Google Maps just fucking SUCKS now

[kkt]

The Red Outline for countries when you click them does not appear anymore. Normally this isn't a problem, but some of them have weird exclaves that are not easy to figure out. Especially when the country name doesn't always appear at the border

That might be why Google doesn't want to do it.  They don't want to be responsible if someone depends on that information for what jurisdiction they're in for laws, zoning, tax rates, etc., and it turns out it's wrong.

[ipeters61]

Does anybody else get a massive sidebar instead just a search box now?  I find it to be a huge waste of space.  My laptop doesn't have a high resolution display to support this.  I get that people are moving towards higher resolution displays (my monitors at work are 1080p and I don't mind it as much there), but my laptop which is only a few years old has a 1366x768...

[hotdogPi]

Just click the left arrow on the right of the sidebar and it will go away.

[MNHighwayMan]

Just click the left arrow on the right of the sidebar and it will go away.

It will, until you open Google Maps again. Seriously, why can't it remember that I want it closed? Why do I have to close it every single time I open a new Maps tab?

[Eth]

Just click the left arrow on the right of the sidebar and it will go away.

It will, until you open Google Maps again. Seriously, why can't it remember that I want it closed? Why do I have to close it every single time I open a new Maps tab?

Because, as was pointed out a few days ago, we aren't typical users. Most people opening Google Maps are actually looking for the things in that sidebar. It's annoying for us, yes, but unfortunately that's just how these things work. In my day job I'm a web developer, and we certainly try to optimize for the most popular workflows whenever possible.

[adventurernumber1]

Anybody know the average time between GSV "recording" a street they drove down and the time it takes them to add it to the website?  I got in front of those elusive cars not too long ago on a street that was last recorded in 2012.

From all my observations of doing street-view very often for almost a decade, I want to say that the typical time between the capture of imagery and the uploading of the imagery to street-view on the site usually hovers around the ballpark of half a year (several months).

[webny99]

Anybody know the average time between GSV "recording" a street they drove down and the time it takes them to add it to the website?  I got in front of those elusive cars not too long ago on a street that was last recorded in 2012.

From all my observations of doing street-view very often for almost a decade, I want to say that the typical time between the capture of imagery and the uploading of the imagery to street-view on the site usually hovers around the ballpark of half a year (several months).

That sounds about right. I've seen some from November 2017, but not any newer than that. Of course, winter isn't a good time for Street View around here, but there very easily could be more recent imagery in other areas of the country.

I also recall imagery from last summer being uploaded by around Thanksgiving, which tends to confirm the suggestion of a few months.

[J N Winkler]

I have 1920 x 1080 screen resolution on my primary laptop and I have little enthusiasm for the left sidebar.  I find myself clicking all the time to hide it so that the full map area is available for panning and zooming.  I have road-tested the search function and I can see how it would be useful for finding budget accommodation on the road, but unless I was down to the wire for overnight accommodation, I would still want to cross-reference with TripAdvisor.

The hotel search does update the results when the map is panned.  This is useful for large metro areas with tight lodging markets, like Chicago.  Booking.com has similar functionality but it is not as seamlessly integrated.

[LM117]

Anybody know the average time between GSV "recording" a street they drove down and the time it takes them to add it to the website?  I got in front of those elusive cars not too long ago on a street that was last recorded in 2012.

From all my observations of doing street-view very often for almost a decade, I want to say that the typical time between the capture of imagery and the uploading of the imagery to street-view on the site usually hovers around the ballpark of half a year (several months).

That sounds about right. I've seen some from November 2017, but not any newer than that. Of course, winter isn't a good time for Street View around here, but there very easily could be more recent imagery in other areas of the country.

I also recall imagery from last summer being uploaded by around Thanksgiving, which tends to confirm the suggestion of a few months.

A Google car came by my house in 2013 and the Streetview image still hasn't updated. The only Streetview image is from December 2007.

[jakeroot]

Just click the left arrow on the right of the sidebar and it will go away.

It will, until you open Google Maps again. Seriously, why can't it remember that I want it closed? Why do I have to close it every single time I open a new Maps tab?

Just hit the "HIDE" button in the bottom left, and it will stay hidden until you log out. If you're not logged in, I think it'll remember the setting through a cookie, but I'm not sure.

[ipeters61]

Just click the left arrow on the right of the sidebar and it will go away.

It will, until you open Google Maps again. Seriously, why can't it remember that I want it closed? Why do I have to close it every single time I open a new Maps tab?

Just hit the "HIDE" button in the bottom left, and it will stay hidden until you log out. If you're not logged in, I think it'll remember the setting through a cookie, but I'm not sure.

But I'd still like to have the search box.  That's the problem with this design.  Having a search box there was always helpful, but having that huge sidebar going along with it is just annoying.

[jakeroot]

Just click the left arrow on the right of the sidebar and it will go away.

