The Google Maps Engine Deprecation Timeline and Some Alternatives

A timeline of activity relating to the deprecation of Google Maps Engine and the subsequent interest from Esri and CartoDB.

Official announcement from Google on the Google Group Forum (Jan 20, 2015) – From the company, “Effective immediately, we will no longer be allowing new free sign-ups. However, your existing GME project will be available for use through January 29, 2016. The GME API will still be available throughout this time” Recall it was only in Dec. 2014 that Google also announced a similar fate for the Google Earth API

Recall, solution provider, Safe Software has solutions for customers of Google Maps Engine and Esri ArcGIS – keep an eye on them for updates and ideas! On Jan 20 the company offered up some fine suggestions for Google Maps Engine Alternatives

AppGeo, a Google solution provider and Google Geospatial Solution Partner, have provided some feedback and suggestions for those affected – See More

Google Earth blog – Recap of Google’s notice about Google Earth being Deprecated. They comment that… “The move should be seen as Google transitioning customers to already existing alternative products, especially Google My Maps (formerly Maps Engine Lite) which has come of age and now has most of the important features of Google Maps Engine.”

Esri Landing Page – “Google & Esri” and alternatives from Esri. From Esri and what this means… “Google and Esri are working closely together to provide replacement software and training to all of Google’s enterprise customers and partners that have implemented Google Earth Enterprise and Google Maps Engine technology. Esri will be providing the new 10.3 version of ArcGIS for Server and related client/app technology to all Google Earth Enterprise and Google Maps Engine customers and partners.” See more on the FAQ

Spatial IQ (Feb 4) – Google / Esri – What will this mean for You? SpatialIQ (New Zealand) provides a Q&A that examines some implications for customers. Particularly like this comment… “I suspect the biggest challenge will be battling the naïve expectation that Google content is free”. On the page a comment is provided by Jack Dangermond… “Moving over to our platform will require data and app migration, however because so many sites already maintain their data in our server the data part may be less than one might imagine. Also our partnership with Safe Software makes it strength forward.”

Why is this such a big deal?
Strategically, this is about mindshare. Google offers Esri a massive boost in mindshare outside the traditional GIS community – which has to be a good thing for GIS. That mindshare will likely translate into wider understanding of the critical importance of quality spatial information for decision support (Source: Spatial.IQ)

LinkedIn blog post, Andrew Zolnai (Feb 4, 2015) – Andrew’s recap of activity regarding the announcement

CartoBD (Feb 4) – The company announces a solution for CartoDB on the Google Platform via their blog – this appears to be a popular alternative suggested by the GeoGeeks!