I don’t know how competitive the pricing is, but it is interesting how the comments go when Google does try and charge a high price for something over simply monetizing via advertising.
I wonder if the perception would be different if Google Maps were a standalone startup developing a world class mapping product. Where the common manta would be along the lines of double your pricing.
I think the problem is users don't want to pay and have their data scrutinized for ads. It would be like if you paid Facebook and still had your data going to many third parties.
I think Mapbox has a very different reputation for this reason (also they contribute back to OpenStreetMap).
Google doesn't store user data when you use the paid version of maps. For example when you call places API on the premium plan nothing is ever stored on Google's side after the query is made and results returned.
I wonder if the perception would be different if Google Maps were a standalone startup developing a world class mapping product. Where the common manta would be along the lines of double your pricing.
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