It will, until you open Google Maps again. Seriously, why can't it remember that I want it closed? Why do I have to close it every single time I open a new Maps tab?

Just hit the "HIDE" button in the bottom left, and it will stay hidden until you log out. If you're not logged in, I think it'll remember the setting through a cookie, but I'm not sure.

But I'd still like to have the search box.  That's the problem with this design.  Having a search box there was always helpful, but having that huge sidebar going along with it is just annoying.

I'm not sure what you're talking about. Don't use the arrow pointing left in the top right of the sidebar. That just temporarily hides everything including the search box. Hitting the "HIDE" button in the bottom left permanently hides everything except the search box.

[adventurernumber1]

I just tried what jakeroot is talking about, and it works - at least until you "X" out of the tab. I clicked the "HIDE" button at the very bottom of the panel, and it got rid of it, but the search bar still existed.

That's really helpful. Thanks! 

[jakeroot]

I just tried what jakeroot is talking about, and it works - at least until you "X" out of the tab. I clicked the "HIDE" button at the very bottom of the panel, and it got rid of it, but the search bar still existed.

That's really helpful. Thanks! 

No problem. Are you logged in to Google? The sidebar has not come back on for me for several days since I turned it off, but I am always logged in.

[adventurernumber1]

I just tried what jakeroot is talking about, and it works - at least until you "X" out of the tab. I clicked the "HIDE" button at the very bottom of the panel, and it got rid of it, but the search bar still existed.

That's really helpful. Thanks! 

No problem. Are you logged in to Google? The sidebar has not come back on for me for several days since I turned it off, but I am always logged in.

I am logged into Google. That explains why the sidebar was still gone even after I had "X-ed" out of the tab then opened Google Maps back up. That really is useful. 

[ipeters61]

I just tried what jakeroot is talking about, and it works - at least until you "X" out of the tab. I clicked the "HIDE" button at the very bottom of the panel, and it got rid of it, but the search bar still existed.

That's really helpful. Thanks! 

No problem. Are you logged in to Google? The sidebar has not come back on for me for several days since I turned it off, but I am always logged in.

Ah okay.  Sorry, I was confused by what you meant when you described it the first time.  Thanks!

[jakeroot]

Ah okay.  Sorry, I was confused by what you meant when you described it the first time.  Thanks!

No worries.



It should be noted that, upon loading Google Maps for the first time, even being logged in, a small half-sidebar will open showing recent searches and nearby POIs, but this will disappear upon clicking or dragging anywhere on the map.

[vdeane]

Of course, that doesn't help those of us who do everything (beyond Gmail and YouTube subscriptions) in incognito mode in order to minimize the amount of "personalization" Google can do.  Maybe that's why they make changes like this (and YouTube's autoplay video) - to make doing so really really annoying.

[hotdogPi]

I have Google Maps in private browsing (the equivalent of incognito), but it's for a different purpose: so it doesn't clog my history.

[jakeroot]

I'm not getting into this again. Google's job is not to build their products around tin hat folks and those who need to keep their history clear. They're a company with their hands in just about every industry, and the products really only work well when it collects your information. If you don't like that, Google isn't your friend.

[vdeane]

I'm not getting into this again. Google's job is not to build their products around tin hat folks and those who need to keep their history clear. They're a company with with their hands in just about every industry, and the products really only work well when it collects your information. If you don't like that, Google isn't your friend.

It's "tin hat" to prioritize accurate results over Google trying to guess what you want?  When people/computers try to guess what I want, they usually guess wrong!  Unfortunately, it seems that the quality of Google's search results have been going down regardless, but no need to make it even worse.  I'm not typical in more ways than how I use Google Maps - I'd go so far as to say that smartphones were the worse thing to happen to the entire internet, since they brought the masses and a lot of dumbing down of all things computers with them.

Unfortunately, even though Google's paradigm is opposed to mine, they're still the best at everything they do by several orders of magnitude (only Apple and Amazon come close, at least in their spheres of influence, and I have issues with both of them too).

If I had the power to, I'd change things in the following ways:
-Keep roadgeek sites as they are
-Keep Linux as it is
-Keep the switch from Flash to HTML5
-Keep Chrome/Firefox/etc. as they are
-Roll back Google Maps to 2015 (not including data/street view)
-Roll back Gmail to 2012
-Roll back cell phones to 2005
-Roll back Google search to 2002
-Roll back everything else (Google's other products, Windows, etc.) to 2010

[jeffandnicole]

Of course, that doesn't help those of us who do everything (beyond Gmail and YouTube subscriptions) in incognito mode in order to minimize the amount of "personalization" Google can do.  Maybe that's why they make changes like this (and YouTube's autoplay video) - to make doing so really really annoying.

