Google Maps Opens World Bank Account

Today Google announced an agreement with the World Bank to make Google Map Maker source data more widely and easily available to government organisations in the event of major disasters. Under the new deal World Bank partner organisations, which include government and United Nations agencies, will be able to contact World Bank offices for access to Google Map Maker data.


Google Map Maker Pulse - watch real-time edits on Google Maps

Surprisingly some of the early comments on this new agreement, that I have read, have been very negative about the new arrangement. Personally I'm far from convinced that the World Bank is a benign organisation and I'm pretty certain that it has often had a malign influence on the economies of developing countries.

However this agreement seems to me to be solely concerned with ensuring that the latest mapping data is more easily available to aid agencies and organisations in times of major disasters. Surely, that can only be a good thing.

Read Write Web (RWW) are arguing that Google have appointed the World Bank as "the gatekeeper" of Google Map Maker data. They appear to believe that this move is part of Google's 'closing off (of) access' to its mapping platform. In particular RWW seems keen to connect this new partnership with Google's recent introduction of charges to the use of the Google Maps API.


Google Map Maker

In November I responded fairly negatively to Google's new API charges. However I'm struggling to see how these two separate announcements are connected.

RWW claim that "Google has decided to compete with Ushahidi and other open-source efforts to solve this problem (crisis mapping)". RWW seem here to misunderstand the role of crisis reporting websites like Ushahidi. Ushahidi is built upon mapping platforms such as Google Maps and Open Street Maps. For it to work well in times of major disasters then it needs access to the latest crisis mapping efforts.

With Google's new partnership with the World Bank it appears that agencies and platforms such as Ushahidi now have a clear process as to how they can begin to access the latest mapping data from Google.

In many cases of major disaster the efforts of the Open Street Map community will probably mean that the most accurate and up-to-date maps will be openly available from Open Street Map and not from Google.

Google Maps and OpenStreetMap are two entirely different platforms with different goals. Google Maps relies on more centralised control over the moderating of community map edits than OpenStreetMap (I'm not going to go into the reasons why here). This means that the data behind Google Map Maker isn't openly accessible.

This partnership with the World Bank seems to me be an effort on Google's part to provide a means to access the latest mapping data rather than attempt to close access. I for one think it should be welcomed.

(BTW - I still think Read Write Web is the best tech blog out there)

Google Map Maker Comes to the USA

Google has added the United States to Google Map Maker. Google Map Maker allows anyone to edit and add information to Google Maps.



Google claims that since the introduction of Google Map Maker the number of the world's population with accurate online maps of their neighbourhoods has doubled from 15% to 30%. Now users in the United States can correct errors on Google Maps with Map Maker and add detail to areas that are lacking proper map data.

In addition to opening Map Maker for the United States Google have added some new features for users globally. You can now get a street-level perspective on places with Street View imagery directly in Map Maker, see and edit all points of interest, and find exactly what you’re looking for with advanced search options such as displaying all railroad tracks.

Map Maker Pulse

You can view real-time edits to Map Maker with this Google Map. The application uses Google Maps and the Google Earth browser to show you in real-time where people are using Google Map Maker to update Google Maps.

Via: The Official Google Blog

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Map Maker Graduation: Part IV

Seventeen countries and territories have today been given much better map data thanks to Google Map Maker


The new areas with improved maps are:

Brunei, Colombia, Cuba, Cyprus, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Kiribati, Kuwait, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Syria, Uruguay, Venezuela, Yemen.

Hopefully this will lead to some exciting new Google Maps mashups from these areas.

Via: Google LatLong

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Map Maker in Europe

Google have added several Eastern European countries to Map Maker. The new countries are Albania, Belarus, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia.

Map Maker allows anyone with local knowledge to update maps in areas that currently have poor coverage on Google Maps. Below is a timelapse video of the map of Madurai, India showing how the city's map data has been improved over time by user edits.



You can learn more about Google Map Maker on the Map Maker page.

