Google Maps is one of the company's most popular services, but when it comes to bringing in revenue, Maps is not pulling its weight.
That's by design — Google admits it has been slow to monetize the app.
"We take a long term view," Google CEO Sundar Pichai told a Wall Street analyst who inquired about potential plans to turn Maps into a more significant moneymaker during the company's Q1 earnings call on Thursday.
Pichai noted that Maps was still seeing strong user growth, even years after its initial launch, thanks to the spread of smartphones in emerging markets. Maps is "an integral" part of the mobile phone, he noted.
And with the rise of new technologies like augmented reality, which overlays digital images onto the real world, maps will play a bigger role, he said.
Read More HERE.
Source - Business Insider (Written by Alexei Oreskovic)