I think that in the grand scheme of things, people that use incognito mode or clear out their browser history on a daily or regular basis are the vast minority of users, and are accustomed to needing to reset things on a regular basis whether it be typing in usernames and passwords or refining the screen to what one likes.  Honestly, this is what people actually want when using those modes. 

If Google saved your screen preference history, it would immediately draw into question what other histories they are actually saving about you, even if you don't realize it.  Maybe you don't want Google to know where you live, but after a while it's figured it out enough where if you do trying searching for something, it'll discreetly mention the places near your home first if you don't specify a location.

[jakeroot]

If I had the power to, I'd change things in the following ways:
-Keep roadgeek sites as they are
-Keep Linux as it is
-Keep the switch from Flash to HTML5
-Keep Chrome/Firefox/etc. as they are
-Roll back Google Maps to 2015 (not including data/street view)
-Roll back Gmail to 2012
-Roll back cell phones to 2005
-Roll back Google search to 2002
-Roll back everything else (Google's other products, Windows, etc.) to 2010

How long would you keep those things rolled back?

My experience with letting Google assess my search results has been quite positive. The few ads I do see do seem decently relatable. Suggested videos in YouTube are always stuff I want to watch. Google Play Music is always suggesting new music, much of it stuff I don't mind at all.

[vdeane]

If Google saved your screen preference history, it would immediately draw into question what other histories they are actually saving about you, even if you don't realize it.  Maybe you don't want Google to know where you live, but after a while it's figured it out enough where if you do trying searching for something, it'll discreetly mention the places near your home first if you don't specify a location.

Or maybe they could keep it hidden by default instead of having it as a saved preference.  They already have my location through my ISP, and that one is actually useful.  I just don't need them saving every random town I've looked up due to a thread here, every hypothetical roadtrip (and revisions on real ones), etc.  The things I use incognito for tend to be things where I know full well that my use isn't typical and I don't need that screwing things up (also news sources that have paywalls once you hit a certain number of articles).  Also some force of habit, since I used to do a lot of things incognito because I was trying to keep Chrome's "new tab" page organized a certain way; ever since I bit the bullet and just set the sites I browse first thing as my home tabs, this isn't really necessary, but the habit has largely stuck.

How long would you keep those things rolled back?

Depends on whether the developers would resume on a path favoring desktop-using techies or the current one favoring smartphone-addicted masses.

My experience with letting Google assess my search results has been quite positive. The few ads I do see do seem decently relatable. Suggested videos in YouTube are always stuff I want to watch. Google Play Music is always suggesting new music, much of it stuff I don't mind at all.

I don't really pay attention to ads; actually, Google search ads are some of the few I actually see, since I use AdBlock Plus.  Most of my searches tend to vary from deep questions about society (that invariably Google manages to never find answers to, but sometimes it finds interesting stuff that's kinda to mostly related) to things like how to disable the bios write protect on my Chrombook so I can install Linux on it rather than buy a new (and expensive) laptop (or switch back to my 9 year old Windows 7 laptop for a while; I won't buy another Chromebook because the modern ones lack ethernet ports, which I use when visiting my parents (and some hotels, the rare ones that have ethernet at least) and because they only last 5 years before Google pulls the plug on software updates).  My suggested videos actually manage to be pretty decent, even though everything that isn't a subscription or something to be added to a playlist (which I really use as bookmark folders instead, so Google's latest changes here aren't sitting well with me either) is incognito.  Most of my remaining use is for music that I can't (or will but haven't yet) download on Amazon MP3.  Yep, I'm one of those people who still has an offline music collection, though it's mostly mp3 downloads rather than CDs now.

[kkt]

I'm not getting into this again. Google's job is not to build their products around tin hat folks and those who need to keep their history clear. They're a company with with their hands in just about every industry, and the products really only work well when it collects your information. If you don't like that, Google isn't your friend.

It's "tin hat" to prioritize accurate results over Google trying to guess what you want?  When people/computers try to guess what I want, they usually guess wrong!  Unfortunately, it seems that the quality of Google's search results have been going down regardless, but no need to make it even worse.  I'm not typical in more ways than how I use Google Maps - I'd go so far as to say that smartphones were the worse thing to happen to the entire internet, since they brought the masses and a lot of dumbing down of all things computers with them.

Unfortunately, even though Google's paradigm is opposed to mine, they're still the best at everything they do by several orders of magnitude (only Apple and Amazon come close, at least in their spheres of influence, and I have issues with both of them too).

If I had the power to, I'd change things in the following ways:
-Keep roadgeek sites as they are
-Keep Linux as it is
-Keep the switch from Flash to HTML5
-Keep Chrome/Firefox/etc. as they are
-Roll back Google Maps to 2015 (not including data/street view)
-Roll back Gmail to 2012
-Roll back cell phones to 2005
-Roll back Google search to 2002
-Roll back everything else (Google's other products, Windows, etc.) to 2010

I like it.   

Can we also roll back Microsoft Word to version 5?