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.
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.
EU working as intended
Yes I read this only as good news. You’d have to be pretty thick for this to be a major issue for you.
Yes I have an issue with authoritarians controlling private business with the threat of violence
Yes, private business should be allowed to act fully unfettered, our health and wellness be damned
Didn’t say that
Then the US oligarchy under Trump with no environmental or antitrust regulations and bribes from the wealthy deciding policy should be paradise for you.
For my part, I’m happy to have some possibility for safe food and water and some hope of maintaining my privacy and not be forced into using products and services due to the fact that they have monopoly position in the market here in the EU.
Yes because the US doesn’t have safe food or water, good point
There’s quite a lot of pretty good evidence to back up your point already. When Trump is done there will be plenty more.
You mean the ingredients other countries ban that rfk wants to ban? That will make food less safe like the eu…?
For anything good he will do for food, he will do more damage to the medical profession. And there will have been 10 people in that position by the time Trump is done, so probably he won’t accomplish much anyway. In Trump’s last term he gutted tons of air and water safety regulations, so there’s every reason to expect him to do the same this time.
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.
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.
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.
Even easier to just slap the thing you’re looking for into the search bar and then read the reviews and get directions all from the one webpage, why did you bring Gemini into this?
Nobody will be affected by this
Nobody I know opens maps to search shit, every one of them would be impacted by this
“read the reviews and get directions at the same time”: yeah thats what map does.
When you use a google search, gemini fills at least a quarter of the page with shit.
You can reactivate the map integration in your Google account settings. Something called “Linked Google services”, check “maps”.
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.
It’s been that way for months already. Maybe four or six I’d say.
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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 was worried that this would be like those cookies pop-ups, but the functionality is still present here in the land of the free…
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
True but still annoying.
Wondered if I did something wrong and this happened well before I read about it here.But they had to take 20 years for that decision.
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.
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.
It would be freedom of choice if google was required to put an option to select the default map service in google search
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.
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.
Fuck EU
Google was using their monopoly to take away user choices. This is a long term win for everyone, but you can’t see it if you only think shortsighted.
Google COULD just enable a choice in map provider, but they just refused.
Hey, no talking. Dick in mouth at all times.
