An update to my previous post and more map info:

Looks like Yahoo released their Maps API one day after google did. Seems almost like a battle to increase usage/adoption between the two mapping providers. Yahoo’s seems easier to incorporate as all you have to do is create an XML file and pass it in as a parameter rather than having to know all the javascript required for google maps. Yahoo’s ease of use also means that they get to control look & feel along with traffic since it is a page hosted on their servers and maintained by them (and with their own ads)…but Google’s API is adding attribution & a link in the bottom left-hand side (but they too have plans to add advertisements onto the maps).

Also, A9 has launched a map product (though no API yet I am aware of). It integrates block view and has a pretty interesting UI. You can drag a box in a small map which reloads a large map representing the area bound within the original box. Then you can click on the map to get a magnifying glass and drag it around to reload the blockview images.

I don’t think this was a case of one company trying to outdo another…I think all 3 of these companies were planning to have something to show at Where 2.0 but whereas A9 and Yahoo timed their releases on the day of, Google did it the day before…and, BTW, Radar is giving some good coverage.

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