An increasingly popular tool for web services has been Google's flexible Maps feature. Easily implemented in a variety of applications, they help web developers to display large amounts of data in a surprisingly organized way. But Google recently shut down a service that used its maps. Is Google going to cut of this new development tool?
Google Wallpapers (Google Wallpaper), which was a tile stitching program to turn the Google Maps satellite images into one background image, was taken offline after receiving a cease and desist order from Google.
The order cited a breach in the Google Maps terms of service, likely referring to the following:
The photographic imagery made available for display through Google maps is provided under a nonexclusive, non-transferable license for use only by you…Google and/or its licensors (if any) retain all ownership rights in the imagery. The imagery is copyrighted and may not be copied, even if modified or merged with other data or software. (Google Terms)
It's possible that Google has a specific problem with letting other organizations use the satellite imagery because of licensing on the images. Perhaps any other service that uses the satellite imagery is fair game as well. Or else Google may be pursuing any terms-of-service infraction.
There are some great customized uses of Google Maps out there, and they serve a variety of purposes, though all are likely running without explicit permission from Google. Google has made it easy for developers to change how the maps work. The XML interface apparently makes maps very customizable.
One of the best uses of Google maps is attaching real estate listings to a map. When I was looking for rental properties, I wish I would have known about this. As it was, I searched many properties and entered them all into Google Maps anyway to see where they were.
There are a few services that automate real estate mapping. They use the flexible XML map system, and when users click on a location, a text bubble can pop up with information and pictures on the listing. One service is Cytadia (cytadia.us). Apparently, it's free to list houses on and free to shop for houses. They don't display ads either. If they did, they'd more likely be a target of Google's legal department. Anyway, the first thing you do on Cytadia is enter information into the box below.
Cytadia
After you've entered the information, you will arrive at a page like he one below. You can navigate the Google Maps and click on the pushpins to display listings.
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