Comments on: Google Coming To A Gas Station Near You

By: Trevor Davis | Blog » Weekly Link Round-Up #5

Trevor Davis | Blog » Weekly Link Round-Up #5 — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 22:39:44 +0000

[...] Google Coming To A Gas Station Near You [...]

By: How to of Credit

How to of Credit — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 03:01:20 +0000

i like it

By: Clement

Clement — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 14:33:54 +0000

I concur with the first ping: Ultimately Google will rule the world. Those in authority, take care

By: John

John — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 03:50:13 +0000

At least now I may have something interesting to look at while I pump gas. The gas pump has always been an source for marketing.

I can see this being a great tool when you’re on a road trip and don’t know any restaurants in the area… or maybe you need to find a campground for the night. Like it or not Google is finding ways to make our lives easier.

By: www.carversation.com

www.carversation.com — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 02:00:03 +0000

NICE BMW, this should be interesting, google is everywhere, a great company.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 17:42:37 +0000

can’t wait for lines at the pumps while people try to figure out where they are, and how to get to their destination.

By: scratchiti

scratchiti — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 17:39:20 +0000

@20: It’s not like they’re putting computers in the forests. They’re offering a free service in gas stations. Anything that can make a gas station more humane sounds pretty non-evil to me.

By: jsmillandfriends

jsmillandfriends — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 17:25:12 +0000

My understanding is that Google licenses its data from Navtek and TeleAtlas (depending on geography). So, in expanded distribution, they are true winners. I wonder what pushback they’d receive from Garmin and Tom Tom making devices licensing their data for Big Auto, the more lucrative channel.

Directions at gas stations is a dying art, can see the benefit but really don’t see this, in the real world, working well. Execution-wise, machines will fail (who manages?) and people in the queue will have little sympathy for folks taking their sweet time to get a Google directions after they are finished pumping. Plus, why lay out this cost when phones will be more capable tomorrow…

By: Richard Tubbs

Richard Tubbs — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 17:15:06 +0000

sure there will be ads. and the biggest money will come from the brewers luring you across the parking lot for a cold 12-pack.

but the biggest un-mentioned component is the real-time pricing information that google will get from their network of pumps. Much better than the user-reported data of gasbuddy.

By: Larry Chiang

Larry Chiang — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:38:59 +0000

love-love-hate.

> Love that it invovles a gas station and out-experts the $6.35/hr worker

> Hate that the Google map doesn’t work great in the 6th largest city: Phoenix. They use the Yahoo in Scottsdale

>Love that its a SV company that understands people still print out email fro executives to read in the middle states

By: Enronitis

Enronitis — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:34:50 +0000

Wow, I haven’t seen this much wet enthusiasm since Sony launched the Betamax. YES, it seems like a useful tool — in concept. In practice, it’s more hopeful (& newsworthy!) than helpful (but kudos to Google PR). Why not convert all those dormant telephone booths into Google stations, charge a $0.35 entry fee, and forget the middleman…

By: Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:27:22 +0000

Maybe the idea here is to distract people long enough while they’re pumping gas so they over pump and pay more than they intended. Regardless, this ought to be a relief to people who couldn’t stand not being able to use their cell phones while they pump gas, as they’ll now have something to do.

Brian Wilson, Zolve.com

By: Anif™

Anif™ — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:07:10 +0000

Wow, this idea is quite genius. I myself alone can cannot count how many times I have stopped at a gas station to ask for directions, especially at night when no one else is on the road. This idea seems so obvious, it makes you wonder why didn’t anyone else think about it. Moreover, I don’t have a GPS, I always use google maps and print my directions before going on a trip. This all just seems so natural….awesome!

Even if I needed directions, I’m in the process of buying the Nokia E61i, which as someone mentioned Nokia is preloading some of the new phones with maps and even making them available for free download. At this rate a GPS is not that necessary.

