One of the finest Internet maps that has emerged in recent times is Google Earth. Of course, this is more of a three dimensional globe than a map, but it broadly serves the same purpose.
What makes Google Earth a really collaborative Internet map is the fact that users worldwide, come together to update and present various landmarks, information and even services from all over the globe. Take note that there is a free and paid version for different usage.
For instance, a feature that continues to make Google Earth a reliable internet map is the fact that real people, like you and me, have posted their travel experiences, suggestions, photographs and even web cams at various landmarks on the 3D map to inform and educate others. You can see the top of those buildings, imaging if you give me your address and I can take a look at your house's roof top! It isn't cool?!
This collaboration gives this internet map a truly global appeal and makes it that much richer since the vast majority of the content is user defined. As opposed to the staid and structured content found on other internet maps, if at all.
Ever since the newspapers, telephone directories and even dictionaries went online, it was only a matter of time before atlases and maps would find their way into cyberspace. And it is no longer news. Internet maps have been around for close to a decade now. But the kinds of internet maps that are available online only seem to be getting better and better!
Take Yahoo maps for instance. It is one of the oldest Internet maps online. And the capabilities and features of these comprehensive internet maps only continues to grow as time passes. First, they could be zoomed in and out to see the entire lay of the land.
Next, streets and roads were made visible, when available. Next, the internet maps were expanded in scope to cover not just America, but several other cities in the world. And finally, the internet maps have been embedded with smart technology to make them relate everything from traffic reports to weather conditions at any given place at any given time.
As a result of all these innovations, a whole new world of advertising possibilities has opened up. Cyber space and more specifically Internet maps have become prime real estate as far as advertisers are concerned.
For websites merely providing a link to yahoo maps to show their location, internet maps have been used (some would say exploited) to become online advertising avenues that peddle several products and services to site visitors. And each time one of those visitors actually uses a producer service highlighted on your bit of the Internet map, you get paid!
As GIS tools become smaller and smaller (the latest high end cell phones now come with in-built GIS modules/readers) and the Internet continues to invade all spheres of our lives, all of us will come to rely more and more on internet maps for guidance and information.
Who knows, the more we use it, the less time that we will lose from searching for people, places and information. Productivity will increase and things will become dependable once again. And that is not such a bad thing after all. Of course, those sensitive and confidential area for example, military bases, are not supposed to be included.
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