Google Latitude is a Marker to Consider

February 6, 2009 · Comments

cellphone The Official Google Mobile blog reports a new service: Google Latitude, which overlays Google maps with information about where your friends are, in real time. It’s opt-in, and there are privacy features already in place for it, so don’t get all crazy on us now. But I think this is a point in time to consider. I’ll explain in a moment.

First off, Google Latitude has the ability to spread ridiculously fast. In its mobile form (and that’s really the only version users should care about), they’ve got versions working for Android(naturally), Blackberry, Symbian S60, and Windows Mobile. Missing (and what the hell are you thinking?) is the iPhone version. It’s the right tool for our phones, and it’s a great tool for those of us who don’t have only two locations in our daily map: work, home.

map graphic And yes, for some of you (I’m looking at you, BrightKite), this announcement is a bit scary. If I’m a mobile map-like product, I’ve just been served notice.

But, where this gets interesting is that the applications between Google Local, with its voting features and its review features, and now with Google Latitude with the ability to annotate the world ( I’m a bit obsessed with the concept), we’re on to something. Do you see it?

Sidebar: If you haven’t read William Gibson’s Spook Country, now’s the time to pick that up. Laced into the plot are ideas for where this could be really interesting.

Data overlaying real space has been considered in many ways before. How could we put digital markers up? How will notation by friends (because really, throwing spammy ads all over a map just means I won’t read your map) change how I interact with businesses? When I get to Denver, will I check Latitude to see which of my friends has marked the map to where the best sushi is, the most fun of the three hotels over by the school?

That mix of local, of maps, and of annotation is powerful. Storytellers, marketers, journalists, and others who think about information as more than something to read while eating cereal, I’ve put you on alert.

Dream harder.

Want to see if it works for your phone yet? Go to http://google.com/latitude from your mobile device and see what happens. (This works on your desktop browser as well).

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  • Ok, one more posting on tips and tricks for Google Latitude from playing around with features and how it can work better for me
    http://planetlotus.org/44cb04
  • I knew it was only a matter of time before Google launched their own location sharing app. Its good and convenient! There are other location sharing apps out there but the main problem would be their take-up of users. Google already has a large customer base and it is a trusted source. Thumbs up for me!
  • N95 users, be wary: I and a few others have wound up with Symbian bricks that needed wiping after Latitude/Google Maps 3.0 hung in mid-install: http://tr.im/f7ve
  • I get it...what they are selling is the concept of instant engagement, or at least the chance for some friend of yours to buy you a free dessert :) This is HUGE though, b/c it's like a conversations map.

    It's a "jump to conclusions mat!'-Office Space
  • BrightKite still offers the ability to check-in via sms. Of course it isn't as easy as checking in from a laptop or iPhone, but it works. Latitude doesn't offer the simple text message check-in.
    I definitely agree, Google getting in the game is a big deal, but I don't see them killing off everything else yet.
  • Chris, I did a quick comparison chart for Latitude and Brightkite yesterday. Guess who wins? Not Latitude yet..

    http://planetlotus.org/438fb4
  • I think Google Latitude is just a sign, a symbol, too. But - in fact - it's so good for Social Influence Marketing, what do you think?
    A few reflections about this (partly inspired by your post) http://tinyurl.com/thehare
  • It's not just about where you are, but where you've been. That's the fun part. :)
  • Google Latitude: Cyber-stalking just got a little bit easier.
    --
    Aside from the fact you can track people down with this and use it as a big brother tool I think this is a very neat service because you can map out certain locations and landmarks as well as find out where your business partners are at.
  • It is not unusual for these types of companies to create these services. It makes complete sense. If you have a mobile phone, there is a good chance that they will do all they can do to keep up with the customers demands.
  • For the iPhone, Google Latitude is "coming soon." Blog about this again in a month or two to remind me? :)
  • Raul
    I see great possibility for this type of application. And, actually, I think the idea of knowing where my friends are is not really that valuable to me - perhaps if I lived in a high density location I would be interested just in case I am 25 feet from a friend and neither of us know it. I see a lot of potential applications of the concept in the relief and development non-profit sector and can also picture benefits from a commercial standpoint.

    Having said that, the latitude website has some issue and the software would not download to my Blackberry. Perhaps they have missed a few things?
  • Matt B
    I've always been a map junkie, and I find Latitude interesting (in theory at this point, because I have an iPhone).

