It makes no doubt today that Google Maps is the rising star of online maps provider. Even though Mapquest is still leader on the market, it doesn’t beat the search empire in terms of innovation and business opportunities.

Since I work for a company that builds its entire business assets on top of GoogleMaps (even though they can easily switch platforms), I was wondering how stable and secure was the Google Maps ecosystem. How risky is it to build a business on top of Google Maps? To explore this question, I will simply make a SWOT of Google Maps. At the end of this analysis, I hope to provide an educated response on the reliability of Google Maps.

Also, I will try to avoid talking about attributes that belong to Google in general, such as the company’s philosophy, their ability to hire talents, Adsense and so on.

Strengths
Google Maps is creating an unprecedented opportunity for local merchants to put their business on the map. As the mapping system keeps growing, it becomes a loss to omit listing your business on Google Maps. As this blogger testifies, a lot of people rely on Google geo-located business info to shop on a daily basis.

Google Maps is also part of a global innovative project that gathers Google Earth, Street View, Sketchup, Lively… It is much too soon to know if those products will become prevalent in the way we use the Web, but it sure makes the mapping product look much more compelling.

Opportunities
Since it is a geo-localization tool, it makes sense for the maps to be accessible via mobile. It also makes sense for the maps to know where you are by localizing your cell phone. Any mobile phone with a Web browser can access Google Maps, but the search company is also working deals with telephony providers to make Google Maps the map provider by default on mobile devices. Google Maps is also pushing its way in the CRM space by signing partnerships with giants like Oracle. This business development strategy ensures Google Maps’ vertical hold on the online map market.

Google Maps is also an opportunity in terms of SEO. The video below was found on Mattseo.com, and it shows a way to cheat the search results on Google Maps.

This shows that the search algorithm for geo-localized results are a bit candid, and now is the time for merciless SEO agencies to spam this whole thing out and abusively reach millions of location-seekers. That’s a great marketing opportunity.

Weaknesses
What appears to be a SEO opportunity turns out to be a weakness for Google’s business. First, a spammable engine doesn’t have any business value. Second, honest businesses can lose a lot because of this search weakness. On this forum, there is a great example of how this crack can harm a business. Basically, the story is about a flower shop in Denver. 95% of their customers are leads generated online. For ever, the flower shop showed up on top of Google SERPs. The owners invested a significant amount of money in Adsense campaigns to get there. One day, another florist randomly took pole position on the Google Maps SERPs, and our flower shop went bankrupt.

Not only can you game the system, but nobody will help the victims over at Google, simply because Google has never set up any user assistance service (aside from forums). For example, when you have a bug going on and related to the Google Maps’ API, it feels really shady to hear that Google’s not there to help.

Threats
Of course, for anybody considering building a business on top of Google Maps, the biggest threat is Google itself. As Andy Beal writes on this post, Google has a tendency to pull the rag from under API developers. MyMaps have provoked mixed reactions in the mapping community. By doing so, Google instates a feeling of mistrust: If your application works well and becomes very popular, expect Google to “me-to” you, but free.

Competing against Google is almost impossible. Almost. Here is the example of PlaceBase, a company that initially started as a white-label mapping business. A few months after PlaceBase launched, Google Maps entered the market, stealing PlaceBase’s thunder. Determined to succeed, the Founder of PlaceBase decided to focus on specific core competencies, and today his company is doing great.

Google Maps’ competition is a threat that is worth considering: EveryScape is a company that offers 360 views of stores’ interiors and exteriors, is frontally challenging Google Maps:

“I’m quite confident that if we have world coverage of interiors and exteriors, people will leave Google and come to us”, says EveryScape’s CEO.

If arrogance seems to be EveryScape main weapon to evangelize their product, the company succeeds to remind us that an innovative mapping product could show up at any time and steal Google Maps’ hype.

Conclusion:
Despite the proliferation of online maps, and the growing success of Google Maps in the mapping space, building a business on top of Google Maps remains very challenging, and requires strong entrepreneurial nerves. Google Maps is a fertile land, but it can also rise up from the ground and raze your business’ value proposition overnight.

The best approach to cope with Google’s schizophrenia is to focus on your existing customership and be the best at providing them with the tools they need to create maps. A giant is limited in speed. Be swift, lead innovation, and maybe take advantage of the few cracks in the system while it’s still there.

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