Google Is Redrawing Detroit's Map

In the race to build in-car information systems, Google may be destined for the checkered flag for one simple reason: It has the killer map. 

At the International CES show last week, Google and several car makers, including General Motors, launched the Open Automotive Alliance. This is a plan to establish Google's Android operating system as a common platform for apps in the connected car. 

That opens a new front in Google's battle with Apple, which announced plans last year to integrate its devices into car makers' dashboard control panels, and Microsoft, which developed in-car voice-activated and touch-screen technologies with Ford Motor. 

Given rivals' earlier moves, Google could be seen as having a late start. But the open nature of Android has obvious appeal. The ability for a company to customize Android persuades even Google's rivals to use it; Amazon.com, for example, tweaked the software for its own Kindle reading device. Given vehicle development's long lead times, these are important considerations. 

More important may be Google's map expertise. Having sent cars with cameras all over the world to develop its Street View capabilities, the company has created maps that are extremely accurate and up to date where others aren't. Think of the apology Apple had to issue in 2012 following criticism of a new version of its own Maps app, which was designed to replace Google's. 

The popularity of Google's maps for devices running Android and Apple's iOS creates a network effect. The more people who use Google Maps, the more information Google has on factors such as traffic, and the more appealing the product becomes. Such was the logic behind Google's purchase of Waze, a real-time traffic-information app, last year.