Google Maps strategy: its role for Google, growth bets and biggest risks

This prompt asks two related questions about Google Maps, as a product and as part of Google. ### Clarifying Questions - Does Google Maps mean only the consumer app, or also Google Maps Platform, the paid APIs developers build on? - Should Waze and Google's in-car navigation count as part of Maps here? - How far ahead should the opportunities and threats look: the next few years, or longer-term shifts such as self-driving cars? ### Part 1 — Why Google Maps exists Explain why Google Maps exists: which needs it meets for the people who use it, and why it matters to Google. ```hint Follow the intent and the data Think about how often what people search for has a place attached, and what Google would lose if another company owned the answer. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - The jobs Maps does for users, beyond turn-by-turn directions - Its strategic value to Google across Search, ads, data and platform reach - How it creates value for Google directly and indirectly ### Part 2 — Opportunities and threats What are the most important opportunities in front of Google Maps, and what threatens its position? ```hint Look past rival map apps Opportunities and threats can come from changes in where people start looking for places and in how they travel, not only from other navigation apps. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Opportunities that build on assets Maps already has, each with a path to value - Threats from competitors, user behavior, technology and regulation - A clear priority among them, with reasons ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A link from why Maps matters to Google to which opportunities it should pursue - Separate treatment of consumers, merchants and developers - Explicit criteria for ranking opportunities and threats, ending in a recommendation - Trade-offs such as monetization versus trust in the results - Metrics that would show whether the chosen bets are working ### Follow-up Questions - If you could fund only one opportunity next year, which would it be, and which metric would tell you it is working? - How should Maps respond if AI assistants become the place people start asking where to go? - What changes for Maps if most new cars ship with in-car software from a provider other than Google?