A wicked quote about how Google just crushed the two companies that used to supply it map information:

"Street View wasn't just a neat way to get imagery to accompany the data already found in Google Maps. As it happens, it was a way to drive the same roads that were already in Google Maps, tracing them with Google's own road teams, and—through efficiency and brute force—do away with those costly map licenses. Google has mapped the US, and will surely map the rest of the world soon enough."

From: http://gizmodo.com/5391966/google-and-the-deadly-power-of-data