For years, Google Maps has been a go-to tool for millions worldwide, seamlessly integrated into search results for instant access to directions, locations, and more. But if you’ve noticed something missing recently, you’re not imagining things. Due to European Union regulations, Google has been forced to remove its Maps functionality from its search results, marking a significant shift in how we interact with the tech giant’s ecosystem.
It’s been that way for months already. Maybe four or six I’d say.
how is it over? you just type in maps.google.com like you used to type in mapquest.con
But I still type in maps.google.com already because I don’t use Google search. But I still use maps.
Google maps is the best True dat. Double true.
Used to be, Waze is consistently better at producing faster routes now at least in the UK. I keep meaning to try out others like organic though.
Waze is owned by Google now so it basically is maps now just with a different skin and some better features.
Has been owned by Google for quite some time now, but traffic or accidents reported by users in Waze still take quite some time to show up on Google maps.
I use Waze when that matters but I’m usually using Google maps to look up stuff like what foo places are near me.
I’ll use organic sometimes too when I want directions but I don’t care that much about time.
Edit: food but it’s funny that way too
I wonder whether alternative solutions were discussed: like Google retaining integration but breaking off Maps division into it’s own entity that has to use same API’s as everyone else and use the same integration points. Would’ve been more user-friendly thing to do.
I understand the why of this but this is not an improvement. I suppose search engines should ask you which maps provider you want and then show results based on that.
I suppose search engines should ask you which maps provider you want and then show results based on that.
Google could have done that, but they chose to go this router to inconvenience users, so that they then could blame the EU for this.
Like… and hear me out… save the preference with some sort of Cookie technology? Do you think the EU would be up for that?
I can’t tell whether you’re being intentionally ironic. Yes the EU would be up for it. The EU didn’t ban cookies. Putting it simply, you do not need a cookie banner if you aren’t tracking people.
Im a web dev and I build almost all of my sites without cookie banner unless they’re really required (YouTube embeds, invasive tracking etc) and when I don’t include a banner, people usually think I forgot it.
It’s a shame that most people think the internet just has to be crap now and every site needs some dark pattern banner to track its users.
A dark pattern would be some sort of underhanded but legal tactic to trick or coerce a user into agreeing to something they wouldn’t otherwise.
But most websites aren’t using dark patterns for this, instead they just blatantly and plainly violate the law.
There needs to be a browser that auto blocks all cookies, and all cookie banners. You can whitelist the sites you want. Beyond that, your browser tells all the web “fuck you!”
Firefox + uBlock Origin does that for me. You just need to enable the Annoyances filter.
Brave does mostly a good job with this. Though some cookie banners still slip through, and other functional popups get blocked. Still makea browsing the Web more palatable.
This is true. No cookie banners, no ads. Hardly ever a problem
I’m unclear why you’re being downvoted for sharing reccomendations. So, because I’ve experienced similiar issues when I DID understand the downvotes, I’ll assume someone downvoted you because Brave isn’t their browser of choice, and they’re sitting at their computer like “NO! NOT BRAVE! WHY DOESN’T EVERYONE USE (insert obscure browser which may actually be a better experience, but only 50 people have ever heard of) INSTEAD??? WHY MUST THEY RECCOMEND THE MAINSTREAM BROWSERS???”
And then 3pm comes, and it’s time for him to give his sheets to his mommy for the weekly laundry.
Meanwhile, me, someone who’s used Firefox exclusively since 2004, is thinking “Hmmmm, maybe I SHOULD branch out and try other browsers! I’m sure I could try Brave? I’ll be…BRAVE…enough to try a new browser!”
And then I give myself a big hearty laugh as I drink a sip of my hot chocolate, and proceed to live the rest of my life not giving a shit why you were downvoted. Oh, also, have an upvote!
Apt username.
Yeah, you’re not allowed to say anything positive about Brave on Lemmy. Instant downvote. Then downvotes for talking about it being down voted.
It’s like you said something neutral about AI, if you don’t shit on it, they brigade you down.
Yes it’s very good at eliminating cookies, it tracks and sells your data, but not as widely as the big guys.
It’s very good at fingerprint resistance too.
Firefox with UO, privacy badger is very close to it’s level of perf.
You can install stuff to block your telemetry in just about any browser, knock out a lot of your tracking but still get tracked by your browser maker, your OS, your ISP…
But talk about brave, they just get pissy.
To make it even more clear let me rephrase it:
If you want to store sth like that, it would be classified as functional and you wouldn’t even need a cookie banner for it.
Only if you want to use it to track people you need to notify them
Pretty much. Although I continue to be annoyed this ever even needed to be asked. There’s literally a browser setting to communicate this “do not track”. EU really should’ve just forced everyone to respect it :/.
If you want to store your map preferences, save the preferences to your account and make sure you’re logged in.
I’m not saying anything like this is preferable or whatever but there’s also little sense in removing all semblance of user experience in favour of removing power from tech giants.
