Google Maps Now Has Biking Directions
March 10, 2010
Google has partnered with Rails-to-Trails (RTC), a nonprofit focused on creating a network of trails from former rail lines, to add biking directions to Google Maps.
Google Maps now has biking route details for more than 150 U.S. cities covering more than 12,000 miles of trails and bike lanes. Google says it plans to continue to add new trail information to Google Maps and is requesting feedback from riders via the "Report a Problem" tool.
The new feature allows Google Maps users to type in their destination and receive directions for the best bicycling route. Google says its algorithm is weighted to prefer routing on trails instead of roads open to automobile traffic as long as it won't take cyclists too far out of the way.
"We're thrilled to be working with Rails-to-Trails Conservancy to make RTC's extensive bike trail data available through Google Maps and Google Earth," says Shannon Guymon, Product Manager for Google Maps.
"Bikers all over the country now will be able to explore new trails or find specific directions in their local community with just a few clicks of their mouse."
Google Launches Public Data Explorer Labs Experiment
March 9, 2010
Google has launched a new Google Labs experiment called Public Data Explorer. The product takes large datasets and gives them a visual interface with animated charts and maps.
"As the charts and maps animate over time, the changes in the world become easier to understand," Google explains in the description. "You don't have to be a data expert to navigate between different views, make your own comparisons, and share your findings."
"Students, journalists, policy makers and everyone else can play with the tool to create visualizations of public data, link to them, or embed them in their own webpages," says Google. "Embedded charts and links can update automatically so you’re always sharing the latest available data."
The following slideshow walks you through how to use Public Data Explorer:
There are six interesting examples available on the product page for you to mess around with, and get a feel for how the Public Data Explorer works.
Like all other Google Labs experiments, the product is subject to bugs, as well as user feedback. The company says it is making it available now to get in contact with public data providers. As you're probably aware, Google has this thing about organizing the world's information.
Bing Maps Gets Biggest Imagery Update to Date
March 6, 2010
Microsoft is rolling out the largest imagery update to Bing Maps to date, adding 6.7 million square kilometers of new imagery, a representative for Bing tells WebProNews.
The update includes new aerial imagery for the Russian Federation, Australia, Mexico and most places in the US where there is existing black and white imagery. "There is also a notable addition of Bird’s Eye Imagery for Sweden," the rep says.
Here's a list as mentioned on the Bing Maps Blog:
Aerial
Australia 524,645 sq. km.
Botswana 61,433 sq. km.
Estonia 618 sq. km.
Hungary 3,369 sq. km.
Mexico 236,624 sq. km.
Morocco 13,303 sq. km.
Namibia 72,162 sq. km.
New Zealand 14,987 sq. km.
Poland 6,254 sq. km.
Romania 3,695 sq. km.
Russian Federation 553,244 sq. km.
South Africa 123,138 sq. km.
Turkey 16,148 sq. km.
United Kingdom 15,221 sq. km.
United States 4,961,758 sq. km.
Oblique (Bird’s Eye)
Austria 238 sq. km.
Belgium 898 sq. km.
Denmark 718 sq. km.
Finland 1,634 sq. km.
France 2,001 sq. km.
Greece 931 sq. km.
Ireland 1,340 sq. km.
Netherlands 1,709 sq. km.
Norway 2,425 sq. km.
Portugal 2,184 sq. km.
Romania 1,534 sq. km.
Spain 5,143 sq. km.
Sweden 6,747 sq. km.
Switzerland 424 sq. km.
United Kingdom 13,094 sq. km.
United States 56,007 sq. km.
Last month Bing had pushed out its biggest imagery update to that point, but as Chris Pendleton says on the blog, this one blows that record out of the water.
Visuals can be seen via the
Bing Talks Local Business Listings
March 3, 2010
In case you missed it, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer spoke at SMX West in Santa Clara yesterday, addressing the search marketing industry for the first time (you can watch that at our new site live.webpronews.com). Obviously, much of the conversation was centered around Bing. A little bit later in the day, WebProNews caught up with Mikko Ollila, Senior Product Manager on Bing Local to talk a little bit about Bing's efforts in local search.
As Ballmer noted in his keynote, Google "did search right first," and Ollila mentioned Google as well, but he says Bing's local experience is more natural (almost like being there). He says it's designed to help users make quick decisions, in as little as three clicks.
Ollila says that Bing gathers business info from different providers, making it difficult for Bing to ensure accuracy of unclaimed listings, although he maintains they do a pretty good job of it. The best thing business owners can do, he says, is to find the Bing Local Listing Center, and go and take a hold of their own listing. "Just take ownership and make sure all your information is represented correctly," he says.
He says it's probably already there and correct, but if you own a business and want more traffic, you should make sure and get ownership of the listing. Bing tries to make it as easy as possible, giving the user a "wizard" type of interface.
Ollila mentions that a lot of business owners get fired up about local listings, and upset about bad reviews. Bing crawls the web for reviews and plugs them in to business listings. He says businesses will often get mad at not just the reviewers, but at Bing for listing these reviews. He says, "There's no real magic answer for getting bad reviews other than take care of your customer."
As you know, maps and local go hand in hand, and as we covered last month, Microsoft introduced some new Bing Maps features at TED, including a streetside photos application, world wide telescope integration, indoor panoramas, and video overlay technology.
Microsoft wants to gain any ground in can in search, and the company is showing that this time around (with Bing, I mean) they are taking it very seriously. Still the very dominant Google isn't exactly slowing down in its own efforts. As Ballmer pointed out in his keynote, since Bing launched, efforts from the competition seem to have increased right along with the companies own efforts. Right around the same time Microsoft unveiled these features, Google introduced its Google Maps Labs, which hosts experimental features for Google Maps that users can turn on/off.
Features give customers reasons to use products, which is why it is important for businesses to at least acknowledge the efforts being put forth by the major search players in this area. Even if a specific map-related feature doesn't affect your business directly, it may give a potential customer reason to simply start using local search with a particular provider, which makes it all the more important for a business to make sure it's properly represented in the listings with said provider.
Do you use Bing Local? How would you rate Bing's local experience compared to Google's? Comment here.
