OsmAnd can search for supermarkets and show opening hours in the search results.
Screenshot: https://dro.pm/d.png (expires 18 hours after this comment was posted)
It's a data problem more than a software problem. A shop owner would be stupid if they don't want to appear in google search results with business information nicely presented on a card, and in doing so, they automatically put themselves on Google's map. Fast forward a few years of business owners doing this, and Google Maps is a superb directory where also the consumers flock to (previously they'd look for geo data with different providers such as TomTom). Now both sides are going there and only open data enthusiasts care about any alternatives that might exist.
What amazes me is that OpenStreetMap wins in basically every other category of map data (in most places of most countries). Not the real-time streams like traffic and public transport delays (OSM simply does not support that) but any geo data like streets, paths, power lines, benches, etc. There is also a push from basically every company except Google to use and improve OpenStreetMap data (Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, etc., with various governments involved as well).
We just need to somehow get these business locations more complete and current to be able to ditch Google entirely, for those that want to.
I sometimes wish companies were required to report their opening hours when registering and the state made this information available through a public api.
It's not really possible as not all place have scheduled opening and closing times... But a dude can dream, right?
Just a thought... opening hours can usually be scraped from their website (totally unfounded guess: that's how Google does it), so what seems to be missing here is a free tool -- and probably a free central database of pre-scraped data -- to collect this information for others to use together with OSM data. The process will be a bit different from OSM because data is scraped, not edited.
Edit: To add, if such a tool needs site-specific configuration to work, then that configuration could again be community-edited in a style similar to OSM data.
> totally unfounded guess: that's how Google does it
I'm pretty sure Google doesn't do that. At least not as the primary information source.
I don't work for Google, so I could be mistaken, but I've provided several information updates before. Google gave me the "local guide" after my first accepted update and gave me gamified incentives to update and verify local information about businesses afterwards until I disabled them again. (Like notifications when I'm at a store to verify if there is a parking lot and things regarding to disabilities etc).
The questions are usually really innocuous and quick to answer, which pretty much makes the player into free labor for Google, one minute at a time.
I was required to provide some proof on some information like opening times and that's probably how they're linking back to the official website. But it happens through user input not automated scraping i believe.
> OSM contributors are reminded never to add data from any copyrighted sources (e.g. Google Maps or printed maps) without explicit permission from the copyright holders.
Absolutely not!
Google forbids copying map data, you could make OpenStreetMap liable.
Once detected all such additions to OpenStreetMap will be reverted.
Screenshot: https://dro.pm/d.png (expires 18 hours after this comment was posted)
It's a data problem more than a software problem. A shop owner would be stupid if they don't want to appear in google search results with business information nicely presented on a card, and in doing so, they automatically put themselves on Google's map. Fast forward a few years of business owners doing this, and Google Maps is a superb directory where also the consumers flock to (previously they'd look for geo data with different providers such as TomTom). Now both sides are going there and only open data enthusiasts care about any alternatives that might exist.
What amazes me is that OpenStreetMap wins in basically every other category of map data (in most places of most countries). Not the real-time streams like traffic and public transport delays (OSM simply does not support that) but any geo data like streets, paths, power lines, benches, etc. There is also a push from basically every company except Google to use and improve OpenStreetMap data (Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, etc., with various governments involved as well).
We just need to somehow get these business locations more complete and current to be able to ditch Google entirely, for those that want to.