AT GOOGLE ON ABC STREET

As expected, the content initially focused on Google Maps, Google+, Business View, and related topics.

The 15 participants started off with an engaging presentation by Jens Wille, CEO of Ubilabs in Hamburg, which regularly organizes the Google Business Breakfast.

For me personally, it was once again important to put the topic of Google’s infrastructure and thecurrent state of digital tourism marketing on the agenda. Time and again, we see the question “Is this your business?” on Google Places detail pages and Google+ profiles—so tourism service providers are urged to claim their “master data” in Google’s inventory system and maintain it carefully.

"The integration with Google+ was one of the key changes in the Google Maps relaunch a while back." — That's what Malte Will told us; he's in charge of "Maps for Business" at Google in Hamburg and was our host this morning.

Enriching social data at POIs is therefore a key added value of the new generation of maps. After all, map data can no longer be understood as merely two-dimensional: Google Glass represents the next evolutionary step in information delivery: “The journey is into space—not onto the map!”—as one participant put it. And: Technology is brought so close to people that it disappears.

Conclusion: It is not technology itself that is disappearing, but rather “the technical aspect.” On the contrary: the simplification of (search) processes, especially in the mobile context, could make us even more dependent than we already are.

So it might make sense to discuss the following question at DestinationCamp: "How will I survive in a strange city in a few years when my battery runs out?" ;-)

Finally, thanks again to Ubilabs for the great organization and to Google Hamburg for the delicious breakfast!