Remember when you would stop at a gas station to buy a paper map of the city to find out how to get somewhere? Today you can get customized step-by-step directions, weather conditions, traffic data and satellite images for your journey, whether it is ten minutes or ten hours away. You can even avoid highways or tolls, plot a course with several stops and find local business information as well. Maps sure have come a long way, but which service is the most hassle-free and helpful?
First let’s look at simple directions. That is why most of us find driving directions online after all, is it not? If you are worried about road hazards, construction zones and thick traffic, then Yahoo Maps (www.maps.yahoo.com) is good for that function. MapQuest (www.mapquest.com) lets you check boxes to avoid highways and tolls, choose the shortest distance or take the route with the shortest time. The user-friendly, simple nature of this site is also a good perk for someone who wants their directions right away. They also have recently added the drag-and-drop function that Yahoo has had, which helps you navigate around traffic obstructions. If you are walking or jogging, then Ask (www.maps.ask.com) is the only site that lets you plot your pedestrian course. Google Maps (www.maps.google.com) can zoom in for close topographical views of any continent. To sum up, Yahoo is the best site when traffic or construction sites are a concern, while MapQuest provides quick point-A-to-point-B directions.
For those of you who are looking for local businesses on your maps, then you could check the new Ask City site (www.city.ask.com). However, a better bet would be the Yahoo Local listings, which have been rated by users for years, so you can type in “best Chinese” and get restaurants with four stars or more. Google, on the other hand, will only show Chinese food establishments with the word “Best” in the name. MapQuest has greatly improved their local search capacity by partnering with sites like www.yelp.com, www.when.com, www.cityguide.com and more, although Yahoo still takes the cake for business searching. Another contender to keep an eye on is www.superpages.com, which specializes in local business searches, rather than mapping.
Another site not detailed here, but worth looking at, is the newer Microsoft Windows Live Local (www.maps.live.com). You can stick a pushpin on favorite locations, record notes and upload pictures to your sites to save or share with friends, which is sort of like the Google map creator function. You can also view traffic reports and get the clearest route, explore collections of sightseeing landmarks and tour 3-D cities. This new player seems to perceptibly take the best of the other sites and do it better. As you browse, you will notice that all the sites have similar interfaces (except for that rebel, MapQuest) but the subtle differences are what make people so adamant about their favorite mapping engines.
