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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The first Vietnam Google Maps Mashup

Địa Danh Việt Nam is Vietnam's first Google Maps mashup (or in Vietnamese: "Bản đồ địa danh/du lịch Việt Nam đầu tiên trên Google Maps!) It combines satellite imagery of Vietnam on Google Maps with a database of more than 48,000 place names and landmarks. Users can add to the map as well (real estate and classified info is encouraged). Currently this mashup is available only in Vietnamese but Chau, the geo developer behind Địa Danh Việt Nam notes that it will soon all be translated to English. Once this is completed this could be a very valuable travel resource for folks visiting this beautiful country. I went to Vietnam in 2002 and again in '06 and I strongly urge all reading to visit! It's a fantastic place.

Update (May15/07): This mashup now has an English language blog so you can keep up with all the updates! Find it here..

Correction: One other Google Maps mashup from Vietnam has been brought to my attention: Vietnam Travel Maps - an excellent English language travel resource for anyone planning to visit Vietnam!

See also:
Wikimapia: Vietnam

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