好英语网收费吓退谷歌地图用户
SAN FRANCISCO — When it comes to offering online maps to their users, some companies have been leaving Google Maps and setting out for less familiar territory.
旧金山——为用户提供在线地图服务时，有些公司放弃了谷歌地图，转而使用不那么为人所知的服务。
In the seven years since it was introduced, Google’s offering of street maps, satellite photos and street-level views has become the dominant player in the world of online mapping, displacing earlier entrants like AOL’s MapQuest. According to comScore, 71 percent of the 91.7 million people in the United States who looked at maps online in February used Google Maps.
谷歌提供的街道地图、卫星图片以及街景视图服务推出7年以来，已经成为网络地图领域的主导者，超越了诸如美国在线的MapQuest等业界前辈。根据互联网流量监测机构comScore的统计，2月份美国使用网络地图的9170万用户中，有71%的人用的是谷歌地图。
There are signs, however, that Google’s dominance is under assault — and the company’s own moves may have something to do with this.
然而，有迹象表明，谷歌的霸主地位已经面临挑战，并且这或许与谷歌自身的举动不无关系。
Many sites incorporate Google Maps into their own pages, whether to pinpoint real estate listings or pothole problems. Google was already charging the biggest users of the service fees that could run into six figures a year. But last October it announced that it would start charging smaller Web sites when their users started generating an average of 25,000 map views a day over a quarter. Many independent Web developers, upon whom Google relies to make its products popular, rebelled at the change.
不管是为了给给房地产名录还是洞穴探险问题标定位置，许多网站都会把谷歌地图内置到自己的页面。谷歌已经向大客户收取服务费用，每年可高达数十万美元。不过，去年10月谷歌宣布， 如果小网站一个季度的日均地图浏览量达到2.5万次，也要对其收费。许多独立的网络开发者对这一变化提出抗议，而谷歌的产品恰恰是依靠他们才变得众所周知的。
“If you are a site just looking to put a pizzeria on a map, it’s no big deal, but if you are trying to put a brand around your mapping, it’s a big deal,” said James Fee, chief evangelist at WeoGeo, which provides location data. “Google says it will affect a very small number of users, but I have heard it will touch 30 or 40 percent of people who really depend on maps for their business. It could cost you tens of thousands of dollars a month.”
提供地理位置数据的网站WeoGeo的首席布道官詹姆斯·费（James Fee）说：“如果你的网站只是想在地图上标出一家披萨店的位置，那就没什么大不了的；但假如你想围绕地图服务建立起自己的品牌，就很要紧了。谷歌说收费只会影响很少的用户，但据我所知，这会影响30%到40%真正依靠地图服务开展业务的用户。你会因此每月花费几万美元。”
In late February, Foursquare, the social media location service, said that on its Web site it would move from Google Maps to data from OpenStreetMap, a user-contributed map service that is created and managed much like Wikipedia. In a blog post, Foursquare said Google’s price increases had prompted the change.
2月底，基于地理位置的社交媒体网站Foursquare宣布其网站将放弃谷歌地图，转而采用来自开放地图（ OpenStreetMap）的数据。 开放地图是一家由用户提供内容的地图服务公司，其创办理念和管理方式都和维基百科很相似。Foursquare在一篇博客中透露，是谷歌的涨费举动促使他们作出改变。
Apple’s new version of its iPhoto application for the iPhone and the iPad also uses data from OpenStreetMap, though Apple uses many mapping sources, particularly Google, in its other products. Nestoria, a real estate search engine, also said it was leaving Google for OpenStreetMap because of the prices.
苹果公司iPhone和iPad中的新版iPhoto应用也使用了开放地图的数据，但在其他产品中使用了许多地图资源，特别是谷歌的。房产搜索引擎Nestoria也表示，由于价格原因，它会使用开放地图而放弃谷歌。
According to comScore, OpenStreetMap itself still has a minuscule amount of Web traffic. Google Maps had 65 million users in February, a 16 percent increase from a year earlier. MapQuest had 35 million, a 13 percent drop. Microsoft’s Bing Maps came in third with nine million users, an 18 percent gain.
