20 May 2020, 14:34
The loss of Google Maps is unfortunate indeed. Their satellite imaging in “street view” is superior to other products, and as a motorcyclist I like knowing the condition of road surfaces when route planning.
PRESS RELEASE: MyRoute-app reduces Google Maps services
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Dear Community,
On behalf of the MyRoute-app team, I would like to inform you that after ceasing negotiations with Google, we have decided to reduce the Google Maps service. I will explain the time frame and total impact of this, as well as our availability for questions.
Let's start at the beginning. Just like any other company, MyRoute-app has contracts with various partners who provide all kinds of services. Take a look in the application and you can probably already list some of them. Generally, we do not draw your, our community's, attention to this as contract negotiations, licence fees and life-cycle management is generally of little interest to you, the users. What is relevant in this case is that MyRoute-app concludes multi-year contracts that are renegotiated with suppliers at the end of the period, often in pleasant collaboration and ongoing partnerships.
These negotiations go beyond market negotiations. It's about more than the stress field between a low price for us and a high price for the supplier. This is a mutually fruitful collaboration that stimulates sustainable innovation. Our suppliers benefit if MyRoute-app grows: then our demand for their services also grows. We benefit from our suppliers flourishing: they offer better and more attractive services, so we do not have to develop this ourselves as a custom-made service. With MyRoute-app, quality comes first, which can sometimes cost a little more when the quality justifies it.
In February 2020, negotiations started for a follow-up contract with Google. To our surprise, the prices offered here were ten times higher than the previous prices. It should be noted that those prices had already been unilaterally increased by Google as early as 2018. The 2018 price hike was not only difficult for MyRoute-app as many smaller companies also run their business on Google's infrastructure. The internet is full of stories about small entrepreneurs who, thanks to this price hike, saw their costs rise from, for example, €10,000 to €200,000 per period. Fortunately, MyRoute-app was able to deal with this in an agile manner and at the time expanded Google Maps as a standard map service with an emergency measure and switched to the free open source alternative OpenStreetMap. In the end, many companies died in a growing economy due to nothing else but the fact that Google shot up its prices back then.
So, we refused to accept the new Google prices. We tried to achieve new prices with Google that were workable but to no avail at the bottom of the line. Google's attitude towards our proposals was rigid; counter proposals and questions for clarity were met with radio silence. We have done our best to think from the perspective of our supplier, as we often do. We understand that large companies like to work with scales and standard processes. We understand that justified price rises are possible. We understand that a company wants to grow. However, this does not detract from the fact that Google simply was not open to negotiating with MyRoute-app. That can easily happen, after all, we were already customers. We had already become customers since 2014 under a reasonable graduated scale, with a supplier who worked together with us and increased the price indexed as befits a growing economy. However, recent price hikes are unworkable and unjustified.
Google's services will not be 20 times better in 2018. It has not improved tenfold in 2020 and as far as we can tell, life has not become 30 times more expensive and wages have not increased thirty-fold. In the short term, MyRoute-app will therefore bid farewell to various Google services. This will disable the maps functionality for GOLD users. Furthermore, routes once created via Google Maps will all be converted to the Here map. The Google Maps map remains available as an additional map layer. We believe that this reduction of Google functionality will not have a major impact on the overall offering. For proper exportation to the known GPS devices, we advise that you use Here (Garmin) and TomTom maps, in any case the map material is the same. The map with all Google information will remain available, we are only forced to distance ourselves from the Google route calculation.
Finally, I would like to end with the message that things can be done differently. As I mentioned earlier, MyRoute-app has contracts with several partners. As such, we have recently renewed the life cycle of these contracts with all critical partners in a sustainable and collaborative way. We are proud of the partners with whom we have been able to develop MyRoute-app to the maturity level we now stand at and once again express our confidence in building a bright future for all travellers.
Thanks for reading.
On behalf of the MyRoute-app team,
Your Community Manager,
Timo Martosatiman
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@Timo-Martosatiman-MRA said in PRESS RELEASE: MyRoute-app reduces Google Maps services:
Furthermore, routes once created via Google Maps will all be converted to the Here map.
Shit happens!! and we will deal with it. this may be a decision I am not happy about as I use Google maps quite a lot inside MRA, but it would be a lot worse seeing MRA being strangled by this giant, and thus being unable to continue to develop.
Seems like a wise decision, go for it!!
only one small remark, you indicate that: "Furthermore, routes once created via Google Maps will all be converted to the Here map. "
Would it be possible to give the user the possibility to choose between Here (Garmin) and TomTom? For instance, as I have a TomTom I would prefer a conversion towards tomTom. Unless of course, when you would confirm that it makes no difference
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@Drabslab Thanks for your understanding. Can you tell me what you primarily use Google Maps and what you like about it?
