Yahoo! Local & Maps Blog

Yahoo! Maps is coming out of Beta today. This means that if you have a broadband internet connection, and if you have Flash 7 (or greater), the Broadband Maps (new) will be the default, and otherwise you’ll get the Dial-Up Maps (original). You can always switch between the two by using a link at the top of the page.

Since we released the beta version, we’ve spent our time optimizing the product and responding to user feedback to make it ready for mainstream use. We added the functionality and features our users want most, and the response we’ve received to-date has been very positive. The new Yahoo! Maps gives our users a more expedient method of finding locations and getting driving directions, and is an even more powerful tool within Yahoo! Local.

In addition to releasing the new Yahoo! Maps, we’re also rolling out street-level maps for Europe and many cities of new satellite imagery. These are available almost anywhere Yahoo! Maps can be found, whether on Flickr in their photo mapping feature, Yahoo! Travel’s Trip Planner product, and of course to our external developer community using Yahoo! Maps APIs. Getting more maps and imagery outside the US is a feature enhancement that has been in high demand.

Just a quick re-cap of what’s in the new Yahoo! Maps.

• The award winning, most interactive, easy to use interface for the new generation of mapping.
• Multi-point routing, (from A to B to C), which is a great way to plan your day, do your errands, visit garage sales or hunt for a house.
• A new mini-map which gives you an overview of what you’re looking at.
• Satellite and Aerial imagery, wall to wall in the USA, and for over 100 cities internationally.
• Full integration with Yahoo! Local, including search and SmartView.
• Saved locations and auto-complete against your saved locations, recent locations and Yahoo! Address Book.
• The ability to return to the old-style Yahoo! Maps for when you’re on a Dial-Up connection.
• Quick access to maps from within Yahoo! Mail using Yahoo! Shortcuts.

We certainly hope you enjoy using the new Yahoo! Maps, and the Maps team will continue to work to make it faster, more enjoyable, and more useful. Please Take a Tour of our new features, or jump right in!
Thank you!

Mike Lawless, Product Manager, and the Yahoo! Maps Team

In addition to announcing that Yahoo! Maps is coming out of beta, we’ve just published a whole new set of maps that cover most of Europe. These maps are available in the new Yahoo! Maps, as well as places where Yahoo! Maps are used most, such as Yahoo! Travel, Flickr, and in our developer API’s. Stay tuned for more International Maps updates in the coming months, but below is a list of the countries we’ve updated. Note: although the maps are now available, the geocoder and driving directions are not yet ready.

Below is a list of the countries we’ve updated.

Cheers,

Mark Law & Mike Lawless, Product Managers, Yahoo! Maps

Countries with Comprehensive Coverage:

Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Denmark
Finland
France (including Corsica)
Germany
Ireland
Italy (including Sicily and Sardinia)
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Monaco
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
San Marino
Spain (include Ceuta, Canary Islands, Mallorca, Menorca)
Switzerland
Sweden
United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar)
Vatican City

Countries with Major Coverage:

Czech Republic
Poland

Capitol City Coverage:

Bulgaria
Croatia
Estonia
Greece
Hungary
Latvia
Lithuania
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia

PS. In addition, we have a pretty extensive set of major Metro and Railway stations within the countries we’ve added.