- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
- cross-posted to:
- technology@lemmy.world
Apparently I published this twice: https://sh.itjust.works/post/11856673
Apologies.
Original tootjin Spanish says: “OK, so I need some alternatives to Google Maps, because I just decided seconds ago to stop using it after I got proposed a trip with a completely unnecessary detour which adds two extra minutes just because it pass by a gasstationn that sponsors this trip.”
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Guys, try some OpenStreetMap-based alternatives and get rid of Google Maps:
Is there any possibility to integrate traffic data into one of them so you don’t blindly get into traffic jam?
Unlikely - Google Maps sources their own traffic data by their users, and I don’t think they share it freely.
Probably not since these are both offline.
Shit like this feels like such a greed-fueled missed opportunity.
Like, I wouldn’t mind seeing “Sponsored” locations in Google Maps if it was only shown when I was searching for that thing (like, I search for gas stations near me, and it shows a sponsored option at the top), and if it came with a discount for me if I go there. I’d take a 2 minute detour to get a slight discount on my gas purchase, for instance. That’d actually make me care about seeing it. As it stands, Google is the only one benefitting, and it makes me actively not want to go there.
I feel like I would use it voluntarily if it put the sponsors in the “add a destination” menu. I tend to use Google maps for longer trips, and I try to add any stops on the way to my route so I don’t miss them - if I hit “add destination” and it offered, for example, Citgo stations, 7-11s, and Dunkin Donuts on my route, then I would probably get gas and snacks at sponsored locations almost every time.
As it is, though… Well, just having a Dunks on the way to the laundromat doesn’t make me want to stop in and buy a coffee. Driving by ten of them “randomly” on my way to another state isn’t going to make me any more likely to stop at one.
Is there evidence for this beyond a mastodon post? I can’t see enough of the map so see if it was an actual detour.
Yeah this makes no sense
They’ve been secretly doing this for years. I switched out after I realized the weird roads they were having me take weren’t to avoid traffic, but because every corner I turned at had a 7-11 on it. The roads in my area are set up like a grid, so there’s many ways to get everywhere. I’m thinking like 3-4 years ago I noticed the change. I would check with my friend’s phones, and notice Google would give them different directions than mine. Last weekend, a friend was giving me directions to a spot in a neighboring town, and it avoided the freeway to have me drive through the business district of both my town and the destination. I work in the town I was heading to, I know how long it takes to get there. It told us to go literally the worst way possible.
And there was no traffic jam on the highway, so no need to go the slow way?
No, it’s a freeway loop, so there’s never a jam, and it was like 10pm. Took the normal way back and it cut 12 minutes off a 30 minute trip.
The fact that these services are run for profit, rather than financed via taxes is unfathomable.
We took a road trip yesterday and one of the direction steps said “There’s a $RESTAURANT (Treat) on your right in 75 miles!”
I was pretty instantly annoyed and yet I’m not sure what else I expected.
Apparently I published this twice
With zero evidence both times too!
