While the rivalry between Google and Microsoft provides a healthy competitive incentive to the tech industry, the companies' inability to cooperate on Windows 8 Phones has lodged a roadblock in consumers' ability to access Google Maps.
In the most recent struggle between the giants, Google knowingly redirected Internet Explorer users from the Maps page to the search engine's home page, according to an Information Week report. In an official statement, Google explains that user experience issues led to the decision to bar the page from the widespread browser.
"We periodically test Google Maps compatibility with mobile browsers to make sure we deliver the best experience for those users. In our last test, IE mobile still did not offer a good maps experience with no ability to pan or zoom and perform basic map functionality. As a result, we chose to continue to redirect IE mobile users to Google.com where they could at least make local searches. The Firefox mobile browser did offer a somewhat better user experience and that's why there is no redirect for those users," Google said.
"Recent improvements to IE mobile and Google Maps now deliver a better experience and we are currently working to remove the redirect. We will continue to test Google Maps compatibility with other mobile browsers to ensure the best possible experience for users."
However, Google's initial statement explained that Maps was not optimized to run on "non-WebKit browsers" such as IE. As Ars Technica points out, experts immediately exposed the lack of technical merit in the company's response. More specifically, should the explanation have rung true, Windows 8 would have shared the same shortcoming as handsets that run the operating system.
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