Google Local Failure Led to Google Maps Success

This case study examines how Brett Taylor turned an initial product failure into one of Google's most successful products, offering valuable lessons about product differentiation and innovation.

Situation

• Time period: Early 2000s (circa 2003)
• Context: Brett was a young associate product manager at Google, having recently proven himself on search indexing projects
• Opportunity: Marissa Meyer assigned Brett to lead Google Local, a strategic initiative to compete in local search
• Market landscape: Yellow Pages was still dominant for finding local businesses like plumbers or restaurants
• Challenge: Local business information wasn't well-represented on the internet, requiring both a technical and product solution
• Strategic importance: The product was given prominent placement with a link on the Google homepage

Actions

Initial Approach (Google Local)

• Created what Brett describes as "a me-too version of Yahoo Yellow Pages"
• Essentially grafted yellow pages search functionality on top of Google search
• Launched as both integrated search results and a standalone site at local.google.com
• Received prime placement with a link directly from the Google homepage

After Failure

• Faced a tough product review with Marissa Meyer and Larry Page
• Was given "another shot" to create a v2 of the product
• Fundamentally rethought the approach: "How can you make something that's much more compelling?"
• Identified the map visualization (previously licensed from MapQuest) as the weakest element
• Decided to "invert the hierarchy" and make the map the canvas of the experience
• Acquired Lars and Jens Rasmussen's Windows mapping technology
• Integrated multiple separate product categories: mapping, local search, and driving directions
• Later integrated satellite imagery from Keyhole (which became Google Earth)

Results

Short-term Impact

• Google Maps attracted 10 million users on its first day
• When satellite imagery was added, usage jumped to 90 million in a single day
• Created a viral moment with people wanting to see their homes from above
• Achieved cultural relevance, including being featured on Saturday Night Live

Long-term Impact

• Redefined the mapping industry
• Transformed Brett's career trajectory
• Established a new product category that combined previously separate functions
• Created an entirely new experience native to digital platforms

Key Lessons

1. Differentiation is essential: "Why use this instead of Yahoo Yellow Pages?" is a critical question. Simply digitizing an existing solution rarely creates compelling value.

2. Reimagine rather than replicate: "Disassembling the Lego set and reassembling it into something new rather than just digitizing what was there before" creates experiences that answer why users should give your product a chance.

3. Build for the medium: Google Maps succeeded because it was "native to the platform in a way that a paper map couldn't be," leveraging the unique capabilities of digital technology.

4. Separate viral features from core value: Satellite imagery wasn't the most important part of Google Maps functionally, but it was "the sizzle to the steak" that created massive adoption.

5. Distinguish between adoption drivers and enduring value: "There's why you decide to use a product and then what is the enduring value, and those are deeply related but not all the same thing."

6. Failure can lead to breakthrough innovation: The initial failure forced a complete rethinking that led to a much more innovative and successful approach.

7. Integration can create new value: Combining previously separate product categories (mapping, local search, driving directions) created something greater than the sum of its parts.