Barcelona Shopping on Google Maps

Eixos.cat is a website cataloguing businesses and empty businesses in Barcelona. The Eixos.cat Google Map of businesses in Barcelona can be searched for a huge range of useful information.

The Shopping Catalogue part of the map allows users to search for stores by type of store and by location. The map also allows users to search for empty businesses and business property available for rent and sale. The Industry and Enterprises section of the map allows the user to search for industrial sectors in the city.

Eixos.cat has also built a number of other Google Maps that examine data about the breakdown of the commercial sectors in the city.

Find a Record Shop with Google Maps

Today's theme on Google Maps Mania is definitely a lament for the continuing demise of off-line shopping.

As a teenager I would always look forward to Saturday mornings, which would inevitably involve a pilgrimage to a record shop and the purchase of some magical black vinyl. Even as a jaded adult I still love browsing around record shops. The problem is that they are becoming increasingly thin on the ground.

Recordshops.org is a store locator that will help you find your nearest record shop. The store locator is very easy to use. Just enter your address and the nearest record shos to your location will be displayed on a Google Map.

Find What You Need with Google Maps

The rise of internet shopping and the decline in mom and pop stores actually seems to have made it more difficult to buy certain items. It may be anecdotal but I often find myself wondering more and more where there is a store that will actually stock the thing I need.

Luckily Goodzer has come to my rescue. Goodzer is a local shopping service that can help you find all sorts of products in all kinds of stores nearby. It can help you find all sorts of items, big, small, or obscure, and not just from national chains, but from unique boutiques and small stores that can be easily missed.

If you share your location with Goodzer and enter the product you need Goodzer will display a Google Map with all the nearby stores that sell the product you want. It is possible to set the distance that you are prepared to travel and it is also possible to filter the results by relevance and price.

Yard Sale Planning with Google Maps

The Yard Sale Treasure Map will find yard sales happening around your location and plan a route and an itinerary for you, so that you can visit them all.

When you add a location to Yard Sale Treasure Map the nearest sales are automatically added to your itinerary. You can add or remove sales by clicking on their map marker. You can even search for places to stop off on your route. For example if you fancy a coffee between yard sales you can search for nearby cafes and add one to your route.

The finished route and itinerary can be printed out or saved as a GPX file.

Taking Store Locator Maps to the Next Level

Why bother designing a whole website when you can just pack everything you need into an awesome Google Maps based user interface?

Uniqlo Undercover is possibly definitely the best store locator map I've ever seen. In fact to call it a store locator map is an insult really.

Sure, you can use the map to find Uniqlo stores around the world but there is so much more to this map than finding your nearest retail outlet. For example check out the 'Looks' map view. This loads custom map tiles of photographs of The Uniqlo range alongside some historical information about the company.

If this has got you intrigued to view the stores clothing range you can then select 'Products'. This map view allows you to use the Google Maps zooming and panning tools to view Uniqlo's products.

By this time in your exploration you will want to tell all your friends about the Uniqlo map. Luckily the map also contains a 'Social' map view. Here you can view the Twitter thumbnail portraits of all those who have shared the map on Twitter and you can of course make your own Tweet.


Uniqlo have a long history of using the Google Maps API in innovative ways to promote their range. In 2009 Uniqlo created a stunning synchronised video and Google Map. That map is now dead but I did manage to capture some video of the map in action:

Real-Time Marijuana Prices Mapped

The latest trend in retail mapping appears to be tracking the street price of marijuana. Cannaberg.com is a Google Map monitoring the current strains and prices of weed at different locations around the world.

This isn't exactly a new idea. The guys behind The Price of Weed have long been enterprising supporters of the free market in wacky baccy. In order to gauge the true street value of this globally traded product the Price of Weed are also trying to crowdsource the cost of marijuana and display the results on a handy Google Map.


However before rushing out to find your local dealer you might want to take a little look at Young People's Stories

Australia's National Cannabis and Information Centre put together this rather beautiful collage using the Google Map's API. The collage contains nine real stories, by young people, telling their experience of using cannabis. And, whilst the map may be pretty, their stories aren't.

The names of the nine narrators are linked at the top of the mapped collage. When you click on one of the names the map zooms in on that young person's part of the collage and an information window opens on top of the map containing their story.

Also See

Potlocator - mapping medical marijuana dispensaries
Weedmaps.com - map of doctors and dispenseries

Google Maps the Corporate World

Deutsche Telekom's Worldwide Operations Map is a very nicely designed corporate map. It uses the Google Maps API Styled Maps feature to create a map that complements the colors of the company's corporate style and website design.