根据comScore的数据，开放地图自身的网络流量极小。2月份，谷歌地图的用户量为6500万，比一年前同期增长16%；MapQuest用户量为3500万，同比下降13%；微软的必应地图增长了18%，以900万的用户数量排名第三。
Still, having companies like Foursquare involved appears to be improving the quality of OpenStreetMap, as contributors of map data become energized. “We’re getting a lot of attention from this,” said Steve Coast, the founder of OpenStreetMap, who said the organization had 500,000 registered users.
不过，由于地理位置数据贡献者的积极性被调动了起来，因此对开放地图来说，与Foursquare这样的公司合作将提升它的服务品质。该公司创始人史蒂夫·科斯特（Steve Coast）说：“我们从合作当中获得了许多关注。”据他介绍，开放地图已经有50万注册用户。
Mr. Coast still heads OpenStreetMap, but about 16 months ago he joined Microsoft, which appears to be backing OpenStreetMap to help it counter Google’s dominance. While he declined to talk about his work at Bing Maps, people involved in the industry say he is building open-source software that would make it easier for developers to use OpenStreetMap. (Foursquare gets its maps through an intermediary called MapBox.) While Google has in the past donated money to OpenStreetMap for conferences and hardware, Microsoft has donated far more valuable map data to the project.
科斯特依然掌管着开放地图，但他于16个月前加盟了微软，后者似乎希望通过支持开放地图来对抗谷歌的统治地位。尽管他不愿谈论自己在必应地图的工作，但业内人士透露，科斯特正在设计一款开源软件，让开发者们更容易使用开放地图。（Foursquare通过一家名为MapBox的中间商使用开放地图。）尽管谷歌过去曾捐款给开放地图用于会议和硬件，但微软向该项目捐赠了有价值得多的地图数据。
Google appears to be fighting back. On Tuesday it will announce two new sites aimed at encouraging developers of all skill levels to use its maps for location services and mobile applications. One of the sites has easy-to-follow directions, while the other is a gallery of things people have built with Google Maps.
谷歌似乎也作出了反击。3月份，谷歌发布了两个新网站，希望鼓励不同水平的开发者继续使用谷歌地图来开发地理位置服务和移动应用程序。其中一个网站提供了简单易用的指南，另一个网站展示了人们利用谷歌地图设计出的产品。
Google declined interviews about its maps. In an e-mail, a company spokesman, Sean Carlson, wrote that the pricing “is intended to encourage responsible use” of the map data, and “secure its long-term future while ensuring that the vast majority of developers are unaffected.” He added that traffic and the number of sites using Google Maps had continued to grow since the pricing was announced.
谷歌拒绝就其地图服务问题接受采访。在一份电子邮件中，谷歌发言人肖恩·卡尔森（Sean Carlson）表示，收费是为了“鼓励人们负责任地使用”地图数据，并“在保证大多数开发者不会受到影响的同时，保障这项服务的长远未来”。他还补充道，在收费举措公布之后，谷歌地图的流量和使用它的网站数量仍在继续增长。
Google has worries besides price rebellions and open-source alternatives. As more people use the Internet via mobile devices, location services have become critical for many of the Internet’s biggest companies, and all of the major players are pouring more resources into maps.
除了收费措施遭到抵制以及开源地图带来的威胁之外，谷歌还有其他担忧。随着越来越多的人使用移动设备上网，地理位置服务已经成为许多大型互联网公司的关键，而且所有业界巨头都在向地图服务投入更多资源。
In January, 52 million people accessed maps on their smartphones, an increase of 67 percent from a year earlier, according to comScore. Google was the dominant player, with a 67 percent share, but the market is still young. Even Foursquare is still using Google in its mobile applications, though a company executive said this could change.
根据ComStore的数据，1月份，有5200万用户在自己的智能手机上使用了地图，比去年同期增长67%。谷歌以67%的份额一家独大，但这一市场还很年轻。Foursquare仍然在其移动应用程序上使谷歌地图，但公司一位高管表示这种情况可能会发生变化。
Google has moved beyond basic driving directions to mapping the insides of shopping malls and airports. Microsoft is creating maps that can tell you how tall a building is and whether the store on the ground floor has long lines, based on what people say on social networks.
