Google Maps New Look

[empirestate]

It would be awesome if they actually used the standard design for state and provincial routes rather than ovals and home plates, but I've yet to see anyone but a state DOT or a roadgeek produce such.

MapArt does this. Don't know how their (MapMobility's) online mapping system is coming though...

[mjb2002]

I have been on Weather Underground's Wundermap Interactive Radar since last night (they use Google Maps) and I am not at all impressed by how the US highway shields look. It look more like a cat shield than a highway shield.

[empirestate]

WHOAH!! Google Maps now shows corporate boundaries...but only for whatever municipality you happen to have searched for...try it!

[UptownRoadGeek]

WHOAH!! Google Maps now shows corporate boundaries...but only for whatever municipality you happen to have searched for...try it!

Not doing this for me...

[rawmustard]

WHOAH!! Google Maps now shows corporate boundaries...but only for whatever municipality you happen to have searched for...try it!

It still isn't exact. For example, there's no differentiation between Battle Creek and Springfield, and the Level Park neighborhood is shaded even though it's outside of Battle Creek's limits.

[Quillz]

The shields look horrible and very pixelated. They were much sharper and better before.

[huskeroadgeek]

WHOAH!! Google Maps now shows corporate boundaries...but only for whatever municipality you happen to have searched for...try it!

I noticed this too-I always have Google maps set for my hometown, and I noticed yesterday that the boundaries were highlighted.

A couple other recent changes I noticed on Street View: the location given for any point now only includes a city if it is inside city limits, otherwise it only includes the state. Also, every image now includes the month and year the image was taken-something I find very helpful.

[empirestate]

The shields look horrible and very pixelated. They were much sharper and better before.

I'm guessing this was done largely for mobile users...the new shields look much better on the iPhone than they do on my computer.

[rickmastfan67]

Also, every image now includes the month and year the image was taken-something I find very helpful.

Wow, that's sweet!  That will help answer questions about when a route was posted, that's for sure.

[kphoger]

I use Google Maps every day at work to give directions to cable technicians.  Sometimes I use street view to describe a landmark or even a house description.  This will be useful to me, to be able to say 'A year and a half ago, it was a green house with a chain-link fence along the property line'.  That way the tech knows the house color and even the fence may have changed in that amount of time.

[nds76]

I do not like the new look of the shields on Google Maps. I thought they were the best looking for an online map but not anymore.

[Quillz]

The shields look horrible and very pixelated. They were much sharper and better before.

I'm guessing this was done largely for mobile users...the new shields look much better on the iPhone than they do on my computer.

Maybe, although the iPhone has a much higher DPI display than most devices in the first place.

I wonder why Maps doesn't just use .SVG elements. If anything, it should take up even less space than the .PNG elements they are likely using now.

[yakra]

I would think for a tiny lo-res pic, like 16x16, PNG would have to be smaller

[deathtopumpkins]

How are you guys getting Google Maps to display municipal boundaries? I've tried searching multiple cities in multiple states, and nothing.

[huskeroadgeek]

How are you guys getting Google Maps to display municipal boundaries? I've tried searching multiple cities in multiple states, and nothing.

Maybe it was just a test, because it was working for me, but when I reloaded Google Maps earlier it wasn't doing it anymore. Actually, it still does show municipal boundaries, but they are just in the slightly darker shade than the unincorporated areas like before-not highlighted like they were talked about above.

[yakra]

Here in Southern Maine where everything is incorporated, I almost thought it went on a city/town distinction: Portland, South Portland and Westbrook all have the darker shaded background. Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth, and Scarborough don't.
But scratch that: OOB is shaded in addition to Biddeford & Saco, and a portion of Scarborough near Oak Hill as well.

[empirestate]

Here in Southern Maine where everything is incorporated, I almost thought it went on a city/town distinction: Portland, South Portland and Westbrook all have the darker shaded background. Cape Elizabeth, Falmouth, and Scarborough don't.
But scratch that: OOB is shaded in addition to Biddeford & Saco, and a portion of Scarborough near Oak Hill as well.

I believe they have shaded not only municipalities, but also CDP's. And of course, I don't think their database is quite flawless.

And no, my Google isn't highlighting them anymore either...

[vdeane]

I think it has to do with whether Google thinks an area is urban/suburban vs rural.

I remember when the entire northeast was shaded!

[empirestate]

I think it has to do with whether Google thinks an area is urban/suburban vs rural.

I remember when the entire northeast was shaded!

Well if you look at Monroe County (NY), you'll see that the towns of Irondequoit and Brighton are shaded, but no other towns (because they're not incorporated places census-wise). That's because both are also CDP's coextensive with the town borders.

Then you have some of Greece and some of Gates shaded as well (even labeled the mysterious Gates-North Gates, which is definitely not a placename). So that's where I figure their funny shading practices come from.

[maplestar]

The new fonts/spacing are questionable, and the new US route shields have a weird shape. That said, I've been doing Google Maps intensive work all day the last couple days, and the new shields do seem less stressful on the eyes after extended work- since it's not Google's job to shape shields correctly, I guess I like it because of the reduced eye strain.

I came around to the US and state route shields. But I find the Interstate shields and exit numbers to be almost illegible and can't imagine how anybody proposed those changes without being fired.

[empirestate]

Hmm, I guess the whole thing just doesn't bother me much at all, same as Facebook redesigns. In fact, it's something I rather enjoy about Google Maps, how they keep you on your toes with little changes to their cartographic style, like when they first introduced tunnels and the afore-mentioned urban area shading. (I'm less a fan of when they change their database though.)

As long as they never decide to look like Bing with its weird bluish-purple color scheme...

[kphoger]

For those who don't know, Pemex is Mexico's gas station chain.
Apparently, this one wasn't really needed (south of Nuevo Laredo):
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=27.375378,-99.558481&spn=0.007031,0.009602&t=m&z=17&vpsrc=6

Acutally, if you zoom in, you'll realize it refers to two separate structures (the pumps themselves, and the building - ????):
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=27.375643,-99.558865&spn=0.001758,0.002401&t=m&z=19&vpsrc=6

[agentsteel53]

does "extra" in this case mean "superfluous geometric region, please correct" or is "Extra" the name of the convenience store associated with the gas station?

(I can barely remember what US convenience store names are, never mind Mexico.  I think I once saw an Oxxo next to a Pemex but don't ask me to confirm that.)

[kphoger]

Apparently, Extra is the name of the convenience store (owned by Grupo Modelo).  Why only the fuel pumps are labelled Pemex, who knows?  And, yes, usually Oxxo (owned by FEMSA) is the one you see.  I do frequently get a kick out of the businesses Google chooses to label, especially when the location is just a bit off.  Sometimes, if you search for the business's address, the pin will be in the wrong place; but, if you search by the name, it will actually be pinned correctly.  I wonder where they're getting the data.....

[NE2]

When I map a gas station in OpenStreetMap I draw the canopy over the pumps and tag it amenity=fuel name=* and draw the convenience store building and tag it shop=convenience name=*. If they both have the name name (e.g. 7-Eleven) it will look like a duplicate: http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=28.450494&lon=-81.477397&zoom=18&layers=M
I don't separately tag the landuse=retail area though when I do this.