Google Maps users in the UK, on Android devices, will get about forty venues at launch including transit stations, malls, airports. However, major airports like Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow are not included, perhaps due to privacy / security reasons? Google has also partnered with museums. In addition, Google has partnered with retail such as well known London department stores Harrods and Peter Jones; the question is, did these retail stores just sold their soul to Google by giving away their maps and data business intelligence and customers to Google? Or, is Google sharing data analytics and advertising revenue?
As we
reported in 2011, Google launched indoor maps and indoor location in the United States and Japan with 60 locations in the U.S. and about 50 Japan. Check our
report for the specific venues. To accelerate its indoor mapping efforts, Google is inviting business owners to upload a floor plan into the Google Map Service to add their venue in the list. A special Android app has been developed for business owners to help them calibrate the map against Google indoor geo-location technologie based on Wi-Fi signal triangulation.
