Google Maps Sees 40% of Traffic from Mobile, Navigation Expected to Log 2 Billion Miles this Year
While SXSW isn’t a tech show in any traditional sense, the convergence of art, media, and technology invites a wide range of folk to attend the event in Austin, TX every year. Of course, Google was on hand and their very own Marissa Mayer offered some insight into the current state of Google Maps and where it might be headed in the future.
Mayer revealed that 40 percent of Google Map’s traffic comes from mobile devices. This number shouldn’t be too surprising considering the availability of Maps on the Android and iOS, the two platforms currently dominating the smartphone market. Perhaps more interesting is the projection that Navigation within Google Maps will rack up 2 billion user miles by the end of 2011. That’s a whole lot of driving and a whole lot of directions.
However, Mayer admits that Maps isn’t a perfect product. Out of those 2 billion miles, there are certainly some instances of misdirection on Google’s behalf, something Mayer stressed could be solved through better customer support. Another area Mayer sees needing improvement is the consolidation of many services and brands into more complete products. This includes things like Google Places and Google HotPot, two things that she would like to see merged into a single entity. You could add in Google Latitude and roll them all into Google Maps, for that matter.
Mayer will be a leading force in Google’s new ventures into location-based technologies, an area Google has admitted needs improvement in the past. We’d agree. Google has been a bit behind on location services, but things look brighter for the future.
[via IntoMobile]