Comments on: Google, where’s our street maps?

By: GeoEye takes more Google Satellite Images | YugaTech | Philippines, Technology News & Reviews

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 10:09:37 +0000

[...] other cities like Hyderabad, India, Google does some sort of crowd sourcing where residents are the ones who input street-level maps. The Google Product Manager explains to em that it’s a private site where volunteers login [...]

By: rico

rico — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:06:23 +0000

whom of you is willing to bring GPS to philippines? i need free manpower. Its just for the country? anybody interested please contact me and lets do it. i am 30% done..

By: Eugene

Eugene — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:16:52 +0000

@Vadim, I’m not sure if it’s a coincidence that you commented on June 24, but that’s the date Google released Map Maker, which creates/updates mapping data not from Navteq and TeleAtlas. Google is now spearheading crowd-sourcing efforts to generate map data and not just licensing them from third-party providers. This has been done before with the India, Kenya, and Myanmar maps.

By: Vadim Berman

Vadim Berman — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:43:45 +0000

(OK, it’s a late reply, I know.)

Guys, Google does NOT build its own maps. They buy them – if you look at the European ones, you’ll see Tele Atlas all over; on American ones, you’ll see NAVTEQ.

Incidentally, my company was doing some development related to the field, and I can tell, that you have a handful of very good geographic data providers.

If you are looking for those on the web, you should go here:
http://www.mapcentral.ph

Excellent maps. Plus there are these guys:
http://www.perspective-gis.com/GISMaps.htm (you can get GPS maps here, too)
and these:
http://www.ants.ph

So why no Google Map support then?

I personally talked to some of these providers, and they said that it just doesn’t pay to sell their maps to Google. According to them, Google is just plain stingy when it comes to countries not in their focus, and they are offered ridiculously low royalties for their data which they built with sweat and tears.

And you guys are not the only ones:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coverage_details_of_Google_Maps

Malaysia, Viet Nam, South Africa, many European countries are not covered too (I’m not counting those with highways only, it’s not exactly helping).

By: Eugene

Eugene — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 14:23:22 +0000

Google has finally added road maps of the Philippines. But expect to be disappointed.

By: Eugene

Eugene — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 17:40:58 +0000

Why wait for Google to give us tools to start mapping our streets? We can do it ourselves. (Of course, Google can just take the easy way out and license some local GIS company’s data.)

By: Anton

Anton — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 07:09:04 +0000

if they do come in.. id like to be part of the survey team!

By: issai

issai — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 20:55:22 +0000

i tried zooming in our province but image not available

By: Ecommerce Lounge - Todays top blog posts on Internet Marketing - Powered by SocialRank

Mon, 06 Aug 2007 12:25:25 +0000

[...] Google, where’s our street maps? [...]

By: Eugene

Eugene — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 04:09:51 +0000

@talksmart, I’ve responded to your concerns regarding creating street maps using satellite images in your blog. In short, extracting street data from satellite images for the level of utility required by the general population is pretty much viable; most people don’t really care that EDSA is this much meters wide between Annapolis and Bonny Serrano so extremely accurate digitization of maps is not needed for Google Maps.

By: Talksmart

Talksmart — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 02:37:14 +0000

The truth about mapping our roads is discussed in my post – citing Yuga’s post and Eugene’s reply. Just click on my name. Thanks

By: Dave Starr --- ROI Guy

Dave Starr --- ROI Guy — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 01:23:51 +0000

I guess my first question, especially to those who already “know” Google won’t provide laner equipment is, has anyone asked? They do have an office right her ein the Philippines, although that persoanlly I find them rather difficult to get in touch with.

This is a subject near and dear to my heart. I’m ready to contrbute rooftop space, driving time and diesel fuel … who is making the request/heading up the effort … and who else is blogging about it. I referenced Yuga’s post here:
http://www.satviz.com
http://www.philfaqs.com

By: To Make A Map — For GPS ROI, Of Course | GPS Tracking ROI

To Make A Map — For GPS ROI, Of Course | GPS Tracking ROI — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 01:05:05 +0000

[...] update maps as a conventional business investment, according to my friend Yuga here they are making GPS mapping equipment available on loan for volunteers to drive the roads with. Frankly, I like it. I’m throwing [...]

By: talksmart

talksmart — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 19:57:17 +0000

I posted a reply for Yuga and Eugene Visit my link.

By: Eugene

Eugene — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 08:51:53 +0000

Well, I’ve now blogged about OpenStreetMap. If we can get good enough data in OSM, we don’t need Google to supply is with street maps, since we can overlay the OSM data on Google Maps (or Yahoo! Maps or Live Local).

By: Eugene

Eugene — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 03:21:51 +0000

This post reminds me that I need to do a feature post about OpenStreetMap. It's a UK-originated community mapping project that primarily depends on user-uploaded GPS tracks to create a CC-licensed street map data. They started with the UK and have now rolled it internationally. The Philippine coverage is expectedly a bit scanty, but most of the major streets of Metro Manila is now covered. So those lucky people with N95's, go out and contribute!

By: Dusty

Dusty — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 02:07:56 +0000

If & when the time comes ……. I volunteer! =)

By: Jaypee

Jaypee — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 00:16:10 +0000

I think it will be a while before Google sends a kit to the Philippines. Aside from out very unruly and narrow streets and roads, we have a habit of changing street names very often.