stick to rules for specific streets.

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

Hodgson said that one problem currently is that the technology is targeted on a user-by-user basis. To enhance efficiency, he said, “we’re approaching a degree where there must be a broader, almost fleet-level view.”

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

Identifying information like faces and license plates are blurred on Google Maps, and users can request blurring an area on Street View to forestall a risk like thieves analyzing their property. 

Users may also turn off location history or delete places they have been. Certain places like abortion clinics or domestic violence shelters are auto-deleted. In December, Google began keeping location history on devices as a substitute of within the cloud, making it tougher for authorities to access location history.

How much Google spends, and makes, on Maps is shrouded in secrecy. Parent company Alphabet doesn’t break out Maps in its earnings reports, clumping it in with other services like Search and YouTube. Considered one of the one estimates comes from a 2019 Morgan Stanley report forecasting Maps would go from $2.95 billion in revenue in 2019 to $11 billion in 2023.

The revenue is basically built on a model that Google knows well: promoting.

“We’re all the time focused on giving people the result, after they’re looking for a restaurant or a spot, that almost all accurately matches what they’re looking for, ” Phillips said. “And merchants have the chance to truly pay for promoting to ensure that their place to point out up in that list.”

Google also makes money by selling a software interface with detailed data to solar corporations on the lookout for latest customers. It has highly accurate rooftop images, measurements, elevation and shading for some 480 million buildings across 40 countries.

Google sells access to its Maps Platform to corporations including Wayfair and Dominos. Developers have used it to construct greater than 10 million sites and apps for things like food delivery, ridesharing and real estate. For instance, in 2019, Uber said it paid Google $58 million for its mapping technology over the previous three years.

Google’s Android Automotive operating system, with Maps, also makes money. It powers the infotainment systems in lots of cars from Polestar, Volvo, Honda, GM and Ford.

As robotaxis go mainstream, accurate mapping is crucial, and an enormous opportunity for Google.

Alphabet-owned Waymo dominated the U.S. robotaxi market in 2024, and passengers in Phoenix can hail one in every of the fully autonomous cars directly from the Google Maps app. Robotaxis also present the potential for a virtuous cycle.

“I feel an ambition for Waymo, and something that we see from almost every other autonomous vehicle platform provider, is to attempt to close that loop and to make use of the identical vehicles that profit from the map to also contribute to the creation of that map,” Hodgson said. “That’s the long run of where mapping goes for autonomous driving.”

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