Where 2.0: Google Launches a Data API for Google Maps
SAN JOSE, California — Google has extended its set of Data APIs for developers with the release of a Maps Data API.
The new Maps Data API lets application developers both view and store any maps or geodata from Google Maps in the form of standard Google Data API feeds. The new API is intended for all platforms — webapps, mobile client apps and desktop apps.
Google’s Steven Lee and Lior Ron made the announcement at the O’Reilly Where 2.0 Conference here Wednesday.
The Google representatives were sure to stress the importance of real-time indexing in modern applications — making the freshest content instantly searchable seems to be at the back of everyone’s minds at Google lately. To that end, the Google Maps Data API allows for real-time indexing and persistent searching within client apps.
The project is live at Google Code right now. If you’re new to Google Data APIs, have a look at Google’s primer.
There’s an ad component to Wednesday’s launch as well. You can place geo-targeted ads within your map mashup or client application — if a user is looking at a map of Napa Valley, they’ll see an ad for a discount wine merchant.
Along with a demo of the new API, the Lee and Ron gave conference attendees a peek at how location is being built into Firefox 3.5 and Google Chrome.
Google recently partnered with Firefox to add location-awareness directly to Mozilla’s browser, and it’s putting the same tech (which is based on Google Gears) into its Chrome browser. The implementation uses the W3C’s Geolocation specification that’s expected to be included in HTML 5.
In the demo, Lee showed Google Maps running in Firefox 3.5 beta 4. Just between the little zoom slider and the cardinal panning controls in the Google Maps window, there’s now a small blue button. Click on that button, and the map zooms in and recenters on your current location. It uses your active wi-fi connection to pinpoint your location.