    Some of the items Chris points out @ 2:21 AM can already be accomplished with your own Google maps.

    I'm curious to see where it goes (other than my wife wanting to track me) and I've begun playing to see what I might be able to fold into my daily activities.
  • Chris,

    I do not consider myself a futurist or an early adopter. My passion lies with First Use. I follow and think about new technologies and I can get excited over the capabilities. But for mass adoption it boils down to a simple question :

    Is a user willing to put in the effort to learn about this new technology and incorporate it in his current habits?

    The answer to this is that we need a whole lot of perceived value before this will happen. The examples you provide may become true at some point, but right now there isn't any clear indication that it will be the case. The market will decide. I write bout First use a lot, and didn't want to plug a post on it here, but this one fits the topic so to say.

    http://vanelsas.wordpress.com/2009/02/04/just-b...

    Sleep well :-)
  • One more thing: not everyone's a futurist, and that's okay. I make my money by figuring out the jump move instead of the obvious here and now.
  • @Alexander - 5 things you could do with this right now:

    * Sales team uses this to show positions at a larger event like CES in Las Vegas.
    * Nonprofit builds a map of elderly people who opt in for friendly companion visits.
    * Library uses it to annotate historical markers out in the public space.
    * Runners use it to mark favorite paths or trailheads.
    * Fundraisers or politicians use it to map out a campaign trail.

    I could keep listing these, but it's 2:23AM and it's your turn to stretch your head.
  • Chris, great post that got to the meat of the possibilities. What's really interesting is that the service was launched outside of any specific social network or platform, but tied specifically to Google IDs. This is a consistent and clear extension of their apparent business model of being the platform/tools that people use while online and, now, more importantly, mobile.

    Google wants people to integrate their tools into other services, create mashups, become the underlying mesh of a connected web. Why? Because they (a) collect tremendous amounts of information about who people are and what they do, and (b) gain more and more places to serve ads and transaction facilitation opportunities. Oh, and, what better way to jump beyond Facebook Connect than to put their OpenID status, Google Friend Connect and OpenSocial platform to a demonstrably/powerful good use?
  • Chris,
    Sorry but I do not see the advantages other than having another cool app on my mobile. I'm probably not being imaginative but there is no real value yet to be found. This technology has a "coolness" factor to it, but that will wear off as we start using this. Location Based services have been around for a long time. If we get past the "Hey I can watch my friends", or the idea that Retail can spam the hell out of me to bring me an offer when I walk by the store, we currently do not have a clue yet how to make this useful.
    As for your story telling or friends annotation example. That will surely be valuable to a specific group of people. But for mainstream users to start changing their daily habits and incorporate this service more value will have to be found.The First Use experience is simply not valuable enough at this point.
    We tend to get excited over new technology and Google releasing great things, but forget that the rest of the world doesn't care at this point. The simple question at this point would be if a user would be willing to pay to get access to such a service. I doubt it in its current form.
    This could be the start of something new, but that is up to the market to decide. For now, it is just another cool app.
  • iPhone and iPod touch devices (coming soon)

    I hope iPhone support for Latitude comes faster than Mac support for Chrome.
  • John Reddish Get Results
    Really neat - crisp. Am adding favorites now. Thanks, Chris, for the head's up on this. Very cool.
  • not sure how I feel about this yet, but it looks like I won't have a choice but to accept it. The world is getting smaller by the day.
  • I like the idea of Brightkite, but can't stand having to remember all the txt commands for every mobile app out there. Thus, this is perfect. I installed it on my N95 the first night it was available.

    Indeed, Brightkite/Plazes etc..., be on notice.
  • I agree completely. It's a fantastic piece of software - though I won't be using it locally right now I've been hankering for something like this for my travel blogging for a long time. Especially if you could pull a lat/long dump and then plot the path of your entire trip onto a map. Add in lat/long tagged photos/video/blog posts and you've really got an amazing experience that you can truly share!

    Also, I think it has amazing implications for news media. With local newspapers in trouble - this poses interesting possibilities.
  • Nice work. Watch out Brightkite. As a Palm user, this is "useless" to a point. But hey, hope everyone else with a phone that was developed post-1995 and is still being supported enjoys this.
  • I totally agree with you on this Chris!

    And yes, BrightKite, you may be finished - unless you got that BlackBerry app out yet!
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