Google signed a five-year deal with Tele Atlas to keep getting the map data that helps power Google Maps. The deal extends to Google Earth and mobile apps, and covers 200 countries.
Google also gets map data from Navteq, which is being bought by Nokia for $8 billion. Tele Atlas is owned by Dutch GPS-maker TomTom.
Up until now, the deal between Google Maps and its data providers has been a one-way street. Google licenses the underlying map data that forms the basis for Google Maps. Once it’s up there, anyone on the Web can enhance the maps, correct faulty data, or add their own. But up until now, Tele Atlas did not benefit from those edits. As part of the new pact, Tele Atlas will have access to edits made by the Google Maps community to update the underlying maps. (The company already collects similar corrections from the Map Share feature in the 20 million TomTom GPS car navigation systems out there).
Once Nokia completes its acquisition of Navteq, it too will collect data from consumers to improve its maps. But it will tap into their cell phones.
It is almost a wiki approach to making better maps (presumably with more controls). How soon before other providers of real-world data catch on that sometimes the best source of data are the users themselves?
is that what the problem is with editing google maps these days? over the last month its been an absolute disaster with no ability to seamlessly update info in the traditional manner. It made me think: is Google actually getting..er…um…sloppy?”
i always thought google got its data from nasa
Well the REAL WIKI MAPPING approach is this one:
http://www.openstreetmap.org/
It’s opensource, so everybody benefits, not just some of those cash cow companies.
Google maps need to update many of its maps in certain places in the world.
Google maps of Dubai are very old .. some times its 3 years old in some locations .. Dubai is booming in construction and roads/towers are being built every minute .. everything changes in a very fast pace and the maps are becoming useless. Many business try to use google maps to locate potential areas for investment but they can’t make a decision when the map is old .. some times you check the area where you live in and find it still showing sand!
Tele Atlas has launched such a user-feedback application themselves quite recently, it’s called Map Insight: http://mapinsight.teleatlas.com/
Check out the Tele Atlas car that I saw yesterday
What’s this about being able to update Google maps? My street isn’t on GMaps and I’d like to update it. I don’t see how or where you can do that.
Ok so I see how that feature works now. Except since my location is “approximated”, it’s disabled. Weak.
#6 google has same such cars
“Covers 200 countries” — wonder where that number came from. Do we even have 200 countries on this planet? Why not say ‘all’ countries instead?
Navteq allows users to provide feedback on erroneous map data: http://mapreporter.navteq.com
Around maps there are many interesting things and this is thanks to the fact that big players like google allows third parties to develop new services.
The last one is http://www.twinverse.com a peer to peer virtual world based on gmaps
Google have been doing good job at growing the eco system of maps. Please send more creative opinions to Google.
this is awesome, i’m glad google made this awesome partnership with tele atlas….i love tele atlas data on my mio gps!
great for google maps, maybe it will wholely replace gps units in the future. so we will not buy any gps devices!
Or at least create an economic environment conducive to producing GPS devices at reduced costs!
All the routing and navigation applications have to purchase street level data first, not imagery. All have been using either TeleAtlas or NavTech data or, usually, both as will Google. Both companies have advantages and now the infrastructure to update the underlying data almost daily will improve the results for navigation.