Additionally. I've given a quick call to Daniël in regards to how the transition will technically work. In essence, you should be able to open your routes after Google Maps has been deactivated through a TomTom map if TomTom is your standard map. (last button on the image below)
However, as with all "new" things I'm not 100% that this will immediately work. Regardless, even if the route is converted to HERE all you have to do upon opening the route is selecting TomTom again. Waypoints will always stay on the same spot.
The update is expected to go live today.
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@Timo-Martosatiman-MRA
What I like about google maps?:
- I think that their satellite view is the best around, the one of here is just ugly when zooming out.
- I identify "street view" with google and I use that a lot to see the condition of a road, or to familiarize with the entrance of a place to visit.
Otherwise, I guess it is to a large extend a question of habit. Lately, I am starting to enjoy Michelin again as I notice that their green lines next to beautiful pieces of road are as useful in the electronic world as was the case when we were draping the floor with paper maps to organize a trip.
I would not worry too much about it. It is, of course nut funny to remove a service from MRA but busting the company on a greedy supplier isn't much fun either.
About being 100% sure; just find me a developer that manages to write code without bugs
, I have never met one. Fingers crossed for the update
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I am disappointed that Google maps is no longer available as this was one of the many reasons why I pay for and prefer MyRoute-app over other routing software.
It says in your statement that Google maps is still available as an additional map layer, how do we do this and can we pay additional fee to still have Google maps?
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It is a big loss to the application as google has got into many people's minds as the default application pool.
I did lots of work in MRA with GM as it is very well tied into their search.
So I will miss it not being here but like most things we will get used to it.
There was no way that Timo and the team should be held ransom to that sort of increase overnight so we will mourn it and move onI am never lost...I just like to visit places I have not planned to go to
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@John-Brennen Let's be patient, we will soon discover
In all honesty, it may well be that we hardly notice
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@Paul-Hedges It will be a good experiment to see whether we primarily work on basis of habit, or whether there is a real reason to use google (or at least think that we are doing that).
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@John-Brennen Hi John, I completely understand your sentiment. Re-offering an option on Google Maps is certainly something that we will consider for a future update, at the same time we'd want that to be a deal that our members will be able to sustainably use.
As I said in the press statement, we were completely taken by surprise on this as it is considered exceptionally bad form to do hike prices like this in contract/licence management.
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@Paul-Hedges Thank you Paul.
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@Timo-Martosatiman-MRA - Thanks Timo and completely understand from your company's point of view.
I personally would be happy to pay a premium if it meant I could have Google maps back. I have just created a new route in HERE maps and although just fine to do so it is so much harder to view decent roads, you really have to zoom in to see them. Plus Google maps just look nicer on the eye.
Anyway keep up the good work, I love your service, tried to use Basecamp last week and then suddenly remembered why I moved to MyRoute-app as its such a user friendly and great routing tool.Cheers all.
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@Timo-Martosatiman-MRA said in PRESS RELEASE: MyRoute-app reduces Google Maps services:
The map with all Google information will remain available, we are only forced to distance ourselves from the Google route calculation.
If all we are loosing is google route calculation I would consider this a minor inconvenience. The location information data and street view are the important aspects of Google maps. Google routing is only there as a second opinion as I see it.
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That's not great, though I understand your reasoning, so now there are no maps that show Hotels / petrol stations etc for route detailing
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@Bruce-McKinlay There is still here maps and tomtom that contain the same services i think
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Can we assume that cost savings resulting in the discontinued use of Google maps will be passed on to your GOLD level subscribers. This is a significant change to the product that we had all subscribed to.
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@Timo-Martosatiman-MRA
Without many comments:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX:52009XC0224(01)
https://ec.europa.eu/competition/contacts/electronic_documents_en.html
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/20/tech/google-eu-antitrust/index.html
In short, to act, EC needs info, and I think you fall within the law of abuse of power.
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@Martin-Vandewouw I sure hope not. If any savings I hope it will be used to improve MRA. Bringing in practice al the improvement requests that users have posted on this forum will make us forget google very fast.
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I too loved the Google implementation in MRA, the ease of planning a motorcycle route, checking out the the hotels and fuel stops via streetview etc, etc.
I have just finished a 10 day tour project for next year and as others have said it is slightly uncomfortable using the HERE mapping. I never used Open Street Map just the Google Gold option.
That said, Timo made it very clear that Google were not being fair, and like some other mega-corporations that won't be named but we all know, they try to squeeze you until the 'pips squeak'.So, MRA should continue to progress and the small niggley changes now will soon be forgotten. I too tried Basecamp, what a joy to behold it was when MRA appeared, let's never forget that!
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The loss of Google Maps is unfortunate indeed. Their satellite imaging in “street view” is superior to other products, and as a motorcyclist I like knowing the condition of road surfaces when route planning.
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Hi i am a motorcycle tour guide and have used your app to travel all over Europe with my guests and friends for several years now. I really like it and get on well with the app. What worries me is can we still get the zoom in and see the road, entrance building etc! If not this is going to cause a lot of problems. I look forward to your response.
Thank you
Terry
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