Webware

Over the past few weeks, I've been using online mapping services more often to figure out which is best for me in a pinch.

But now that I've completed my research of the four major services--Google Maps, Live Search Maps, MapQuest, and Yahoo Maps--I've come to a staggering conclusion: I'd only consider using one of those apps.

Google Maps
Google Maps is simple and fast, elegant and useful. It's the best mapping solution on the Web. Period.

Google Maps is easily distinguished in the market by its design. Once you surf to the company's Maps page, you're immediately presented with a search box to input an address. If you want to get directions from one place to another, it's as simple as clicking the "Get Directions" button and inputting another address.

Google Maps traffic data is outstanding.

(Credit: Google Maps)

To evaluate its accuracy, I queried Google Maps to find the best route between two addresses I'm familiar with. The service performed beautifully and delivered perfect directions. I then mapped a route from my home to West Palm Beach, Fla.--a trip I've made on a few occasions--to see if it could determine ideal directions over a long ride. Once again, it cut down on wasteful driving and delivered the most direct route.

But the beauty of Google Maps goes beyond directions. Its satellite imagery is outstanding and the most up-to-date, based on my testing, and the service's live traffic feature, which offers real-time traffic data throughout the day, is a welcome addition that provided generally accurate information. But my favorite feature is Street View. As I look for a new home, it's an ideal tool to help me determine if I want to live in a particular neighborhood without going there myself.

Live Search Maps
Although Microsoft has struggled to keep up with Google in the search space, I was impressed with Live Search Maps. It might not offer the kind of functionality Google Maps provides, but it's certainly a viable alternative.

Live Search Maps has a useful menu feature.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Much like Google Maps, Live Search Maps is simple to use and elegantly designed. I especially liked the menu to the left of the map, which provided me with options to find a specific place on a map, get directions, or share those with others.

When I input directions to locations I know the best routes for, I was generally pleased. That said, there were a few occasions when the directions sent me to a different highway exit or to wrong streets before getting me to my destination.

Microsoft's "Bird's Eye" feature is outstanding, and Live Search Maps responded quickly to requests to zoom in on certain locations. Unfortunately, Microsoft's 3D mapping feature, which allows users to see locations in 3D, only works with Internet Explorer, so as a Firefox user, I wasn't able to test that out. That's annoying.

MapQuest
MapQuest has undergone a series of changes over the past few months in an attempt to improve its standing in the market. And although I applaud the company for trying, I'm simply unsatisfied with what it offers.

MapQuest's new homepage aims at making the once-cluttered site more usable. In some respects, it works. It is much easier to input directions, and finding locations is as simple as inputting a company's name into the search box. But unlike Google Maps or even Live Search Maps, which offer simple page designs, MapQuest's homepage is inundated with distracting ads, links to local events, and other features that I don't care about.

Can't you just save it yourself?

(Credit: MapQuest.com)

MapQuest's response time is much slower than Google Maps and much like its homepage, the maps show too much information, turning them into a mess. It's also unfortunate that the site requires users to click a "save" button for it to remember a search. Its competitors do that automatically.

But not everything MapQuest offers is sub-par. Its driving directions are generally on point, and when I searched for directions around town or to Florida, they provided ideal routes. I also like that the site now features an extremely large map. It's a simple thing, but it really does add to the site's overall usability. Unfortunately, almost everything else on MapQuest detracts from that usability.

Yahoo Maps
Yahoo Maps was my favorite mapping solution years ago before I discovered Google Maps. And in that time, it hasn't changed substantially. But based on my testing, it doesn't need to.

The first thing that struck me about Yahoo Maps is how simple it is compared to the rest of Yahoo. I've often taken issue with Yahoo's cluttered homepage, but Yahoo Maps doesn't suffer from that problem.

Getting directions is quick and easy.

(Credit: Yahoo Maps)

Instead, Yahoo Maps offers a well-designed page that I found simpler than its competitors in one respect: it didn't require me to click an extra button to get directions. In its place, the site features two search boxes, which make it quick and easy to find directions and go about my day.

Yahoo Maps also performed well when I searched for directions around town. In fact, it returned all the same routes as Google Maps, which provided the best directions of any service in this roundup.

In almost every respect, Yahoo Maps, as a Web application, is equal to Google Maps. But with over 70 percent market share, Google Search is a top destination on the Web. And while people are busy inputting queries into the search engine, a Maps link is always waiting at the top of the page. If those users are looking for a business or directions to someone's home, it's much easier to click that link and use Google's tool than surf to a competing service.

