Google is looking to distribute mapping APIs that would let corporations construct items utilizing energy and ecological information. Documents examined by CNBC show that the tech giant holds information on over 350 million buildings. Potential customers include companies such as Zillow, Marriott, Tesla, and PG&E.
Google is looking to generate up to $100 million in its first year of licensing out sets of mapping data for use in renewable energy related products. This access, in the form of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), will include solar and energy information, air quality data, Solar API used by the likes of SunRun and Tesla Energy, and real estate companies such as Zillow and Redfin. Data is to be sourced from Project Sunroof, a consumer-focused energy savings calculator which was introduced in 2015, offering electric bill savings, solar installation details, and 3D modeling of rooftops and trees based on Google Maps. Moreover, revenue is expected to be generated from aggregation of data from cities and counties, as well as individual building data.
Google intends to launch an Air Quality API, which will allow customers to request air quality data, such as pollutants, health-based recommendations for specific locations, and air quality history of up to 30 days.
Revenue from the API products will be included within the Google Cloud segment, which, while only just recently turning profitable, has had difficulty competing with the likes of Amazon and Microsoft. Despite this, Maps remains one of Google's most under-monetized products, with Morgan Stanley estimating it to make $11.1 billion in 2021. With this in mind, the company is now looking to unify its Maps and Waze teams - the latter having been acquired in 2013 - in order to streamline these products.
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