Google May Regret Charging for Google Maps as Apple Walks

Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) plan to charge high-volume users of Google Maps may not have been the best idea, considering it may have prompted Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) decision to stop using Google Maps in its iPhoto app.

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Apple — which in the last three years has acquired mapping startups Placebase, C3 Technology and Poly9 – announced last week at the unveiling of its new iPad that it plans to eliminate its integration of Google Maps with iOS in favor of using its own software. The move may have been prompted by Google’s decision to charge high-volume developers for access, according to TechCrunch’s Josh Constine.

Early this month, in an effort to make Google Maps pay for itself, Google began charging anyone using more than 25,000 page loads a day $4, $8 or $10 for each 1,000 additional loads. Constine said the improving quality of open-source mapping platform OpenStreetMap may have made the move a bad choice. Both Apple and location check-in service Foursquare have switched to OpenStreetMap for apps due to the price difference.

The kicker is that, since OpenStreetMap users must add any changes they make to its data, the platform has the potential to become better than Google Maps. It seems logical to conclude that investors could persuade Yelp could be next  in line to jump ship.

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To contact the reporter on this story: Gina Smith at staff.writers@wallstcheatsheet.com

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Damien Hoffman at editors@wallstcheatsheet.com