Google Maps just fucking SUCKS now

[jakeroot]

Anyone else hear notice that satellite imagery on Google Maps is lower res these days?

Depends on the area.  Lots of imagery in my area is way clearer than it used to be.

[Rothman]

Anyone else hear notice that satellite imagery on Google Maps is lower res these days?

Depends on the area.  Lots of imagery in my area is way clearer than it used to be.

Some hasn't been updated in over a decade.

[jakeroot]

Anyone else hear notice that satellite imagery on Google Maps is lower res these days?

Depends on the area.  Lots of imagery in my area is way clearer than it used to be.

Some hasn't been updated in over a decade.

yeah, I don't understand how that happens. Parts of the UK have insanely old satellite imagery.

[ozarkman417]

It appears that Google Maps has changed it's logo, the occasion being the service's fifteenth anniversary.

[kphoger]

I don't think that sucks.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

yeah, I don't understand how that happens. Parts of the UK have insanely old satellite imagery.

Until recently the same was true for Teruel, Spain. The A-23 freeway was shown under construction, and in that area it has been open to traffic since October 2005 (not long after Google Maps was launched).

[kphoger]

Google Maps thinks there's a Jimmy John's restaurant here in a Mexican town 300 miles south of the border.  I've confirmed with people who live in town that there isn't a Jimmy John's there.  In fact, Jimmy John's doesn't even operate in Mexico at all.  I reported the issue on Google Maps by using the "does not exist" option.  For maybe one day, it was removed from the back, but then it popped back on there.  It's not like someone called the place of business to confirm or looked up their location online or anything, because it doesn't exist.

[TheGrassGuy]

Google Maps thinks there's a Jimmy John's restaurant here in a Mexican town 300 miles south of the border.  I've confirmed with people who live in town that there isn't a Jimmy John's there.  In fact, Jimmy John's doesn't even operate in Mexico at all.  I reported the issue on Google Maps by using the "does not exist" option.  For maybe one day, it was removed from the back, but then it popped back on there.  It's not like someone called the place of business to confirm or looked up their location online or anything, because it doesn't exist.

I reported it. Hopefully that helps.

[Mr. Matté]

Complaint about a sister project, DAE notice in Google Earth it seems that not all the tiles in your view properly load? See snippet below but if I were to zoom into one of the blurry areas, most of the area comes in nice and clean except again for a few tiles which are blurry.

[MNHighwayMan]

Complaint about a sister project, DAE notice in Google Earth it seems that not all the tiles in your view properly load? See snippet below but if I were to zoom into one of the blurry areas, most of the area comes in nice and clean except again for a few tiles which are blurry.

I've noticed this too. I think their data servers are having issues, since areas which are already in the cache don't have this problem.

[jakeroot]

yeah, I don't understand how that happens. Parts of the UK have insanely old satellite imagery.

Until recently the same was true for Teruel, Spain. The A-23 freeway was shown under construction, and in that area it has been open to traffic since October 2005 (not long after Google Maps was launched).

Wow, you're not kidding. I see a 10 year gap there on Google Earth. In my area, there's a gap between 1990 and 2002, with some pockets of imagery around 1998. At any rate, doing research on parcel history is difficult without those years. Since 2002, I've been seeing fairly regular satellite updates, though current imagery is only at 2018-May.

[jakeroot]

Complaint about a sister project, DAE notice in Google Earth it seems that not all the tiles in your view properly load? See snippet below but if I were to zoom into one of the blurry areas, most of the area comes in nice and clean except again for a few tiles which are blurry.

I've noticed this too. I think their data servers are having issues, since areas which are already in the cache don't have this problem.

Also here to confirm that I see this problem. Right as I'm doing some of the aforementioned (^^^^^^) historic parcel research.

[hotdogPi]

This is not a freeway.

[ErmineNotyours]

"Uh, I forgot to take the tarp off the camera when I recorded imagery."

"Don't worry.  We'll post it anyway.  No one will notice.

Edit: They've taken down the imagery.  Well, that's no fun.

[jakeroot]

"Uh, I forgot to take the tarp off the camera when I recorded imagery."

"Don't worry.  We'll post it anyway.  No one will notice.

Ahh yes, that early stuff truly had a lot of mistakes: tilted cameras, night photos, rainy photos, leaves on cameras, sun ruining the shot (overexposure), etc. These things still happen, just a lot less often it seems.

[webny99]

Am I seeing things, or did Google Maps get a new logo?

[DaBigE]

Am I seeing things, or did Google Maps get a new logo?

Yes, Google Maps got a new logo.

[CtrlAltDel]

Am I seeing things, or did Google Maps get a new logo?

It did, and what's amazing, at least to me, is that while I noticed the new one right away, I have absolutely no idea what the old one was.

[DaBigE]

Am I seeing things, or did Google Maps get a new logo?

It did, and what's amazing, at least to me, is that while I noticed the new one right away, I have absolutely no idea what the old one was.

