July 12, 2005

Do you see a business model in Google Earth?

I've heard a bit of musing lately weather there's a clear business model in Google maps and Google Earth. Well, I have an opinion on this, although I'm not going to jump into that right now. I'm more curious as to what you think? To get it rolling... obviously Google can take risks, therefore they will... that's what breeds innovation. Right now the focus is on getting the developer community to embrace the applications and the APIs and they are. Mainstream users are being encouraged to grab the free viewer (and even upgrade to the pro version) and they are. Obviously in time commercial add ons will be available as will the addition of commercial dataset plug-ins and just you wait... do you think advertising will pop up in your Google Earth viewer? Imagine as you fly over your location and cruise along 5th Street... up pops a message that points to a nearby coffee shop that is displayed on your map.... that's just once scenario. What's your take?

16 comments:

High Power Rocketry said...

Yeah I do see the model: open yours up and search for dentist, or pizza.

Thats money.

High Power Rocketry said...

Plus you are correct, the free model is an add for the pay uprade.

Promytius said...

"I've heard a bit of musing lately weather there's"
whether you like the weather or not, learn which is a noun and which is not.

Alex said...

I'm always hungry, so if they had adds pop-up for the best place to grab a slice nearby, I think they would pay off. I know I wouldn't mind.

Tante Waileka said...

I don't use google as my search engine, because they skew their resultsets in favor of whatever THEY favor. So I don't give a flying patootey what they do or why. Don't buy into all the cr*p you hear about 'bleeding-edge' companies or businesses. Naysayer? Maybe, maybe not. But I know that Google skews in favor of 'edges'... left-wing, right-wing. I call that 'invalid' values returns.

Tante Waileka said...

P.S. Google is a canadian venture, which is another reason I don't like 'em. Canada is not the country I once loved (but was smart enough to leave). I left it because when I graduated at 13 from high school the only option open to me was to attend university in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. So I got legally emancipated and went to MIT. I couldn't have gone to such a prestigious school in Canada (as there's only McGill in Montreal and that's about it). Plus Canada has okayed homosexual 'marriages' and made quoting from the BIBLE punishable by trial for 'hate crimes'. Canada. I once loved you. Now I wouldn't cross the street to spit on you. The only great Canadians are those of us who were smart enough to LEAVE you far behind! God Bless America, the greatest country in the world, where even mediocre companies like google can rise to the top, of the shit can.

High Power Rocketry said...

Wow you really turned into a sour conservative american, maybe canada will take you back some day...

Buckshield :

What are your computer specs?

windows XP should hardly ever lock up, no matter what the problem.

High Power Rocketry said...

Dude I just asked you that question :)

I have plenty of computer to run it.

Any modern computer, without software problems (most computers do have software problems) should be able to run it. That is anything from a P4 1.4 and up.

Older? Should still work but not that well. What do you have?!?! :)

How did it fail? What were the symptoms?

immixmarketer said...

I enjoy Google Earth, but before we start making plans for their service, they need to update their images.
The 2nd step is for Google to make their homepage, well, I don't want to say more user friendly, because after all, they are primarily a search engine, but more appealing. The capabilities Google has at it's fingertips can blow away competators such as yahoo, but with the current homepage not having frames, or navigation, everyday users may not understand what all is capable with Google....basically, you can do a lot more than just "Google somebody"

Alexandra said...

I love using Google, and enjoy Google Earth. It is entirely irrelevant whether they are a Canadian company or whether the IPO lost them a few million or whether they gained a few billion, what is crucial is that they have the money and clout to promote and encourage innovation. Commercial plug-ins and add ons are innevitable, and the idea of flying over 5th Ave. and being directed to the nearest chocolate shop is exactly how I envisage the not too distant future.
But then again where would we be without the sour pusses who are always complaining about the movers of this world, either wanting a bigger piece for themselves or bitching about how whatever they do is never good enough. There was a character in Winnie The Pooh called Eyore........

Alex said...

That reminds me... I wanted to suggest that Mr. Disgruntled MIT Graduate pick up a copy of "The Tao of Pooh," by Benjamin Hoff. I think it would do him some good. =)


Blame Canada!

James said...

Wow, I never thought that an anyone would ever decide to blast Canada (or Google for that matter) for being too liberal. Guys, innovation is what we're looking for here. Has Microsoft been innovative lately?

Google comes up with ways for the everyday person to use the internet with ease (ie quickly) and without being attacked by commercializm. When I logon to my gmail account, I don't have giant flashing ads for lavalife or the next greatest dating franchise telling me I should hook up with some hottie that they've taken a revealing picture of and so tastefully placed in my face.

Google does stuff that makes sense. To me at least.

BTW Canada is a fine country, and Waterloo happens to be a top notch school... I'm restraining myself from saying more about the US... digression in this post has gone far enough

B O B said...

I just have one suggestion NASA has a free program that is utterly fantastic. World Wind, This is open source and the features are excelent. Why not go there, no worries about ads.

Anonymous said...

I wonder what terrorists think of Google Earth? Now they won't even have to visit a place in advance to become familiar with it. They can just log on to Google.

Nate Fink said...

Google Earth absolutely provides an opportunity for business exploitation. I found its predecessor a couple years ago while scrolling the web, and couldn't believe it wasn't any more popular at the time.

I hate Dubya.

High Power Rocketry said...

Ahh, those images (I say this once a day to dudes who worry about terrorism) have been around for years, many for decades.

In high school, in the 1990s, I was getting images like that online.

It is now free for all, and more simple to use, but (like the guys who want to take alarm clocks out of phones) these minor details like google earth are not going to make or break a terrorist attack.

A suicide bomber knows where the bus stop is, with or without google.

Everyone keeps looking for the easy solution, like no cell phones on trains or no google earth images of D.C., but the harder solution is the only proper one: getting rid of the terrorists, and the source of terrorism.

Or we could just live in big houses made of cotton and toilet paper and never have anything that can be used against us.