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.
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.
Yahoo has licensed detailed data that describes 40,000 neighborhood boundaries in more than 2,000 U.S. cities, from a company called Urban Mapping.
"Allowing users to search by neighborhood yields more appropriate results, adding value and relevancy to the overall experience," Bob Upham, director of business development for Yahoo's Geo Technologies group, said in a statement.
Urban Mapping's Urbanware database works with a thorny geographic issue, trying to describe informal and often ill-defined neighborhood boundaries.
Meanwhile, Yahoo hopes people will help define neighborhoods through its Flickr photo-sharing service, too.
Yahoo on Thursday updated its map service to include more data about specific neighborhoods, broader international coverage, and stylistic changes, but it's still not the easiest map on the eyes.
The neighborhood details cover 12,000 areas in 300 cities in North America, and more of Eastern Europe is included. Points of interest like schools and ski resorts are highlighted now, and Yahoo is using more pastel colors. But there's also an obnoxious large ad in the lower left corner that is very distracting. I prefer Google's simpler site to either Yahoo Maps or Microsoft Live Maps.
Compare the map sites for yourself:
Yahoo's map interface is colorful but busy.
(Credit: Yahoo)
Google's site offers a pop-up window with a street view photo. Too much yellow and gray though.
(Credit: Google)
Microsoft's Live Maps also has a lot of yellow and gray, and adds blue links to businesses in the blank space on the left.
(Credit: Microsoft)
Yahoo Maps users can now re-route a trip on the fly.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Yahoo's mapping service has been tweaked today to include a rerouting feature similar to the one Google's had since June. The new addition lets you pick up and drag your directions at any point to get the service to reroute according to the guidelines you give it. Once you've made changes, the service will pop up with a small comparison to show you how many miles have been added (or taken away) and how the change affects the time on your original commute recommendation.
Rerouting is a handy feature, and if you've given Google's implementation a try, you'll know how nice it can be to not have to create two or more separate sets of directions to help get you from point A to point B when including shortcuts or side trips. I have to give a slight nod to Google's version, however, as it shows you street name, mileage, and time estimates while you're in the middle of dragging the marker around.
In addition to directions, Yahoo has also made some slight improvements to the business listings that show up on the map, which now include photos and user ratings that have been pulled in via Yahoo Local. You get to see only one photo and review before having to jump off to the attached Yahoo Local page. The process isn't nearly as seamless as Google Maps, which allows users to read several while remaining on the page, but it makes the service feel like more of a directory.
Yahoo Maps has rolled out some pretty cool features this year, including a send-to-car option, an all new look, travel maps, and tighter integration with Flickr.
Yahoo may be outwardly struggling to redefine itself after being eclipsed by Google in search and online ads, but internally the coding and innovation continues apace, according to Bradley Horowitz, vice president of Yahoo's advanced development division.
"We have a very healthy hack program and that spirit has continued even as the company is rethinking its place in the universe and all those metaphysical questions," he said, referring to the promotion of co-founder Jerry Yang to chief executive, replacing Terry Semel, and Yang's promise to review the company's strategy and direction.
For instance, Yahoo was set to release new maps and shopping features on Thursday that are a direct result of the company's internal Hack Day in March. The Hack Days are a forum for developers to have unconstrained freedom to experiment with new technologies that may or may not ever become products. Yahoo Messenger Flight Planner and Car Finder are two products born out of Hack Days and there have been dozens of features added to existing products.
Yahoo's new MapMixer feature lets people create hybrids of two different maps by overlaying them. This shows a map of the campaus at University of California, Berkeley, on a Yahoo Map.
(Credit: Yahoo)One of the new features is called MapMixer. It allows people to overlay a different map on top of a Yahoo Map and share them with others if they like. It's different from regular map mashups, which allow people to overlay data, points of interest and other information direction on top of the map.
The second new Hack Day-born feature Yahoo is releasing lets you narrow a search for a product on Yahoo Shopping by color, without having to rely on the various color names different merchants use.
(Credit: Yahoo)With MapMixer, you could combine a map of the University of Berkeley campus on to a Yahoo Map to be able to see richer detail about campus buildings and other attractions, or create a hybrid of a current map and a historical map. You just upload the new map and click on two common points on the maps so that they can align. MapMixer can be found here.
The second new feature from Hack Days is called Shop by Color. Yahoo has created a palette of 56 colors that customers can use when buying on Yahoo Shopping, instead of having to depend on the shades and hues and disparate names that different merchants provide. It will be integrated as part of a "narrow your results" feature in Yahoo Shopping. "You can click on a color and say show me shoes in this color for under $100," Horowitz says. "It's a no-brainer feature and I don't think anyone has applied this technology at this scale; to 10 million products."
Mercedes-Benz USA has an answer to complaints that car navigation directions don't measure up to those from sites like Yahoo, Google and Ask.
