Google Ventures and Uber together will make Google’s next generation location strategies more powerful and personal. With the stretch to autonomous or self-driving vehicles there may also be a link with Tesla sometime in the future. There’s also a potential link between users who want to get a better return out of their cars, and a future where sharing may also mean less driving. Uber is just one way the cost of car ownership might change. It’s also a great learning platform for Google. If they help Uber crunch data then we may see new forms of “driver certification”, insurance coverage, risk assessment, and service offerings. There may be other products too forthcoming. Example Trucks and truckers or challenges to Fedex and UPS.
Mobile taxi hailing service Uber got a new flood of cash from none else but Google. Actually, it was the search giant’s VC arm, Google Ventures, which invested in the company alongside TPG Capital. via Google Ventures invests $250 million in mobile taxi hailing service Uber.
It’s been just five years since Google announced it would begin manufacturing its own driverless cars, and just two-and-a-half years since those vehicles have hit the streets. But the company is already on its third car model, following the first-generation GX1000 two-seat “commuter” model and its followup GX2100 five-seat family sedan. via Dispatch From The Future: Uber To Purchase 2,500 Driverless Cars From Google | TechCrunch.
What’s the new strategy here? Understanding Mobility.
1. Relationship with Drivers before trips start. Future broker fast lanes? Traffic Management
2. Potential for identifying where drivers are most needed / wanted. Recruitment opportunities. Sharing Rides
3. Understand “service traffic/transport” versus “personal transport”. Risk factors, driver performance.Accreditation?
4. Start developing experimenting with API to integrate all transport services. Like Google Apps – save companies money.
5. A move to managing logistics? New Package delivery models?
Overall Google gets higher quality data. It moves one step closer to knowing where everything and everyone is and where they are traveling to. “Where do you want to go” takes on new meaning.