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Cara promosi di Google Maps sangat penting buat anda yang ingin bisnis semakin terkenal dan berkembang. Seperti diketahui, Google Maps merupakan salah satu navigasi Google yang digunakan untuk mencari rute menuju suatu tempat. Selain bisa digunakan untuk mencari lokasi, Google Maps juga bisa digunakan sebagai strategi marketing.
Strategi marketing dengan Google Maps tentu sangat mudah dan praktis. Bahkan anda juga bisa mengoptimalkan Google Maps untuk bisnis tanpa mengeluarkan biaya alias gratis. Terdapat berbagai cara promosi yang bisa dilakukan melalui Google Maps, 7 diantaranya sebagai berikut.
Tambahkan Website Bisnis
Website bisnis menjadi bagian terpenting agar bisnis semakin dikenal dan berkembang. Informasi alamat website lengkap bisa memudahkan Google mengindeks lokasi bisnis anda, sehingga bisa muncul di halaman teratas hasil pencarian.
Adanya website juga bisa memudahkan calon konsumen menemukan lokasi bisnis anda. Selain itu, website juga menunjukkan bahwa bisnis tersebut berkualitas dan terpercaya. Sehingga banyak calon konsumen yang tertarik mendatangi lokasi bisnis tersebut.
Itulah cara promosi di Google Maps yang bisa diterapkan, mulai dari daftar di Google Bisnisku hingga menambahkan website bisnis. Cara di atas merupakan cara tepat untuk mengupgrade bisnis agar semakin berkembang dan bisa menjangkau lebih banyak konsumen.
Google's web mapping service (launched 2005)
Screenshot of Google Maps in a web browser
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Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and route planning for traveling by foot, car, bike, air (in beta) and public transportation. As of 2020[update], Google Maps was being used by over one billion people every month around the world.[1]
Google Maps began as a C++ desktop program developed by brothers Lars and Jens Rasmussen in Australia at Where 2 Technologies. In October 2004, the company was acquired by Google, which converted it into a web application. After additional acquisitions of a geospatial data visualization company and a real-time traffic analyzer, Google Maps was launched in February 2005.[2] The service's front end utilizes JavaScript, XML, and Ajax. Google Maps offers an API that allows maps to be embedded on third-party websites,[3] and offers a locator for businesses and other organizations in numerous countries around the world. Google Map Maker allowed users to collaboratively expand and update the service's mapping worldwide but was discontinued from March 2017. However, crowdsourced contributions to Google Maps were not discontinued as the company announced those features would be transferred to the Google Local Guides program,[4] although users that are not Local Guides can still contribute.
Google Maps' satellite view is a "top-down" or bird's-eye view; most of the high-resolution imagery of cities is aerial photography taken from aircraft flying at 800 to 1,500 feet (240 to 460 m), while most other imagery is from satellites.[5] Much of the available satellite imagery is no more than three years old and is updated on a regular basis, according to a 2011 report.[6] Google Maps previously used a variant of the Mercator projection, and therefore could not accurately show areas around the poles.[7] In August 2018, the desktop version of Google Maps was updated to show a 3D globe. It is still possible to switch back to the 2D map in the settings.
Google Maps for mobile devices were first released in 2006; the latest versions feature GPS turn-by-turn navigation along with dedicated parking assistance features. By 2013, it was found to be the world's most popular smartphone app, with over 54% of global smartphone owners using it.[8] In 2017, the app was reported to have two billion users on Android, along with several other Google services including YouTube, Chrome, Gmail, Search, and Google Play.
Google Maps first started as a C++ program designed by two Danish brothers, Lars and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen, and Noel Gordon and Stephen Ma, at the Sydney-based company Where 2 Technologies, which was founded in early 2003. The program was initially designed to be separately downloaded by users, but the company later pitched the idea for a purely Web-based product to Google management, changing the method of distribution.[9] In October 2004, the company was acquired by Google Inc.[10] where it transformed into the web application Google Maps. The Rasmussen brothers, Gordon and Ma joined Google at that time.
In the same month, Google acquired Keyhole, a geospatial data visualization company (with investment from the CIA), whose marquee application suite, Earth Viewer, emerged as the Google Earth application in 2005 while other aspects of its core technology were integrated into Google Maps.[11] In September 2004, Google acquired ZipDash, a company that provided real-time traffic analysis.[12]
The launch of Google Maps was first announced on the Google Blog on February 8, 2005.[13]
In September 2005, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Google Maps quickly updated its satellite imagery of New Orleans to allow users to view the extent of the flooding in various parts of that city.[14][15]
As of 2007, Google Maps was equipped with a miniature view with a draggable rectangle that denotes the area shown in the main viewport, and "Info windows" for previewing details about locations on maps.[16] As of 2024, this feature had been removed (likely several years prior).
