Elijah Ketchum
It’s no secret that Apple’s new Maps app coming in iOS 6 has left Google a little uneasy. It started with Google announcing “The next dimension of maps” just a few days before Apple’s WWDC keynote, and now they have decided to do a little price-cutting to keep developers on board. Back when Google announced that they would be charging developers who pulled large amounts of page loads for their apps and services, and now they seem to be retracting that move a little. Or a lot. Google has cut the price they began charging by 8X, now only charging 50 cents for 1,000 map loads as opposed to the previous $4. This is a pretty big price cut to say that it just came from nowhere.
Google obviously feels threatened by Apple Maps, and they have reason to be only because of the huge amount of iOS devices there are. Sure, Maps in iOS 6 will have fly-over and some pretty animations, but where are the necessary features like transit directions. Google definitely has a pretty solid lead from the start over Apple Maps when it comes to the amount of features and quality, but a lot of iOS users won’t care. There will be some who opt for other maps options, but a majority of the average consumers won’t see much of a difference, let alone enough to find a new solution.
Google isn’t giving up that easily though. In a Google+ comment Jeff Huber, Google’s Senior Vice President of Commerce and Local, stated that they are planning to bring “amazing Google Maps experiences on iOS.” This could mean they will be launching Google Maps into the App Store (hopefully), or that they may be pushing for a web-based client (no so hopeful). Either way, Google is planning on finding a way to compete with Apple’s new Maps solution, and it’ll be exciting to see what they have in store.
