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Mapping Google's Latest Direction
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Google's (Quote, Chart) mission of helping you find every scrap
of information you need in life is now spread across maps.
Although Google Maps is still a beta project like its notable cousins,
Google News, Froogle and Google Groups, the latest offering from
the search engine's Google Labs division is already offering robust
map searches.
The online mapping application provides directions and location
information much like similar applications have for some time from
search engine competitor Yahoo (Quote, Chart). Both Yahoo! and Google
Maps appear to be using the same underlying maps from map vendor
Navteq.
The implementation of the map technology, however, is a bit different.
For example, Google Maps provides slider navigation that allows
users to "slide zoom" in and out of maps, compared to
Yahoo! maps that require a user to click + or - in order to zoom
in or out on the map. The map itself can also be dragged to view
locations not immediately viewable on the screen, allowing the user
to more easily navigate according to Google.
As with Yahoo! Maps, the application is integrated with local search
results to enable users to more easily search and get to local venues
of interest. Search results in Google Maps can be obtained with
simple queries like typing "great sushi in New York" which
will yield relevant results with map links to directions on how
to get your big apple raw fish fix.
Driving directions that provide point to point directions are also
part of Google Maps offering, again much the same as they are in
Yahoo! Maps. But with Google Maps, you get a floating bubble with
a magnified view of the area mentioned in the directions to visually
guide you along the map
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