On November 28, 2007, Google Maps for Mobile 2.0 was released.[17][18][19] It featured a beta version of a "My Location" feature, which uses the GPS / Assisted GPS location of the mobile device, if available, supplemented by determining the nearest wireless networks and cell sites.[18][19] The software looks up the location of the cell site using a database of known wireless networks and sites.[20][21] By triangulating the different signal strengths from cell transmitters and then using their location property (retrieved from the database), My Location determines the user's current location.[22]
On September 23, 2008, coinciding with the announcement of the first commercial Android device, Google announced that a Google Maps app had been released for its Android operating system.[23][24]
In October 2009, Google replaced Tele Atlas as their primary supplier of geospatial data in the US version of Maps and used their own data.[25]
On April 19, 2011, Map Maker was added to the American version of Google Maps, allowing any viewer to edit and add changes to Google Maps. This provides Google with local map updates almost in real-time instead of waiting for digital map data companies to release more infrequent updates.
On January 31, 2012, Google, due to offering its Maps for free, was found guilty of abusing the dominant position of its Google Maps application and ordered by a court to pay a fine and damages to Bottin Cartographer, a French mapping company.[26] This ruling was overturned on appeal.[27]
In June 2012, Google started mapping the UK's rivers and canals in partnership with the Canal and River Trust. The company has stated that "it would update the program during the year to allow users to plan trips which include locks, bridges and towpaths along the 2,000 miles of river paths in the UK."[28]
In December 2012, the Google Maps application was separately made available in the App Store, after Apple removed it from its default installation of the mobile operating system version iOS 6 in September 2012.[29]
On January 29, 2013, Google Maps was updated to include a map of North Korea.[30] As of May 3, 2013[update], Google Maps recognizes Palestine as a country, instead of redirecting to the Palestinian territories.[31]
In August 2013, Google Maps removed the Wikipedia Layer, which provided links to Wikipedia content about locations shown in Google Maps using Wikipedia geocodes.[32]
On April 12, 2014, Google Maps was updated to reflect the annexation of Ukrainian Crimea by Russia. Crimea is shown as the Republic of Crimea in Russia and as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine. All other versions show a dotted disputed border.[33]
In April 2015, on a map near the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi, the imagery of the Android logo urinating on the Apple logo was added via Map Maker and appeared on Google Maps. The vandalism was soon removed and Google publicly apologized.[34] However, as a result, Google disabled user moderation on Map Maker, and on May 12, disabled editing worldwide until it could devise a new policy for approving edits and avoiding vandalism.[35]
On April 29, 2015, users of the classic Google Maps were forwarded to the new Google Maps with the option to be removed from the interface.[36]
On July 14, 2015, the Chinese name for Scarborough Shoal was removed after a petition from the Philippines was posted on Change.org.[37]
On June 27, 2016, Google rolled out new satellite imagery worldwide sourced from Landsat 8, comprising over 700 trillion pixels of new data.[38] In September 2016, Google Maps acquired mapping analytics startup Urban Engines.[39]
In 2016, the Government of South Korea offered Google conditional access to the country's geographic database – access that already allows indigenous Korean mapping providers high-detail maps. Google declined the offer, as it was unwilling to accept restrictions on reducing the quality around locations the South Korean Government felt were sensitive (see restrictions on geographic data in South Korea).[40]
On October 16, 2017, Google Maps was updated with accessible imagery of several planets and moons such as Titan, Mercury, and Venus, as well as direct access to imagery of the Moon and Mars.[41][42]
In May 2018, Google announced major changes to the API structure starting June 11, 2018. This change consolidated the 18 different endpoints into three services and merged the basic and premium plans into one pay-as-you-go plan.[43] This meant a 1400% price raise for users on the basic plan, with only six weeks of notice. This caused a harsh reaction within the developers community.[44] In June, Google postponed the change date to July 16, 2018.
In August 2018, Google Maps designed its overall view (when zoomed out completely) into a 3D globe dropping the Mercator projection that projected the planet onto a flat surface.[45]
In January 2019, Google Maps added speed trap and speed camera alerts as reported by other users.[46][47]
On October 17, 2019, Google Maps was updated to include incident reporting, resembling a functionality in Waze which was acquired by Google in 2013.[48]
In December 2019, Incognito mode was added, allowing users to enter destinations without saving entries to their Google accounts.[49]
In February 2020, Maps received a 15th anniversary redesign.[50] It notably added a brand-new app icon, which now resembles the original icon in 2005.
