Tuesday, 18. April 2006, 14:48:48
google maps, yahoo!, Mapquest, A9 map rankings
That's what TechCrunch has done in a recent look at the services provided by the likes of Google maps, Yahoo!, Mapquest, Ask, and Windows Live Local. They looked at the 5 "top" mapping service providers and ranked them along with a site comparisson table... this is what they found:
Overall, Yahoo Maps was by far the best application tested. Its fast Flash interface, multipoint directions, live traffic information, and easy send-to-mobile feature make it the hands down winner. It also features the most robust API options.
See the results here
Friday, 20. January 2006, 23:45:42
yahoo!, maps, api, mashup
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James Fee (www.spatiallyadjusted.com) provided a pointer to this batch geocoder that I just had to check out. The page requests the user simply provide "any kind" of address data from a "simple" format - ie. simply paste address, city, state, ZIP, description, url from an excel spreadsheet. the app validates the source code, then requests the user to specify columns (I was a bit lost on what exactly step 4 does!). Finally, the geocoder runs and displays the output in tabular format with the geocoding output (lat/long) as well as on a map - using Yahoo! maps. Some info provided about the technology behind the scenes... This tool makes primary use of JavaScript ON Demand (JSOD) and JSON to dynamically call and interact with the Yahoo! REST Geocoding API. All you need is somple simple tabular address data and your web client. Ironically, shortly after posting this I heard from the developer, Phillip Holmstrand. He share's this information about the app... You can copy/paste directly from Excel, geocode, and then copy right back into Excel, and/or see addresses on a map instantly. It uses Yahoo's Geocoding API, which is nothing new, but what's nice is it allows batch processing of tabular data. Best news, it's free, and you can geocode up to 50,000 addresses per day.Check it out at
http://www.batchgeocode.com/
Sunday, 15. January 2006, 23:29:39
yahoo!, search engine, positioning, toledano
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Do you have troubles figuring out how to best get your website or blog positioned in Yahoo!?Getting listed in any major search portal is a difficult task for any site that has not been around for the past 5+ years. Sure you can open your wallet and feed overture till your wallet dries up, but there must be other solutions. Most recently in the Yahoo! search blog
http://www.ysearchblog.com/) a thread was listed that covered off details of a lecture by a Yahoo! exec (Joel Toledano) and they went as far as to share a power point of the slides used in his presentation. The lecture was titled "Opportunities for Innovators: Venturing in Online Search, Advertising & Sales" - hopefully it will help you a bit (it can't hurt), particularly since Yahoo! is likely the toughest place to get a high ranking - See
http://www.ysearchblog.com/archives/yahoo.ppt
WIDGETIZE