We’re more than two years in with street-level photography, although Google was the only game in town for most of that time among the majors. There were also less-well-known independents such as Everyscape and MapJack. Then two weeks ago, Bing made a big splash with a very enhanced Silverlight version of Bing Maps and national coverage with its Street Side imagery.
MapQuest for years had been the leader in Maps and it’s still the top search term in Travel according to Hitwise. But in February of this year Google passed MapQuest to become the top mapping site for the first time. Throughout the rest of the next several months it seemed to trade the lead back and forth with Google. However Google has now established what appears to be a stable traffic advantage over MapQuest.
With the intention of closing some of the feature gaps that had opened up between MapQuest and rivals Google and Bing, the AOL-owned site has introduced “360 View” in 30 cities and 15 suburbs with a promise of more coverage to come. The imagery, I’m told, is provided by Immersive Media, which did some of the early Street View photography for Google.
To initiate the images you check a box “360 view” in the upper right on the map. Orange shading and lines indicate where the coverage is.
While it’s a nice addition to the feature set at MapQuest it doesn’t really break any new ground and will merely keep the site in the game. It’s unlikely to reverse the trend that now exists in the market.
The question now is whether Yahoo will finally decide it needs to play this game. The original interactive mapping innovator, Yahoo opted out of the mapping arms race between Google and Microsoft some time ago and has seen its fortunes decline directly and indirectly from failing to continue to invest in the product.
via MapQuest (Finally) Launches Street Views With “360 View”.
Filed under news by on Jan 1st, 2010. 1 Comment. 
Investing in real estate is more than just buying properly. Whether you are looking to buy a home or expand your business, you are investing in your future. For this reason, more people are using Bing Maps, a new geospatial mapping tool by Microsoft, to look for real estate. This resource lets the buyer view more than just satellite images of a property – it also shows it at multiple angles, gives a virtual tour, and analyzes local traffic congestion. Other features like its street, aerial, and bird's eye views give buyers much more information about potential real estate investments than Yahoo Maps, Google Maps, or Google Earth.
Bing Maps has revolutionized the way that real estate is researched. It offers the luxury of scouting properties from home and eliminating those that do not meet the desired requirements. Bing Maps also allows buyers to locate properties that are near schools, hospitals, parks, and other areas that many people consider important when buying a home. If you are interested in purchasing a business space, Bing Maps can help by showing potential customers and competitors in the area, allowing you to pick the most profitable location for your business.
Bing Maps has three different view settings for its users. Starting at its most basic level, Bing Maps' street view allows users to target specific areas without the distraction of a satellite image. The street map is an invaluable preliminary scouting tool because it clearly shows residential and shopping areas, as well as subway transit stops, parks, and buildings of interest that can help buyers narrow their desired search area.
From this preliminary stage, Bing Maps' aerial view will give users a more detailed representation of the area. It contains all of the information of the street map, but also includes detailed satellite images of the surrounding area. This is useful for buyers as it gives them a visual representation of a property's lot size, spaces of greenery, and the density of homes and businesses in the area. By combining these two features, potential buyers can get a more detailed picture of the property than they could otherwise.
The bird's eye view option is the jewel of Bing Maps. This high resolution aerial map is able to show properties with unparalleled detail and texture. The images are shot at a forty-five degree angle and can be zoomed in to create clearer images than other mapping programs on the Internet. This real estate friendly view can also be rotated to show the different sides and entrances of a building. The bird's eye view provided by Bing Maps can help buyers save time by previewing properties before visiting them in person.
In addition to the view settings provided by Bing Maps, this platform also includes additional features that are particularly useful for people interested in buying real estate. Its traffic flow option analyzes real time traffic congestion for most major roads and highways. It predicts traffic flow by anticipating factors such as the time of day, sporting events, and current weather conditions for a particular area. This can be an especially handy tool for buyers because it can project typical commuting times to and from a newly purchased home or business.
By installing the 3D plug-in for Bing Maps, users are able to take "virtual tours" of the property that they are interested in buying. By clicking and dragging the mouse, the angle at which a property is viewed can be rotated and tilted to fit the need of the user. Though every town cannot be viewed in 3D, most large cities within North America do offer this feature.
Bing Maps is an essential resource for people interested in buying real estate. Its high resolution images are far superior to Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, and Google Earth. Its bird's eye view setting is an invaluable tool that allows buyers to look at a property from four different directions. Additional components, like its 3D plug-in and traffic flow analysis allows buyers to narrow down the potential properties, significantly cutting down the amount of time it takes to find desirable real estate. Bing Maps is an invaluable tool that will take the hassle out of searching for that perfect property.
Filed under news, Sell your property with a virtual tour by on Oct 25th, 2009. Comment.
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