[dontbenebby]

>Why should they offer a free maps service?

Have you heard of a "loss leader"[1]?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_leader

Users are unlikely to use Google for maps and say, Bing for their searches. Maps drives traffic to search. Conversely, making maps overly commercial will drive traffic away from search.

[jjeaff]

>Users are unlikely to use Google for maps and say, Bing for their searches.

I don't know, I see very little tying the two together. I currently use DDG exclusively for search except for localized searching and maps, for which I use Google. There isn't really much friction to switch between the two. Especially since most of my map usage is on mobile, where it is a separate app.

[thfuran]

>I currently use DDG exclusively for search except for localized searching and maps

So you're way out in the long tail.

[marssaxman]

I started using Bing maps for its own sake, after Google redesigned their maps site a few years back and made it far less useful; I've never bothered to use Bing search. The two functions have not been related in my experience.