Open World of Cartography from Overture Maps Foundation

Competition in the market of cartographic applications is reaching new heights, due to an ambitious joint project by Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and the mapping company TomTom. The recently released dataset holds the potential to empower third-party developers to create their own maps, making them strong competitors to Google Maps and Apple Maps.

A group of companies called the Overture Maps Foundation came together last year with a shared goal of making cartography more accessible to everyone. This week, they unveiled their first open map dataset, promising to revolutionize the approach to map building and navigation products creation.

This unique dataset comprises 59 million “points of interest,” such as restaurants, landmarks, and other places of interest. It also includes information about transportation networks and administrative boundaries, making it a valuable resource for developing various cartographic products.

“This release is a significant step in establishing a comprehensive, market-grade open map dataset for our constantly changing world,” said Mark Prylo, the Executive Director of Overture Maps Foundation.

“The Places dataset, in particular, represents a major, previously unavailable open dataset, with the potential to map everything from new businesses big and small to pop-up street markets located anywhere in the world”.

One of the key aspects of this project is to simplify and make cartographic app development more accessible to developers. Often, access to APIs of popular cartographic services, such as Google Maps, requires paid subscriptions, which complicates the work for developers. However, the Overture Maps Foundation provides an opportunity for third-party developers to create applications based on this data for free, expanding possibilities for developing new cartographic products.

An important advantage of the Overture Maps Foundation is that they are not limiting themselves to basic cartography functions; they plan to expand the dataset to include routing, navigation, and three-dimensional building data.

This project has the potential to transform the cartographic landscape, opening up new opportunities for developers and companies utilizing cartography in their activities.

And if you need assistance with managing locations on maps, consider reaching out to Getpin

24.07.202313.02.2024

RateMe: How to Overcome Fear of Negative Reviews

Why is working with reviews so important?

According to research,

38% do not leave feedback because they simply forget to do so in their free time,

20% said they would have left a review, but the business did not ask for it.

At the same time, 39% of users have not received a single review request in the last 5 years, but more than half are willing to share their experiences.*

On the other hand, 98% of consumers read reviews of local businesses.**

That is why we have created Getpin RateMe, a service that helps to generate more reviews and deal with negative feedback in a non-public way.

This is how it works:

Collecting feedback:

- The employee invites the client to leave feedback about the work or service using a QR code with a link to the RateMe page,
- Or remote communication via E-mail, SMS, chatbot, or Push notification from the business application.

The user is taken to the RateMe form with the opportunity to rate the experience from 1 to 5 stars.

Negative review scenario (1-3 stars)

In the case of a low rating, the user is redirected to a page with the option to leave a detailed review and contacts.

After that, the review is sent to the company’s personal account in the Getpin system.

Positive review scenario (4-5 stars)

In case of a positive rating, the user is offered to leave a review on Google Maps or Facebook by following the link.

Service benefits:

With Getpin RateMe, businesses get several unique benefits:

a convenient channel for collecting feedback in offline and online locations,
increase in the rating of locations and the number of reviews without reputational risks,
reduced processing time for negative reviews and the ability to solve the problem privately,
and as a result, an increase in traffic to online and offline locations.

Thanks to informative and positive reviews, customers are more likely to see your company in search results.

Keep in mind that the rating and consumer choice are influenced not only by the company’s reviews but also by the processing of responses and how the business responds to criticism or positive feedback.

*MOZ

** Brightlocal

13.07.202313.07.2023

Bard by Google is now available in Europe

Bard by Google is now available in Europe 🎉

After adding Korean and Japanese and launching in more than 180 countries at I/O 2023 in May, Bard now supports more than 40 languages, including German, Spanish, Polish, and Ukrainian.

Also, as of today, Google Bard is available in European countries and Brazil. The company says it “engaged with experts, policymakers and privacy regulators on this expansion”.

Google Bard not only became available in new regions, but also received the biggest update since launch. The search giant has given its AI the ability to speak, change pitch, record conversations, export code, and even use images as part of tooltips. This upgrade essentially gives the Bard both eyes and a tongue to communicate with.

Let’s take a closer look at what new features are now available in Google Bard.

👂 Listen to the answers

Users can now listen to Bard’s responses. This function is especially useful for correct pronunciation of words, listening to poems or scripts. Just enter your query and click the sound icon to hear Bard’s answers. This feature is available in over 40 languages.

🛠️ Easily customize Bard responses

It is now possible to customize the tone and style of Bard responses to better suit their needs. With options like simple, long, short, professional, or informal, users can choose the length or style of response they want. This feature is currently available in English and will soon expand to other languages.

✏️ Pin and rename conversations

In response to user feedback, Bard now allows you to pin and rename conversations for easy access. By pinning a conversation, users can return to their queries and ideas later. Options for pinning, renaming, and accessing recent conversations are available in the sidebar. This feature is available in over 40 languages.

🔢 Code export

Given the growing interest in using Bard for programming, the platform now enables users to export Python code to Replit, alongside Google Colab. This functionality empowers developers and programmers, boosting their productivity. The feature is available in more than 40 languages.

👫 Share answers with friends

Sharing the conversation and ideas with others is made easier with the ability to share a link in Bard. Users can easily share their chat with Bard, promoting collaboration and sharing creative ideas. This feature is supported in more than 40 languages.

🎑 Use images in your requests:

Bard integrates Google Lens capabilities, allowing users to upload images in requests. A user can send an image to the chatbot and ask it to be analyzed. Although this feature is currently only available in English, Bard plans to expand it to other languages soon.

Google’s Bard remains free for now.

Jack Krawczyk, Google’s product manager, said in an interview with the Deutsche Presse-Agentur news agency that all of Bard’s features will continue to be offered for free. “For now, our focus is on making Bard as useful as possible for users. That’s why we’re not focusing on monetization right now.”

So, now everyone can try the new generation search engine, Google’s Bard.