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Members of an industry group called the Open Geospatial Consortium have approved Google's KML technology as an open standard for describing some geographic data.

KML is used to manage the display of geospatial information in Google Earth, the company's software for flying over the surface of a virtual globe. With its 3D coordinate-based system, people can create models of city buildings, draw a line showing where they hiked, or overlay their own custom place names on a generic map.

Google hopes standardizing KML will help mean broader use for the map description language, but already, even rivals such as Microsoft have embraced it. This view shows Microsoft's Live Maps with a KML overly describing Glenn Canyon National Recreation Area.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Google already shared its KML format openly, and others had used it in software products, but Google now hopes that its status as an official standard will decrease barriers to further adoption.

"What OGC brings to the table is...everyone has confidence we won't take advantage of the format or change it in a way that will harm anyone," said Michael Weiss-Malik, Google's KML product manager. "The goal is to prevent market fragmentation," in which different technology uses different standards.

File formats may sound mundane, but they can give strategic value to those who control them as a gateway to the data held by people and companies. In one high-profile example, open-source allies launched an attack on Microsoft's Office stronghold with the OpenOffice.org software, which could mostly read Microsoft's file formats.

One front in that war was an effort to set OpenOffice's file formats as an industry standard called ODF (OpenDocument Format), a move Microsoft countered with its own OOMXL effort, which Google opposed.

It didn't seem like there was powerful reluctance to use KML. For example, the latest Virtual Earth and Live Maps technology from Google rival Microsoft can use KML to let users export user information to navigation devices. And the Microsoft site can overlay KML files from the Internet onto its Live Maps--here's a (slow-loading) link to one from the National Resources Defense Council that describes expected effects from global warming to various national parks, along with the park boundaries.

But standardization will make KML more palatable, Weiss-Malik said. "Governments like to say they can publish to OGC KML instead of Google KML," he said.

And he expects to see a new era blossom of personal map publishing, all powered by KML. "We're just starting to see the birth of map publishing," he said.

KML stands for Keyhole Markup Language. It initially was developed by Keyhole, the satellite imagery company Google acquired in 2004. Keyhole's technology was built into the Google Maps site and the Google Earth software.

The standard, which geographic information system (GIS) software specialist Galdos Systems helped bring to the standardization process, is based on KML 2.2. The official KML standard can be downloaded from the OGC Web site.

Microsoft has launched Live Search 地图, the China branch of its Virtual Earth project.

Compared with Google's ditu.google.cn and Sogou's (搜狗) map.sogou.com, the site seems about the same, if a little faster--though traffic may still be low. What Google and Microsoft have in common is that the maps contain listings for restaurants, banks, and other locations rendered as icons on the map. Sogou has no such advantage, but sometimes it resolves addresses better than Google.

But here's the interesting part: Microsoft's new service includes major highways and the locations of main cities on Taiwan. It never occurred to me before, but so does Google's. Sogou, on the other hand, has a full detail map of Taibei (Taipei).

Is it just me, or does this suggest that Google and Microsoft may have struck a compromise between people who would want Taiwan included and people who would rather see it separate? Google has a much better map of Taiwan on Google.tw.

I don't want to suggest there isn't a good reason to have different map sites serving mainland China and Taiwan audiences. Here in Beijing and throughout the mainland, we use Simplified Chinese characters; in Taiwan, they still use Traditional characters. This is important because place names look different in the two systems. Even the word China is different: 中国 (Simplified) and 中國 (Traditional).

It's perhaps unsurprising that Sogou's Taiwan map uses Simplified. But it is interesting that both Microsoft and Google have included partial map information for Taiwan on their mainland-focused sites. For another day, perhaps I'll look at where they drew the international barriers at sea, but we already know making maps can be a source of controversy. Just look what happened when a Chinese-made map for sale in Japan was recalled over labeling Taiwan.

UPDATE: Just as I finished writing, I noticed a headline from Marbridge Consulting's Web site noting that China's State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping recently published a to do list for 2008, including the drafting of a document all three sites would be wise to watch: "Suggestions on Increasing the Supervision and Management of Mapping and Geographical Information Websites."

Microsoft and Dassault Systemes have released a 3D building application for the Virtual Earth mapping program, the companies said Friday.

(Credit: Microsoft/Dassault Systemes)

Virtual Earth-3DVIA will let people create 3D structures with textures and colors and share them with one other online. The models can also be tagged with real-life addresses or town information so that they can be viewed in Virtual Earth as they would be on a map.

The application is being released as a "technology preview," according to the companies, in order for them to get feedback for its next release.

The program could be a rival to Google Earth's 3D Warehouse, which was released in January and was recently opened to Multiverse Networks users. That partnership lets people use 3D objects from 3D Warehouse to create virtual worlds.

On Tuesday, Microsoft began releasing photographic 3D renderings of landmarks in New York and a few other cities via its Live Search Maps site.

In November, the company released Virtual Earth 3D in beta, along with the API and a software developer kit for people who wanted to create 3D renderings for Live Search Maps. At the time, people could also view 3D terrain and some three-dimensional buildings in a few cities. The release of New York in virtual 3D marks the first major effort by Microsoft to create an almost complete rendering of a recognizable city.

Microsoft's attempt at 3D views of famous landmarks is a little more manageable and realistic-looking than the one offered by Google Earth.

For one, the 3D view will work through your Web browser, and that includes Firefox as well as Internet Explorer. You will have to download a Microsoft Virtual Earth add-on and restart for Firefox, but after that, you're good to go. Anytime you go to Live Search Maps you will be able to switch to a 3D view.

Another contrast to Google's rich-media versions of famous places is that Microsoft's 3D objects are photo-based.

In addition to the new 3D views, Microsoft has also launched real-time maps of traffic and construction. The maps show construction areas as hazard signs that offer detailed explanations for the holdup when you click on them, in addition to a color-coded system for identifying minor to major traffic congestion.

As with the Google Earth project, only certain cities and landmarks are currently available in 3D, though Microsoft says it plans to add more.