Old vs New logo

[jakeroot]

Am I seeing things, or did Google Maps get a new logo?

Just a few posts up...

It appears that Google Maps has changed it's logo, the occasion being the service's fifteenth anniversary.

Am I seeing things, or did Google Maps get a new logo?

It did, and what's amazing, at least to me, is that while I noticed the new one right away, I have absolutely no idea what the old one was.

I always thought it was too busy, and certainly not memorable. I really like the new logo; a map pin seems completely logical.

[webny99]

Am I seeing things, or did Google Maps get a new logo?

It did, and what's amazing, at least to me, is that while I noticed the new one right away, I have absolutely no idea what the old one was.

You know, I did the exact same thing: noticed the new logo, and simultaneously completely blanked on what the old one looked like, despite having looked at it multiple times a day for the past few years. 

I wonder how long it will be before the Maps app changes as well. At least "busy" is OK for an app icon more so than the corner of a browser tab, so maybe the app icon will remain as-is for now.

[DaBigE]

Am I seeing things, or did Google Maps get a new logo?

It did, and what's amazing, at least to me, is that while I noticed the new one right away, I have absolutely no idea what the old one was.

You know, I did the exact same thing: noticed the new logo, and simultaneously completely blanked on what the old one looked like, despite having looked at it multiple times a day for the past few years. 

I wonder how long it will be before the Maps app changes as well. At least "busy" is OK for an app icon more so than the corner of a browser tab, so maybe the app icon will remain as-is for now.

It already has. My app icon changed with the last app update.

I'm hoping they update the 'View in Google Maps' button in Google Earth Pro to the new icon. I find that button and the Save Image to be difficult to remember which is which with how small they are on the screen and being right next to each other.

[Roadsguy]

I don't mind the new logo so much, aside from the fact that the Android app icon is now yet another for the "thing on a white circle" series.

[Dustin DeWinn]

My issue with Maps is that it's unreliable. It takes me on bullshit cockamamie routes and I will give 4 recent examples within the past 6 months. Each of these has been independently verified by others.

1) There are 2 Wal-Marts near me, and when I first moved to my new apartment, GMaps didn't know where it was. It brought me to some residential neighborhood about 7 miles in the other direction from where it actually is. Strangely, the Streetview image preview is correct. I rely on my car GPS (hasn't been updated since 2013 bc it's too expensive) to get me there.

When I got lost, I see an old dude walking his dog.

"Excuse me sir. I'm looking for -"
"- Walmart?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"You're the third person to ask me today. I don't know where it is."

2) I go to a job interview in an area unfamiliar to me. I'm talking to another applicant I'm competing with and asked if he had a hard time finding the place. He said yeah, and then described the exact route I was promoted to take.

3) I was making an errand towards an area I had never been in, and it took me on 4 cloverleafs all over the place before putting me back on the route I was on. Wasted about 2 miles for nothing.

4) I have it set to AVOID TOLLS and it took me on a toll road and then on an overpass and back the other way where I was before. By the time I realized what was happening it was too late. When I arrived at the place, someone was complaining about the same thing happening to them.

Google Maps is not fun to use anymore, and frankly, I think they know exactly what they're doing.

SIDE NOTE: Voice-to-text has gone from ~80% accuracy to ~20%. The sentence "I am serving chicken and eggs" comes out as "I am certain chicken end eggs"....You slow down. "I AM SER-VING" comes out as "I am Sir Ving"....not kidding you.

[kphoger]

2) I go to a job interview in an area unfamiliar to me. I'm talking to another applicant I'm competing with and asked if he had a hard time finding the place. He said yeah, and then described the exact route I was promoted to take.

3) I was making an errand towards an area I had never been in, and it took me on 4 cloverleafs all over the place before putting me back on the route I was on. Wasted about 2 miles for nothing.

4) I have it set to AVOID TOLLS and it took me on a toll road and then on an overpass and back the other way where I was before. By the time I realized what was happening it was too late. When I arrived at the place, someone was complaining about the same thing happening to them.

These instances sound like you need to put less blink trust in turn-by-turn sat-nav directions.  I've never put much stock in those being accurate, because they tend to get lane closures and restricted turns a lot–by overestimating usually.  If you're already using Google Maps, then start out by looking at the general route to follow, then you'll know better when it tells you to do some crazy route like what you've described.

Google Maps is not fun to use anymore, and frankly, I think they know exactly what they're doing.

What, exactly, are they doing?

SIDE NOTE: Voice-to-text has gone from ~80% accuracy to ~20%. The sentence "I am serving chicken and eggs" comes out as "I am certain chicken end eggs"....You slow down. "I AM SER-VING" comes out as "I am Sir Ving"....not kidding you.

The first one looks 80% accurate to me:  5 words correct out of 6 total.  The second one looks 100% accurate:  you slowed down enough to make the two syllables come out like two words, and it transcribed that as accurately as possible.