The automaker has partnered with Google and Yahoo to allow users to send customized Google Maps and Yahoo Local Maps directly from a computer or Web-enabled cell phone to their car computer.
A new "Send to Car" icon that will appear on both companies' mapping sites will allow you to send customized directions, maps, addresses and points of interest to your Mercedes' GPS navigation system.
Once you get in your car, pushing the "i" button in your Mercedes will download the information directly to your car's computer for either immediate or future use.
Better yet, other people can send directions to your car while you're driving.
The high-tech car tech is called Search & Send and will become part of the current Mercedes roadside and emergency GPS service, Tele Aide.
It will be available on the Mercedes S-class sedan and CL-class coupe as of September 5 and the entire 2008 C-class lineup.
(Credit:
Mercedes-Benz USA)
Yahoo is making its biggest update in the last two years to its local search site, allowing customer reviews and proximity to influence results.
To start with, the Yahoo Local site gets a whole new look. It's better organized and more visually appealing than before. The home page shows a customized skyline for 20 cities (in San Francisco it's the Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower and the Transamerica Pyramid Building), along with local weather.
The top center portion of the site features rotating links to the most popular reviews, events, maps and buzz, or the most popular search terms used on the site. There is a section listing recent reviews for local spots and the ability to browse by category. Up at the top is a link to a new Weekend Guide page that offers a package of information to help people plan their weekend, including movie and DVD releases, Flickr photos, and events from Yahoo's Upcoming.org database.
Yahoo has redesigned its Yahoo Local Web site and added new features, including the ability for people to comment on other people's reviews and results that are influenced by the user reviews. This screenshot of the new home page shows a customized skyline and weather for San Francisco. Visitors can browse through the most popular local listings for their area, as well as events and maps.
(Credit: Yahoo)Not only do user reviews influence the search results, but users also now have the ability to comment on each other's reviews. "When a certain percentage of opinions are positive that affects rank," said Brian Gil, senior product manager for Yahoo. The search algorithm "also takes into account the distance from where the user is searching."
Reviewers also can now upload a photo or avatar to accompany their postings. An icon appears next to reviewers who are associated with you via Yahoo Messenger or Yahoo 360.
Yahoo's new Local site has a Weekend Guide that offers information about happenings in the visitor's city. For instance, the guide for San Francisco this weekend shows what movies are opening in theaters in the city, as well as local restaurant reviews and events from Yahoo's Upcoming.org site and suggestions for end-of-summer activities like back-to-school shopping, beach walks and barbecues.
(Credit: Yahoo)With its huge customer base Yahoo is smart to allow for even more user-generated content and to provide linkages to its disparate social media services, said Greg Sterling, principal of Sterling Market Intelligence. Those are key to helping Yahoo compete against the popular people-powered reviews site Yelp, he said.
"Yahoo is the incumbent in local search, other than the Yellow Pages. It's their market to lose in some sense," Sterling said. "They are to local search what Google has been to general search."
In a separate announcement, local guide site Citysearch said it was offering access to menus through a partnership with MenuPages.com.
Yahoo Maps' Web 2.0 interface goes horribly wrong
(Credit: Yahoo.com)
(Credit:
CNET Networks)
TagMaps is an exploratory mashup/science project from Yahoo Research Berkeley that mixes Yahoo Maps with Flickr's geo-tagging features to create a neat-looking photo browser. Locations show up on the map as large tags, and mousing over one will populate the corresponding Flickr photos to the right. Clicking any of these photos will give you the title and photographer information, along with the option to visit the photo page on Flickr.
What's really cool is that you can toggle between day and night modes. Both the map and the photos change dramatically depending on which mode you're in. Photos are sorted by their time stamp, so there's no additional work needed to get them to show up on TagMaps besides tagging them on Flickr. The project is definitely a work in progress, as I was unable to get any night photos to display properly yet.
TagMaps also includes a service called Trip Explorer. It taps into Yahoo Travel's Trip Planner site to show you tags of interesting places to visit. Testing it out in Berkeley, California, I found it picked up mostly bars and restaurants. When I zoomed over to San Francisco, TagMaps showed me typical tourist destinations. Clicking any of them shows other items of interest nearby. I would like to see it give a quick snippet of information from Yahoo Travel, or at least have a way to easily find out more information without leaving the TagMaps interface.
You also have the option to add a TagMap to your blog or Web site, as I've done above. You can select any starting location, along with the zoom level. If you're the technical sort, you can even choose a spot by latitude and longitude.
TagMaps is a project with a lot of promise. It has the casual, exploratory feel you get from Google Maps, but it also mixes in a dash of visual appeal with the Flickr shots. I could easily see this becoming a mobile-phone app or surfacing on blogs and social-networking profiles.
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