Comparison of web map services
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Web Map Services
Recent developments in web technologies and design trends have had a great impact on the user experience. Today, a variety of Web mapping services exist, each of them providing a similar interface to extensive mapping and other GIS data.
Comparison
Feature | Sub Feature | Google Maps | Yahoo Maps | Bing Maps | MapQuest | OpenStreetMap |
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URL | http://maps.google.com | http://maps.yahoo.com | http://bing.com/maps | http://www.mapquest.com | http://www.openstreetmap.org | |
Image | ||||||
License | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary | CC-BY-SA | |
Availability | Full Extra Functionality | Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, UK, United States. | United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and most European countries. | United States, Canada (with the exception of the rural northeastern provinces), United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Japan(Yahoo Japan only), India | United States | |
Limited Extra Functionality | Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia (Moscow only), San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey (Istanbul only) | Unknown | Unknown | |||
Directory Listings | Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Japan, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, the UK, and the United States | Unknown | Australia and United States | |||
Officially Supported Web Browsers | IE7+, Firefox 2.0.0.8+, Safari 3+, Mozilla 1.7+, Opera 8.02+, Google Chrome 1+ | Firefox 2, Internet Explorer 6 or 7, Opera 9 or Safari 3 | IE6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+ | IE6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+ | ||
Viewing Interface | Degrees of Motion | Vertical, Horizontal, Depth, 360 Panoramic (Street View) | Vertical, Horizontal, Depth | Vertical, Horizontal, Depth, 360 Panoramic (Streetside™), 3D Mode(Tilt, Pan, Rotate) | ||
Map Zoom | 19 (via user-interface), more levels available through parameter | 17 (via user-interface) | 19 (via user-interface) | 16 (via user-interface) | ||
Mouse Scroll Wheel Map Zoom | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
Direct Mouse Interface (Draggable etc) | Yes | Yes (Low Bandwidth Version: No) | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Dynamic search results based on dragging on the Map | Yes | No | Yes | |||
Keyboard Shortcuts | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
Map Types | 5: Map, Satellite, Terrain, Street, Traffic | 3: Map, Hybrid, Satellite, Traffic(US) | 7: Road, Aerial, Hybrid, Bird's Eye, Traffic, 3D, Street | 3: Road, Aerial, Traffic | ||
3D Mode | No | No | Yes (ActiveX only) | No | No | |
Technologies | Technologies Used | Javascript, XMLHttpRequest (AJAX), Hidden Iframe, XSLTProcessor, JSON, XML | Javascript, XMLHttpRequest (AJAX), XML, JSON | Javascript, AJAX, Microsoft Virtual Earth, Microsoft Mappoint, Microsoft TerraServer, .NET | ||
Front | DHTML | DHTML | DHTML | |||
Backend | JSON | JSON, XML | .NET | |||
Backend Providers | deCarta (formally Telcontar) | Yahoo | Microsoft | |||
Data | Age of Map Imagery | |||||
Age of Satellite Imagery | 1-3 years old | 4-5 years old | 1-3 years old | |||
Map Data Providers | MAPIT, TeleAtlas, DigitalGlobe, MDA Federal | NAVTEQ, TeleAtlas, i-cubed, Public domain | NAVTEQ, Intermap, Pictometry, NASA | User contibutions | ||
Directory Data Providers | Google, ThomsonLocal.com | Infoserve - Powered by SmartView | Live Local Listings, Yellow Pages | |||
Searching | Location | Post Code, Street Name, Town, Neighborhood, City, Long/Lat | Post Code, Street Name, Town, City | Post Code, Street Name, Town, City | ||
Entity | Business, Places of Interest, Airport Code | Business, Places of Interest, Airport Code | Businesses, Collections, Directories, Postal Codes | |||
User Created | Yes | No | Yes (Collections) | |||
Levels of Filtering | 1 | Many - SmartView | 0 | |||
Directions | Directions | Yes | Yes | Yes, Except Japan |
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Reverse Directions | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
Public Transport Integration | Yes | No | No | |||
Walking Directions | Yes (beta) | No | Yes | |||
Bicycle Directions | No | No | No | |||
Multiple Destinations | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
Send to Device | Email, SMS, Car | Email, SMS, GPS | ||||
Live Traffic Information | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
Personalization | Set Home Location | Yes | No, but remembers last location | Yes, via Microsoft Location Finder ActiveX Control | ||
Save Maps | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
Printing | Print Option | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Scale to Print | No | No | No | |||
Crop to Print | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
Notes | Yes | No | Yes | |||
Retains Overlays? | Matched Searches, Directions | Smartview, Directions | Matches Searches, Directions, Collections | |||
Collaboration / Embedding | Send hyperlink to email |
Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
Embed HTML Iframe link | Yes | No | No | |||
Application Integration | Google Earth, BMW Assist | Mercedes-Benz In Car System | Microsoft Office, Microsoft Research WorldWide Telescope, Microsoft Photosynth | |||
API Available | Yes | Yes - Javascript and Flash | Yes, SDK | |||
Other | Save to del.icio.us | Blog on Windows Live Space | ||||
Sharable Maps | Yes | Yes ( in in.maps.yahoo.com) | Via Blogging | |||
Readily Available Overlays | Yes | No | Yes (Collections) | |||
Advertising | Business Advertising | Yes | No | |||
Mobile | Mobile-Specific Website | Yes | No | Yes | ||
Mobile-Specific Application | Yes | No | Yes, Windows Live Search (Windows Mobile Only) | |||
Contact Integration | Yes | - | Yes | |||
Voice Integration | No | - | Yes | |||
GPS Integration | Yes | - | Yes | |||
Directions | Yes | Send directions via SMS with hyperlink | Yes | |||
Interactive Maps | Yes | - | Yes | |||
Types of Map | Map, Satellite, Terrain, Street | Map, Satellite, Hybrid | Map, Satellite | |||
Cell Based Location | Yes | - | No |