HOW A CHINESE MAPPING APP BRINGS TRUST AND SEES USER NUMBERS EXPLODE

Three months ago, I wrote about the new ranking system that Alibaba’s Amap (Gaode) implemented. Remarkably, the ranking system prioritised actual user movement data over user reviews, which are widely considered unreliable in China. (Read my previous post here: linkedin.com/posts/edsa…).

Since the launch of this Street Sweeping Ranking system, it has done very well:

▶️ 40 million users on the first day

▶️ During the National Day holiday, the ranking system reached 300 million users, and 23 days after the launch, it had 400 million users. Three months after the launch, the cumulative user number was 660 million.

▶️ In October, Amap’s DAU was 70 million, more than review app market leader Dianping’s 31 million.

▶️ More than 860,000 offline merchant joined the system in its first 100 days, and their turnover increased by 270%.

▶️ Amap’s MAU increased by 46 million in one month and reached a new peak of 996 million users in October.

Based on user feedback, Amap made more than 100 optimisations in the first 100 days.

Last week, Amap released a new version, including:

▶️ thousands of real-time dynamic rankings, branching out into countless sub-scenarios based on seasons, regions, and demographics.

▶️ user-created ranking community capabilities (enabling users to add personal taste to the data-driven popularity ranking), which incorporate recommendations/ratings from friends, colleagues, and like-minded individuals. There is also a "My List" feature: each user can create and share their own personal list.

▶️ integration of AI technology to upgrade to "flying street view," enabling real-scene navigation and store visits, as well as launching AR functionality (‘seeing is believing’). It’s like Google Street View, but it extends inside, allowing users to see the interior rather than relying on beautified photos. You can now judge the inside of restaurants or plan your route in an amusement park. AI will generate this from short videos submitted by merchants using spatial intelligence. More than 200.000 merchants have already applied.

With real behavioural data from hundreds of millions of users, coupled with AI that can understand the physical world, Gaode hopes to build a super portal in the local life field, a "spatial intelligent agent" that can perceive, think, and ultimately take action.

"What we're doing is shifting the power of discourse from 'those who can take photos' back to 'those who can cook dishes'."

Sources: Latepost, Huxiu.

Pictures:

1) Advert for Amap’s ranking system I saw in the Beijing metro in October. “Gaode Street Sweeping Ranking, more authentic and comprehensive.”

2) Recommendations for the Forbidden City and Summer Palace when selecting ‘winter snow scene’ (machine translated).

3) Incorporating friend recommendations and reviews (machine translated).

-Ed