I'm always surprised how poor legibility the most used digital map has
I'm always surprised how poor legibility the most used digital map has
One shows only a few shops, often the ones that pay the most, the other shows the true number of different places in the area.
I don't like that google selectively chooses to show certain businesses over others.
But at the same time the lower screenshot is just pure information overload, it has way too much going on for a casual map to use while walking around and that sort of thing.
I don’t like that google selectively chooses to show certain businesses over others.
100% paid placements. I started looking for an alternative to Google Maps once they started putting POIs disguised as ads.
Somehow I think Google shows paying businesses
I think google helps minimize potential distractions while driving, and usually if you zoom in farther it shows more of what’s in the area. Honestly though, which shops show up is already pretty far down the slippery slope into monetarily self-interested bias. I think it’d be nice if they favored the user’s preferences, but then there’s my data that I’d rather not be advertised to on. This enshittification sucks.
WHAT? HOW DARE YOU INSULT OPENSTREETMAP, THE MOST USED DIGITAL MAP!
(In all seriousness, I wouldn't be surprised that OSM is actually used the most, especially because it creeps into many other maps. But of course, this usage is spread over many apps and not a single
advertisingmap product, where GMaps is undoubtly the biggest one)Another intepretation: one uses data to distinguish between popular and crappy stores.
I don't think you were making this argument, but I want to highlight that data is not morally neutral. Google Maps drives even less customers to stores that are smaller, and already have difficulty getting customers.