I've been getting a lot of 'suggested' locations and sponsored pop ups in Google Maps the few weeks. I get that it's a 'free' product, but ugh. My GPS while I'm driving down the highway is one of those things that really, really needs to be clutter-free.
Edit/update from 9to5google so this post does not spread what is apparently inaccurate information:
I know we are desperate for content here on Lemmy, and I can google hate circle jerk with the best of them, but maybe just delete the post if it is a complete clickbait lie… you could also reword the post as a fact check, ‘no, google isn’t injecting adds into maps.’
Gmaps has been actual hot trash for way the hell too long now.
GraphHopper, OSRM, and Valhalla all blow Google's shitty routing algorithm out of the water.
OSMAnd really the only mobile app competitor worthy of putting gmaps out of its misery. The only problem is it still uses a renderer from the stone age and has lackluster address data despite the fact that said data is available for free online from several open source mapping projects (there's some nice github scripts that can import ir for you).
Garmin forgot to invest in mobile technology. Sygic went to crap. Waze is just Gmaps+. Maps.me died even harder than Sygic.
It's 2024 and yet some of the best navigation tech I've seen is from 15+ year old devices.
I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that. Today you are going to Vape Palace in Swindon, sponsored by CryptoPonzi++: you put the coins, we loot the coins!
"Here are your directions, including a McDonalds break! You deserve a break today, with a delicious tiny BIG MAC being sold for 400% of what it was 5 years ago, at 50% the size."
"........when did the movie idiocracy go from being a mockumentary to a documentary?"
This won't always work, but I get it to stop changing the fucking route by putting it in airplane mode while I'm driving. It's locked in to the route I picked, GPS still works, no distractions.
Apple Maps sure had a rough start back in the day, but I will always use that over Google/Waze. It’s just so much better now and no worries about this type of junk.
Just a reminder about the open-source OpenStreetMap. You can improve it online by adding features like a Wikipedia for maps. You can even use the gamified app StreetComplete to add stuff and get points for walking around and mapping.
I remember a long time ago when I was considering using Waze, had heard really good things. Then I was driving with a friend who used it and it served an ad saying “click here to take a pit stop at McDonald!”
I've had something like this happening to me a long time ago. While going from a city in Uruguay to a city in Argentina, Google Maps "suggested" a route that was 2 hours longer but took me through the ferry (a paid business). Even though I chose "keep my route" several times, from time to time, the suggestion popped up with a "time limit" to confirm. If I failed to notice it, the suggested route would be selected.
I've been getting little bubbles for store/restaurant logos popping up on the map for about a month as I drive, and I assumed that's what it was. So every time I see one, I make a point to not eat/go there for awhile just out of spite.
Popups while driving? With buttons that have to be pressed for it to go away? What could possible go wrong diverting the attention of a driver this way?!
This is the last product I still make sacrifice to keep it working on my degoogled devices, because lets be honest, this is the best ("free") GPS there is out there. I've tried so many others but nothing comes close. I dunno what I'll do if (when) they launch this kind of crap here...
I had downloaded OsmAnd but forgot about it. After reading this post, I fired it up. It took a minute to download a map for my area. It returned a map of Kansas. I'm in Texas 🤔 I guess I gotta fix that somehow.
I suspect they were already doing this just to populate data. There are times I got sent on god-forsaken routes and persistently had the route I had selected overwritten with new ones. At least this tells you what it is and lets you choose.
For some reason, this got me imagining an ad causing an unnecessary detour the wrong way on a one way road and cause a head-on collision. which is going to get them hit with a class action lawsuit that could send their line graph all the way down into the ground.
Well, this might be something that drives me to Waze (also owned by Google and which may also end up with these). But it's yet another thing that would potentially drive me back to Apple.
Edit: never mind on Waze, I forgot they already do something like this. Although for whatever reason it doesn't seem quite as invasive.