Google Maps has some serious competition coming its way. On June 11th, Apple announced that it will now offer its own mapping service on iOS. The new Apple Maps product will replace Google Maps, and opens up another avenue of direct competition between Apple and Google.

How will Google and Apple maps compare? While they’ll obviously have a similar overall functionality, both Apple and Google are bringing some unique features to the table.

In Google’s Favor

• Street View. This is probably the biggest point in Google’s favor – Apple simply doesn’t have the street view data, and probably won’t for some time.
• Web Accessible (and multi-platform). Apple maps appears to be mobile only, and only available to iOS devices. That means that when it comes to web mapping, Google still has the advantage by default.

• Offline Maps. While they’re not available yet, Google has announced that maps on Android will eventually be available for download and use without an Internet connection.

In Apple’s Favor

• Flyover. This is Apple’s new 3D display, which Apple built from the ground up, including all of the cartography. Some have said that this new view “makes Google Maps look antiquated.”(Although this may change with Google’s upcoming 3D enhancement)
• Siri and Turn-by-Turn Directions. While Google has this feature as well, it seems likely that Siri’s voice recognition technologies will be more advanced, and probably more fun.
• Yelp Integration. This one is somewhat unclear, since no one can really compare the overall quality of Apple’s local business data compared to Google’s. However, it seems like most users will probably be more excited about Yelp integration than Zagat reviews. (It’s also a huge win for Yelp).

The Local Search Perspective

While the tech blogs have been buzzing about Apple maps for weeks, what many of us in local search are most concerned about is how and where Apple will be getting local business data.

It’s obviously critical for local businesses and brands to establish themselves within Apple maps – but there isn’t likely to be a simple “Claim your Business” feature within Apple as there is on Google. So how can brick-and-mortar businesses get found on Apple Maps? The answer is in the local data providers.

Greg Sterling discovered a list of the companies Apple is working with to populate Maps with local information – most importantly, local businesses. For local businesses and brands, this list represents the key to being well represented in Apple Maps. Core local data providers include -

• TomTom
• Acxiom
• CoreLogic
• DigitalGlobe
• DMTI
• Getchee
• Intermap
• LeadDog
• Localeze
• MapData Sciences Pty Ltd.
• MDA Information Systems, Inc
• Urban Mapping
• Waze
• Yelp

This list will be familiar to anyone working in the local data space. The big providers of local business information are likely to be Localeze and Acxiom – these companies have been major players in the local data space for years. For now, it looks like companies that want good representation in Apple Maps will have to work through the established players in local data.