Worse for competitors, the Google Maps API is being used by thousands across the globe who find unique ways to fit Google Maps into their businesses or personal lives. Sure, competitors like Yahoo offer an API too, but they're not nearly as popular or widely used as Google's.

And in recent years, that has become a major issue for Google Maps competitors. How can they stymie Google's growth if users are already using other Google services and find it quicker to use Google Maps instead of their tools? I don't have the answer. And I'm not sure Google's competitors do either.

GPS vendor TomTom announced Thursday that it has launched an online mapping solution to compete with MapQuest and Google Maps. Dubbed TomTom Route Planner, the free service provides door-to-door route planning options to any address in the U.S. or Canada.

Using TomTom's MapShare technology, the service provides users with continued map improvements made by TomTom users that see flaws and correct them. According to the company, improvements are uploaded regularly to provide up-to-date driving conditions. TomTom's IQ Routes feature will offer more accurate arrival estimates by accessing average speeds for each road instead of employing posted speed limits to determine arrival. The service is currently in beta and available now to all users.

Local.com, a company that offers local search and networking, announced Thursday that it has signed an agreement with coupon provider Valpak to distribute local business offers through the Local.com network. According to the company, Valpak coupons will appear on the site's search results and profile pages. Users will be able to print the Valpak coupons for redemption at local businesses.

The Karaoke Channel Online, a service that lets people record themselves singing their favorite songs, says that it will now allow its users to publish their recordings across Facebook, MySpace, Delicious, and other social networks. To participate, users will need to pay $14.95 per month for unlimited access to the site's 5,000 songs. A full-year membership costs $99.95.

In its monthly Global Threat Report released Thursday, SaaS (software as a service) Web security firm ScanSafe reported that the rate of zero-day malware blocks increased to 26 percent in November, up from 16 percent in October and the 19 percent average for the year. According to the company's senior security researcher, Mary Landesman, "attackers were more intent than ever on ensuring the malware they used would bypass traditional security measures" during November. A sign of even more Web threats to come?

Goober Networks, a company that offers consumer communication services online, announced the launch of CallingAmerica.com Thursday. According to the company, the site will allow anyone in the U.S. to access the site and place an unlimited number of VoIP calls to any landline or mobile phone in the U.S. Registered users can make an unlimited number of calls, while those who choose not to register can only place calls that last no longer than two minutes in duration. To monetize the service, Goober Networks has partnered with advertisers that will place ads of 15 seconds or less before a call is placed.

Comcast announced Thursday that it has rolled out its DOCSIS 3.0 service to four more markets: Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore, and Ft. Wayne, Indiana. The company now offers wideband services in 10 cities. Comcast claims it now reaches 20 percent of its customer base with the addition of those four markets and by the end of December, 10 million homes and businesses in each of the cities will be able to sign up for the service.

MapQuest was busy Thursday announcing the launch of two new widgets for Twitter and CareerBuilder users. According to the company, its Twitter widget on MapQuest Local will allow users to see what Twitter users are talking about in their city or town. For any city a user displays on the MapQuest site, a Twitter link will be displayed showing Twitter entries made by people in that area and a link to reply to or follow that person's stream. MapQuest's new Careers widget will store up to five different sets of search keywords and pull in job matches in an area the person is mapping. Both widgets are available now on MapQuest Local.

Online casual gaming service Outspark announced Thursday that it has officially launched a portal on its page that will allow its community of users to interact with each other by creating profiles and become friends to share user-generated videos. The company also announced that it's now using the open application programming interface from YouTube to host and embed user-generated videos directly on its own site.

Domain squatters acquired the domain name GeorgeWBushLibrary.com recently and sold it back to Yuma Solutions, the Web development company that forgot to renew it, for a profit of $34,990. Yuma originally purchased the domain name in 2007 for $3,000.

Blog publishing service Tumblr announced Thursday that it raised $4.5 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital. The company's executives said they will use the funding to bolster cash reserves over the next few years and deploy paid features to increase revenue.

MapQuest today got a few useful additions: You can now save personal data in your My MapQuest account -- like your home and work addresses, your mobile numbers, and car's mileage. The first two features make it easier to create a route involving one of your typical hangouts and send it off to a phone. The third helps you with your expense reports or taxes.

