Map Of The Internet Exposes The Lie That 'Big Tech' Controls The Internet

from the it's-a-wide-wide-world-wide-web dept

To hear many people talk about things, the entire internet these days is controlled by just a few companies, mainly Google, Facebook, and Amazon. Depending on who you're talking to, you may hear them throw in companies like Netflix. But some of us keep pointing out that while those guys are big, that doesn't mean the rest of the internet stops existing. And it's still incredibly large. If you want this point really driven home, check out this amazing map of the 2021 internet by Martin Vargic (first spotted via Fast Company).

Here's a thumbnail version, but you really should go check out the full size version on Martin's website (or, better yet, buy some prints of the whole thing).

Just the fact that looking at this smaller version above it's nearly impossible to read what most of the "countries" are should give you just a taste of how vast the non-big-tech part of the world wide web really is. There's a lot of "land" out there that isn't controlled by the big players, and we should be celebrating that. On his website he's got a few zoomed in examples as well, including the part that is my favorite: "Protocol Ocean."

Now some may quibble with various aspects of this. It's based on Alexa data, which isn't the most reliable, and it's only covering web traffic, which likely misses a lot of activity that is purely mobile these days. But still, when laid out this way, you really begin to get a sense of the diversity of the web.

The other thing that really stands out for me is that this is an updated map by Vargic. He last produced a map of the internet in 2014 and it looks strikingly different. It seems like a strong visual reminder of just how much the internet keeps changing, even in the fairly short time frame of seven years.

There seems to be this belief among some that the internet has been more or less stuck in place since 2010 when Google, Facebook, and Amazon divided the land between them and wiped the rest of the web off the map. But that was never true, and these maps really drive that point home in a very visual manner.

For what it's worth, if you love getting lost looking at maps like I do, Vargic's entire page is fascinatingly full of maps he's created, many of which explore aspects of actual geography, and plenty of others (like the internet maps) that explore other concepts in map form.

Filed Under: competition, internet, map, martin vargic
Companies: amazon, facebook, google

Google Maps Exodus Continues As Wikipedia Mobile Apps Switch To OpenStreetMap

from the location,-location,-location dept

Last year, Google announced that it would begin charging high-volume users for access to its previously free Maps API. It seemed like an odd move. Jacking up the price on something, without actually offering anything new to entice customers to stay, only works if you have a total monopoly—and free competitor OpenStreetMap was already growing rapidly at the time.

Not long after the Google announcement, we reported that property search engine Nestoria was jumping ship to OpenStreetMap. Then, in March, news began to spread that Apple was making a strong push to move away from Google Maps data on the iOS platform. FourSquare also abruptly switched. Now the exodus is continuing, with Wikipedia announcing that the latest versions of its mobile apps for iOS and Android have also ditched Google Maps for OpenStreetMap:

Previous versions of our application used Google Maps for the nearby view. This has now been replaced with OpenStreetMap - an open and free source of Map Data that has been referred to as ‘Wikipedia for Maps.’ This closely aligns with our goal of making knowledge available in a free and open manner to everyone. This also means we no longer have to use proprietary Google APIs in our code, which helps it run on the millions of cheap Android handsets that are purely open source and do not have the proprietary Google applications.

One wonders how Google didn't see this coming—or if they did, what exactly their strategy is here. OpenStreetMap is gaining a lot of momentum, and in some areas even features much better data. The real lesson here is that there's never an incumbent that isn't at risk of being unseated, no matter how widespread the adoption of their product or service—especially if they make an anti-customer decision like Google when it put a price tag on Maps. The situation also points to the long-term strength of open solutions: while a crowdsourced system like OpenStreetMap never could have put together a global mapping product as quickly as Google did, over time it has become a serious competitor in terms of both quality and convenience. Indeed, none of the companies that have switched pointed to the price as their number one reason—potentially superior quality, and the desire to support open data, are generally listed as significant factors. Location-based tools are a rapidly growing field, and by failing to stay ahead of their more open competitors (while becoming less open themselves), Google may have sacrificed their role as a crucial engine driving such services.

Filed Under: crowdsourcing, location, map, mobile, open alternative
Companies: google, openstreetmap, wikipedia

AT&T Sues Verizon Over 'There's A Map For That' Ad Campaign

from the doesn't-like-the-maps dept

Recently, Verizon came up with a rather clever ad campaign, mocking the iPhone ads that claim "there's an app for that" with ads that showcase Verizon's wider 3G footprint, claiming "there's a map for that," and showing the two services' 3G coverage maps side by side: It does a nice job poking fun at one of AT&T's weaker points: its mobile network infrastructure. But apparently, AT&T is not happy with the ad campaign and has sued Verizon over those ads, claiming that it uses an unfair comparison. That's because the maps only show 3G coverage, and Verizon has significantly greater 3G coverage. However, AT&T feels that the map showing its coverage implies, falsely, that AT&T has no coverage outside of its 3G coverage areas. While you can see why AT&T would make this complaint, it does make you wonder if it's really worth the effort to sue. All it's really doing is attracting a lot more attention to the original ad, which does accurately state that it's talking about 3G coverage, not overall coverage, though you can see why some people might not realize that AT&T's network also includes non-3G areas.

Filed Under: advertising, lawsuit, map
Companies: at&t, verizon