Maps, Maps, all the way
This is probably a right time to sit down and write about how mapping services are going to change your life, especially if you are living in developing or going to develop countries. In a few years, hopefully, this post wont have much relevance. GIS, GPS and LBS would probably already be a part of your life. This post is an Indian outlook to it.
Like I mentioned before, Local seems to be the buzz word in Indian internet industry. People have saturated or will saturate entertainment needs of the indian internet/mobile user. Wallpapers, ringtones, call tunes etc are already the biggest revenue generators for many companies and telcos.
Now infotainment is the in thing. And Maps will be an integral part of this industry. We already know onyomo does maps. Next, there are folks like routeguru and tolmolbol. While Tolmolbol will probably source their maps from Google, Routeguru, which gets it’s local and GIS data from Eicher, will probably use Eicher for rendering their maps as well. Routeguru is a very interesting routing service in that they use landmarks along the way to give you routes. Now, that is how Indians are used to driving directions. Burrp is another neatly done local’s site, and maps+burrp will be even better. Ilaaka doesnt deserve to be in this list, but what the heck, they show you a map too..from wikimapia.
The folks next in line are property services, of the likes of indiaproperty, 99acres etc. It will be a wonderful addon and a great service to folks looking to rent/buy real estate.
Certain other holiday/travel based sites show you maps too. Check out holidayiq for instance. Cleartrip is almost there with their “small world” service. The map is just too important there to be missing.
What do you think? GIS are here to stay? Or is it still too early to talk about it?
Related posts:
Internet is probably the only industry where a statement like – “So much has changed from last year” is correct anytime.
I do believe local and maps will be big in india, but the worry is internet penetration and the mental acceptance of online commerce among indians, which will be the major roadblock going forward
Sudhir's Random Thoughts
25 Jul 07 at 10:19 AM
you should check the site bharathrentals.com excellent integration of google maps for rental property in India
harinilimited
26 Jul 07 at 9:37 AM
thanks, harinilimited. Good start by bharatrentals. They need to tightly couple maps with the listings. See it as an attribute of a rental listing rather than a feature add to the website. I guess they are limited by the geocoding incapabilities.
shivku
26 Jul 07 at 11:29 PM
Sudhir, you are right. Considering we havent covered 25% of the broadband targer for 2007 and seeing what all happened to the I&B ministry and it’s head, it is a big concern..
shivku
26 Jul 07 at 11:30 PM
Real Estate Property Sites like 2letservice.com already use Google and Yahoo Maps, there is no need of reinventing the wheel in the name of innovation, and waste precious resources, though!
All sites needs to be careful in publishing maps, as the Govt. officials are watching
Webmaster
Real Estate Times
Anonymous
27 Jul 07 at 12:23 AM
Just saw a press release from HolidayIQ talking of 300 maps. Checked it out. They have integrated Yahoo Maps on the site. Looks like these maps have a lot of useful information. Google maps will probably take some time to get to this level of detail. What I like in HolidayIQ is that you can use these maps along with their user reviews and user photos.
CoorgKid
31 Aug 07 at 5:52 PM