After exiting Microsoft Azure, Ola recently moved away from Google Maps and shifted to in-house Ola Maps. “We’ve been using Western apps to map India for too long, and they don’t understand our unique challenges: street names, urban changes, complex traffic, non-standard roads, etc,” posted Ola chief Bhavish Aggarwal on X.
Challenging Google Maps is not going to be a cakewalk for Ola. Launched in 2005, Google Maps handles over 50 million searches daily in India and provides directions for more than 2.5 billion kilometers every day.
On the other hand, tens of thousands of customers use Ola Maps daily on their scooters and the Ola Electric app for guided commutes around their cities. The platform handles over a million search queries every day for Ola Electric users.
Ola Maps is positioning itself as a cost-effective alternative to Google Maps, offering developers one year of free access to Ola Maps on Krutrim Cloud and over INR 100 crore in free credits. “The first year is free, and the pricing after the free period will be a fraction of existing products, roughly 70% cheaper and in ₹₹ not $$! (sic),” said Aggarwal.
Still in its early days, Ola Maps didn’t receive positive feedback on its first day. “This Ola Maps sucks. It’s raining heavily in Bombay. Had to book an auto. The map search bar kept on freezing. Got irritated and moved to Uber,” posted a user on X.
“Ola maps is why I ended up at the wrong location when I booked an Ola to my apartment even though there’s only one society in the whole world by that name,” posted another user.
Aggarwal is not the only one challenging Google Maps at the moment. Recently, ISRO chief S Somanath claimed that “ISRO’s Bhuvan is 10x better than Google Maps”.
More Than Just a Map
Google Maps is more than just a tool for navigation. It offers a wide range of features, including traffic updates, public transit information, business listings, and user reviews. It also includes advanced features like street view, 3D mapping, and indoor mapping for many locations globally.
On the other hand, Ola Maps’ upcoming features include street view, neural radiance fields (NERFs), indoor images, 3D maps, and drone maps. “We’re outperforming competitors on 📍 Location accuracy 🔍 Search accuracy ⏱️ Search latency 🚗 ETA accuracy,” claimed Aggarwal.
Google has introduced new features to Maps in India, including Lens in Maps and Live View walking navigation. With these features, users can see arrows, directions, and distance markers overlaid on the Maps screen, helping them quickly figure out which way to go.
The tech giant also introduced Address Descriptors on Google Maps to help users understand addresses better, in a way they are used to in real life.
Google is now experimenting with generative AI as well. Users can ask questions in natural language, such as “places with a vintage vibe in SF” or “activities for a rainy day”. The AI understands these queries and provides relevant suggestions based on the context.
Meanwhile, Google has also partnered with the Bengaluru traffic police to help optimise traffic light timings. The pilot resulted in nearly a 20% reduction in congestion across all intersections.
Advantage Ola?
Ola’s advantage lies in its data collection capabilities.
“Our AI-first data systems utilise real-time data from millions of vehicles using Ola Maps, a fleet of Ola S1s equipped with 360-degree cameras, open-source government data repositories, OpenStreetMap, partnerships, and proprietary sources to build essential map features such as roads, points of interest, street furniture, building geometry, and traffic signals,” said Ola in its blog post.
On the other hand, Google Maps relies on a vast array of data sources, including satellite imagery, Street View data collection, user contributions, government data, and over 1,000 third-party sources worldwide. In India, Google Maps has partnered with Tech Mahindra and Genesys International for the collection of street view data.
Customer Acquisition
Unlike Ola Maps, which is relatively new, Google Maps has an established customer base in India. It has partnered with local governments and public transport agencies to provide real-time updates on bus and train schedules, including partnerships with ONDC and Namma Yatri to integrate metro schedules and bookings.
Companies like NoBroker utilise Google Maps to provide detailed location information and match homeowners with potential buyers or renters.
However, Ola said that its Maps is not just for current needs but aims to build the cartographic infrastructure for future mobility innovations, including autonomous vehicles and drones. The team said that the journey began three years ago to revolutionise mobility through comprehensive and dynamic mapping solutions.
Aggarwal is planning to launch Ola Electric cars and intends to integrate Ola Maps into them. There’s a strong possibility that Ola is also working on autonomous cars similar to Tesla’s FSD.