On September 23, 2020, Google announced a COVID-19 Layer update for Google maps, which is designed to offer a seven-day average data of the total COVID-19-positive cases per 100,000 people in the area selected on the map. It also features a label indicating the rise and fall in the number of cases.[51]
In January 2021, Google announced that it would be launching a new feature displaying COVID-19 vaccination sites.[52]
In January 2021, Google announced updates to the route planner that would accommodate drivers of electric vehicles. Routing would take into account the type of vehicle, vehicle status including current charge, and the locations of charging stations.[53]
In June 2022, Google Maps added a layer displaying air quality for certain countries.[54]
In September 2022, Google removed the COVID-19 Layer from Google Maps due to lack of usage of the feature.[55]
Perbanyak Foto Bisnis di Google Maps
Cara promosi di Google Maps bisa dilakukan dengan memperbanyak foto bisnis. Adanya foto bisa memudahkan Google mengindeks bisnis anda. Misalnya jika membuka bisnis cafe, maka saat pengguna mencari cafe terdekat akan muncul lokasi cafe anda di halaman hasil pencarian.
Oleh karena itu, pastikan menambah banyak foto seputar bisnis, misalnya foto menu yang disediakan, fasilitas, keadaan cafe, dan lain sebagainya. Usahakan juga mengunggah foto berkualitas yang bisa membuat calon konsumen tertarik. Sehingga semakin banyak foto yang diunggah, maka semakin besar peluang bisnis anda mudah ditemukan di Google.
Criticism and controversies
Klaim dan Verifikasi Bisnis yang Anda Miliki
Cara promosi di Google Maps bisa dilakukan dengan melakukan klaim bisnis terlebih dahulu. Adanya klaim dan verifikasi bisa dilakukan jika bisnis anda telah terdaftar di Google. Klaim dan verifikasi bertujuan untuk meyakinkan bahwa setiap informasi bisnis yang ditampilkan di Google Maps adalah bisnis anda.
Selain itu, cara ini juga bertujuan agar bisa mengelola bisnis lebih optimal. Klaim dan verifikasi bisnis bisa dilakukan dengan menuliskan nama bisnis di Google, selanjutnya akan muncul alamat bisnis anda di hasil pencarian. Setelah itu lanjutkan dengan memilih opsi “pemilik bisnis ini?,” lalu dilanjutkan dengan melakukan verifikasi.
Setelah melakukan klaim dan verifikasi bisnis, anda bisa melanjutkan dengan mengisi semua informasi terkait bisnis, mulai dari jam operasional hingga produk atau layanan yang dijual. Selain itu, jangan lupa menambahkan foto untuk menarik minat calon konsumen.
Daftarkan Bisnis di Google Bisnisku
Daftarkan bisnis di Google Bisnisku menjadi cara tepat untuk mempromosikan bisnis. Seperti diketahui, Google Bisnisku atau Google My Business merupakan alat gratis yang disediakan oleh Google untuk pemilik bisnis. Adanya alat ini bisa digunakan untuk mengelola informasi agar bisnis mudah ditemukan di hasil pencarian Google.
Daftar di Google Bisnisku menjadi cara tepat untuk mempromosikan bisnis di Google Maps. Hal ini karena setiap bisnis yang didaftarkan di Google Bisnisku akan lebih mudah ditemukan di Google Maps.
Saat mendaftarkan bisnis di Google Bisnisku, pastikan mengisi semua informasi yang diperlukan, seperti jam operasional, alamat website, dan lain sebagainya. Adanya informasi lengkap seputar bisnis bisa membuat bisnis terlihat profesional dan terpercaya.
Tambahkan Informasi Akurat
Cara promosi di Google Maps selanjutnya yaitu dengan menambahkan informasi akurat seputar bisnis. Informasi ini meliputi jam operasional, nomor telepon, situs web, fasilitas, dan menu produk atau layanan dari bisnis. Informasi akurat bisa memudahkan Google mengindeks bisnis anda, sehingga bisa muncul di halaman pertama hasil pencarian.
Selain itu, adanya informasi ini bisa memudahkan calon konsumen menemukan lokasi bisnis anda. Hal ini karena lokasi bisnis mudah ditemukan di halaman pencarian Google. Adanya informasi akurat juga memudahkan konsumen mengetahui apa saja produk atau layanan yang anda tawarkan.
Incorrect location naming
There are cases where Google Maps had added out-of-date neighborhood monikers. Thus, in Los Angeles, the name "Brooklyn Heights" was revived from its 1870s usage[143] and "Silver Lake Heights" from its 1920s usage,[144] or mistakenly renamed areas (in Detroit, the neighborhood "Fiskhorn" became "Fishkorn").[145] Because many companies utilize Google Maps data, these previously obscure or incorrect names then gain traction; the names are often used by realtors, hotels, food delivery sites, dating sites, and news organizations.
Google has said it created its maps from third-party data, public sources, satellites, and users, but many names used have not been connected to any official record.[143][145] According to a former Google Maps employee (who was not authorized to speak publicly), users can submit changes to Google Maps, but some submissions are ruled upon by people with little local knowledge of a place, such as contractors in India. Critics maintain that names likes "BoCoCa" (for the area in Brooklyn between Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens), are "just plain puzzling" or simply made up.[145] Some names used by Google have been traced to non-professionally made maps with typographical errors that survived on Google Maps.[145]
In 2005 the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) complained about the potential for terrorists to use the satellite images in planning attacks, with specific reference to the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor; however, the Australian Federal government did not support the organization's concern. At the time of the ANSTO complaint, Google had colored over some areas for security (mostly in the U.S.), such as the rooftop of the White House and several other Washington, D.C. buildings.[146][147][148]
In October 2010, Nicaraguan military commander Edén Pastora stationed Nicaraguan troops on the Isla Calero (in the delta of the San Juan River), justifying his action on the border delineation given by Google Maps. Google has since updated its data which it found to be incorrect.[149]
On January 27, 2014, documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA and the GCHQ intercepted Google Maps queries made on smartphones, and used them to locate the users making these queries. One leaked document, dating to 2008, stated that "[i]t effectively means that anyone using Google Maps on a smartphone is working in support of a GCHQ system."[150]
In May 2015, searches on Google Maps for offensive racial epithets for African Americans such as "nigger", "nigger king", and "nigger house" pointed the user to the White House; Google apologized for the incident.[151][152]
In December 2015, 3 Japanese netizens were charged with vandalism after they were found to have added an unrelated law firm's name as well as indecent names to locations such as "Nuclear test site" to the Atomic Bomb Dome and "Izumo Satya" to the Izumo Taisha.[153][154]
In February 2020, the artist Simon Weckert [155] used 99 cell phones to fake a Google Maps traffic jam.[156]
In September 2024, several schools in Taiwan and Hong Kong were altered to incorrect labels, such as "psychiatric hospitals" or "prisons". Initially, it was believed to be the result of hacker attacks. However, police later revealed that local students had carried out the prank. Google quickly corrected the mislabeled entries. Education officials in Taiwan and Hong Kong expressed concern over the incident.[157][158][159]
Discontinued features
Google Latitude was a feature that let users share their physical locations with other people. This service was based on Google Maps, specifically on mobile devices. There was an iGoogle widget for desktops and laptops as well.[176] Some concerns were expressed about the privacy issues raised by the use of the service.[177] On August 9, 2013, this service was discontinued,[178] and on March 22, 2017, Google incorporated the features from Latitude into the Google Maps app.[179]
In areas where Google Map Maker was available, for example, much of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe as well as the United States and Canada, anyone who logged into their Google account could directly improve the map by fixing incorrect driving directions, adding biking trails, or adding a missing building or road. General map errors in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United States could be reported using the Report a Problem link in Google Maps and would be updated by Google.[180] For areas where Google used Tele Atlas data, map errors could be reported using Tele Atlas map insight.[181]
If imagery was missing, outdated, misaligned, or generally incorrect, one could notify Google through their contact request form.[182]
In November 2016, Google announced the discontinuation of Google Map Maker as of March 2017.[183]
Google Maps is available as a mobile app for the Android and iOS mobile operating systems. The first mobile version of Google Maps (then known as Google Local for Mobile) was launched in beta in November 2005 for mobile platforms supporting J2ME.[191][192][193] It was released as Google Maps for Mobile in 2006.[194] In 2007 it came preloaded on the first iPhone in a deal with Apple.[195] A version specifically for Windows Mobile was released in February 2007[196] and the Symbian app was released in November 2007.[197]
Version 2.0 of Google Maps Mobile was announced at the end of 2007, with a stand out My Location feature to find the user's location using the cell towers, without needing GPS.[198][199][200] In September 2008, Google Maps was released for and preloaded on Google's own new platform Android.[201][202]
Up until iOS 6, the built-in maps application on the iOS operating system was powered by Google Maps. However, with the announcement of iOS 6 in June 2012, Apple announced that they had created their own Apple Maps mapping service,[203] which officially replaced Google Maps when iOS 6 was released on September 19, 2012.[204] However, at launch, Apple Maps received significant criticism from users due to inaccuracies, errors and bugs.[205][206] One day later, The Guardian reported that Google was preparing its own Google Maps app,[207] which was released on December 12, 2012.[208][209] Within two days, the application had been downloaded over ten million times.[210]
The Google Maps apps for iOS and Android have many of the same features, including turn-by-turn navigation, street view, and public transit information.[211][212] Turn-by-turn navigation was originally announced by Google as a separate beta testing app exclusive to Android 2.0 devices in October 2009.[213][214] The original standalone iOS version did not support the iPad,[212] but tablet support was added with version 2.0 in July 2013.[215] An update in June 2012 for Android devices added support for offline access to downloaded maps of certain regions,[216][217] a feature that was eventually released for iOS devices, and made more robust on Android, in May 2014.[218][219]
At the end of 2015 Google Maps announced its new offline functionality,[220] but with various limitations – downloaded area cannot exceed 120,000 square kilometers[221][222] and require a considerable amount of storage space.[223] In January 2017, Google added a feature exclusively to Android that will, in some U.S. cities, indicate the level of difficulty in finding available parking spots,[224] and on both Android and iOS, the app can, as of an April 2017 update, remember where users parked.[225][226] In August 2017, Google Maps for Android was updated with new functionality to actively help the user in finding parking lots and garages close to a destination.[227] In December 2017, Google added a new two-wheeler mode to its Android app, designed for users in India, allowing for more accessibility in traffic conditions.[228][229] In 2019 the Android version introduced the new feature called live view that allows to view directions directly on the road thanks to augmented reality.[230] Google Maps won the 2020 Webby Award for Best User Interface in the category Apps, Mobile & Voice.[231] In March 2021, Google added a feature in which users can draw missing roads.[232] In June 2022, Google implemented support for toll calculation. Both iOS and Android apps report how much the user has to pay in tolls when a route that includes toll roads is input. The feature is available for roads in the US, India, Japan and Indonesia with further expansion planned. As per reports the total number of toll roads covered in this phase is around 2000.[233]
USA Today welcomed the application back to iOS, saying: "The reemergence in the middle of the night of a Google Maps app for the iPhone is like the return of an old friend. Only your friend, who'd gone missing for three months, comes back looking better than ever."[234] Jason Parker of CNET, calling it "the king of maps", said, "With its iOS Maps app, Google sets the standard for what mobile navigation should be and more."[235] Bree Fowler of the Associated Press compared Google's and Apple's map applications, saying: "The one clear advantage that Apple has is style. Like Apple devices, the maps are clean and clear and have a fun, pretty element to them, especially in 3-D. But when it comes down to depth and information, Google still reigns superior and will no doubt be welcomed back by its fans."[236] Gizmodo gave it a ranking of 4.5 stars, stating: "Maps Done Right".[237] According to The New York Times, Google "admits that it's [iOS app is] even better than Google Maps for Android phones, which has accommodated its evolving feature set mainly by piling on menus".[238]
Google Maps' location tracking is regarded by some as a threat to users' privacy, with Dylan Tweney of VentureBeat writing in August 2014 that "Google is probably logging your location, step by step, via Google Maps", and linked users to Google's location history map, which "lets you see the path you've traced for any given day that your smartphone has been running Google Maps". Tweney then provided instructions on how to disable location history.[239] The history tracking was also noticed, and recommended disabled, by editors at CNET[240] and TechCrunch.[241] Additionally, Quartz reported in April 2014 that a "sneaky new privacy change" would have an effect on the majority of iOS users. The privacy change, an update to the Gmail iOS app that "now supports sign-in across Google iOS apps, including Maps, Drive, YouTube and Chrome", meant that Google would be able to identify users' actions across its different apps.[242]
The Android version of the app surpassed five billion installations in March 2019.[243] By November 2021, the Android app had surpassed 10 billion installations.[244]
Google Maps Go, a version of the app designed for lower-end devices, was released in beta in January 2018.[245] By September 2018, the app had over 10 million installations.[246]
Artistic and literary uses
The German "geo-novel" Senghor on the Rocks (2008) presents its story as a series of spreads showing a Google Maps location on the left and the story's text on the right. Annika Richterich explains that the "satellite pictures in Senghor on the Rocks illustrate the main character's travel through the West-African state of Senegal".[247]
Artists have used Google Street View in a range of ways. Emilio Vavarella's The Google Trilogy includes glitchy images and unintended portraits of the drivers of the Street View cars.[248] The Japanese band group inou used Google Street View backgrounds to make a music video for their song EYE.[249] The Canadian band Arcade Fire made a customized music video that used Street View to show the viewer their own childhood home.[250][251]
Links to related articles
