The Google Maps Data API and Google Fusion API News
December 16, 2009 28 Comments
It seems like not a week goes by (heck sometimes an hour) without Google just dropping a bombshell. Well this time it is a combination of things.
First we’ve got new functionality in the Google Maps Data API. First off you can now perform geospatial and attribution queries on data stored on Google’s MyMap. Now of course this isn’t paleo-type spatial queries, just simple stuff that solve 80% of all queries you’d need to complete. Simple web apps need not fancy complicated APIs and clearly Google is the master of this. So upload your data into Google’s My Maps and then query it to display on a Google Maps application. Simple and sweet.
Second is an update to the Google Fusion Tables API. As the GeoChalkboard blog rightly points out:
Now, obviously Google Docs has been around awhile so uploading your spreadsheet data to this type of application is nothing new, but the compelling thing about Fusion Tables is its integration with the Google Maps API and Google Visualization API. Visualizations are also real time as Fusion Tables automatically updates data as it is updated or corrected. With the Fusion Tables API you can also update or query the database programmatically. Data can also be imported from various data sources including text files and relational database management systems.
The pieces are really coming together here. Not only can you load and work with data, but you can freely visualize it. And not only do it freely, but do it freely in a scalable environment. Let that all sink in for a moment. Google is enabling tools that we pay big money for with APIs that are so simple anyone can use them. Check and mate for some geospatial companies I think. Database + Visualization = GIS eh?
Too much information running through my brain…
About James Fee
So stick a fork into SimpleGeo and Cloudmade. At worst they have a much smaller pie to fight over.
Holy Schnikies.
Hey…do I *really* need ArcGIS Server and web tools to track [insert business process and program name here] on a map? What’s the cost comparison?
Oh, wait…ESRI just made me an offer of $57,000 for a full ELA-level suite of tools. Whew, that was close. I almost had to upset my 17 years of allegiance and managed to keep Google out for another round. Wouldn’t want to miss the ESRIfest in San Diego…
[[ ...if ESRI lets any of their customers stop and think long enough to understand what's happening out there, this will definitely have an impact on the Redlandians.]]
I can’t but help notice the juxtaposition of this blog post with the one from Geocommons on Planet Geospatial. I was looking at their stuff and I just don’t see how they can possibly be thinking that people will load their data into Geocommons when they can do so with Google Maps and display it on a map they create.
Storing points online and then throwing those on Google Maps isn’t a problem I think that needs to be solved now that Google has this stuff figured out. If I had funding (believe me I don’t), I could replicate 95% of what Geocommons does or at least what they blog about using Google’s APIs off the shelf.
I think your link to Paul’s blog post on the Google Borg is right, they will assimilate everything in their path. I just need to make sure I’m not paying for licenses or services that I could be getting for free from Google moving forward.
Interesting times James, for sure….
GeoCommons has a different goal than Google MyMaps. GeoCommons providers more ways to share and structure data – but also has a process for allowing people to combine multiple datasets, guided decisions on theming the visualization, and analysis.
We actually spend a lot of time making sure that data can flow through GeoCommons as easily as possible – both in via formats, API’s, adapters, and out to indexing engines like Google, Microsoft, GIS tools, and more. You can take any KML map from Maker and put it into Google MyMaps as well.
Developers and tools have been able to put points on maps for awhile. However there are definitely caveats, as matt points out below. Technical knowledge, development, maintenance, support. Just look at the large number of other very successful companies that build well crafted, supported tools that have free alternatives.
On our part, GeoCommons is a free public service for anyone to use so long as they keep their data and maps public and in the ‘commons’ – it’s not our “business”. We provide the platform, called GeoIQ, to companies and organizations that want to make use of their location-based data without having to learn GIS or have developers build and maintain internal solutions.
In the end what’s exciting is that there is a flourishing ecosystem of tools and open data that is being made available that will increase the demand and usability of geospatial tools. It’s moving beyond the traditional desktop providers and being made accessible to any type of user, from casual citizen, to government official, to business operator.
There is a wide range of uses, and lots of space for many tools and companies. Innovation and marketing from Google has actually made our job easier explaining to people the value of geospatial visualization and analysis.
(hugz to the geoweb!)
Andrew
I’ll gladly fund PhilipW with a case of beer if he can get 15,465 datasets with 180,411 attributes and a couple hundred million features into Gmaps data and generate some maps. Some of the data sets are 15,000 points plus or complex collections of geometries with global district level data, but I’m sure that will be cake for you. I’ll even leave you off the hook for doing statistical correlations, temporal differencing, temporal thematic animation, and making it all searchable, haverstable, consumable and federated. Pull off 25% of it and I’ll call you the Chuck Norris of the GeoWeb. When PhillipW does push ups he stays stationary and the GeoWeb moves.
Yeah it was board meeting day and I’m a bit ornery, besides Andrew already played nice cop.
Hey you guys know your business plan better than I. If you’ve got it all covered you and your board must be excited for the future.
I also don’t need to get all your datasets into Google. I could care less. I just need to get mine in there. You are approaching this from the wrong end.
Oops that would be AlbertW – my apologies I get all these anonymous blog posters confused.
Well, yes, that is the difference between building a one off and building a scalable product. I thought you were talking about having funding to duplicate GeoCommons – I must have totally misunderstood the post. Although if you need funding to do a Google Map mash up we are going to have to shift the title from Chuck Norris to this anonymous guy:
I’m a huge proponent of open source, but the more Google extends their APIs this way, the less incentive I have to build my own services. It is easier to let Google spend their money on it and give it away for free.