Other updates dropped on MapQuest users recently: You can drag a map around on-screen (finally), and grab and move a route if you want to change it (the "Highway 101 Always Sucks" feature). And there's a robust "local" page that gives you a ton of information on events and news attached to a location. It'd be a good thing to scan before going on a trip.

MapQuest now lets you keep your favorite routes handy.

Since I'm sick of creating new accounts for every new service I try, I also like that you can log in to the new personalized MapQuest with my OpenID.

MapQuest continues to be relevant for a large number of users, and it also has deals with publishers who use its APIs. The cool QuickBooks data visulization service I covered recently, for example, use MapQuest data and maps.

However, I still won't be using MapQuest. The service may be getting more capable, but the interface is busy and slow compared to Google Maps, which, by the way, saves the addresses you visit automatically.

Previously: MapQuest inches toward modernity.

MapQuest is fleshing out its new local site. (Click to enlarge.)

(Credit: CNET News)

MapQuest will begin showing business reviews from start-up Yelp on Thursday, part of a plan to expand from just a mapping site into a go-to hub of local information.

Through the deal with Yelp, MapQuest will get better locally specific content, and Yelp will get more Web site traffic from beyond tech-savvy places such as Silicon Valley that currently are familiar with the site, said Christian Dwyer, MapQuest's senior vice president and general manager.

In addition, the AOL site will add sports information to its MapQuest local site, said Mark Law, MapQuest's vice president of product development. The expansion fleshes out MapQuest's vision to reproduce what people can find in their Sunday newspaper, but in a dynamic online format.

MapQuest also is seeking to plug into the booming mobile mapping business. It's released BlackBerry-specific applications so far, and a version of its site tuned for the Safari Web browser on Apple's iPhone is due to be launched "in the next few days," Dwyer said.

The efforts come as AOL seeks to improve its financial condition so Time Warner will get a better deal selling the asset--perhaps to Yahoo. Dwyer wouldn't comment on MapQuest's financial performance other than to say, "We're a healthy, growing, going concern."

The new local site, initially launched a month ago, is growing in significance for the AOL division, too. It's got about 3.3 million visitors a month, compared to 48 million for the entire site, Law said.

Another change coming is a shift in ad formats. The older MapQuest site uses a somewhat antiquated large banner ad across the top--"Secrets of the ultra wealthy revealed!" said one ad I saw Wednesday. The new site uses a more modern, squarish ad on the right, and MapQuest is moving away from the banners, Dwyer said.

Google Maps has expanded its lead in features in the last year, a move that will help the company vanquish rival services in mobile search, Cowen and Co. analysts said Monday.

"Since our initial survey in July 2007, innovation at (AOL's) MapQuest and Yahoo Maps has stagnated," and although Microsoft has improved Live Search Maps, it remains the least popular of the four top services, said analysts Jim Friedland and Kevin Kopelman. "Yahoo and MapQuest do not have the resources to keep pace and are forced to aggressively monetize a declining franchise in the maps segment."

Why does it matter? Because with the Apple's iPhone, Google's Android operating system, and many other efforts are bringing the Internet to mobile phones, and there's a wealth of untapped ad revenue in that market.

"Google's aggressive investment in maps positions the company to achieve a dominant share of search in the mobile Internet," the analysts said.

Specific advantages at Google Maps include Street View and public transportation directions, the analysts said.

Google Maps also has just launched traffic monitoring and prediction for parts of the United Kingdom, Google Blogoscoped pointed out.

In talking to Mark Law, the new VP of product development for AOL's MapQuest, I was surprised to learn how powerful the service still is. To my mind the formerly leading mapping system is a trailing contender against Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Ask.com, but apparently MapQuest is still in the game as a leading Web site, with 48 million monthly visitors to the site, not to mention the users of the service who see it embedded on partner sites.

The new MapQuest puts a map on the destination page, as well as a better address entry box.

Law walked me through updates to the service that will be rolling out as an optional beta test to the site's users on Tuesday. In a nutshell, the changes are evolutionary and to my mind required if the app to stay relevant. But the MapQuest team has to be careful with its updates, since so many general users of the service are accustomed to its somewhat old-fashioned interface and market-trailing features. Of his users, Law says simply, "They don't want to see a lot of change."

The service is still moving forward, just not at the blistering Web 2.0 pace of the other start-ups we cover here. The biggest change, according to Law, is this: "The major thing we're doing is actually adding a map. A novel concept, but we're putting it on the home page."

