Finding the right place when you need it

Over the past few months, we have launched several new mobile search features for iPhone and Android-powered devices that make it easier to find local businesses. In the US, we launched an “open now” feature which lets you filter local search results to show only businesses that are open right now, based on their listed hours. When you’re hankering for pizza at 1 o’clock in the morning, this can be really handy:

Other local search options available globally include filtering by star ratings (find a highly-rated restaurant for your first date) and by distance (especially handy when you’re on foot).

You may have noticed other improvements as well, like the addition of images, reviews from around the web and bigger buttons for viewing a map or calling a business directly. Each business’s open hours are also shown in the result snippets.

If you haven’t used local search recently, now is a great time to try it out. Just go towww.google.com in your browser, tap on the “Places” link at the top of the page, and do a search. You can also access these features when searching for businesses on Google Maps for mobile on Android devices.

Join us on the bridge for International Women’s Day 2011

I lead a global team at Google and travel extensively. When I speak about my work, the questions I get are often about the efforts we make to bring more women into engineering and how I maintain my work/life balance with two young children. These are very important questions, but I’m acutely aware that they reflect a certain amount of privilege when it comes to issues of women’s equality. Despite the incredible advances women have made in the last century, many around the world are still struggling to provide for their families and keep them safe amidst violence and instability.

For the past several years I’ve been part of a sponsorship program administered by Women for Women International, an organization dedicated to helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. Every time I receive a letter from a woman I sponsor, each of whom is determined to improve her life despite the terrible odds she faces, I’m reminded of why it’s so important that we all—women and men alike—recognize the challenges women continue to face around the world.

That’s why I’m so excited to celebrate the centenary of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2011. This year Google is collaborating with Women for Women International on their “Join me on the Bridge” campaign. Originally conceived of by women from Rwanda and Congo as a sign of solidarity between women in two conflict-ridden countries, last year’s campaign brought together thousands of women and men at more than 100 bridge events on four continents.



This year we’re making it simple for you, your friends, your classmates and your colleagues to participate in bridge events on International Women’s Day by offering new online resources.

To attend a bridge event, check our map to see all the events that have already been planned. Or you can use our event toolkit to plan your own event on the bridge of your choice. You’ll see that there are two kinds of events—physical and online; if you’re not able to attend a bridge event in person on March 8, you can lend your support online by virtually attending an event via Street View in Google Maps.

Finally, on our International Women’s Day 2011 site, you can to donate to Women for Women International and more than 40 other incredible organizations working in the fields of women’s economic security, education, empowerment, equality, health and safety.

2010 Census Visualised on Google Maps

Census 2010 NJ by Moonshadow Mobile

Moonshadow Mobile have released a great Google Maps application to visualise the 2010 New Jersey census data.

This application visualizes some five million records. Using the application you can set filters, colors and generate heat maps. You can display census block lines, as well as County lines, Congressional, State House and State Senate districts. You can even zoom down to the census block level and download the actual census data for a block.

The Census Bureau will be releasing data for each state over the next five weeks and Moonshadow Mobile plan to publish Google Maps applications to visualise the data for a number of the states.

Chicago Tribune - 2010 Census: Illinois Population

This Google Map from The Chicago Tribune uses data from the 2010 census to show population changes in Illinois.

The heat map shows areas that have grown and shrunk in population in the last ten years. The map seems to show a general trend of population growing in the centre of Chicago but people moving out of the outer neighborhoods.

If you zoom in you can view the exact population change figures for each census tract.

Google Maps and Its Competitors

Buncha Maps

Map comparison sites always seem to be very popular. One of the most popular searches on Google Maps Mania seems to be for sites that let you view the different online map providers side-by-side.

Buncha Maps is a new application that lets you view Google Maps, Bing Maps, ESRI Maps and OSM all in the same window. Actions in all four maps are synchronised, so if you pan and zoom in any of the maps the other maps will also show the selected view.

Dual Maps

Dual Maps is a map creation tool that allows anybody to make an embeddable map that includes a Google Map, a Google Maps Street View and a Virtual Earth Bird's Eye view of the same location. You can choose between the various options of either map service, which means you can have the Google satellite view alongside Virtual Earth's Bird's Eye view or the satellite/aerial View in both maps etc..

Bird's Eye View

This map places Bing Maps' Bird's Eye View side by side with Google Maps' Aerial View. You can view a number of locations with both map providers' oblique views.