The map shows the scope of Deutsche Telekom's worldwide operations and lists the names of its companies operating in each country. The map can be searched by location and the information windows provide links to click-through to the country profile pages on the company's website.

Rate Your Area with Google Maps

RateMyArea.com is a crowdsourced Google Map that can be used to find, review, share and discuss businesses and locations in your local area.

Users of RateMyArea.com can find the best places and events in their area based on the reviews of other users. Searching the map simply involves defining what you want to search and where, for example 'pizza' in 'New York'. Results are then displayed on the map and in the map sidebar.

RateMyArea.com also helps facilitate local social networks. Users can start a 'group' in a particular location and can start conversations, choose to invite other users and offer comments about the reviews and topics that other users have added.

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All of Austria on Google Maps

AustroZoom.at wants to be your one stop map for Austria. The application uses Google Maps to provide access to over 522,000 Austrian business locations, localised weather information, route planning and much more.

It is possible to find business locations (such as local restaurants) by using the categorised links beneath the map. The slide menu at the side of the map provides links to the many other functions provided by this Google Map.

These functions include: traffic conditions and webcams, route planning, locally posted messages on Twitter, photographs & videos and local points of interest.

One very nice touch is the way the map has shaded out the rest of the world so that the focus of the map is centred entirely on Austria.

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Lots of Free Stuff on Google Maps

Treshr lets you find and give away free stuff with a little help from Google Maps.

Using Treshr it is very easy to find stuff, just enter what you want and your location and you will be shown what is available on a Google Map (pro-tip: just enter a location to find all the free stuff being given away near you).

If you can't find what you want then you can even create a wanted list and get notified if the item gets added in your area.

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Google Maps = Cheapest Gas

If you are heading out on a long car journey then the two real essentials you need are the directions and a tank full of gas. FuelMyRoute.com can provide you with the driving directions and show you the cheapest places to get gas on your route.

FuelMyRoute.com uses Google Maps to provide you with driving directions for a trip and integrates the cheapest places to get fuel both in your map and in the directions. All the displayed gas prices are within one mile of the quickest route.

FuelMyRoute.com has a continuously running search engine that gathers gas price data from user-reported gas price websites. On average, FuelMyRoute.com's gas price search engine retrieves over 50,000 gas prices every day.

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Libate Me with Google Maps

The New Belgium Brewing Company's Libation Location Map uses Google Maps to help you find the nearest locations that stock their many beers.

Using the map you can enter a location and select from the many beers on offer from New Belgium Brewing. You can even select the distance that you are prepared to travel to get your favourite tipple. The Libation Location Map then shows you all the stores near by where you can purchase your beer.

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How to Create Indoor Shopping Mall Maps

Google I/O App for Android
For the Google I/O conference this year Google created a pretty cool Android App that included a number of features, including a schedule, details about the sessions, buzz about I/O via a real-time search stream and a conference map.

Google has now open-sourced the code for the app. If you want to create a similar app for a conference you can download the code and adapt it to suit your needs.


One of my favourite presentations from Google I/O this year was Map Your Business Inside Out by Brendan Kenny and Chris Broadfoot of Google. Essentially in the presentation Brendan and Chris demonstrated how the Google Maps API can be used to create indoor maps for large conference centers or shopping malls.

You can view the presentation in full in this video:



In the presentation Brendan and Chris explain how you can attach floor-plan overlays to a Google Map, how you can label the floor-plan and how you can develop custom Street Views for your map.

If you are interested in creating your own indoor map then you might find these resources useful:

• Maps API V3 Documentation: Adding Overlays
• Introducing the Google Maps Label Library
• Google Maps Label Library reference documents and the source code
• Maps API V3 Documentation: Custom Street View

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The Sophisticutted Guide to Punning Cuts

I Won't Cut My Hair

There is an unwritten law that says if you open a new hair salon then you have to give it a silly name, preferably using some kind of pun.

In an effort to prove that this is a universal unwritten law microformats.dk has created this worldwide map of hairdressers and hair salons. The map includes many fine examples of punning titles, such as Hairway to Heaven, Clip Joint, Sophisticuts, Hair Today and Streaks Ahead.

There is a serious point to the map as it provides an example of how you can use the OpenStreetMap API to provide data for a Google Map application. For this map of hair salons microformats.dk has selected 500 of the over 20,000 hairdressers in the Open Street Map database.

