Google's MyMaps threatens, but won't destroy Platial

from VC Ratings by Joshua Jaffe

In the time honored tradition of Web 2.0, Google's launch of a new product last week prompted predictions of the imminent death of hundreds of startups offering a similar service. This time the culprit was Google's MyMaps, a personalized map making service for individuals.

The presumed victim was Platial, a startup backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, along with hundreds of less serious mashup tools. But, as has been seen previously in comparison shopping, social networking and vertical search, Google's entry into a new area isn't equivalent to a death knell for all startups that find themselves suddenly competing with the web giant.

Platial CEO Di-Ann Eisnor wrote last week that Google has indeed disrupted Platial's business but it was neither surprising nor devastating. That's because Platial can compete on features such as community, privacy and functionality.

And even if Google begins to dominate the market for personal online mapmaking, it will do so by expanding the number of people participating in it, which should compel companies such as Ask.com, Yahoo and MSN to begin to participate in it more deeply. This should only make the best online map startups more valuable.

For more on Google's MyMaps release, see: O'Reilly Radar Robert Scoble