Thread

1. pi-victor · 1790425525 · focus · HN ↗

   I think it bothers OP less that they take a 15% tax than the fact that google provides terrible support for their own play store. If they would take that tax and provide good feedback and speedy version reviews, nobody would ever complain - it is expected to pay something since the play store doesn't run on good thoughts and prayers. But because they're a monopoly (or a duopoly if you count apple, which is a different platform altogether) they can afford to act this way.

   1. indymike · 1790433318 · focus · HN ↗

      > it bothers OP less that they take a 15% tax than the fact that google provides terrible support for their own play store.

      The terrible support is really deeper than support. You literally stopped doing business here, because the lack of a feedback channel that allows Google to improve their business (i.e. realize they need a way to quickly correct stupid automated decisions) been Google's worst enemy and best friend. By ignoring support & feedback, the friction for internal decision making is low (no pesky customer demands, the product manager is king, management gets their way), but it leads to I think a lot of Google's products failing because they do not really understand their users, and the why behind the what they use.

      I'm not sure being a monopoly alone explains Google's behavior here, but it could be as simple as that: who cares about one small customer... it's not like they have a viable alternative.

      1. matsemann · 1790439299 · focus · HN ↗

         Yeah, I spend my free time making it accessible to bike in my area. Some of that is providing google with free street view data and other stuff. The amount of broken stuff and lack of support, when I'm literally giving them free work, is insane. I hate to do it, but the good outweighs the bad imo (I also provide it to open alternatives like OSM, Mapillary etc).

         Like, their pipeline has been broken for months. No way to contact them. There is a support page for the api, but they close all issues as "the api is working". Well, sure, you accept the street view so the api is technically working, but haven't processed any for months.. It's probably a different team, but no way they would bother talking to each other..

         1. hapless · 1790439969 · focus · HN ↗

            Specifically, no one will earn a promotion by talking to another team or improving customer service
         2. smnplk · 1790441775 · focus · HN ↗

            Just don't upload to Google. Their maps navigation is terrible anyway. Fuck them. But do continue to provide your valuable data to alt maps.
         3. nickserv · 1790442506 · focus · HN ↗

            Just don't upload to Google. They'll take the data from OSM anyway, after some time.

            1. matsemann · 1790494002 · focus · HN ↗

               It's sad, but I'd estimate 99.9% of the use of the images I've taken is through google street view, not alternatives. It's what people reach for when they're curious about conditions somewhere.
            2. Idesmi · 1790500221 · focus · HN ↗

               > OpenStreetMap is open data, licensed under the Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL) by the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF). In summary:

               >

               > You are free to copy, distribute, transmit and adapt our data, as long as you credit OpenStreetMap and its contributors. If you alter or build upon our data, you may distribute the result only under the same license.

               <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.openstreetmap.org&#x2F;copyright" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.openstreetmap.org&#x2F;copyright

               1. nickserv · 1790506532 · focus · HN ↗

                  There is quite a bit of evidence for edits made to OSM appearing on Google Maps shortly after.

                  I&#x27;ve personally noticed this for edits I&#x27;ve made to obscure, completely out of the way areas.

         4. dub4u · 1790461983 · focus · HN ↗

            Mapillary belongs to Meta, just FYI. Panoramax and Wiki Commons are free alternatives.

            1. matsemann · 1790493909 · focus · HN ↗

               Yup, but at least my uploads to Mapillary are creative commons licensed, so it&#x27;s currently the best way of distributing the terrabytes of images I&#x27;ve taken of paths. Unfortunately no Panoramax instance that accepts contributions from my area.
         5. [deleted] · 1790462106 · focus · HN ↗

            [deleted]

         6. sublinear · 1790462967 · focus · HN ↗

            Thank you for being a great example of how to handle this kind of situation and taking the time to explain your reasoning.

            You could have very easily chosen to be bitter, complain in an opaque manner, and do nothing, much like the siblings of this reply. You instead recognize that constructive action along with clear communication is the way.

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