The german newspaper FAZ has an original interview with Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google - quote:
FAZ: Google launched a combination of Google News with Google Earth to show local news on a map. Some of Germanys publisher are worried about that because they are doing just the same.
Eric Schmidt: We are always trying to look from the perspectives of the end-users and if they are served well, we are not looking at it from the publisher perspective. We are solving an end-user problem better than others and some are worried because we affect their business. But at the end of the day the end-user should get what they want. It is very hard to argue against end-user value.
So there is not too much doubt that mapping goes mainstream.
At United Maps, we are wondering if and when publishers will get that call to action: why should you hand over the last resort of local and regional competencies to the guys that already do the rest of your distribution?
