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August 13, 2008
Microsoft's Live Maps Schools Google, Yahoo, Ask and AOL in Georgia Mapping
If you've been keeping up with the conflict in South Ossetia, perhaps you were curious about where the contentious events were occurring. I hope you ended up at Microsoft's Live Search Maps, because it is the only map of the top 5 search engines that could find both Tskhinvali, South Ossetia's self-declared capital, as well as Abkhazia, another separatist region where Russia has opened a second front.
Live Search Maps - Ts'khinvali
Live Search Maps - Abkhazia
Yahoo was the second best map. It found Tskhinvali after I typed in Microsoft's suggested spelling of Ts'khinvali. But the map was extremely zoomed in and you didn't have a sense of where you were until you zoomed out. It found Abkhazia with ease.
Yahoo Maps - Tskhinvali (can't find)
Yahoo Maps - Ts'khinvali (Microsoft's suggested spelling)
Yahoo Maps - Ts'khinvali zoomed out
Yahoo Maps - Abkhazia
Google found Ts'khinvali (even without the apostrophe), but an initial search for Abkhazia landed me in Glendale, California, at a business listing for an institute dedicated to policy in the Georgian region. Eventually, after searching for Ts'khinvali, a subsequent search for Abkhazia at least landed me in the correct region. But the problem was there were several results sprinkled across the troubled Georgia. Google has said it has had a hard time finding satisfying data for the region. They might want to try whatever Microsoft is having.
Google Maps - Ts'khinvali
Google Maps - Abkhazia, Glendale California
Google Maps - Abkhazia, Georgia
Ask.com's Maps and AOL's MapQuest couldn't find either city.
Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 13, 2008 1:13 PM
Comments
Steve Lombardi August 13, 2008 5:10 PM
Why not embed the results in this post instead of screenshots?
david August 14, 2008 1:08 AM
A good work requires a lot of time. Google is improving his database. We are waiting for a nice surprise
mad August 14, 2008 6:45 AM
Isn't competition great? This clearly shows why even if you're a fan of one mapping site you should still support the others, they fuel innovation through competition. Lots of exciting things happening with Virtual Earth.
John August 14, 2008 6:28 PM
competition always favors customers.
sajjad August 15, 2008 3:58 PM
Hi Nathania - Base Maps and imagery are just the start of exploring a region. Think of them as the canvas to overlay other information with a geographic component.
For this region, user generated content provides an amazing amount of information about the area. My post on the VE blog gives more details on how to turn this content layer on. it's as fun as it is educational
http://tinyurl.com/6bddah