Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has included Lyft and Gett in Google maps as ride-hailing options.
The company’s idea is to introduce rich options for Google Map users who want to get from one point to the other. The company has also gone the extra mile and included the estimated charges for both Lyft and Gett in the cities where they operate in the US. The official Google Maps blog has also reported that the two services will be included for both Android OS and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iOS versions of Google Maps.
The inclusion of the two riding services increases the number of options that users can choose from aside from Uber which has been part of the service since 2014. The addition of Lyft and Gett brings the total number of ride-hailing service on Google Maps to nine in a total of 60 countries. The options available to users depend on the country or city where the user is located.
The ride-hailing services are straight forward in the sense that a taxi icon pops up next to the route selected by the user. Switching to the icon provides a list of taxi services that are available within the user’s location. Lyft and Gett are relatively young and are not available in many locations though they are working on the expansion of their services. Gett is currently exclusive to New York.
The fact that Maps offers price ranges for the services is a good from the company because it will provide users with a platform where they can compare the prices before making their pick. This is interesting considering that Uber had previously discouraged third-party apps from accessing its open software so that they could make price comparisons. This was considered as anti-competitive behavior from the ride-hailing company.
A spokesperson from Uber recently revealed that Google partnered with Uber so that the taxi hailing service’s restrictions for developers would not apply to Google. Either way, Google is achieving its aim of making Maps a more centralized and comprehensive app where users can access different services.
Alphabet closed out yesterday’s trading session at $ 802.84per share, down -0.64%.
