Podcast: Why Would a Hyperlocal News Site Drop Maps?

By Joe Francica and Adena Schutzberg
May 05, 2009

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This week we take a look at YourStreet, at one time a cutting edge hyper local site that tapped into key location technologies. Last week in an e-mail the company explained that due to cost it was dropping maps. The upside? Pages load faster. We'll think through the logic of this move and the future of hyperlocal news.

Show Notes

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No Subject (#1) by Archie Belaney, Grey Owl Analytics
Date: May 6, 2009 13:13 PM

IF the info is truly 'hyper local' then the average consumer probably doesn't need a map to get to where the info is pointing. Because they're probably already close by, and if they're close by, then for most folks they know the area pretty well.

IF the information is generated from maps, but sent as local addresses, that's probably good enough.

I like the idea of removing the mapping budget from an app that depends on geography to be successful. Removes the clutter from the requestor's answer.

kewl.

Podcast - YourStreets (#2) by Dennis Nazarenko, Cardinalus Corporate Consulting
Date: May 14, 2009 18:17 PM

A little late getting to this podcast but it is a fascinating discussion.

While the challenges for YourStreet may be deeper than simply the cost of the MetaCarta/Google functionality, their decision to drop mapping from their service should be a reminder that successful implementation of spatial technology in a business or service implicates it in the overall business model. It behooves those of us promoting the application of spatial technologies not to lose site of the business side of the equation.

loved this podcast (#3) by Darrin, Maponics
Date: August 21, 2009 16:57 PM

While you do a great job on all the podcasts, I really enjoyed the analysis on this one.

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