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Live from Google I/O 2012, day one

“We're also adding support for offline support.  You can save the data for an entire city offline.”  Some new map overlays with information — and they're demoing “see inside.”  “What about Maps?  What about getting to know a place before you go there?”

The Verge Joshua Topolsky

Context & Ripple Effects

Google Maps had already expanded its Android foundation with Maps 5.0 for Android and built on earlier experiments in immersive street-level imagery, including Streetside View. The I/O demonstrations extend that arc from finding a route to preparing for a visit: users can retain a city’s map data without a connection and inspect places through new visual layers.

First-order effects

  • Google Maps users can save a full city’s data for use offline, reducing the need for a live connection when viewing covered areas.
  • Businesses and destinations represented in Maps gain new exposure through information overlays and the See Inside feature.

Second-order effects

  • Competing mapping services face pressure to pair basic directions with downloadable map data and richer place-level visual information.
  • Google’s mapping product becomes more useful as a local-discovery surface, making the quality and coverage of venue information more consequential.

Third-order effects

  • If Google continues combining offline access, map layers and immersive views, digital maps shift from a navigation utility toward a broader interface for evaluating physical places.
  • That shift concentrates value in the platforms able to assemble geographic data, local information and visual representations into a single destination product.

The trend: Mapping products are evolving from route-finding tools into offline-capable, visually rich systems for discovering and assessing places.

Related: Under the hood of Google Maps 5.0 for Android · Where 2.0: Google Launches Streetside View with Tech from ImmersiveMedia · Google Launches MyMaps

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