Last week, when writing about Google's MyMaps product, I remarked that it was "odd that Google doesn't allow MyMaps creations to be embedded." Today, APC magazine reports that Google will begin offering maps that are embeddale into web pages within about a week.
]]> As APC points out, this feature will make Google's MyMaps infinitely more useful to small businesses, which will be able to embed custom service maps easily on their web pages. Being able to keep customers on site is a more user friendly solution for business owners, and as I implied in my previous post, embeddable maps will help spread the service virally."The embedded maps have the full functionality of Google Maps -- they provide satellite view, map view or hybrid view, and users can click and drag the maps around."
A post at the Google Operating System blog links to a couple of third party services that already offer easy Google Maps embedding, such as My Maps Plus (a map from which is embedded below). It is safe to assume that the future of these services may be in jeopardy unless they can offer functionality beyond what Google has planned.
]]>