Now this is very simple stuff here, nothing fancy. But I have to question the need to spend money on Oracle Spatial or even Microsoft SQL Server Azure (yes I know it doesn’t do spatial). We’ll want to keep a close eye on this because all these new cloud based services are really going to have to either get out of the way of Google or get bought out.
The most disruptive force in GIS is the Google.
Call me less than impressed. I can’t see how I can use this with my every day work. It is just another mashup service like all these other weak Where 2.0 companies.
@ GISPro Re “I can’t see how I can use this with my every day work. It is just another mashup service like all these other weak Where 2.0 companies.”
You are either not trying are enough or just not looking further than the screen in front of you. The knocking on the door is getting louder by the week. Time to get on board or get left behind.
I understand not wanting to see the potential of what is going on here. A few years ago I felt much like you. Now I feel so short sighted.
Unless I’m missing something, Google maps is free only as long as it is on public facing, free to use sites. (section 9.1 of http://code.google.com/apis/maps/terms.html) From what I remember in our talks with them the enterprise license is quite substantial.
Matt, Google Enterprise licensing is expensive, but in the range of ESRI or Autodesk licensing. So even if you had to do this behind a firewall, you can for probably less than the cost you are now (ArcGIS Server + ArcGIS Desktop + Oracle).
Free facing sites like Geocommons or Cloudmade are destined to fail because they don’t expose their data enough in the Google ecosystem.
Albert -
Yes if you had to do this behind a firewall with The Google then it would be comparable to ESRI/AutoDesk in cost HOWEVER… you would defintely NOT get the same amount of tools and functionality at that price point for the two. Not even close.
Lets just say my company did this exact comparison and the price vs product was not even the same ballpark…
I must be missing something KevinS. What are you saying? The cost of Google behind firewall is on par with ESRI/AutoDesk, I got that. Who are you saying provides more tools and functionality for the price? Google or ESRI/AutoDesk?
Sees to me the big advantage of Google is that it is free (Go free as a business model!) However if I am going to pay the same price for Google as we do for ESRI I would prefer to stay within the ESRI ecosystem; if nothing else than the sense of familiarity. Beyond that ESRI has much better product support, access to developers, user conference, the list goes on. This is not to say in 5 years my answer will be the same but for now ESRI is a much more mature product suite.
@MTBMaven: I was saying for that price (or approx. equal in cost) you get A LOT more in terms of “bang for the buck” functionality with ESRI/AutoDesk then a Google solution.
We have met with both Google and we have been partners with ESRI for over 15 years. When Google gave us their Enterprise model pricing and what the functionality was that came with it I almost laughed myself out of the conference room.
Also – make sure you check the EULA for Google Maps as it is anything but free for anything but putting it on a public facing website that does not make money (thats in there). Once you see how much the transaction module costs then we can talk free….
Summary: I think you and I are on the same page – ESRI at that cost is the better option – if your gonna pay that kind of money I want control over my GIS and I want it to be able to do more then simply display some map tiles – heck the ESRI Javascript/Flex API can do that *with my own data or Bing’s!
regards,
Kevin
Wow the responses to this post are so different than those from the Google Maps Navigation for Android: But What About the Quality of the Map? post from 10/28. Much more supportive group of responders to this topic.
Sorry for the double post. Anyone know if you can obtain the lat/long of any location within a Street View image?
Why would anyone want to do this? I would like to crowdsource the creation of a street tree layer for our municipality. It would be killer if we could create content from a Street View image rather than from a 2D orthogonal map. We would not have to worry about tree canopy obscuring visibility of the base of the tree with Street View.
I think this would do it:
http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2009/11/mapsicle-10-annotating-street-view.html
Thanks AlbertW. Way to stay on top of things. I sent ProjectX, the developers of Mapsicle, and email inquiring more information. I will keep digging.
Not really sure if this is going to be possible. My knowledge of photogrammetry is a bit elementary. It seems as if the images in Street View are more or less dumb, flat, 2D images. By that I mean I am not sure if there is enough intelligence in the image to know that the distance from the camera to the edge of curb is any closer than the distance to a street light, tree, or building. I would think the location of the camera is know within 3D space (x,y,z). The distance, and therefore the offset x,y,z, from the camera to the flat 2D image could be calculated pretty easily. However the distance from the camera to a building or any other object in the photo? It is as if stereo pairs of the Street View images is needed. With 60% overlap of the images 3D capabilities (such as depth) become a possibility (or so I think, remember elementary photogrammetry knowledge).
Yeah, but can “the google” do this? >>
Sounds great, although I wonder if the current problems (at least here in the UK) over ownership/access to “derived” data displayed on GMaps will only be further exacerbated by the ability to mix in so many more datasets from different sources….
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I don’t really get paid to program with the Google Maps API, but my past experience persuaded my employer to let me build an app on it for our data’s public interface. I didn’t have the time or wage or previous knowledge to let me build in extra features (like MarkerManager).
I still haven’t learned MarkerManager (I really need to jump on this, it would improve my maps).
Google is just going too fast and I feel like I’m getting left behind. Maybe I should be spending less time uploading photos and more time coding to learn.
Trying to keep up with Google is impossible.
I say jump ahead, beat them to something and get your great head start.
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