'Net Features : maps

Icons and Labels in Google Maps

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:50:00 GMT

Google added icons and labels to its Maps product for prominent businesses and places of interest in August of last year. Leading up to today, there have been many questions (and even some complaints) from business owners about how they could get their own icon embedded in the base layer of Maps. It looks like Google (at least in Australia) has made some headway in that regard.

Google launched a new feature that builds on the feature, According to the post, "Now when you visit Google Maps in Australia, it'll be easier to find some of those shops and other businesses you visit most often because when you zoom in, some businesses will be identified by a small representation of their logo. These easily recognisable logos more closely depict online what the offline world looks like, so next time you're trying to find your way on the map you can navigate more easily using these icons as landmarks."

Perhaps most noteworthy for Web professionals is that the new feature could help business owner promote their physical location through a logo. Advertisers will have to pay to have these sponsored map icons appear instead of a generic icon, but there has been no word on how much. If you're an advertisers interested in this closed-beta program, there is a form available to submit your details.

Three jQuery Plugins for Google Maps Lovers

Pete Prestipino — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:05:00 GMT

The Web is increasingly becoming more "local" focused and savvy designers and developers are working night and day to find creative and innovative ways to present information to users in this context. Here are three simple to deploy but excellent jQuery Plugins for those interested in integrating Google Maps into their Web pages.

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Brian Laundau's jMapping: A plugin designed to implement a Google map from a list of locations specified within HTML. Several examples are available which show basic usage, custom ID and class names, and using an object or function for category options. This would be an excellent plugin for those that need to show a list of locations in close proximity for the convenience of a webpage.

gMap by Cedric Kastner: A lightweight (2kb) and immensely elegant jQuery plugin for embedding Google maps. Opt to display a simple map with controls and one marker , change the map type to a physical view or tap into the extended usage features and map without controls, include custom market images, include multiple marketers and create custom viewport position and zoom.

Chris Mckee's jQuery.fuGMAP: Another very lightweight (3.5kb) plugin for displaying Google maps on a site or in applications. Geo-coding is built it, but you can load in a market XML file by just adding the URL. One of the best features is the ability to add an information window with text or with an iframe to any longitude/latitude marker.

Google Maps Gadget: Brick and Mortar Must-Have

Mike Phillips — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:38:00 GMT

As a consumer, you're probably used to seeing something like this on a "directions" page from a brick-and-mortar store: From the east, take route 66, head south on Main St. and so on. That can be a hassle. Worse, for a business owner, it's a barrier for consumers to get to your location.

Google has released a Maps gadget that lets you pre-fill the ending location to a directions search. So, instead of guesswork, all a user needs to do is enter the starting point, and with one click personalize directions to your location. What's more, you can tailor the directions to display a nickname of sorts and pre-fill multiple locations in a drop-down menu. A good example of this is seen on chef Emeril Lagasse's website (pictured). Directions are also available using public transportation.

As a business owner, the more you can do to make it easier for consumers to get in your door, the better. Get the Google Maps Gadget.