Google Finds Its Way To Dismantling GPS Brands

Are you a brand owner or manager? Are you worried Google may soon make your brand irrelevant? No? Are you sure?

When Google announced its mobile phone navigation service on Wednesday, shares of heretofore strong GPS brands like TomTom and Garmin drove off the cliff. A cliff that, thanks to GPS, they should have seen coming. Why? Because Google's service is free. Google plan for monetizing the GPS service seems to be -- surprise! -- selling advertising.

The GPS brands are trying to do... something. TomTom released a branded GPS iPhone app. The company claims it has been downloaded 80,000 times. Though, bad news for them, Google says it will make its maps, now only available for the Motorola Droid, available for iPhones and other devices soon. Garmin introduced a widely panned hybrid GPS-cellphone called a "desperate move" by analysts.

So, if your brand is based on data services, are you scared yet? You should be. As Gizmodo astutely points out:

This is just a timely example of Google's monstrous growth, and the destruction it causes. Any business that trades in data or packages it for public consumption may one day face the same issues. It's not just whether or not to compete with the behemoth, but even whether or not to go into business with it. In either case, there is a chance of being destroyed... Before, Google was a fat revenue source for TomTom; now Google is a sprightly competitor.

And Gizmodo asks what everyone is (or should be) wondering: Who's next? Television? Movies? Newspapers? For now, the only one that seems safe is food services. Nobody wants a Google sandwich. Yet.