Google to charge third-party subscribers for their service, Google Maps – Part 1

Google Maps is one of the most used applications in the world at the moment. Among the most frequently utilized Application Programming Interfaces (API), Google Maps  is the most visited followed by Twitter, You Tube and Flickr. The main reason behind this
frequent use, even more the most famous websites like the Twitter and Facebook is the professional usage of the application.

Many small-scale companies, related to geo-business, use Google Map as an integrated part of the system. Moreover, Apple and Windows Phone operating systems use Google Maps as a preinstalled application on their respective phones. Moreover, many GPS-based
companies in addition to automobile manufacturers use this app as a part of their navigation systems.

This is why Google, Inc. announced in October that they will be charging certain companies for the frequent usage of the application. These companies avail Google Maps more than any other third party business. However, the tariff is set so expensive that
some of the start-up and small/medium scale companies are planning to back off from subscribing to Google Maps and are looking for cheaper alternatives.

Apple announced a probable switch from Google Maps in 2012 for another third party mapping service that is cheaper for their iOS devices. They have already acquired C3 Technologies that is considered the best alternative to Google Maps.

Companies like America Online (AOL), Yahoo and Microsoft are already ofthis league. These companies support the open-sources and crowd-sourced mapping services called the OpenStreetMap. This is a Wikipedia-sort API that is frequently updated by editors,
sometimes even more frequently than Google Map.

Small scale companies like Nestoria and Fubra are also planning to shift to OpenStreetMap next year when Google starts charging for its maps. These companies are already making just-enough revenues that paying for a frequently used service like Google Maps
will cost them a fortune.

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Posted by Usman Khalid on Dec 28 2011. Filed under Sci-Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry