Originally launched in beta mode for a number of European countries last year, Google Maps has enabled biking directions for Germany, France, Poland, Ireland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. By working with partner organizations, as well as adding hundreds of kilometers of bike paths via Google Map Maker, Google Maps offers European cyclist a number of biking trails, lanes and recommended roads. A simple search for directions in Google Maps provides users with suitable bike routes along with time estimates that account for the type of road, terrain and course turns. Users can also switch over [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Android | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Google: Street View | Top News

Google Now for iOS and Android are almost identical in their look at feel. And aside from a few "cards," the same is true of their content. But, there are some differences behind the scenes worth noting: one of them is the fact that with its launch on iOS this morning, Google Now is available to roughly 2.5 times more people than it is on Android. Google Now for Android is only available on those devices that feature Jelly Bean 4.1 or 4.2 (4.3 is apparently coming). What that means as a practical matter is that fewer than 200 million people out of more than 750 million Android devices activ [...]

Related Topics: Apple | Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Google Now | Google: Mobile | Top News

The proposed terms of the Google antitrust settlement in Europe have started to come to light, first through a report in the Financial Times, and this weekend, in articles from the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. As anticipated, the primary "remedy" Google is offering involves labeling its own results to distinguish them from third-party publishers. Yet, there are some new twists and nuances that have not been discussed or disclosed before. They involve third-party enforcement and presentation of competitive links as alternatives to Google's own content. Apparently, the settle [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: AdSense | Google: Android | Google: Antitrust | Google: Critics | Google: Legal | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Outside US | Legal | Legal: Regulation | Top News

Those hoping for aggressive regulation or changes in the way Google conducts its search business in Europe will likely be disappointed. A new interview with EU Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia hints at settlement proposals and remedies now being considered in the Google antitrust case. And, they will probably look a lot like what came out of the FTC earlier this year. The interview, published in a New York Times article triggered by the filing of a new antitrust complaint over Android, offers some insights into the state of settlement negotiations between Europe and Google. The [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Antitrust | Google: Critics | Google: Legal | Google: Mobile | Google: Outside US | Legal | Legal: Regulation | Top News

Google has run up against some of India's restrictive laws in the past, most notably in the context of vague and expansive censorship rules for content and search results. A new episode involves a crowdsourced mapping contest run by the company to obtain data for Google Maps. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Google ran a "Mapathon" contest in February and March offering prizes in exchange for information about local places, facilities and businesses: The Internet company invited amateur mappers as well as mapping enthusiasts to add local information through its Google Map Make [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google | Google: Android | Google: Critics | Google: Legal | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Google: Outside US | Legal: Regulation

Yes, it is harder to find pages to iTunes apps in Google. But no, the company says, it's not part of some nefarious plot. Rather, Google's having technical problems gathering iTunes Preview pages, an issue it's working to solve. Google has confirmed the issue, saying: We've been having some issues fetching pages from the iTunes web servers, and as a result some people may have had problems finding iTunes apps in search easily. We're working with the team there to ensure search users can find what they're looking for. In particular, the head of Google's web spam team Matt Cutts, said on Tw [...]

Related Topics: Apple | Channel: Mobile | Features: Analysis | Google: Android | Google: Critics | Top News

As reported last week, Google has formally settled the so-called "WiSpy" case with 30 US state Attorneys General for $7 million. The agreement also contains some other non-monetary provisions that are, frankly, more meaningful. The investigation began in 2010 concerning unauthorized collection of private emails and other "payload" data by Google Street View vehicles. The US Federal Communications Commission concluded its own investigation of the affair with no finding of liability against Google. As mentioned, the $7 million settlement is insignificant for Google. However, the press rel [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Critics | Google: Legal | Google: SpyView | Google: Street View | Legal: Privacy

Google Operating System reports on a potentially new feature for Google Now (Android 4.1 and higher). None of us here could duplicate it. As described, it clusters users' search histories into topics that can easily be searched again (see image below "explore more"). I've noticed versions of this on my Android devices in the past. For example, I was looking for hotels in Montreal, Canada, and a Google Now card later encouraged me to search more for the same information. It's a "passive" way to get people to initiate more mobile search queries. Below is a topic image page (via GOS). Repor [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Mobile | Google: Web Search

Yesterday Google issued an update of its search app for Android. Among the modest changes were expanded Google Now content and functionality. For those devices running Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) or higher, which is now about 13.6 percent of handsets, Google Now now includes movie ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and movie passes from Fandango. (Apple's Siri recently added the ability to buy movie tickets through Fandango.) For those in the market for a home, real-estate listings from Zillow will now appear. College sports scores will soon show up as well. Finally, users can add a Google Now wi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Google Now | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Google: Web Search

In the roughly two years since Google launched flight search and hotel search, Kayak CEO Steve Hafner says, "We haven't seen any impact on our business." This statement, made in a CNBC interview, would appear to directly contradict the central claim of the lobbying group to which Kayak belongs, FairSearch.org. The central claim is that there's "growing evidence that Google is abusing its search monopoly to thwart competition." FairSearch says that Google's ability to "send traffic to its own [vertical] properties," such as flight search or hotel search, gives the company an unfair advantage [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Critics | Google: Legal | Legal: Regulation | Top News

