Google Does Maps

I just got the tip on this tonight. Something news from Google and it’s very cool. They have added their own maps site.

As I remember, until today, entering an address in Google would bring you links to other map sites. Now Google does it themselves… or at least brands it as their own.

The big difference is, this is the first map site that seems designed for higher resolution screens and broadband. There are no little cluttered maps to be found. These are the nicest looking street level maps I’ve seen on the web.

Here’s an example – a map of where I grew up in Queens, and directions from there to my TV station.

If you point and drag, the map follows your mouse. If you click on any part of a trip’s directions a new close-up map appears. It’s quite elegant.

From a web standpoint, the specific information for any map is easily coded into its web address, making this a boon for web designers. On the other hand, it looks like the right mouse button is turned off while you’re over a map making it difficult to ‘scrape’ their content.