Maps Compare

Maps Compare is a website with four different on-line map services on one page. The site places Google Maps, the Google Earth browser plugin, Yahoo Maps and Bing Maps beside each other, which can be quite useful if you want to compare the map coverage provided by each provider in different locations.

Where's the Path
Where's the Path displays Google Maps alongside the corresponding Ordnance Survey Maps.

GeoTribu 

GeoTrubu also has a comparison of Google Maps and OpenStreetMap and also shows Yahoo Maps and Bing Maps. The site allows you to select the base layer for each map.

Great Motorbike Rides in Street View

DailyMotoRide

The creators of SundayMorningRides have launched a new website designed to showcase beautiful motorbike routes. The site uses Google Street View to provide a first-person experience of these great bike journeys.

Each day the site features a different route selected for its scenic qualities. Each route also includes an elevation profile and a Google Map. Detailed information, GPS file downloads and user testimonials for each route are provided via direct links to SundayMorningRides.

Virtual Tours with Custom Street Views

Sherubtse College Campus Map and Virtual Tour

Sherubtse College, in the Kingdom of Bhutan, has used the Google Maps Custom Street View feature to create a virtual tour of the college campus.

The map includes a number of connected 360 degree panoramas taken both inside and around the campus buildings. Using the internal links in the panoramas it is possible to take a virtual stroll around the campus, just as you would in Google Maps own Street View coverage.

The map itself includes a custom overlay of the college. It is possible to adjust the transparency of the custom overlay and to select to view the indoor or outdoor panoramas. 

Other Custom Street View Maps

• Bonne Annee 2011
• Kerken Kijken met Street View

SpotCrime Adds UK Crime Data

SpotCrime

UK crime data has been added to SpotCrime and MyLocalCrime. The UK recently launched a national crime map for England and Wales called Police.uk. This data is now available in SpotCrime and MyLocalCrime.

Using both services it is possible to search for a UK address and view the latest crime data for the location on a Google Map. The data for a searched location is also displayed beneath the map. It is possible to click on a map marker to click through to read further details about each recorded crime.

Christchurch Earthquake Google Maps

Christchurch 22 Feb 2011 Earthquake

This Google Map uses the Ushahidi map reporting system to record the latest news from Christchurch. The map shows closed roads, open hospitals, recovery centres and hazard zones.

Anyone can post a report to the map by sending an email to eqnzfeb@gmail.com, by sending a tweet with the hashtags '#christchurch', '#eqnz' or '#ChristchurchQuake' or by completing a short form.

Christchurch Quake Map

The Christchurch Quake Map allows you to play time-lapse visualisations of the 4,870 quakes and aftershocks that have struck in the Christchurch area since September 2010. It is also possible to view visualisations of the last seven days of quakes or the 47 that have hit today. The Google Maps plot earthquake data from GeoNet.

The animations show the epicentre of each shock and are colour-coded to show the depth of each quake and scaled to reflect the quake's strength.

Google Person Finder - Christchurch
Google have released a person finder application for today's Christchurch earthquake. Using the application it is possible to search for information or add information for someone who may have been affected by the earthquake. 

Marine Charts on Google Maps

Marine GeoGarage

GeoGarage Marine, the portal to international marine maps, has added 227 marine charts for the Netherlands.

GeoGarage uses Google Maps to display marine charts from around the world. The site currently provides marine chart overlays from NOAA (US), DHN (Brazil) and Linz (New Zealand). Marine GeoGarage's web interface also gives subscription members access to all private charts from the UKHO (UK), CHS (Canada), SHN (Argentina).

GeoGarage Marine is not only a seamless chart viewer, overlaying charts at different scales on aerial and satellite imagery from Google Maps, but also allows the user to plot waypoints and to prepare navigation routes. These can be saved and uploaded to GPS (in gpx format or directly to Garmin GPS via its Communicator web plugin).

Track Your Canadian MP on Google Maps

RepresentMe

If you live in Ottawa, Canada then RepresentMe can help you find out who your elected representative is and what they've done lately.

When you enter your postcode RepresentMe will display your electoral ward on a Google Map and tell you who your Member of Parliament, Member of Provincial Parliament and City Councillor are. 

RepresentMe also displays the recent activity of your elected representatives, including their recent voting record and mentions in press articles.