Google users can now make own maps
San Francisco: Google has expanded its popular mapping technology to allow users to create their own personalised maps complete with their own pictures and locations. The new features launched on Thursday allow creators to share maps, giving them the possibility of creating localised maps of points of interest in specific neighbourhoods. Users can choose whether to make their maps public or private. Maps can be further customised by specify ing the scale of the map, the order the landmarks appear in the sidebar, and even the design of the landmark icons on the map. They can also be toggled between map and satellite views. The Silicon Valley company is hoping the simplicity of the new features will generate millions of highly specialised maps to be stored in its search index. Google Maps is currently the thirdmost popular map site, after AOL’s Mapquest and Yahoo Maps.