My next step in building my interactive property mapping tool is to figure out which mapping vendor to use.
Google Maps: I am already familiar with Google Maps because I am using them on RentVine’s ad listings. I have had pretty good luck with Google Maps so far. The only down side is that Google cookies that get pulled into with the map create a negative (red warning) that some cookies are blocked. This may cause some mistrust for those adding the block of code to their site.
Yahoo! Maps: I am also familiar with Yahoo! Maps because I am also using it for RentVine to GeoCode (take a street address and turn it into coordinates). The downside to using Yahoo! Maps is that it uses Flash. Don’t get me wrong, I love Flash when it is right for the application, but for maps it loads a bit too slow compared to Google and Microsoft Virtual Earth. Seeing a preloader come up when the page is loading is not what the masses what to see – people want their info now and not watching a fancy preloader. Also from what I have read Yahoo Maps is far behind Microsoft and Google in terms of satellite images.
Microsoft Virtual Earth: While it appears that Microsoft is late to the mapping game, they have actually been sitting quietly in the background with Terraserver for many years. So to see the speed at which they have mapped the world should be no surprise. If anything, Virtual Earth appears to be the best suited for the real estate industry because it includes the Birds Eye View images which creates a big Wow Factor for many in that industry. But the problem for me is that I have no experience with this API. Also on the downside is that if I get more than 5,000 map movements a day then I will have to start paying to use their API, which for my free tool that I am developing would be a big bummer.
So let me put the question to property managers and real estate agents, which do you prefer?
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5 users responded in this post
Hello
I too have been looking at this same issue for my clients and came to many of the same conclusions.
One of the biggest things for me about Virtual Earth is the coverage, in the UK it far outshines Google and Yahoo.
The VirtualEarth API is easy to use, if anything I found it better designed than the Google API. It also supports GEORss which makes it potentionally very quick to integrate.
Brian
You make very good arguments for and against all 3. In the end it comes down to how easily you can work with the API itself and where you predict it will go. You should choose one that will not limit your creativity, since it’s what you DO with it that matters not what you COULD do
.
Satellite coverage is great, but consider your REAL demographic as it stands now. It sounds like you are going with a US-centric (or at least NA-centric) product since you’re using Yahoo’s Geocoder. Therefore who cares about the UK satellite coverage in VirtualEarth?
I’m definitely biased (see the web url) but I’d say Google
Thanks for your comments.
I am leaning towards using Google because I think most people are familiar with it. Virtual Earth is very cool, but the coverage for Birds Eye View is 35% from what the MS rep told me.
I may start with Google but then switch to VE later when they have more Birds Eye coverage.
Hands down, you know me. Google has my vote.
check out this post on mapstraction, which is an open api which lets you switch between all 3 depending on the circumstances. nestoria, a popular uk property search site is now integrating it
http://real-estate-net.blogspot.com/2006/10/nestoria-integrates-mapstraction.html
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