Via: Google LatLong: Map Maker gets a European flair

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Google Maps API v3 & Much More

Google Maps API v3
Google have today announced version 3 of the Google Maps API. The new version has been released as part of Google Code Labs, which means it is available now but only with basic features.

The main features of the new release seem to be faster rendering of maps, better implementation of maps on mobile devices and better geo-coding.

Google have also launched a new discussion group especially for users of the new version of the API.

Via: Google Geo Developers Blog: Announcing Google Maps API v3

Google Web Elements
Google today also launched Google Web Elements, a set of widgets of Google products which can be embedded in any web page. One of the elements is Google Maps.

It has been possible for a long time to embed Google Maps in a web page by cutting and pasting the i-frame code from the 'link' section of the Google Maps home page. However, the new Google Web Element for Google Maps is a simple to use wizard that lets users add a marker to a map, set the zoom level and the size of the i-frame.

Map Maker Graduation

Yesterday Google added first generation maps for 64 new countries and territories to Google Maps. All the new mapped areas are the result of work by users of Google Map Maker.

The image above shows the map for Lahore, Pakistan before and after the new release.

The 64 new mapped areas are:

American Samoa, Anguilla, Armenia, Aruba, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Comoros, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guadeloupe, Guinea, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Malawi, Martinique, Mauritania, Mongolia, Montserrat, Mozambique, Myanmar (Burma), Nauru, Netherlands Antilles, Niger, Nigeria, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Pakistan, Reunion, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Wallis and Futuna, Zambia.

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Download Google Map Maker Vector Data

Mapperz, a great maps and GIS blog, this week spotted that Google are allowing developers to download the vector data for Kenya maps made in Map Maker.

It is possible to download the data in either Keyhole Markup Language (KML) or in ESRI Shapefile format. The data is available here for non-commercial use.

Mapperz has downloaded the files and has been playing around with the data in ArcMap and Google Earth. You can see the results on the Mapperz blog.

The Brain Off blog has also been discussing this new developemnt from Google Maps and looking at the possible consequences for Open Street Map and Open Geo Data.

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Google Driving Directions Maker

Google Map Maker now has editable Driving Directions. This means it is possible to get driving directions in regions where previously they were unavailable. For example, you can get directions from Ho Chi Minh City to Thien Hau Pagoda in Vietnam or Pune City to Khandala in India.

Also, just as Google Map Maker is editable, so are the driving directions. This means if you spot a mistake you can go ahead and edit it. For those of you keen to help improve driving directions in previously uncovered areas this guide should help.

Via: Google LatLong: The maps you made just got directions

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Graduation Day for Map Maker

Google have today announced that 16 countries have received map updates care of Google Map Maker.


The 16 countries are:

Bhutan, Bolivia, Cambodia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guam, Iceland, Mauritius, Paraguay, Philippines, Senegal, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Vietnam, Zimbabwe.

Google have also put together a gallery highlighting some of the wonderful cartography completed by users of Google Map Maker.

Via: Google LatLong: Graduation day for Map Maker

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Map Maker Added to Google Maps API

Google have announced that the Chrome browser now supports the Google Earth Browser plug-in. Chrome users who have been dying to play with Google Earth in the browser should check out these Google Map Mania posts.


Google have also now officially announced that the tiles from Map Maker are available as new map types in both the Google Maps API (v2.146) and the Static Maps API as new map types.

Google Map Maker allows anyone to add map detail in areas of the world where Google Maps at the moment has little data. Check out the two maps of Sri Lanka below. The map on the right is from Map Maker and the map on the left is from Google Maps.



This Google page explains how you can add Map Maker tiles to your maps. Mapperz has created an example Map of Iceland. Just toggle between the two 'map' buttons to compare Iceland with Map Maker data turned on and off.

Via: Google Geo Developers Blog & Google Lat Long Blog

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Map Maker Tiles in the API

Google Map Maker allows anyone to add map detail in areas of the world where Google Maps at the moment has little data. Check out the two maps of Sri Lanka below. The map on the right is from Map Maker and the map on the left is from Google Maps.



