Redmond, Washington — For years, Google Maps has been the dominant player in the mapping space far ahead of Microsoft, but now the software maker is employing an under-the-radar approach to fighting back, lending big support and big dollars to the open source map project OpenStreetMap that is now beginning to pay off.
Although Microsoft unleashed its own mapping service, Bing Maps, in 2010, and almost five years later Google Maps rolled out its first stable release and well after Google’s service had established itself as the foremost source for online geography and directions. At present, many of its services and app incorporate any type of geotagging or mapping feature utilizes Google Maps’ services.
Certainly, it would be shocking to envisage that now Microsoft is fully capable of streamlining online maps marketplace at this point. Just short of creating a living, breathing four-dimensional microcosmic digi-globe projection that includes real-time weather systems, volcano activity, transportation data, and virtual birthday parties everyday, Microsoft would seem to be relegated to simply arriving too late after Google established its dominance among map services.
Image Source: (SlashGear)
However, functions in much the same way as Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap is a free open mapping service, in which volunteers provide mapping information to build a free, open mapping service. The information is then open to be used by people, companies and other sites. The services is overseen by the non-profit OpenStreetMap Foundation. The foundation says that a half a million volunteers have already provided data to OpenStreetMap.
In fact, Microsoft has been extending big amounts of support, as well as shelling out large amounts of cash, to the service. Steve Coast, the OpenStreetMap founder, also works for Bing as Principle Architect for Bing Mobile. Microsoft said back in November 2010 that Coast will “develop better mapping experiences for our customers and partners, and lead efforts to engage with OpenStreetMap and other open source and open data projects.”
As a matter of fact, a number of companies have recently began drifting away from Google Maps, as reported by The New York Times. The main reason is due to the escalating fee charged for the Google service, many of these companies have begun to get their data from OpenStreetMap instead. Foursquare, the mobile social media service, has switched – and Apple’s iOS management app, iPhoto, has also turned to the Google service.
Yet, in another surprising move earlier this month by FourSquare, a company that banks pretty heavily on geotagging in order to check in at locations, deserted Google Maps in favor of the OpenStreetMap-powered MapBox and, later, Apple quietly made the switch to OpenStreetMap with the debut of iPhoto for iOS.
Nevertheless, while Bing Maps may not be able to claim dominance the way Google Maps has enjoyed these past several years, Microsoft could absolutely break apart Google’s monopoly in a way that repartitions the market much more evenly.