20 years of Google Maps: Convenience beats conscience

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I can read maps. Those old paper ones. And I don't turn them around on my lap when I have to give directions as a passenger. That hasn't happened for a long time, though. But I still remember my youth well. Now sat navs and often Google Maps take over. However, the map service has become so much more than just a map service in its 20 years.

There is Apple Maps, there is OpenStreetMap, there is more. I briefly tested the competition, but no, I stuck with Google Maps – like most people in this country. It's simply the leader. And no matter how hard I often find it to use the services of the really big tech companies and then praise them, it is what it is: I bloody love using Google Maps.

I used to walk through the busiest areas on a city trip or on vacation and go out to eat where it was crowded and looked good. That also worked really well. I don't know if my current approach is really any better, but it increases my anticipation enormously. And while I find booking a trip and choosing a destination horrendous, I love hanging out on Google Maps, and now it's even worse, on Instagram and picking out what I want to do.

Google knows what I want to eat

There are restaurants and food spots that I already have on my radar in various cities. It's a coincidence that there's this one viral pastry chef I've been following for a long time and that I'm now jetting off to Paris. Google Maps open, where does Cedric Grolet have his store? Zack, starting point. And from there I click my way through the surrounding area. Google has long since introduced Street View and later even immersive views. I don't use either of these. So I'm left with a little surprise.

Once I've eaten this sweet treat, I'm sure I'll want to have dinner later. Preferably near the hotel. So I scan the surrounding area. Google Maps displays all the restaurants on request, often with a caption indicating the style or type of food. You can also select a map section in which to search. If you click on a restaurant in the app, reviews and photos appear. These are uploaded by the community, voluntarily and quite free of charge for Google. In most cases, you can also see menus. One click further and you are taken to the website where you can reserve a table.

It is precisely these many options, the connection of the map service with the other Google services and information on opening times and prices that make everything so easy. Google can thus secure its dominant market position, as the observations and complaints of the various competition authorities around the world so beautifully put it. That's why I'm almost ashamed of the fact that I love using it so much.

Between patisserie, check-in and dinner, a quick souvenir, a bit of culture? No problem. Google Maps shows the major sights anyway. The opera looks good and oh, I see a Vitra showroom. Advertising? Good, but it's all too expensive anyway.

Google knows the way

Better culture then, it's cheaper. Notre-Dame has been reopened. Entered into Google Maps. Tadah. It takes 36 minutes to walk there from Cedric Grolet, 19 minutes by public transport. I'll only have a few hours, so I take the public transport. M7 from the Pyramides stop in the direction of Mairie D'ivry, only three stops to Châlet and then another eight minutes on foot to the cathedral. Google Maps shows the way and also recognizes the direction in which you are looking. No paper map service can really do that.

Of course, Google also knows the opening times and admission prices – free of charge, but with bookable time slots. Finding the nearest cash machine on the move? Google knows where it is. Filming locations? The search for Café and Amelie leads to the Café des Deux Moulins, where parts of the movie "The Fabulous World of Amelie" were filmed. Nothing for my short trip, but part of the Google Maps knowledge.

Google sometimes overdoes it

Google has been working on this concept for 20 years. Here and there, the map service has overshot the mark a little. I don't need immersive views from the air and average local temperatures. Sometimes I miss simple ways to save routes and locations. I don't like logging in, so I usually even use screenshots to memorize routes and places. The biggest drawback, however, is and remains Google's dominance.

The EU has already banned some links between Google and Google Maps – so that convenience doesn't always trump conscience. For example, searching for an address in the browser no longer automatically leads to Maps. In ten years' time, things could be different. By then, there will probably be even more AI everywhere, and that will most likely be too much of a good thing. I'm curious to see whether I'll be walking through new cities with AR glasses instead of looking at my smartphone.

(emw)