[dont__panic]

Google is on a warpath of advertising to the detriment of its base products. Nowhere is this more apparent to me than Google Maps, mostly because there isn't a great alternative if I want to find businesses near me.

Everyone who can help OSM should. There's no reason OSM can't be a wikipedia-quality product, to the point where close source, advertising-beholden alternatives can't meaningfully compete. Add businesses in your town today! Add business hours if you can! Fix any errors you see. And try to switch to OSM for everything you can. Every little bit helps.

[aqfamnzc]

There are a lot of problems that still need to be solved with OSM to make it on par with GM's overall utility. (I say that as a very active local OSM contributor and data consumer) Reviews, geocoding, political issues within the OSMF, and incomplete address information to name a few. Some of them can be solved by having more active local mappers, but others I don't have an easy answer for. Hopefully these are growing pains, as I desperately want to see OSM succeed.