The new Pokemon Go map staying one step ahead of Niantic

When it comes to exercise, pretty much everyone is looking for the easy way out. Pokemon Go is no different. While its noble goal of getting gamers mobile is laudable, the reality is that a lot of Pokemon trainers are looking for a quick fix. Hence the massive popularity of Pokemon Go mapping services like PokeVision and PokeAdvisor. Until Niantic put the kaibosh on them, that is.

Niantic did this by blocking Pokemon data from being sent to third party services. While it seemed that the glory days of Pokemon Go maps were at an end. But one enterprising developer reverse engineered Niantic’s austerity measures and has managed to build a small empire out of the rubble.

Yesterday, FastPokeMap registered two million page views and 350,000 unique visitors – not bad for a map that only appeared in beta form on August 7. The site is still very much a work in progress though and the developer is constantly battling Niantic’s efforts to block scanning sites.

But FastPokeMap certainly seems to have a lot of fans, as you can see in the developer’s Reddit thread chronicling his efforts and struggles (it’s very rare you see people asking for ads or donate buttons). The main difference between FastPokeMap and PokeVision is the scope of their range: PokeVision revealed a large map of Pokemon while FastPokeMap only scans your immediate vicinity.

Just how long FastPokeMap can stay one step ahead of Niantic’s considerable resources (keep in mind they made $200 million dollars in a month) is anybody’s guess. But if the developer keeps getting the support of the sizable Pokemon Go community looking to cut a few corners in their quest to catch ’em all, he might just have a decent war chest of his own to play with.

Have you used a Pokemon Go map? Do you think it’s unfair or all part of the game?

Up next: Pokemon Go has a new and improved Nearby Tracker