&gt; <i>it&#x27;s another matter for map services. And it&#x27;s going to get more expensive no question</i><p>For companies that offer a &quot;free&quot; tier (e.g. Bing&#x2F;Google maps), for sure, sooner or later, a switch to paid is very likely.<p>But there are organisations that have a completely different justification for existing: OpenStreetMap springs to mind, as does the UK&#x27;s Ordnance Survey (which is essentially a Government body, albeit cloaked as a private company, 100% in public ownership). Although they&#x27;ll always need some source of funding to keep operating, their goal isn&#x27;t to maximise possible revenue, so as long as it&#x27;s viable to offer free mapping, they&#x27;re likely to carry on doing so.