So when you go to MapQuest.com, instead of just seeing an address entry box, now you'll see an actual map on the start page. You know, like on every other mapping site. But this is a necessary change for the service, so let's give the team credit for the update.

Also in the no-longer-new-for-2008 category: The service now makes it easy for you to recall your recently-used destinations and routes. And it can send directions to e-mail and to mobiles, via SMS.

Other improvements in the user interface include and entry box that does a better job of letting the user enter just a single address to map, or a start and end point to create a route. The system can now also parse long address strings instead of requiring the user to enter in address, city, and ZIP code separately.

I'm more impressed by the new location-based content getting layered into the service, such as weather, traffic incident reports, and gas prices. All these relevant data chunks pop up over the MapQuest maps, where they are actually useful. "We're transforming from just a maps utility to giving you what's around you," Law said.

Data blocks on items like gas prices and traffic now pop up over the map when you need them.

While the mobile "Navigator" version of the service ($49 a year) will give you walking directions in addition to the driving directions that are standard on the Web version, I was surprised that there's no public transit routing available yet. (To be fair, though, Google Maps on the iPhone doesn't offer either walking or transit directions.) Law said that, "We are evaluating what users are asking us for," but that some features--like transit--are difficult to launch while maintaining MapQuest's consistent quality across the country. "People trust us for our accuracy," he said. A quick survey at the CNET office reinforced this: Users here feel MapQuest is more reliable than Google, but Google is a lot easier and faster to work with.

As far as other, more Web 2.0 features, like support for community-edited maps, 3D views, street-level photography and the like, the advice I have for MapQuest fans is to not hold your breath. This service is squarely aimed at mainstream users and its 1,100 business partners (Law twice mentioned Dunkin Donuts as a user of the API).

I'm trying to find a positive lesson in MapQuest's story, but to be honest it's a reach. I can understand a company's goal to iterate its interface and features at a measured pace, to not alienate a large and profitable user base. But old-fashioned is rarely a winning characteristic of a Web business. In MapQuest's case I can't help but wonder where the company would be if it had been more aggressive in adopting new technology and distribution methods, as Microsoft and Google did in the vacuum it left. I'll take Law at his word that MapQuest is big. But it could have been much bigger.

Garmin and MapQuest want others to share the geospatial wealth.

Garmin's GPSmap 60Cx

(Credit: Garmin)

In conjunction with the Where 2.0 conference in San Jose, Calif., both companies on Tuesday announced moves to share application programming interfaces (APIs) that let programmers take advantage of their products. For years, products or service APIs were often kept secret, but nowadays it's vogue for companies to share them in an attempt to become a vital part of a larger ecosystem.

Garmin, which makes GPS (Global Positioning System) devices that tell people where they are, announced a number of free and licensed APIs that permit sophisticated interactions between Web sites and GPS devices. For example, a hiker can upload GPS data to a Web site to plot travels on a map, or a geocaching enthusiast can download locations to scout out. Those and other interfaces are at a new developer-oriented Garmin Web site.

Meanwhile, MapQuest released a beta version of an API to let programs written in Adobe ActionScript take advantage of MapQuest's online mapping. The widely used Flash technology, as well as its new Apollo technology, both use ActionScript, as does Adobe's Flex software for developing Flash software.

To show what the software can do, MapQuest posted some demonstrations on its Web site.

Wireless router

General Motors and MapQuest have teamed up on a new service enabling drivers of GM's OnStar-enabled cars to use the Web to select and store destinations for their turn-by-turn guidance when out on the road. The new service, called OnStar Web Destination Entry, will allow drivers to find up to five destinations on MapQuest's Web site, then send them to the OnStar system directly from their computers.

The theory goes that these destinations can then be accessed while out on the road by connecting to the OnStar service center and selecting a stored destination via OnStar's automated voice-prompt system; OnStar will then guide you to said destination using a series of automated turn-by-turn directions.

Those who want to add a new destination while on the move will still be able to access the traditional OnStar trip advisers if they want to. The new service works only in models equipped with seventh-generation OnStar systems (2007 model year cars) or newer. A sample of 3,000 OnStar subscribers will take place in a pilot of the Web Destination Entry program this summer, and GM says that it expects 600,000 2007-model year cars--including all Cadillacs and Buicks--to come factory-installed with the service starting from "late 2007."