Map war intensifies; Google announces new features to woo users in India

Amid rising competition from homegrown challenger Ola Maps, Google on Thursday announced a slew of new features on GoogleMaps to woo Indian users, including EV charging station information, flyover callouts, and AI-driven routing capability to reduce narrow road usage for four-wheeler drivers.

It is "an exciting time in mapping", Google Maps said announcing the new lineup, which comes in the backdrop of a pitched battle with Ola Maps.

Google recently decided to cut the pricing of the Google Maps platform for developers by up to 70% from August 1, just weeks after Ola Founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal openly nudged Indian developers to shun Google Maps and offered them sweeteners like one-year free access to Ola Maps.

Emphasising its focus on the market, Google Maps on Thursday said India is at the centre of its innovation, and that it "can't wait to build the future of Maps right here". India is the first country to get an EV charging station feature for two-wheelers on Google Maps, and senior company officials said it will look at replicating features like this and others, with tweaks where necessary, for use in other markets, as well.

Replying to a question on the timing of Google Maps' price cuts - coming right after an offensive from Ola - Google Maps senior executives said that while "it's tempting to think that way, but we actually do not focus on competitors".

"We're very focused on making sure we're serving our user base and our partner community, which is our developer partners. And to be honest, we timed it with our IO Connect event in Bengaluru," Miriam Daniel, VP and GM, Google Maps, said at a briefing.

Daniel added: "...this is something our partners have been requesting of us for a while, and we've been working on it for quite some time to make sure our infrastructure, our pricing systems are localised and adapted to the needs of our partners in India".

The new offerings range from metro ticket booking on Google Maps in Kochi and Chennai, backed by collaboration with ONDC and Namma Yatri, all the way to improved features for reporting road incidents and traffic mishaps.

"We're excited to continue our journey of innovation, and build the future of Google Maps right here in India," a blogpost by Daniel and Lalitha Ramani, GM, Google Maps, India, read.

Stating that navigating narrow or congested roads in unfamiliar areas can be a challenge for four-wheeler drivers, Google Maps announced it is introducing a new feature for users in India designed to reduce the use of narrow roads when driving four-wheelers.

This means four-wheeler drivers can enjoy a less stressful driving experience, and it also benefits bikers, pedestrians and other commuters who can now use these narrow roads more safely and confidently, it added.

Google Maps is starting to roll out this feature on Android devices this week in eight cities - Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Indore, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, and Guwahati, and has promised to bring the feature to iOS and more cities soon.

Another new feature on Google Maps is call-out flyovers along the recommended route. This feature helps users anticipate upcoming flyovers and prepare ahead of time to get onto the flyover.

"Starting this week, you'll see these flyover callouts in 40 cities across India for both four-wheeler and two-wheeler active navigation on Android apps and Android Auto. iOS and CarPlay support will be coming soon," it said.

Both Narrow Roads and Flyover features have been pioneered in India, tailored to the unique navigation needs of users, it said.

To ensure EV drivers have the tools they need to confidently hit the road, it has also announced availability of information about EV charging stations on both Google Maps and Google Search in India.

"To achieve this, we're collaborating with leading EV charging providers in India ElectricPe, Ather, Kazam, and Statiq to add authoritative information for over 8,000 charging stations, representing a significant portion of available charging stations in India," it said.

This marks the first time Google is launching EV charging station information for two-wheelers on Google Maps, and India is the first country to get this feature.

Last December, the company announced a collaboration with ONDC and Namma Yatri to streamline the public transport experience on Google Maps. This metro booking experience in Google Maps is now going live in Kochi and Chennai, powered by ONDC and Namma Yatri.

Also Read

I4C banned 379 illegal loan/scam websites in 8 months: Home Affairs MoS

The company has simplified how users can report road incidents. "Whether there's ongoing construction or a traffic mishap on the route, users can now report it with just a few taps, making it easy and less distracting, it said, adding that this update is available in India on Google Maps across all platforms - Android, iOS, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Google said it is making it easy to discover helpful lists from local experts and the Google Maps community.

India's digital mapping landscape is under the spotlight, especially after Ola's Aggarwal - who in the past championed the cause of India's digital sovereignty - argued recently that the Western apps to map India have been used for "too long".

The top honcho of Ola also declared that Ola Cabs has fully exited Google Maps and will be using its own in-house Ola Maps, leading to lucrative savings for the company. The Ola founder in May this year announced that Ola will snap ties with Microsoft's Azure cloud and shift workloads to the cloud service of its sister firm Krutrim AI.