Skift Take
Location-based marketing is the future of the travel industry. The companies (like Google, Apple and Baidu) that control access to location data via map applications will hold a huge competitive advantage over competitors.
Maps and local business info are big business for today's digital marketing giants.
The ability for marketers to learn where people search, shop and spend money offers a competitive advantage and a huge potential source of advertising revenue. And it's only getting more important as travelers rely more on location-aware smartphones. One need only look at Apple's decision to replace Google Maps (despite the resulting product problems) with its own mapping product as an example how important controlling this information can be.
Amidst this growing competitive landscape of map products, Chinese search giant