If I were a betting person I'd say that the European Commission and FTC antitrust investigations against Google will wrap up without any major "structural" changes or dramatic new rules imposed on the company. Indeed there were premature reports that Google had already settled with the EU. An announcement of some sort is imminent I suspect. In the US a number of legal scholars (both independent and sponsored by Google) have come forward to argue that under the current antitrust framework Google would potentially win any case brought by the feds. In addition a new FTC nominee disfavors antit [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Antitrust | Google: Critics | Google: Legal | Legal: Regulation

Ubergizmo is reporting that Bing (not Google) will be the default search engine for the Amazon browser on the new Kindle tablets.  (We were able to confirm this with Microsoft directly earlier this evening.) The original Kindle Fire used Google. Amazon is likely to sell several million of these new devices given their aggressive pricing (partly subsidized by ads). If so, that could provide a boost to Bing, especially in a mobile/quasi-mobile context. There are several alternative browsers currently available for Kindle Fire/HD including Opera, Maxthon and Dolphin. I would anticipate tha [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Antitrust | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Microsoft: Bing | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing Mobile | Top News

Google Maps (and related data) continues to be strategic for the company. On Android Google Maps & Navigation are one of the big differentiators (at least until Q4) between the Google OS and iOS. Today Google announced several updates and upgrades for the public transit features on Maps (version 6.10). In addition, Google now reports that it has "schedules for more than one million public transit stops worldwide." With the new release of Maps for Android the company said it was making transit features easier to use: "You can select a specific mode of public transportation (train, [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile

Buried among the sexy hardware announcements and hair-raising Google Glass demo this morning were some fairly radical changes to the Google search experience for mobile devices. To date Google has been compensating for the awkwardness of the PC SERP on smartphones with voice search and other marginal "fixes." Today it took a potentially major step toward offering a distinct search experience designed specifically for mobile that may bury the "old" mobile SERP. The familiar smartphone mobile SERP is still there and probably will continue to be shown in a majority of cases. But these new e [...]

Related Topics: Apple: Siri | Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Google Now | Google: Mobile | Google: Voice Search | Top News

Google has revamped its format for AdWords that display within Maps for Mobile, in an effort to make them work more efficiently for smartphone users and advertisers. As a part of the new format, which will be made available to newer versions of Android phones today, calls to action like "get directions" and "click to call" are more prominent and clickable in more places. Additionally, a new "hyperlocal marker" shows the user how far the advertiser's business location is from where they are. Interestingly, clicking on the ad now takes the user to a framed version of the advertiser's w [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords | Google: Android | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile

I keep hearing people talking about Apple finally going "thermonuclear" on Google with the forthcoming iOS 6 mobile operating system. No, it hasn't. In fact, there are good reasons why it can't, though Apple is certainly exercising a much more subtle and smart containment strategy. Themonuclearly Renewing With Google The thermonuclear reference comes from the Steve Jobs biography written by Walter Isaacson, where Jobs was so upset about Google's Android operating system -- and the theft from Apple that he viewed it to be -- that he said to Issacson in early 2010: I’m going to destroy Andr [...]

Related Topics: Apple | Apple: Maps | Apple: Siri | Channel: Mobile | Features: Analysis | Google: Android | Google: Business Issues | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Top News

Ad network Chitika, which regularly publishes findings from activity on its network, has released some data that show owners of iPhones and iPads search more than Android owners. This is a bit counter-intuitive and unexpected, given how prominent search and the search box are on the homescreen of most Android handsets and how deeply integrated Google is into that experience. Chitika "looked at hundreds of millions of impressions between April 8 and 14 and broke down traffic depending on operating system, search traffic, and the type of search query." The company also broke out local searche [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Mobile | Google: Web Search | Search Engines: Maps & Local Search Engines | Search Engines: Mobile Search Engines | Stats: Search Behavior

Two articles appeared today that reflect on the first year of Larry Page's return to the CEO role at Google. Bloomberg's Brad Stone does a Q&A with Page in which he discusses the larger competitive challenges Google faces and some of his management philosophy. The other piece is from Wired writer Steven Levy and is a bit of a counterpoint to the mostly upbeat Bloomberg story. Stone declines to query Page about privacy, antitrust and Google's myriad problems with regulators and governments around the world. In his answers about a range of issues, Page is confident and seemingly reflectiv [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Antitrust | Google: Business Issues | Google: Employees | Google: Legal

We've heard rumors that Google was working on "augmented reality" eyeglasses that would display information relevant to wearers as they go through their daily routine. Now Google itself has confirmed this as Project Glass, complete with a video of what they might be able to do. The video is pretty cool. You see someone starting their day, getting information about subway closures, walking directions with heads-up display of turns to take, speaking to the glasses to make a reminder to buy concert tickets, speaking to take a picture, taking a phone call with video and more. Watch it yourself [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Glass | Google: Mobile | Top News

An analysis performed by UK publication The Guardian on court documents filed in the patent litigation between Google and Oracle suggests that Google has made less on Android handsets than from the iPhone. The court documents are part of a settlement proposal filed in the case. There's no overt discussion of revenues in the documents. Instead there are some potential damages figures from which The Guardian has extrapolated Google revenue numbers. NOTE: See our own follow-up analysis, No, Google Doesn’t Make Four Times More Off The iPhone Vs. Android The publication reports "Android genera [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Android | Google: Business Issues | Google: Legal | Google: Mobile