Has the iOS6 Maps application screwed up for you?

[famousringo]

rocketpig said:

jacks81x said:

rocketpig said:
Google will release Maps for iOS and I'm sure they're busting their collective tails to release a standalone app ASAP. It would be idiotic for them not to do it.

Google has already come out and said they have no plans to release a Maps app.  Unless they're going to charge for it, I don't see why it would be idiotic to do Apple (their competitor) a favor and release an app for iOS 6 after Apple removed the native app.  Is Apple idiotic for not releasing their first party apps in the Android Marketplace?

You realize that Maps is one of Google's main revenue sources, right? I haven't looked over Mountain View's financials recently but I'm almost certain it's a bigger revenue stream than Android itself.

It's complicated, though, because all that iOS maps revenue was coming from Apple itself:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/06/09/apple-is-about-to-reduce-googles-revenues/

Here are the salient points:

- iOS accounted for half(!) of all Google Maps traffic.

- From 2008-2011, licensing of maps combined with search advertising on iOS accounted for four times as much Google revenue as Android (I'd guess that search was by far the larger of the two, since Google pays Apple for the privilige).

- Withdrawing those users from Google Maps cuts off a flow of data which Google could use to improve their maps and help build an advertising system (think location-aware sponsored sites).

That last point is how Google will probably monetize maps in the future. Apple isn't going to license it anymore, and Google's business doesn't like to charge the end user for anything that could be supported through ads and data mining. We might see a Google Maps app on iOS before the ads are ready just to retain users, but location-based advertising will be Google's long-term goal.