Google Maps Mashups
May 24th, 2005
Some cool hacks using google maps have come out in the past few weeks. Two in particular are the craigslist/google maps combo HousingMaps and the Chicago Crime site that allows you to track the location of the latest crimes in the Chicago area. There are plenty other cool mashups that have come out as well. I love the craigslist/gmaps combo — that’s the perfect way to search for housing using craigslist.
I’ve always thought that real estate is a great space for a location based app. You could get housing information and directions on your phone/pda while driving or walking around looking at homes. The app could provide you with info, say directions to open houses, based on some profile you create (possibly online). Nothing too exciting, but could be done pretty easily I think.
Anyway, back to google maps… After seeing the craigslist/gmaps hack last week, I tried to put throw together a little map of my own. We need a mapping component for the new application we’re working on, so I wanted to see how google’s works. I love how you can stay in the map and move in any direction by just dragging your mouse. It’s fun to explore manhattan that way using the satellite maps. Such a cool app. There are a few tutorials out there explaining how google’s mapping tech works (java script, xml over http, etc) and someone put together a demo [rancidbacon.com] on how to add your own custom data to google maps. After playing around with it a little bit last week, I put together a lame map that has an image of my building. I know…pretty weak, but it was very easy to set up.
Since we need a mapping component for the application we’re trying to put together, I need to start researching mapping solutions. I’m not sure what some of the providers change in terms of cost or if there are any decent free/open source services. I have a lot to learn there. How nice would it be if google opened up their maps as a web service to outside developers? Some easy APIs that allow anyone to put custom images and tags on maps, along with their own directions/routes, would be nice. I know I’m dreaming on that one…. I can’t imaging google’s mapping data providers (Navteq, Tele Atlas, ?) are too happy with google letting developers use their data for free. And, even if google did open it up to developers, you’d probably be under the similar 1000 hits/day restriction as their other web services. I wonder if they’d ever offer a commercial service…