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Online mapping services competition heating up China
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COMPETITION in China's online mapping services will heat up as Internet giants launch map applications and street view products to grab mobile Internet users.
Mapping services, especially on the mobile Internet, have become an important gateway to other search requests for nearby service providers such as restaurants, cafes, bars and stores, allowing them to offer cash coupons.
Tencent's mapping service was rebranded from Soso Map to Tencent Map in early December and said it already covers 100 cities.
Mapping services also are an important element for social media and e-commerce, as Tencent already allow users of its popular smart phone chatting tool WeChat to search for a nearby retail location from official merchants' accounts, such as convenience stores or bank outlets.
Baidu, China's largest search engine operator, also launched a similar service called Baidu Total View in August and now covers less than 10 cities.
Baidu's map application also connects with a number of external services such as group buying and movie tickets.
The number of average daily unique visitors of Internet mapping services grew 23.5 percent from a year ago to 57.8 million in the fourth quarter, research firm Analysys International said in a research report.
Tencent's street view program currently has more than 300 staff members with an annual investment of more than 100 million yuan (US$15.5 million) each year, according to a recent interview with Chinese tech blog iFanr.com.
Google Street View was rolled out in May 2007 but wasn't able to access locations on China's mainland as the US firm hasn't got the necessary license to operate mobile map services.
Analysys International researcher Yin Xuejing said that mobile mapping services still have limited ways of making profits and Internet giants are still in the early stage of exploring a feasible way to better connect mapping software with their existing services.
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