Strategy question
You are PM for Google Maps. Google is considering providing mapping for indoors. Should we do it?
- Strategy
- Hard
Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.
Start a mock interview on this question · Mock interview from a job description
What this question tests
Strategic judgment on a large infrastructure investment, weighing cost, competitive advantage, and user value.
How to approach it
- Clarify the goal: better navigation, new ad inventory inside buildings like malls and airports, or a data moat.
- Size the opportunity, indoor mapping matters most for large venues, airports, malls, stadiums, and transit hubs.
- Evaluate the cost, indoor mapping requires floor plans, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth beacons, and ongoing maintenance per venue.
- Weigh against alternatives, e.g. partnering with venue owners instead of Google mapping everything itself.
- Recommend a phased approach, start with high traffic venue types like airports where ROI is clearest.
- Define success metrics such as indoor navigation sessions per venue and venue partner adoption rate.
What a strong answer includes
- Grounds the decision in unit economics, cost per venue mapped versus incremental engagement or ad revenue it drives.
- Distinguishes consumer value, faster wayfinding, from business value, new local ad placements inside venues.
- Proposes starting narrow, e.g. top 50 airports globally, rather than a blanket global rollout, as an assumption.
- Flags the maintenance cost problem, venues change layout, so a self-service partner tool matters as much as the initial build.
Common mistakes
- Saying yes or no without any cost or ROI reasoning.
- Ignoring that venue owners must supply or approve floor plans.
- Not distinguishing consumer engagement value from monetization value.
Likely follow-up questions
- How would you prioritize which venues to map first.
- How would you monetize indoor maps.
- What would make you kill this project after a year.
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More questions from Google
Learn the skill behind it
Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.
- Chapter 4: Discovery and strategy for AI products
- Chapter 9: Prove it paid off: outcomes, economics, and pricing
- Chapter 14: Get the job: the AI PM interview loop