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?

There's some market predictions that do smell like self-fulfilling prophecies.

You know the phenomenon for sure: the rise and fall of UMTS, the number of mobile users and the quadzillions of advertising millions to be made on the web.

The latest and still perpetuing topic is Location Based Services (LBS), being trumpeted as the next big thing since 1997, the first year of LBS.

Groundhog Day? (The german version was "Und ewig grüßt das Murmeltier") A hilarious movie starring Bill Murray who finds himself being stuck in time. His day unfolds in exactly the same way while he is aware of the repetition, everyone else seems to be living February 2 exactly the same way and for the first time.

But this time, hey - for sure: 2008 could be the year of location based services without history repeating (see here, here or here).

Leave aside the professional trumpeters: there is noteable difference to all those years before. (BTW and credit, when credit is due: portions of this posting are derived and expanded from Rainer Simon's post.)

• the technological model is changing: functionality is moving out of the network
• number, type and adoption of location-aware devices is accelerating on a faster path than ever: Nokia alone pushes more GPS-enabled models on worldwide markets in 2008 than in all the recent years combined
• vehicle navigation is becoming a standard feature of new cars
• navigation jumps onto mobile, connected devices

Will location based services take off by the end of the year? Rainer Simon argues "the average LBS will never be able to reach a mass audience."

Ooops.

Should we cease operations at United Maps?

Think again.

The mass audience argument is a thing of the past. There is no more masses out there. As mass media are about to atomize themselves "mass as you know it" is an overcome concept. Not today, not tomorrow but on a foreseeable horizont. Not for all product types, markets, usecases. Fast moving consumer goods are there to stay - so don't get that wrong.

The question never was if LBS are to "reach a mass audience" because location based services inherently target an audience of one. You. Me. The guy trying to find out where to go. The tourist orienting herself in a city she has never been to. So stop thinking "mass", start understanding "long tail". Yes, the sexy little long tail thing that not too many people are able to put into ancient marketing models.

Utimately, we're not talking about a niche market (as opposed to "mass") but millions of niches.

Switching back to our shameless self-promotion: whoever does location based services needs better mapping, more detailed, more integrated and more navigational modes.

Here it is - Metacarta's revamped Geosearch News - a chip pass to all regional, local and hyperlocal content dealers offering news search by geography. Via Adena Schutzberg from AllPoints Blog, quote:

MetaCarta's "demo" provides what may be the best geographic search tool for the largest changing digital data database of unstructured content on the planet.

Play around with it - drilling deeper into the feeds gives a crisp foretaste on how location based media could work.