New Google Maps feature: The GoogleMap Maker

The scene: You open up Google Maps to find directions before heading off to that holiday trip. Of course, who wouldn’t want to prepare by acquainting yourself to the “lay of the land”. Google Maps, you think, is a great tool (and truly, it is!) except that this time, what you wanted turned up blank. Not even a road, bridge or some useful landmark. Oh well, you say–you’ll just get a community map when you reach the local airport.

Now when you get back, you think, hey wouldn’t it be helpful if you can make an online map to help future tourists to that paradise you just saw? Oh nuts. No way to do that right? Well, there is a way now!

Today, Google (Lalitesh Katragadda, Software Engineer and Sanjay Jain, Product Manager) has just announced, Google Map Maker.

Google Map Maker is a significant step in our ongoing efforts to engage Google Maps users and equip them with an easy-to-use tool to build high quality maps of their neighborhoods, cities and countries. Map Maker allows you and your peers to add, edit and moderate most features you see on maps including roads, lakes, parks, points of interest, businesses, cities and localities. You will be able to trace many of these features using satellite images; as you trace, maps are immediately updated.

As of today, you can build maps in the countries of Cyprus, Iceland, Pakistan, Vietnam and the Caribbean nations of: Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Grenada, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago. The existing mapping data for these countries could benefit tremendously from local knowledge and expertise that you and other map makers posses, and we’re excited to see how you put that to use.

An additional note from Google Map tells users:

To ensure high quality data, we allow map editing only when you are zoomed in really close, and some of your contributions may be moderated. We also recommend that you switch to hybrid mode to add/edit features precisely.

And that the Google Map Maker is only available for the following countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Grenada, Iceland, Jamaica, Netherlands Antilles, Pakistan, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Vietnam.