Google says Maps redirect on Windows Phone was a product decision, and will be removed
Today, a Google spokesperson provided The Next Web with a statement indicating that the company intends to remove the redirect that it has in place for Windows Phone users who attempt to access the Google Maps product …
Context & Ripple Effects
The Maps redirect follows Google's Gmail access change affecting Windows Phone, putting another Google service at the center of the platform's user experience. Google says the Maps behavior was a product decision and will be removed; separate sources' claim that competition motivated it remains unconfirmed.
Coverage of the redirect spread across several technology outlets on January 5, making a browser-access issue a visible test of how Google services behave on a competing mobile platform.
First-order effects
- Windows Phone users regain direct browser access to Google Maps when Google removes the redirect.
- Google must alter a Maps product behavior it says was deliberate, while Windows Phone no longer carries that specific access barrier.
Second-order effects
- Microsoft's Windows Phone proposition loses one conspicuous Google-service disadvantage, even as the earlier Gmail change shows service access can remain a point of platform differentiation.
- Google's handling of web access on Windows Phone receives greater scrutiny because the redirect was broadly reported and sources have alleged a competitive rationale without confirmation.
Third-order effects
- Repeated disputes over Google service access on Windows Phone point to mobile platforms competing not only through devices and operating systems, but through the terms on which essential web services work across rivals' products.
The trend: Mobile competition is extending into cross-platform service access, where product-design choices can shape a rival platform's perceived completeness.