Why don’t you have Google maps like that?
Do you have maps on your website? Check out this really cool implementation of a Google map.
“Senghor on the Rocks” is a book-as-a-website with an integrated Google map. The book is in German but to see how the map is integrated you do not need to understand German. The setting of the book takes place in Dakar (Senegal) and on each page a Google map shows the area the characters are moving through.
Click on a page to turn it over and go to page 9 to see a really great example: you can follow the characters of the book on their drive through the city. The Google map in the satellite view gives users a really nice feel for the city.
Using the Google maps API it is not complicated to animate maps, why are not more websites making use of this? Animated itineraries come to mind …
And why are not more destination websites showing Google maps in a satellite view instead of a map view? If you are just trying to get a feel for a city or region the satellite view or the terrain option tell a lot more than the street map.
The only tourism website I could find using Google maps this way is the Idaho Tourism website (which I just realized today is a website with some very neat features and design elements). For the map see for example the listing for The Coeur d’Alene Resort.
So who has the best maps out there? Which other travel websites have neat mapping features that really make you want to visit?
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:07 am
Martin- Do it- ask us which services are best and which ones aren’t worth it. Set it up in survey monkey if you have to. Would be interested to see what people say…
December 3rd, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Great post. I love using google maps to enhance website content. There are so many uses that could be implemented in so many ways. Stay tuned - I foresee some really cool mapping features to be added to visitidaho.org in the future.