谷歌已经不再仅仅提供基本的驾驶导航服务，还开始为购物中心和机场内部绘制地图。微软正在打造的地图服务甚至可以告诉你一栋大楼的高度，并根据人们在社交网络上的聊天信息来告诉你一楼的商店门口是否排起了长队。
“We’re getting to a point of location information everywhere,” said Stefan Weitz, a senior director at Microsoft’s Bing search business, which includes maps. “Where we’re going is about getting to better ways of describing the physical world,” with data from users and independent sources, he said. “Maps stay relatively static, and you have this ability to augment every place” with changing data about times and conditions, plus individual preferences, Mr. Weitz said.
微软必应搜索业务也包括地图服务。该业务高级主管史蒂芬·维茨（Stefan Weitz）说：“我们进入了一个位置信息无处不在的时代。”他认为，“我们的发展方向是”借助用户和独立资源提供的数据“更好地描绘现实世界”。“地图是相对静止的”，但你可以用不断化变化的时间和环境数据以及个人偏好设置“对任何地方进行补充”。
Nokia, which in 2008 paid $8.1 billion for a map company called Navteq, is working on map-based phone apps that tell you when to leave the house to catch your train. These could look at schedules, that day’s delays and your favorite walking route, then alert you a few minutes before you should leave. Microsoft has joined with Nokia on mobile apps and recently released tools for software developers to build mapping applications for its Windows 8 operating system.
2008年，诺基亚斥资81亿美元收购了地图公司Navteq。目前，诺基亚正在开发基于地图的手机应用程序，可以告诉你什么时候要离家去赶火车。这些应用程序会查看行程表、当天的晚点情况以及你喜好的路线，在你应该出发前的几分钟就会发出提醒。微软已经在移动应用领域与诺基亚联手，并在最近为软件开发者们推出了工具，以便他们为Windows8操作系统设计地图应用程序。
As Apple’s business increasingly revolves around the iPhone and iPad, however, it has made several map-related acquisitions, including Poly9, which made a small but powerful three-dimensional map of the Earth, and C3, for looking at city streets in 3-D. Another Apple acquisition, Placebase, had products for putting third-party data like restaurant ratings onto maps. Apple has yet to combine these services into a single product that could match many of Google’s capabilities.
虽然苹果的业务越来越围绕iPhone和iPad展开，但它也完成了几宗和地图业务有关的收购，其中包括Poly9公司和C3公司——前者开发了一个小型而又强大的地球3D地图，后者则能以3D模式查找城市街道。Placebase是苹果收购的另一个公司。它的产品可以把诸如饭店评分之类的第三方数据融进地图。但苹果还没有把这些服务整合为一款可与谷歌的一些功能相匹敌的独立产品。
Even a 42-year veteran of the commercial mapping business, Environmental Systems Research Institute, is getting into the game. Next month, E.S.R.I., which sells about $1.2 billion a year in map-making software to government agencies, retailers and utilities, will offer subscription-based access to maps submitted by customers. The idea is that outside developers will layer those maps with all kinds of new data for computers and mobile phones.
就连在商务地图领域有着42年历史的美国环境系统研究所也加入了这场角逐。该研究所每年向政府机构、零售商和公共事业部门出售总额为12亿美元的地图绘制软件，在4月份推出一项服务，向订阅用户提供顾客提交的地图信息。他们希望外部开发者能把各种各样的新数据叠加进地图，从而为电脑和手机用户提供服务。
“There are hundreds of thousands of maps that people will put in there and share,” said Jack Dangermond, the founder and president of E.S.R.I., who admits it is a little odd to suddenly be cutting edge. “I’ve hacked away at this for years,” he says. “The Web is making it come alive. Cartography and geographic thinking are cool.”
该研究所的创始人兼总裁杰克·丹杰蒙德（Jack Dangermond）说：“人们将上传并分享成千上万份地图。”同时他也承认，突然身处行业前沿感觉有点古怪。他说：“我在这个行业很多年了。互联网让这一切焕发了生机。地图绘制和地理思维挺酷的。”