For the sake of accuracy there is often a lengthy delay before the data from Map Maker is added to Google Maps. However Google have now decided to allow map developers to access Map Maker data via the Google Maps API. To add Map Maker data users will have to use the latest 'experimental' version of the API v146b (which means you can play with it but shouldn't really use it as features may be dropped before the version becomes official).

Mapperz has created an example Map of Iceland. Just toggle between the two 'map' buttons to compare Iceland with Map Maker data turned on and off.

Via: Mapperz with a hat-tip to Mike Williams

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Map Making in New Worlds

Google have today launched Google MapMaker in 43 new countries and territories, including Argentina, Costa Rica, and Fiji.

Map Maker allows users to contribute and edit map information in 164 countries around the world. With Google Map Maker users can locate, draw, label and add map features, including:

• Borders and regions (states/provinces, districts/administrative regions, cities, neighborhoods, etc.)
• Road networks
• Places of interest
• Local businesses
• And many more features like railways, waterways, events and reviews

The image at the top of this post is a sketch which highlights where additions to Google Maps have been made in Map Maker.

Via: Google LatLong: Map making in new worlds

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Map Maker for Africa

Google have added 45 African countries to Map Maker. Map Maker is a service that allows anyone to add map information to areas that currently have poor map data in Google Maps.



This addition should greatly improve Google Maps in Africa, which is great news. Hopefully many more areas will soon have as much map detail as Nairobi, Kenya, where Google MapMaker has been working on a project in partnership with a team of seven students from three Kenyan universities to improve the area's Google Map data.

Via: Google LatLong: Let's map Africa

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Map Maker Now Available for 77 Countries

Google Map Maker, which allows users to contribute and edit Maps data for regions around the world, is now available in 77 countries.

The vaes⁹ blog contacted me today to say that they had noticed Map Maker was now available for the Philippines. I checked Google's Countries Editable in Google Map Maker page and it seems that Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan have all been recently added to the list.

If you live in any of those countries you can now get mapping at Google Map Maker.

Update
The Google Lat Long blog has confirmed today that Map Maker has been extended to the seventeen countries named above and have created this cool time lapse movie of mapping activity in Nicosia, Cyprus:



video link
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Google Maps Updates

Mapperz has busy checking out which areas have received new map tiles in Google Maps latest update. It looks like the majority of the updates are for countries editable in Google Map Maker.

These countries seem to now have road maps:

St Lucia
Grenada
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Trinidad and Tobago
Malta
Mauritius
Barbados
Pakistan (some new content)
Israel

Town names only:

Georgia
Solomon Islands
Faroe Islands
Guam
Cyprus

Limited Content added:

Madagascar


Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania also all have new map tiles.

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Google Map Maker

It is getting hard to keep up with the pace of developments from the Google Maps team. Today's huge development from Google Maps is the ability to edit Google Maps.

Google Map Maker is a new service that allows users to contribute and edit map information for certain regions. With Google Map Maker users can locate, draw, label and add map features, including:

• Borders and regions (states/provinces, districts/administrative regions, cities, neighborhoods, etc.)
• Road networks
  
• Places of interest
• Local businesses
• And many more features like railways, waterways, events and reviews
  

In effect Google Map Maker is borrowing the concept of OpenStreetMap for collaborative mapping (the big difference to OpenStreetMap is that any submitted data will not become open source but will become owned by Google). As such any submitted content may be edited by other users or moderators .

Google Map Maker is separate from Google Maps and any additions you make to the map will not appear immediately on Google Maps. However it is clear that Google hope to get useful mapping data from the community and say that "at a later time, this content may be published in Google Maps for others to see and use."

Currently editing is available only in these countries:

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Bermuda
• British Virgin Islands
• Cayman Islands
• Cyprus
• Grenada
• Iceland
• Jamaica
• Netherlands Antilles
• Pakistan
• St. Kitts and Nevis
• St. Lucia
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Vietnam

To help users with this new service Google have produced a Google Map Maker Getting Started Guide and a User Contributed Help Site.

Via: Google LatLong Blog
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