Google lets users customize their own maps
624239
(InfoWorld) - GoogleÂ introduced a feature to its mapping service on Wednesday that allows people to create their own customized maps, by adding information such as the location of cheap gas stations or property for sale. The information comes from what Google calls maplets, which are small applications created by Google or a third-party developer that combine Google Maps with some other service, such as a real estate listing or traffic report. Users who set up a Google My Maps account can then create their own customized maps, adding as many maplets as they want. They can also draw directions on their maps, and attach photographs or videos of specific locations using services such as Google's YouTube and PicasaWeb. The resulting maps can be kept private or made public and indexed in Google's search engine, according to Google's My Maps page. People can also upload maps to Google Earth in the form of a KML (Keyhole Markup Language) file, a technology for describing geographic coordinates. A Google official said last month that the company may eventually allow paid advertisements on its mapping service, where businesses would be able to create maps with some sponsored links. The ads would take the form of the pins seen on the maps today, with pop-up photos and text. It would be a way for both Google and businesses to earn more advertising revenue, which underpins much of Google's strength. Google has said it will give users some say in how many ads appear on its maps, so as to not be too intrusive. Â
725860
Google Inc. has added a feature to Google Maps that lets users watch edits made to locations in real time.
693551
Google Maps can be a bit of a shutterbug these days.
615817
The sluggish YPN program gets a Google-esque makeover.
486905
SAN FRANCISCO -- Google Inc. bills the latest twist on its online maps as "Street View," but it looks a bit like "Candid Camera" as you cruise through the panorama of pictures that captured fleeting moments in neighborhoods scattered across the country.
184669
Yahoo Maps gets a great new upgrade that helps users reroute their driving directions.
13883
Google Maps has updated some of the street maps or hybrid views of major US cities with Metro and Subway stations and pencil outlines of buildings.  This my be a sign of Google Transit expansion, but even if not, it&#8217;s a great new addition to Google Maps. [Hattip : Google Operating System] Advertisement:  Text Link Brokers Sell [...]
558999
InfoWorld - Google introduced a new service for small businesses that allows visitors to search within their Web sites on a customized search page.
92811
New widgets help personalize maps with dynamic content from diverse sources.
597990
U.S. mobile phone users might not have to stop and ask for directions as often thanks to a new service from MapQuest.com that sends color maps and directions to their phones.
143447
The search giant Google is rumoured to be working on its own web browser.
293892
Google Inc.  is allowing  users to add hundreds of different miniature Web-based programs  built by Google or outside programmers to other sites, the  company said on Tuesday.
162885
Google will introduce a new feature that lets users create personalized maps which plot the locations of everything from cheap gas locally to the latest earthquakes worldwide.
425826
By Bates, Mary Ellen  One way that we distinguish ourselves from Google-at least in the eyes of our clients or users-is by finding content that they can't. But we can also beat the search engines at their own game by creating a customized filter that can be overlaid on search results.
155020
Free Nokia Maps software has an updated interface, refined search, and other improvements.
10373
Yahoo Maps gets a great new upgrade that helps users re-route their driving directions.
209636
InfoWorld - Google has created a searchable index of Google Earth data files, a feature that should make it easier for users to find and adopt third-party overlays for this popular mapping application.