Google Maps Real Estate Search

Here's a good one if you're interested in purchasing a new house. Google Maps has added a Real Estate Search to its advanced search functions. Just click the Show Search Options link to display the Restrict Results list. Pull down this list and select Real Estate then enter an address, and Google will show all avaialble properties near that address. Neat!

New Terrain Layer in Google Maps

Google Maps now includes a new Terrain layer that combines the regular street maps with information about the surrounding terrain. Also new are street level photos for several new cities, including Minneapolis and Indianapolis.

Google Maps for Mobile Knows Where You Are

There's a new feature in the version of Google Maps for mobile phones, called My Location. Using either your phone's built-in GPS function (if your phone has built-in GPS, that is) or triangulation from the nearest cell phone tower, My Location lets you highlight where you are on the onscreen map. Just press the 0 key and look for a blue dot -- that's you!

Embed Google Maps on Your Site

Google has finally added a much-requested feature to Google Maps, the ability to easily embed any Google Map you create into your own website. It's similar to the way you can embed YouTube videos; on each Google Maps page you now find HTML code to both link to the map and to embed the map. Just cut and paste this short little snippet of HTML into your web page or blog, and Google will embed the map onto your page. It's easy enough just about anyone can do it. Good job, Google!

Customized Directions on Google Maps

Google Maps now lets you customize the directions it generates, to avoid or include certain roads or locations, or to route around bad traffic. To customize directions, simply drag any point on the purple directions line to a new location. Google Maps automatically recreates the directions and creates a new destination for the point you added. To remove a destination, right-click on any of the markers on the route and select Remove This Destination.

Google Maps Street View

In case you missed it, Google Maps is now displaying Street View 360-degree photographs of selected major cities (New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, etc.). Just click the Street View link and you see a ground-level photo of the current location; use your mouse to pan left and right around that point. It's probably more cool than useful, and has generated some privacy concerns, but still worth checking out.

Create Your Own Map Mashups with Google My Maps

Google has just made it easier to create your own map mashups. (A mashup is a Google map overlaid with your own personal points and data.) When you go to Google Maps, you see a new tab labeled My Maps. Select this tab and then click the Create a New Map button. When the next page appears, select a point on the map, add a placemark for that place, assign a label and descriptive text, and then click the Save button. You can return to this place at any time by opening the My Maps tab and selecting the placemark. Very easy to do, and quite useful.

Zoom Into Google Maps

Here's a neat little Google Maps trick. To zoom in further than is allowed normally in satellite view, zoom in as far as you can and then click the Link to This Page link. When the URL appears, replace the "z" parameter with a higher value -- 20, 21, 22, or something similar. When the page reloads, you may see a closer zoom -- or not, depending on how detailed the available satellite map is. It's worth trying!

Multi-Step Directions in Google Maps

Google Maps has finally added a long-awaited, quite valuable feature, also recently added to Yahoo! Maps: Multiple-step directions. This means you can plan a multi-stop trip (point A to point B to point C), instead of merely going from point A to point C with no stops in-between. Just create directions from your starting point to your first stop, then click the Add a Destination link and enter your second stop, Keep clicking the Add a Destination link to create more complex trips and directions.

Google Maps Adds Live Traffic Data

Here's something real cool. Google Maps, in both the desktop and mobile versions, now offers live traffic data for over 30 cities. Just call up a map and then click the Traffic button; major roads now appear as green (smooth), yellow (busy), or red (congested). You can even overly the traffic data on the satellite and hybrid views. And on interstate highways, you get the green/yellow/red separately for lanes in both directions! I find this especially useful when I'm on the go, and can check Google Maps via Google Mobile on my cell phone.