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5 Observations from my Google Map Experience in India

On this recent trip (August 2013) to India my use of Google Maps was far more than any previous visits. In a funny quirky way I got into an auto-rickshaw and when I told the driver the destination, he turned to me and asked for directions. Apparently he was a migrant to the city and had not been driving the auto for long. Luckily I ad my smartphone with a local SIM and a data-plan and Google Maps. Subsequently I used Google Maps several times in India and here are my observations.

Local flavor of Google Map directions

  • The turn-by-turn directions are customized for the Indian roads where landmarks rather than road names are the most suitable. For example take a look at these directions from Ameerpet to Zonal Railway Institute in Maula Ali, Hyderabad. This mimics the real life directions you may receive from a passerby and Indian roads are not clearly labeled.
Best route calculation

  • Traffic is very bad during peak hours and Google's directions took me usually on roads with less traffic but I am not that familiar with the regular routes to say for sure that I saved time but it did feel like that.
Road conditions

  • I was a little disappointed by the Google Maps results for the journey from Bangalore to Kannur which gave me a travel time of about 6.5 hours. We made the journey in 12 hours. Even if you discount the fact that we made a lot of stopovers for food and rest room breaks, the roads are bad specially in the mountain sections on the journey and 6 hours is impossible to achieve. Google needs to somehow include the "Ghat" roads into the algorithm and calculate speed based on road conditions

Railroad Crossings
  • The same route from Ameerpet to Maula Ali in Hyderabad had two railroad crossings ( In India they are called "level crossings" which the directions did not tell me and we had to stop at one for a train to pass. I don't think this made a difference to the travel time  but would have loved to have a heads-up

Local Business
  • Google has competition from Just Dial, Ask Laila and others wh send you info on local business by SMS or you can call and ask a live perosn to help you find a business. These directories also come up high when you search for businesses. I did use Google Maps to search for restaurants, Shree Jewelers and a gift shop and was happy with the results. I hope to see more local business added when I visit India next.
have you used Google Maps in India ? What is your view?
Shashi Bellamkonda
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Shashi Bellamkonda

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Disclaimer: This blog post reflects my personal views only. AI tools may have been used for brevity, structure, or research support. Please independently verify any information before relying on it. This content does not represent the views of my employer, Infotech.com.

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