[tomfaulhaber]

Google is a data company and the data available has changed over the last few years. Maps are both a way to present data and a way to collect data.

The new data that Google has comes from Android handsets and from users using Google maps and Waze on Android and non-Android handsets.

This data is all about users in motion. At the scale shown in this article, it's almost exclusively people driving. As a result, it makes a lot more sense to focus on the connections over the places they connect. This becomes clearer when you view the roads as more active entities by including congestion and other real-time data.

This may not be the best presentation for everyone, but it seems to be the presentation that fits best with Google's current mission and capabilities.