Jesus, that is a gross way to inject advertising into turn-by-turn navigation.
Popups while driving? With buttons that have to be pressed for it to go away? What could possible go wrong diverting the attention of a driver this way?!
Google Maps tests new pop-up ads that give you an unnecessary detour
Submitted 5 months ago by flop_leash_973@lemmy.world to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.androidauthority.com/google-maps-pop-up-ad-3458170/
Comments
Matombo@feddit.org 5 months ago
dev_null@lemmy.ml 5 months ago
The article was updated, this was fake news. There are no popups while driving.
balder1991@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Ah, the eagerness to publish some “news” based on a Tweet or a Reddit post from a random person with no confirmation at all.
Lautaro@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I’ve had something like this happening to me a long time ago. While going from a city in Uruguay to a city in Argentina, Google Maps “suggested” a route that was 2 hours longer but took me through the ferry (a paid business). Even though I chose “keep my route” several times, from time to time, the suggestion popped up with a “time limit” to confirm. If I failed to notice it, the suggested route would be selected.
iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
Not to defend Google, but it seems unclear right now if this is something that will happen while driving, or similar to something Waze already does.
soratoyuki@lemmy.world 5 months ago
In Virginia, at least, it’s not a meaningful distinction.
There used to be an exception for GPS, but the state changed the law a few years ago so that any non-hands-free use of a phone in a non-parked is a ticketable offense. Swiping away an ad at a red light would technically be illegal.
iAmTheTot@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
I do not live in Virginia. Is this law actively enforced? Lots of things are “technically illegal”.
Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz 5 months ago
Waze has popped up ads on me plenty of times while I’m driving. Yes it knows I’m driving, the map is still scrolling along my route. At one point it was bad enough that the ads were remaining after every stop light, and finally clearing about half way to the next light. I haven’t seen it happen in awhile though, maybe they finally got it fixed.
digger@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
I’m honestly surprised it’s taken them this long. They bought Waze in 2013. I feel like Waze has been doing this kind of ad for at least that long.
abracaDavid@lemmy.today 5 months ago
Yeah that’s just unsafe. You’re gonna make me have to reroute my GPS while I’m driving? No thanks.
Crazy watching Google kill themselves in real time.
Beaver@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
Time to switch to open street maps
UncleGrandPa@lemmy.world 5 months ago
So will we soon have to go places we Don’t want to go… Just so we can get directions to where we want to go?
If incorrect directions will be the norm…maybe it’s Time to find a new map app
Yearly1845@reddthat.com 5 months ago
Openstreetmaps has been treating me pretty well. They don’t have all the business information like gmaps does, but that’s what TripAdvisor and Yelp are for.
Sam_Bass@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Thats a test destined to fail
Valmond@lemmy.world 5 months ago
But somehow they are still going to do it.
Bahalex@lemmy.world 5 months ago
As far I knew it was already a thing, kind of. They know what you search for and route you near those things… and make sure the businesses show up on the map.
Transporter_Room_3@startrek.website 5 months ago
I’ve been getting little bubbles for store/restaurant logos popping up on the map for about a month as I drive, and I assumed that’s what it was. So every time I see one, I make a point to not eat/go there for awhile just out of spite.
theherk@lemmy.world 5 months ago
It’s too bad androidauthority doesn’t think the “reject all” cookies rule applies to them.
lurch@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
Remove the detour by drinking a verification can
StaticFalconar@lemmy.world 5 months ago
And i thought it was bad when the gps says to make a right at the starbucks instead of using the street name.
Empricorn@feddit.nl 5 months ago
Why not? Their global emissions are already skyrocketing due to AI hype. Fuck the planet, let’s make more money this quarter!!!
postmateDumbass@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Can my steet gang put in some of these ads? Only to high end luxury automobiles?
recapitated@lemmy.world 5 months ago
2024: year of the openstreetmaps
TheProtagonist@lemmy.world 5 months ago
That was killed quickly.
Rexios@lemm.ee 5 months ago
Who The Fuck Types In Sentence Call All The Time Like This?
sirico@feddit.uk 5 months ago
But why line go down?!
