In April Google added a “My Maps” feature to its online map offering. It allows anyone with a Google account to create their own maps with push pins and annotation which can be published publicly or kept private, but still shared. I thought I’d put My Maps to a quick task and see how well it did in comparison to Microsoft’s Virtual Earth which also has similar functionality.
As expected, it was incredibly simple to use. Using My Maps was completely intuitive, and within 5 minutes or so I had a map that we could provide to those visiting our offices which is far better than what Google naturally maps (for some odd reason, Google Maps incorrectly maps our location by one block).
What I Created in Google Maps with My Maps
I also tried Microsoft’s Virtual Earth for comparison. I thought it might have the better end-product as Virtual Earth’s 3d maps look great. Unfortunately, after spending the time to make the map and save the collection, when I tested it, it doesn’t retain the map view that I selected when creating the map. So, instead of getting exactly what I created, users viewing the map get Virtual Earth’s default ‘top-down, roads only’ view which wasn’t what I’d want them to see-I wanted that great 3d view! Additionally, it lacked the ability to create different types of push pins for the map (which I thought was great on Google’s My Maps). Finally, the link Virtual Earth provided for sharing my map does not work at all in Safari on the Macintosh (the link redirects the browser to intl.local.live.com).
What I Created in Virtual Earth
A 3d Map with Push Pins - NICE!
What Users who Click on my Shared Link See
Not so Nice
Virtual Earth was reasonably easy to use, and the 3d view is great. I felt that the 3d map view provided better context to someone visiting our location. However, there were too many negatives with the Live mapping overall. Google’s My Maps (more information and help) is incredibly easy to use, and it does what it does well. Google takes this one.
Tags: Google, Microsoft, My Maps, User Experience, Virtual Earth, Web ApplicationsYou may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