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Real-Time Shopping on Google Maps

Net-a-Porter Live

Online fashion shop Net-a-Porter has created a real-time Google Map showing the location of every purchase that is being made on the website live.

Every time someone on Net-a-Porter adds an item to their shopping bag or shares it with a friend the item is shown on a Google Map at the location of the customer. The item is also displayed in the map sidebar with a brief description and its price. If you like the look of the purchased item you can of course select the 'shop and share' button to buy it yourself.

Zappos Map

Zappos, the online shoes retailer, created the first real-time shopping map, where orders placed on a website are mapped to the location the order is being shipped to, in real-time.

Zappos uses photographs of the product being brought as the map marker. If you click on the photograph then you are taken to the web page for that product (and Zappos presumably hope you will be tempted to buy the product yourself).

ThisNext Google Map

ThisNext is another online retailer showing geo-tagged real-time purchases live on a Google Map.

The map animates between the latest purchases made through the ThisNext site. Each information window displayed shows the location of the shopper and a picture of the product purchased. The window, of course, also displays a link to that product's web page, so if you see anything you like you can buy the product yourself.

The Book Depository Live

If you are interested in what books people are buying at this very moment then this map is for you. The Book Depository Live map shows the latest purchases made from the online book store.

The map shows the latest orders placed with the store in real-time. The location of the purchaser is shown with a map marker that also displays a thumbnail of the purchased book. If you like the look of any of the displayed books click on the thumbnail or link and purchase it from The Book Depository.

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French Shopping Deals on Google Maps

This year there has been a spurt of English language websites using Google Maps to show you nearby shops and restaurants offering daily deals and coupons. Coupon sites are also proving very popular in France.

Ohmydeal

Ohmydeals is a French website for daily deals and coupons. Ohmydeals uses Google Map to allow users to find their nearest deals.

It is possible to search the map by location and by category of deal. The categories include 'restaurants and bars', health and beauty', 'sport' and 'travel'. As well as searching for deals by Google Map it is possible to receive deals via Twitter, Facebook and mobile phone.

Plyce

Plyce is another French website that delivers daily deals and coupons. Again Plyce lets you search for the latest deals by location and by category.

If you share your location with Plyce you can then search for the nearest deals in a number of categories, including 'restaurants', 'technology', 'fashion' and many more. Once you select your location and category the deals are displayed in list form. When you select a deal Plyce shows you the location of the selected shop / restaurant on a Google Map.

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The Rising Cost of Gas Google Map

The Take Away Gas Price Map

The Take Away want to know how rising gas prices have changed your behaviour.

Are you walking and cycling more? Have you changed your summer vacation plans? If so you can share how record gas prices have affected your life with this Google Map.

By completing a short form you can add how gas prices have affected your habits to the map. You can also add the price of gas in your area. Browsing the submitted reports on the map will also give you some handy hints on how you can cut down on your gas usage.

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Locally Produced Food on Google Maps

LoveFre.sh

LoveFre.sh is a location based service to help you connect with locally produced food, wherever you are. Users of the LoveFre.sh iPhone app can find fresh local food and share their local food experiences with comments, a picture or an audiobite.

The LoveFre.sh website features a Google Map feturing the latest check-ins made with the app and provides a great way to find local food markets and outlets selling locally produced food.

The mapped check-ins include user photos, audio comments and tags. If you click through on a listed food outlet you can read more comments on a dedicated page.

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Brazilian Gas Prices on Google Maps

Meu Combustivel

This Google Map shows you the price of gas at Brazilian gas stations using data from the Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis (ANP). It is possible to search the map by location and by type of fuel.

The map markers automatically display the current price at each gas station and indicate the company that owns the station.

Preco dos Combustiveis

This Google Map shows the current (updated weekly) gas prices at gas stations in Brazil.

Gas Stations are displayed on the Google Map and are listed in the map sidebar in order of gas price. If you click on a gas station in the map sidebar it will be highlighted on the map. If you click on the map marker the current gas prices for the station will be displayed.

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How to Calculate the Cost of a Car Journey

MyPetrolPlace.com

This new Google Maps based application allows you to work out the cost for your car or motorbike journey in India based on the current cost of petrol in your city.

To use MyPetrolPlace.com enter a starting point and a destination. Then add the number of kilometres per kilogram your vehicle normally achieves. The application then calculates your daily and monthly fuel expenditure.

Your journey is also displayed on a Google Map. You can change the displayed route by dragging the markers. All the metro cities and state capitals in India are supported by the application.

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