A Google spokesperson explains:
Promoted pins in navigation are not new – they let people see relevant ads for businesses like gas stations, restaurants, and stores along their route. To avoid driver distraction, these ads do not pop up, expand only if they’re tapped on, and disappear quickly after a short time.
My question here is directed to other readers: I find the traffic layer in Gmaps to be my most used feature for local navigation. It’s the one feature I really do use every day before I drive home from work to decide which way I’m going to take to get home.
I see there are tutorials to define a map overlay in OsmAnd for traffic using Google’s API that are dated from a few years ago. Has anyone here successfully done this, and do these tutorials still work in 2024?
Unlikely. Google restricted their API access a few years ago.
It’s funny to me how everyone wants the product of the location reporting, but nobody wants to contribute to that data by reporting their location.
Right? I’m sort of bought into Google’s ecosystem at this point, so I understand my Devil’s Bargain. I pay for their services, and in return I expect not to be hassled with ads or penalized for suppressing them on devices I own. I use their services because it’s convenient for me today, but at this point I’ve diversified my online footprint so that I could feasibly walk away and do without the conveniences.
Sticking ads in my face in Nav mode would be a bridge too far, but we’re not there so it’s cool.
Of course they probably feel differently. That’s their problem.
This. I live in a busy city. I know several routes through and around it. I need the traffic data. I need it to tell me there is a wreck.
I don’t need to know (usually) how to get there.
This is the only question that really matters when it comes to these alternatives