Online Map Guide Showdown

Years ago the only online map guide that I knew about was Mapquest. Whether or not they were before Yahoo or Google maps I do not know, but to me Mapquest started something revolutionary. No more asking a friend for a detailed explanation on how to get to certain destination. No more finding directions to businesses you have never visited before.

Now, Mapquest has some very good competition. The online search powerhouses of Google and Yahoo have started their own online map guides with different features; different looks and that go along with their other features that they offer.

Some would say it doesn't matter which online map guide you use, as long as it takes you to where you need to go. However, for some online users they need much more than directions to their favorite bar or city hot spot, and this is where the differences lie.

One important feature to some online users is the access of maps on their mobile phones/palm pilots. All three online map guides offer a way to send driving directions that you check out online to your mobile phone through text messages or through accessing their websites through your mobile browser. However, Yahoo Maps seems to only send directions to your phone and not necessarily a map like Mapquest. Google doesn't show an outright way to send directions to your phone at all, but they have the most eye appealing and easy to use mobile online map guide.

Another online map guide feature that is on all three map sites is the ability to see Satellite feeds of the location you are currently looking at. This is useful when you are trying to find certain landmarks in your area of interest (and is just cool to look at in general).

As for map features, Google and Yahoo seem be moving quickly away from the standard directions like Mapquest. One such feature is the Traffic button. This button shows current information about the traffic on roads in your area, so it is easier for you to plan your route to your next destination. However, although a very useful and interesting feature, smaller cities may not have any traffic information for you to look at, making the feature useless.