I guess I'll chime back in a bit regarding the topics daknife mentioned...
Specifically about posting businesses, I think I was clear that I don't believe every single business should be mapped. I don't think most should be mapped. I only think a few "landmark" businesses that are important to the community should be mapped. A lot of directions one gets from friends is something like "the second right after the Walgreens." Placing landmarks gives me a spatial concept of where I am as opposed to a bland grid of roads.
Specifically about a business model, I would think posting some businesses would not hurt Waze because landmarks are so very less visible than their flags for Dunkin Donuts and Ramada.
Finally, Waze itself already includes all the landmark types. Why would they be put in the list if they were not intended to encourage mapping such items? It seems really easy for Waze to just auto delete everything of a certain type or not display it if it is that big a deal.
It quickly is clear that POI Search is much better for some things because businesses change, close, move, etc. Upkeep of a huge number of landmarks would be a nightmare and would lead to a mess that would not be sustainable. Upkeep of some critical community-relevant and traveler-relevant landmarks of many types is not a problem from what I have seen. I also think it makes the map on the client so very much more useful and interesting. That should make Wazers more interested in using the app.
I'd like to point out that I do support any policy that is made clear. Once I saw Waze posting brands on the map, I wondered about this. On the other hand, debating an ephemeral notion to not landmark business based upon what a Champ may have heard from someone at Waze, but doesn't really speak directly about it, is not really doing service to those editors that care and trying to contribute ideas. I would rather such policy just be stated plainly with some explanation and rationale.daknife wrote: ...but on why so many locations should not be mapped the not advertising is a big one that I totally support.
Specifically about posting businesses, I think I was clear that I don't believe every single business should be mapped. I don't think most should be mapped. I only think a few "landmark" businesses that are important to the community should be mapped. A lot of directions one gets from friends is something like "the second right after the Walgreens." Placing landmarks gives me a spatial concept of where I am as opposed to a bland grid of roads.
Specifically about a business model, I would think posting some businesses would not hurt Waze because landmarks are so very less visible than their flags for Dunkin Donuts and Ramada.
Finally, Waze itself already includes all the landmark types. Why would they be put in the list if they were not intended to encourage mapping such items? It seems really easy for Waze to just auto delete everything of a certain type or not display it if it is that big a deal.
I'd like to correct that impression. I have made that consideration implicit in my comments. I don't like the map tiled with landmarks. I have seen local level-1 editors and some new AMs start adding every single business. I have seen people that own businesses get on mostly to put their business into Waze, like a bed and breakfast I saw once.daknife wrote: One other consideration vectorspace has not made. What happens when all those little landmarks start pressing together? They turn into one big blob of landmark, with names floating seemingly at random. Those of us who have edited for a while have seen areas where nearly everything is/was marked as you think it should be, and the landmarks are useless. ...
It quickly is clear that POI Search is much better for some things because businesses change, close, move, etc. Upkeep of a huge number of landmarks would be a nightmare and would lead to a mess that would not be sustainable. Upkeep of some critical community-relevant and traveler-relevant landmarks of many types is not a problem from what I have seen. I also think it makes the map on the client so very much more useful and interesting. That should make Wazers more interested in using the app.
Re: [USA] Landmark Guidelines - Request for Comments