Magnolia_@lemmy.ca 5 months ago
Fuck google, Microsoft, Mac and Israel
Freefall@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Google also notices a spike in Google searches for “alternative to Google maps”…ignores it.
werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Siri, why are we back at the adult book store?
Bob, based on you browsing history, this is the place you are most likely to visit on a daily basis at 7 am before work…
Lettuceeatlettuce@lemmy.ml 5 months ago
Magic Earth works really great for me :)
Dop@lemmy.world 5 months ago
This is the last product I still make sacrifice to keep it working on my degoogled devices, because lets be honest, this is the best (“free”) GPS there is out there. I’ve tried so many others but nothing comes close. I dunno what I’ll do if (when) they launch this kind of crap here…
fernlike3923@sh.itjust.works 5 months ago
Organic Maps is good enough for most cases. Did you try that?
TheObviousSolution@lemm.ee 5 months ago
I suspect they were already doing this just to populate data. There are times I got sent on god-forsaken routes and persistently had the route I had selected overwritten with new ones. At least this tells you what it is and lets you choose.
Jubei_K_08@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I had downloaded OsmAnd but forgot about it. After reading this post, I fired it up. It took a minute to download a map for my area. It returned a map of Kansas. I’m in Texas 🤔 I guess I gotta fix that somehow.
selokichtli@lemmy.ml 5 months ago
Did you allow it to access your location? Are you behind a proxy or VPN server?
Jubei_K_08@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Thanks, guys, I got it to update with the correct map. This thing has a ton of options! Those of you who want granular control over apps, this is right up your alley.
Neosnc@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Just downloaded it and got Kansas too. Press the little arrow to allow current location while using and it will update to your correct location.
KonalaKoala@lemmy.world 5 months ago
For some reason, this got me imagining an ad causing an unnecessary detour the wrong way on a one way road and cause a head-on collision. which is going to get them hit with a class action lawsuit that could send their line graph all the way down into the ground.
Resol@lemmy.world 5 months ago
This is possibly the worst thing to add to turn by turn navigation. Especially when I’m in a hurry.
Oh wait, I don’t drive. But still, this can affect lots of people who do.
HootinNHollerin@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I had this happen to me today and I’m done w google maps
chiliedogg@lemmy.world 5 months ago
When I ask to navigate home, it tries sending me to Home Depot.
Poem_for_your_sprog@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I got rerouted mid-drive yesterday losing me 20 minutes and taking me down some shitty roads.
M0oP0o@mander.xyz 5 months ago
Thanks I hate it. Also not even new, this shit was what killed in dash sat navs…
T156@lemmy.world 5 months ago
Nitpicking, but I’m not sure that it was ads that killed dash sat navs. At least in my experience, they never really developed to that point where car companies would put ads in.
It was more that they were expensive options to install, a pain to keep updated, and generally weren’t all that good.
Even before the live traffic and automatic detour features, phones didn’t cost money to keep the onboard maps up to date, and you already had one, so you didn’t need to either buy an add-on, or get a special unit for it.
With android CarPlay and Apple Auto, you could just put your phone map on the screen, which was basically the same thing, but a cheaper equivalent, since the hardware was on your phone instead.
RunawayFixer@lemmy.world 5 months ago
I’m absolutely certain that it wasn’t ads that put a firm like TomTom on a downward slope. This was actually the first time that I’ve heard someone proclaim that ads are the reason.
If your business is to sell maps + navigation devices for money and then the times change and now nearly everyone already owns a smartphone with built in gps + some car manufacturers provide sat nav as a default + another company is giving access to a map away for free, well then your business is in trouble.
I’ve never even heard of ads in TomTom or Garmin, since I stopped using a dedicated sat nav once I had a smartphone, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was one of the things they tried to stay afloat after smartphones became ubiquitous.
M0oP0o@mander.xyz 5 months ago
So I was around during this time and yes ads did play a part in this, but not like you think. The ads where how these companies planned to pay for the sat nav data (came on a DVD). They had restaurant and gas station suggestion with the same detour “feature”.
Fun part is that it fell apart quick since almost no one updated there sat nav and you can still get a 2008 acura with recommendations for places long long gone. Its also fun to see people talking about Zagat rated places on forums from the time.
acurazine.com/…/zagat-guide-questions-833757/