Google Launches Beta Map Site

Posted: February 9, 2005

It’s been speculated for a while that Google would soon launch a map site, well, it’s now live.

Google has choosen an AJAX based system for it’s mapping technology, which has a few effects. AJAX preloads a lot of content in the background so that once the page loads, it can be easily and quickly manipulated by a user. However, this means a lot more information must load, and there have been considerable problems with those still on dial-up attempting to utilize the map information.

This seems like a broadband solution, and may isolate many dial-up users.

In either case, it is a nice technology and a strong showing for Google in the race to have the best local search experience for it’s user.