Google Maps API vs. Surfer

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Google Maps API
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Google Maps APIs allow developers to integrate Google Maps into a website or retrieve information from Google Maps.N/A
Surfer
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Surfer is a data visualization suite from Golden Software in Colorado for oil and gas companies, or other entities in other industries requiring geological or environmental data.N/A
Pricing
Google Maps APISurfer
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google Maps APISurfer
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Google Maps APISurfer
Best Alternatives
Google Maps APISurfer
Small Businesses
ArcGIS
ArcGIS
Score 8.0 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
ArcGIS
ArcGIS
Score 8.0 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Enterprises
ArcGIS
ArcGIS
Score 8.0 out of 10

No answers on this topic

All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Google Maps APISurfer
Likelihood to Recommend
7.0
(8 ratings)
9.5
(2 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Google Maps APISurfer
Likelihood to Recommend
Google
It is most suited for someone who has a physical office, particularly a retail store which helps them to promote the business locally. I would suggest businessmen should use this tool for promoting their business in a more effective way. It is of least important if you are promoting your business digitally and don't have a physical location.
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Golden Software
Surfer has been excellent for us, a small company, to process the electrical resistivity, refraction microtremor, and MASW data collected in the field. There are an increasing number of programs capable of assisting in this geophysical analysis but Surfer is the most advanced. The ability to create both 2D and 3D figures in the program while managing data is a huge help. It also greatly improved report quality and helped clients better understand what the results were for a study.
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Pros
Google
  • Very simple UI, easy to use.
  • You can send your live location to a person who wants to meet you.
  • You can mark and pin the locations you are travelling regularly.
  • You can get the code of iframe for any location and embed it into your organization's website also.
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Golden Software
  • The interface is simple and easy/quick to learn, so that not much experience is needed to start generating maps.
  • The map layouts are easy to manipulate, change colors, scale, labels, contour interval, etc...
  • Simple but functional mathematical and logical functions allow for the calculation and manipulation of grids.
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Cons
Google
  • Offline location required for some certain locations
  • Needs to reduce updates as it is comes from most of the updates.
  • Maps needs to be accurate in small areas in order to find destination.
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Golden Software
  • The user interface can be tricky at first. It's a little rough around the edges and takes a little time to get the hang of.
  • Not an ideal application for older employees. There are too many things with the interface that make it not worthwhile to train employees with less computer experience.
  • Manipulating data within Surfer is difficult because you have to do things in a certain order. Not terrible if you get the hang of it but certainly frustrating at first.
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Usability
Google
Google Maps API is easy to use. Map visibility is good and accurate. Easy to search routes, distance, and travel time based on actual address to address locations or when quoting a zip code to zip code rate. The user interface is friendly and make usage easy and quick to obtain all the information I need to properly quote and plan my driver's routes.
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Golden Software
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Google
It does everything I need it to do and hasn't let me down yet. It has been a lifesaver for my roofing accounts. Most of my clients for the roofing belong to an Amish community with no computers and so forth. So being able to search the maps and look at the rooftops is imperative for those campaigns.
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Golden Software
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Google
Google MAP API is one of the prominent ones as compared to others. In the selection process also we are [complete] with the API provider by Google MAP as it is quite stable.No doubt it is one of the best methods to implement or integrate as compared to any others which is available in the competition.
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Golden Software
Surfer is very unique with respect to its capabilities. I am not aware of any other mapping software that is at the same time flexible, has a friendly interface, and creates such nice-looking maps.
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Return on Investment
Google
  • Definitely it gives optimum ROI to my organization which is positive sign.
  • My company overall business showed a positive growth rate.
  • I now get more no of people visiting my office .
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Golden Software
  • The worst thing about Surfer is the cost. My company can only afford one license at the moment which means only one employee gets to use it regularly. Not so great when someone is sick or you have a huge wave of projects.
  • The user interface is a little rough but younger employees have been great at catching on quickly and producing great images.
  • There's nothing else quite like Surfer. It's versatile and not to difficult to use so, though the licenses are expensive, it is an excellent program that has done wonders for our company!
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ScreenShots