Google Maps changed the way we search for location information, directions and mapping data. Google are continuing to evolve and develop the product by adding more and more new layers of data and functionality. Images, Articles, Video content, user lists and itineraries are all currently available to view. The latest new additions to Google Maps include attraction information and points of interest.



Users can now discover businesses, attractions and other key points of interest on the maps but only at a high level of zoom. New icons show key points of interest and each of these icons can be clicked to reveal detailed information about the location.



These new functions yet again improve the user experience and offer greater levels of information to the end user. The only worry is that will there eventually be too much data to view at any one time. We are convinced that Google has plans to implement a new and improved filter menu system to combat this very issue. Possibly utilising existing filtering technology, maybe even using a similar interface to Google Earth, we will have to wait and see.

Article by Creative SEO News

Google have today announced a new deal to acquire On2 Technologies, a leading video compression company that provides high quality video at high compression rates.

Google are committed to offering high quality, streaming video to both its Google Video users and its YouTube users. Google have talked about improving the quality of streaming video and adding further value to the user experience by providing more HD quality content.

High Quality streaming video is one of the many holy grails of the internet. Large file sizes and download rates restrict the existing technology from being available to every household, causing long and slow downloads and buffering. The higher the quality of the service, the faster the streaming and download times, the more likely web based video will integrate into consumer households.

If streaming web based video could potentially match High Definition quality television, with low file download sizes, let’s say HD at a minimum of 720p, more households would use the internet to watch and download content. This could potentially open a massive new market to Google for paid download and subscription based video and content through YouTube. The opportunity to provide advertising including video commercials at the beginning and end of content would potentially offer Google a very lucrative channel to resell advertising. Google have already signed a deal to provide Disney content on the YouTube network. As a user can you imagine being able to choose any film or video content and instantly watch and stream the content in real time at an HD quality directly to your home TV. No download time, no waiting, just click and watch. This same technology would help to improve mobile and handheld video content, providing mobile users with a greater array of streaming content without the need to download or buffer large files.

The deal with On2 outlines the importance of the technology and shows Google’s resolve to investigate the video compression further. The deal is subject to approval by On2 Technologies stockholders and the regulatory authorities.

The acquisition marks a clear commitment by Google to develop their existing video content, what Google have up there sleeves at this point in time no one knows, but as always it looks very exciting.

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Google blog search has grown in popularity since its launch; users have been requesting new features and functionality and finally Google has announced some major upgrades and improvements to the service.

The Google blog search home page has had a minor facelift with the integration of a new Latest Posts section and Hot Queries section. Hot Queries displays the latest and most popular search queries within Google blog search, allowing the user to look at new trends and find out exactly what is being searched for at any one time. Latest Posts displays new stories and posts from popular blogs, as soon as they are added to blog search and even before users are actively searching for them.

By popular demand Google have also added RSS and Atom feeds to the blog search. This can be easily accessed via the Subscribe link in the left hand column on the front page of the site.

One final feature which we believe will be extremely popular is the new Google blog search iGoogle gadget. The new gadget allows you to embed blog search directly into your iGoogle home page allowing you to browse topics and drill into stories from within the widget. You can also customise the gadget to display specific topics or information.

The new features have been added to allow more users to search more deeply into the database allowing a larger number of blogs to be found be users. Although only minor changes they do have a big impact on improving the usability of the service.

Article by Creative SEO UK