Googlified

To organize more of the world’s information, Google is looking for people to be part of the Local Business Referrals program to collect local businesses information for Google Maps/Local/AdWords. (Human 1, Robots 0)

To be part of the program, you will need to apply using this form, and once your application is approved by Google, you will get a fancy title, “Google Business Referral Representative”. Well, that doesn’t make you a Googler though, only as an independent contractor to Google.

As stated in the Business Representative Referral FAQ, you can earn up to $10 for each verified referral you submit and all you need to do is to collect information about the business, such as hours of operation, types of payment accepted, and take a couple of digital photos.

Note: “To be eligible for consideration as a Google Business Referral Representative, you must be authorized to work as a contractor in the U.S., be at least 18 years of age, and be able to complete an IRS Form W-9. You must also have access to a computer and a digital camera.” Too bad, I am underage.

[via Keith at gSpy]

The transliteration (thanks Monclo) for the above text is “In the road, before leaving, look how to get there.”

“Look how to get there before hitting the road” sound better. :)

[photo by Raúl Ochoa, used under a CC-license]

Google Maps now has a feature that shows the approximate drive time during rush hours, for a limited number of metropolitan areas (obviously, Columbus is one of them). Google LatLong Blog suggest you to use the Drag & Drop feature to find an alternate route so that you can avoid potential busy traffic.

In other news, Google Maps now geocodes India, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Ireland.

Google today officially added (previously in Preview section) a new feature, Google Mapplets, to Google Maps that enables users to add third-party contents to their Google Maps “with a single click and to save these customized maps to their personal library of maps.”

Some of the featured contents you can add immediately after getting on Google Mapplets are Geotrends, Google Real Estate Search, Photos from Panoramio, Gas Price from GasBuddy.com, Distance Measure Tool, Our Earth as Art, and Crop Circles, but the Google Maps Directory also hosts over 100 Mapplets.

At its initial launch, Google Mapplets is already available in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Russian and Traditional Chinese.

Building your own map application using the Google Mapplets platform is easy, if you are interested, check out the documentation and get started! :)

I am not sure if you can add iGoogle gadgets to your Google Maps, but well, Google says you can. LOL. :)

[thanks Kate Hurowitz, more on Google LatLong Blog]

UK Geocoding Now Available in the Maps API - Maps API Blog

To thank all those enthusiastic developers in the UK, we’re happy to announce that the Maps API geocoder now supports address geocoding for United Kingdom addresses.

Russia gets (Google) maps - OgleEarth

Google Maps Russian version goes live.

Google Maps New Additions for India and UAE - GEarthBlog & Google Maps Mania

Expanded Coverage for India and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Added to Google Maps

Google Maps updated their “Link to this page” link (probably) last week. Before this update, Google Maps will reload every time when you click on “Link to this page”, which is  uber-inconvenient for users.

Well, now they will display a box with the link inside (selected) instead, so that you can copy it right away.

Cool.

[via Google Blogoscoped Forum]

Starting from today, whenever you say “Map It” during a GOOG-411 conversation, Google will send you a message “with the details of your search plus a link” to Google Maps.

I think this has something to do with today’s iPhone release. If you recall, iPhone has Google Maps built-in.

On a related note, “Google Maps is surprisingly responsive, even over EDGE”, the Unofficial Apple Blog commented on iPhone, “However, YouTube videos take a bit longer than advertised on TV to buffer and begin playing, even over Wi-Fi.”

Google Maps today got a new feature that enables users to reroute by dragging and dropping the directions between the end points. Whenever you update your route using the new feature, Google will update the directions and mileage estimates instantaneously.

Watch the interactive video or visit this Google page for more detail.

This is a love it or hate it feature, depending on how you use Google Maps. Personally, I find it extremely useful, for now. I hope that they allow more customization to let users to choose what feature to have and what not to. I found some annoying.

[thanks Megan Quinn]

No problem, to remove your photo from Street View, you will need to email Google your name and the location of the image.

Read: Want Off Street View? Google Wants Your ID and a Sworn Statement

[photo by Tofuburger, used under a CC-license]

When Google added the “More info” section in Google Maps’ local search, there was a “Reviews” tab where you can find reviews of that business from Yelp, CitySearch, and other user review website.

Now, you can rate and write your own review right on Google Maps by clicking on the “Write a review” link under the “Reviews” tab mentioned above.

To lazy to type? Just rate the business on a scale of 5 by clicking on the stars, with 5 being the best and 1 being the worst. That’s what I am going to do, lol. :)

[thanks Megan Quinn]

Bill Tancer of HitWise released a new set of data yesterday to compare the effects to Google’s properties after the announcement of Google Universal Search.

As you can see, Google Maps and YouTube received 20.34% and 8.26% of traffic increase, respectively. Probably at the cost of Google News, Image Search and Book Search.

Win-win doesn’t always happen, sometimes win-lose isn’t that bad after all.

[image from the HitWise Blog]

Robin Blandford wrote:

Now Google have this data, I’m wondering what the next stage is - where do they go from here? My prediction is they’ll begin stitching the images together to form ‘videos’ of the driving route route it suggests you. To prototype it, I took 40 frames manually and joined them into a small flicker book animation. The potential is impressive isn’t it!

It’s really got me thinking where this mapping/locational technology is going. I have a number of ideas here how this could be made into live feeds and adapted for rescue work.

This video reminds me these two Google Maps mashups, very impressive. Robin’s idea is definitely brilliant, and Google should consider implementing the idea into Google Maps.

How about buying you some M&M’s, ______ (put your favorite Googler’s name here)? :)

[thanks Robin! :)]