Comparison of web map services

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Web Map Services

Recent developments in web technologies and design trends have had a great impact on the user experience. Today, a variety of Web mapping services exist, each of them providing a similar interface to extensive mapping and other GIS data.

Comparison

Feature Sub Feature Google Maps Yahoo! Maps Bing Maps MapQuest OpenStreetMap
URL   http://maps.google.com http://maps.yahoo.com http://bing.com/maps http://www.mapquest.com http://www.openstreetmap.org
Image  
Google Maps with Directions Feature
Yahoo Live Maps
Virtual Earth 3D within Live Search Maps
OpenStreetMap
 
Availability Full Extra Functionality Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, UK, United States. United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and most European countries. United States, Canada (with the exception of the rural northeastern provinces), United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Japan(Yahoo Japan only), India United States
Limited Extra Functionality Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia (Moscow only), San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey (Istanbul only) Unknown Unknown
Directory Listings Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Japan, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, the UK, and the United States Unknown Australia and United States
Officially Supported Web Browsers IE7+, Firefox 2.0.0.8+, Safari 3+, Mozilla 1.7+, Opera 8.02+, Google Chrome 1+ Firefox 2, Internet Explorer 6 or 7, Opera 9 or Safari 3 IE6+, Firefox 2+, Safari 3+
 
Viewing Interface Degrees of Motion Vertical, Horizontal, Depth, 360 Panoramic (Street View) Vertical, Horizontal, Depth Vertical, Horizontal, Depth, (3D Mode: Tilt, Pan, Rotate)
Map Zoom 19 (via user-interface), more levels available through parameter 17 (via user-interface) 19 (via user-interface) 16 (via user-interface)
Mouse Scroll Wheel Map Zoom Yes Yes Yes
Direct Mouse Interface (Draggable etc) Yes Yes (Low Bandwidth Version: No) Yes
Dynamic search results based on dragging on the Map No No Yes
Keyboard Shortcuts Yes Yes Yes
Map Types 5: Map, Satellite, Terrain, Street, Traffic 3: Map, Hybrid, Satellite, Traffic(US) 6: Road, Aerial, Hybrid, Bird's Eye, Traffic, 3D
3D Mode No No Yes (ActiveX only)
 
Technologies Technologies Used Javascript, XMLHttpRequest (AJAX), Hidden Iframe, XSLTProcessor, JSON, XML Javascript, XMLHttpRequest (AJAX), XML, JSON Javascript, AJAX, Microsoft Virtual Earth, Microsoft Mappoint, Microsoft TerraServer, .NET
Front DHTML DHTML DHTML
Backend JSON JSON, XML .NET
Backend Providers deCarta (formally Telcontar) Yahoo Microsoft
 
Data Age of Map Imagery      
Age of Satellite Imagery 1-3 years old 4-5 years old 1-3 years old
Map Data Providers MAPIT, TeleAtlas, DigitalGlobe, MDA Federal NAVTEQ, TeleAtlas, i-cubed, Public domain NAVTEQ, Intermap, Pictometry, NASA
Directory Data Providers Google, ThomsonLocal.com Infoserve - Powered by SmartView Live Local Listings, Yellow Pages
 
Searching Location Post Code, Street Name, Town, Neighborhood, City, Long/Lat Post Code, Street Name, Town, City Post Code, Street Name, Town, City
Entity Business, Places of Interest, Airport Code Business, Places of Interest, Airport Code Businesses, Collections, Directories, Postal Codes
User Created Yes No Yes (Collections)
Levels of Filtering 1 Many - SmartView 0
 
Directions Directions Yes Yes Yes,
Except Japan
Reverse Directions Yes Yes Yes
Public Transport Integration Yes No No
Walking Directions Yes (beta) No Yes
Bicycle Directions No No No
Multiple Destinations Yes Yes Yes
Send to Device Email Email, SMS, Car Email, SMS, GPS
Live Traffic Information Yes Yes Yes
 
Personalization Set Home Location Yes No, but remembers last location Yes, via Microsoft Location Finder ActiveX Control
Save Maps Yes Yes Yes
 
Printing Print Option Yes Yes Yes
Scale to Print No No No
Crop to Print Yes Yes Yes
Notes Yes No Yes
Retains Overlays? Matched Searches, Directions Smartview, Directions Matches Searches, Directions, Collections
 
Collaboration / Embedding

Send hyperlink to email

Yes Yes Yes
Embed HTML Iframe link Yes No No
Application Integration Google Earth, BMW Assist Mercedes-Benz In Car System Microsoft Office, Microsoft Research WorldWide Telescope
API Available Yes Yes - Javascript and Flash Yes, SDK
Other   Save to del.icio.us Blog on Windows Live Space
Sharable Maps Yes Yes ( in in.maps.yahoo.com) Via Blogging
Readily Available Overlays Yes No Yes (Collections)
 
Advertising Business Advertising Yes No  
 
Mobile Mobile-Specific Website Yes No Yes
Mobile-Specific Application Yes No Yes, Windows Live Search (Windows Mobile Only)
Contact Integration Yes - Yes
Voice Integration No - Yes
GPS Integration Yes - Yes
Directions Yes Send directions via SMS with hyperlink Yes
Interactive Maps Yes - Yes
Types of Map Map, Satellite, Terrain, Street Map, Satellite, Hybrid Map, Satellite
Cell Based Location Yes - No

Sources