By: Amanda Mooney

Amanda Mooney — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:57:14 +0000

@Dan Schawbel Google maps integrated into car navigation systems- awesome idea! This is a brand extension that makes total sense.

@Duncan- great post

By: WebCurrents

WebCurrents — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:21:12 +0000

Gilbarco Veeder Root is the subsidiary of Danaher Corporation (DHR). They are very innovative.

WebCurrents

By: Kevin Abramson

Kevin Abramson — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:20:27 +0000

I think this move is pure genius. It shows once again the vision of Google and that this vision has no boundries. For Google, it gets them more integrated into people’s lives. For gas stations, I bet the novelty and “coolness” factor gives them a point of differentation increasing their business over the guy across the street. I agree that it will be just a matter of time before ads start appearing.

Imagine the appeal to an advertiser – a local store within, say a 5 mile radius could offer coupons via the gas pump. A cpa model where Google gets paid each time a consumer prints a page with directions, a coupon, etc. to that store could be the revenue model. And imagine large national retailers like Target as the advertisers who would generate revenue at scale for Google. Brilliant!

By: TechPark.net

TechPark.net — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:03:31 +0000

Google To Offer Drivers Help At Gas Stations In US…

Google is spreading its business into almost everything, recently mobile operating system, and now into gas stations in United States.
Pumps made by Gilbarco Veeder-Root Inc will include an Internet connection and will display Google Maps on a small c…

By: Google really will rule the world… « Digital pebbles

Google really will rule the world… « Digital pebbles — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:52:36 +0000

[...] if this piece http://www.tech...tation-near-you on TechCrunch is anything to go by, he wasn’t wrong – Google’s getting everywhere these [...]

By: the truth

the truth — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:52:07 +0000

I am with DAVE, don’t be Evil…..

my butt, google is all about Evil……. google is going to own you and suck your blood while you are sleeping, eating and now driving….
STOP USING GOOGLE …..

By: dave

dave — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:45:13 +0000

F*** GOOGLE! They are worse than the f**** government! They want to intrude every part of my life. What the hell is the matter with them.??Wake up people??? GAS STATIONS, What the F***??? It’s going to be our credit cards next, our medical history, birth certificates, EVERYTHING. This “Don’t Be EVil” is BULL F***** S**! How is it not evil to intrude into every part of our lives and then try to make a profit out of it by commercializing it? That’s EVIL. GOOGLE is BIG BROTHER! Wake up!

By: I Am Not Posting To Spam My Blog

I Am Not Posting To Spam My Blog — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:16:25 +0000

@6: I think it’s a safe bet that most people with a car in America have heard of Google, and will be having the brand image reinforced constantly outside the gas station. I don’t see the point of an “off-Internet brand” – if there is such a thing – if you don’t really do business outside the Internet. Marketing execs will probably be patting themselves on the back at how creative they are, but I don’t see the beancounters celebrating. The only real benefit I see is that some people may think of Google as a search engine and not a map provider, but I still can’t see this justifying the expense of putting vandal-tastic computer equipment on pumps.

@14: Garmin and TomTom are in a bidding war over TeleAtlas to catch up with Nokia, so whichever wins should have frequently updated map content before long. Garmin has the higher bid last time I looked.

By: Matt Brian

Matt Brian — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 14:09:24 +0000

What a great idea, one of those “Why didnt I think of that?!” moments.

By: Stu

Stu — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:48:07 +0000

@Tom: Don’t just think of Garmin/Tom Tom, Nokia is now a major player with their latest acquisition, and they will be giving away their map data as well as providing additional services (read: marketing opportunities). We just need wifi at the gas pump.

By: Ed

Ed — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:42:49 +0000

Sounds neat for those w/o a GPS and for local businesses. Only thing is the wait time for cars waiting for those who just pumped gas to leave.

By: Jean Thibaudeau

Jean Thibaudeau — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:42:15 +0000

This is definitely innovative.