Google Maps
Hard to leave Stage 2
Google Maps is genuine infrastructure: excellent coverage, live traffic, transit, and reviews from hundreds of millions of people. It is also a local ads business, and new Gemini features route more decisions through Google. Saved places and default placement keep people in, but no recent extraction change is documented. Stage 2.
- Since
- 2005
- Function
- Mobility
- VC-backed
- No
- Public
- Since 2004 (NASDAQ: GOOGL)
Rating checklist
The stage follows from these criteria under the published method. Extraction and decline count only with a dated source from the last 3 years.
- Alignment 0 of 3
- None
- Lock-in 2 of 4
-
- L2 Data, library, or purchases
- L4 Gatekeeper or default
- Extraction 0 of 7
- None
- Decline 0 of 3
- None
Result: No extraction that meets the stage 3 test, and either some lock-in or no alignment criterion, so stage 2.
News signals
More in Mobility
-
Lyft
3US rideshare duopoly player; take rates, incentives, and driver dynamics mirror Uber’s two-sided squeeze with regional variation.
-
Transit
1Real-time public transit app from Montreal: core trip planning stays free, funded by an optional subscription and agency partnerships instead of ads or data sales.
-
Uber
3Two-sided marketplace that captures a large slice from riders and drivers; convenience for users exists, but the economic surplus flows to the platform and investors.