You can literally store all preferences in cookies without a problem with EU legislation.
Is this news? The “Maps” tab has been missing from my search results for a while here in Germany.
Same in Denmark
That explains why I
- Can’t search for <city> and get a direct link to the maps + position
- The toolbar of services missing maps entirely.
For all the things the EU does…What a stupid decision.
This may feel bad short term but this is actually good long term. It opens up the possibility for competitors for similar map services to exist. When google combined their search engine product with their maps product, everyone had to automatically use their map product. This is very monopolistic
For example in duckduckgo you can type “city !gm” and it will take you to Google maps search results for “city”.
You can also use ddg.gg as a quick way to be redirected to duckduckgo.com without having to type the whole thing
But they had to take 20 years for that decision.
True but still annoying.
Wondered if I did something wrong and this happened well before I read about it here.
Do you ever wonder why most Europeans has about 40 telecom companies offering you internet at your particular address? Regulation and anti-monopoly works.
“Over” my ass…
EU working as intended
Didn’t even notice. Well done EU.
It is also a pain in the arse for a normal user. When I search for a local plumber, instead of typing my query into the address bar, I need to go to maps.google.com first, and search there. These days, half of my searches are for businesses (the other half for spelling or correct usage of a difficult word), and all those searches now need to be made directly on the map page.
You can reactivate the map integration in your Google account settings. Something called “Linked Google services”, check “maps”.
For a user who never uses maps or a user who always uses maps, this has no effect.
It’s for those who use both integrated, but thats pretty rare nowdays. Much easier to ask maps “restaurants near me, plumbers open near me” than having to watch gemini type something out and “rate your plumber” forums, or worse aggregated yelp links.
Nobody will be affected by this, except maybe our data to be harder to mismanage. The headline is stupid.
Is this a big deal? I realize I have a skewed view because I dropped Google search ages ago, but… when I need maps results I go to a maps app, I never really relied on the search bar for that, even when I did use Google search.
That feature is now gone for users in the EU. Additionally, the Maps tab, once prominently displayed alongside Images and News, has also vanished.
Actually wild of the EU to force an inferior product on people. Glad I’m not there for once.
No. Google did it this way so people would blame the EU. They also could just have added more choice to the interface but they rather wanted to remove it to show their users “how bad the EU is”.
Same thing with the cookie banners. EU said you should give your users the choice if they want to be tracked. And the companies build these ugly banners so everyone would blame the EU. But they could also just have stopped tracking their users.
They also could just have added more choice to the interface but they rather wanted to remove it to show their users “how bad the EU is”.
Or maybe they just didn’t want to actively support competing services?
Yes, but that was still Google’s choice. They could have done something for the user but they did not want to
I don’t care what Google wants. Maybe a search engine shouldn’t be competing using vertically integrated services? Or would you defend them when they remove links to non-Youtube-video platforms, and anything else that competes with their products?
We don’t have to sacrifice healthy competition and functioning services to the wants of corporations.
I don’t care what Google wants.
Good, me either.
Maybe a search engine shouldn’t be competing using vertically integrated services?
Maybe.
Or would you defend them when they remove links to non-Youtube-video platforms, and anything else that competes with their products
Did not and would not defend them about anything.
We don’t have to sacrifice healthy competition and functioning services to the wants of corporations.
Agree
It’s not about enforcing an inferior product - it’s about enforcing the freedom of choice. The way google was forcing its services down everybodies throat led to a market where people didn’t even know that something besides gMaps exists. Now competitors at least have some sort of chance.
Ii get what you mean, but for the most part this will just inconvenience most people while also not making it any more convenient to use a competiting product.
You’re absolutely right, Google chose to inconvenience their users rather than make it simpler for the user to choose their service. This is what Google chose to do rather than comply with regulation to make the field fairer. Google did this. The article is a PR piece to shift blame from Google for yet another anti-user decision Google made.
Google is not the good guy.
It would be freedom of choice if google was required to put an option to select the default map service in google search
They were, but chose to remove the feature instead of complying.
Well… kinda the same as when Microsoft was forced to give its users the “choice” for a different browser. Took ages to implement and still, Microsoft tried to get around it. Just look how easy it is to purge Edge from Win11 or to even replace it with something else for links embedded in the o/s itself.
Still showing up in Australia right now.
Probably stay like that until Australia joins the EU
Well they’re in the EBU*, so that’s only one letter off… maybe soon?
^(*an associate of the EBU, couldn’t let my technically incorrect joke stand)
LOL
I’m ok with this, I can live and love in my peasant existence without their hovering, seemingly inescapable help. If I have to do without Waze someday, that’s a different story.
I give waze less than a year.
They’ve been putting the features into parity with maps They will eventually shut it down.
Who will shut it down? (It’s the least irritating map app.)
Google’s owned them for a number of years.
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