Google VS Microsoft
Yesterday, we brought forward a story that Google had begun redirecting all Maps requests from Windows Phones to its homepage without citing any reason other than the fact that the mobile version of Google maps was not intended for Internet Explorer’s web engine but only for Webkit. Following the outrage over the situation, Google has finally decided to remove the redirect and has provided the following statement explaining its decision.
We periodically test Google Maps compatibility with mobile browsers to make sure we deliver the best experience for those users.
In our last test, IE mobile still did not offer a good maps experience with no ability to pan or zoom and perform basic map functionality. As a result, we chose to continue to redirect IE mobile users to Google.com where they could at least make local searches. The Firefox mobile browser did offer a somewhat better user experience and that’s why there is no redirect for those users.
Recent improvements to IE mobile and Google Maps now deliver a better experience and we are currently working to remove the redirect. We will continue to test Google Maps compatibility with other mobile browsers to ensure the best possible experience for users.
Which is exactly in line with what we predicted earlier. Although we can’t be sure whether it was just a power play for Google to show Microsoft how much ground it holds in the mobile space, or was it simply a product decision. But we find that hard to believe as Google has never stopped interaction with its mobile services on other platforms with different browsers such as Opera on the iPad which is leggy as hell.
For now though, Google has decided to remove the redirect for Windows Phone users but providing native apps for Google’s services is still out of the question. It seems that this phase of the saga is over, but what remains to be seen is Microsoft’s response to Google’s Play. Till next time …
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