How Does Google Use Your GPS Data?
No one would argue that, over the last few years, Google have made a huge mark on the internet. They have stamped a massive shoeprint in the online space and have become one of the most powerful players in cyberspace. Google's reach seems to be limitless and for many of us we barely know half of what Google is involved in.
When people think Google they think of a search engine but in many ways that's the tip of the iceberg. Google's product line is massive with everything from smartphone operating systems to telephone directory assistance. It's not just the size of the Google that has made it a disruptive force in the markets it chooses to enter but its pricing model.
In most cases, Google offers its services for the 'hard-to-beat' price of free. This has made life miserable for many startups trying to compete with the corporate monolith. In 2009 alone, several companies had to admit defeat or at the very least express their nervousness about Google's business activities in areas such as GPS navigation and real-time search.
But the lure of free has won many converts despite any reservations about the unabated growth of a company that processes 20 petabytes of user-generated data every day and an annual revenue of more than 20 billion dollars.
However, there's an old adage that states there's no such thing as a free lunch. So what does Google want in return? A lot of people might say everything is funded by AdWords, Google's advertising service but that's only part of the picture. While that is their biggest revenue stream in dollar terms, Google's real value comes from something that most people seem perfectly happy to hand over for free - personal information. The value Google puts on its information gathering is seen even the length of time it keeps user-generated data.
For example, Google stores search data for up to 18 months. Compare this with Yahoo! who state records are only kept for 90 days. Google knows that with information comes power, and with power comes profitability. But with power comes responsibility, and in many cases corruption. But don't Google have an unofficial company motto "don't be evil"? True, but the fact they actually have to state that is a concern in itself. Wouldn't you be just a little nervous if your friend said to you: "I won't kill you."?
Google and GPS
As mentioned above, one area that Google has forced its way into is GPS navigation. Providers like Navigon and TomTom are justifiably nervous about what this means for their business, saved at this time by the fact that Google's tracking and navigation application is currently only available on the Android operating system. Google's GPS software is aimed at the consumer market and aside from the price offers extra features such as street view and traffic information, making it a real contender in the personal GPS navigation arena. But there's nothing to say Google won't expand its reach in this space to larger applications with a commercial focus, such as fleet management software programs.
Google has been flexing its muscles in this space, pushing forward on its own rather than relying on third parties who could hamstring their dominance in this market. For example, previously Google partnered with TeleAtlas for map data. No more. Now it generates its own with much being contributed by - you guessed it - the user. This has given them an edge in areas where little commercial mapping has been done like Vietnam and India.
What's wrong with this picture?
Many of us happily embrace what Google provides. We love the functionality, the features and the freeness of it all. Millions of us use Gmail, Google Docs or Google maps every day. But do we ever stop to think that one day it might turn on us? That because we've been feasting on all the free cupcakes we won't be able to run when we see the cage door closing?
It's hard to know how Google will draw revenue from their navigation applications but localized advertising is an obvious choice. Could they hold us to ransom in other ways, perhaps forcing us to use their browser or making us supply them with all our tracking data to increase their map coverage or traffic reports? One thing you can be sure of is that Google is a for-profit corporation. It's in it for the money.
How it makes that money remains to be seen in some cases but there's potential we could be risking our privacy and freedom of choice by continuing to subscribe to their steady stream of "free" services.