Google Maps

Google Maps is a service provided by Google that allows maps with a variety of views and functions to be added to web sites. Google Maps are interactive: web site users can click on the + and - buttons to zoom in and zoom out and can scroll the map to view areas outside the current view. NZ.com uses the Google maps service to show what places of interest look like, where they are located, and how to get there. Examples of these uses are shown below.

NZ.com displays maps with three different views and uses a variety of the Google smart features including driving routes, directions and overlays:

• Map View
• Driving Routes and Directions
• Satellite View
• Street View
• Adding Extra Information
• Maps for NZ.com's Clients

Map View

Google Map View shows roads and places at various levels of detail. NZ.com provides a local version of Google's map view facilties on all of our location sites. You will usually find three Google maps displayed on a location site. The maps progressively zoom in, the progression shows the position of the location in the country down to the street information in the centre of the region's major city or town. An example of this type of page is Google Maps of Rotorua.

Click on the pictures above to see the page with full size interactive maps.

All Google maps can have location markers added to them. These are used to display places of interest. Our Rotorua Geothermal Locations page is a good example of this. Clicking on a location marker on this page displays a small amount of information about that place and a link to the page for more information.

Click on the pictures above to see the page with full size interactive maps.

Driving Routes and Directions

Google maps can display routes and driving directions between two locations. Web users enter where they wish to drive From and where they wish to drive To and the route is displayed along with driving directions. NZ.com provides this facility on all of our location sites with the start map displaying the center of the location. The From and To locations are setup on these sites so that our web users only have to change one of them if their trip is to or from that place.

Rotorua Driving Directions can be obtained from our page designed for this purpose or from other location driving directions pages. For example, from the Auckland Driving Directions page, by replacing the start From or To value of "Auckland" with "Rotorua".

Driving routes and directions can also be displayed for known locations. The Waimangu page displays the driving route and directions from Rotorua to Waimangu.

Click on the pictures above to see the page with full size interactive maps.

Satellite View

Google Satellite View provides a high level resolution view of many areas in New Zealand. In the areas where this is available, a detailed satellite view map can provide a great illustration of a location. The third map on the page Rotorua Satellite View Maps has a high resolution view that provides an attractive illustration of the city and the lake. In contrast, the resolution displayed in the first two maps, does not provide a significantly different view from the standard Google maps.

Click on the pictures above to see the page with full size interactive maps.

The page about Cathedral Square in Christchurch is a good example of using a satellite map to illustrate a location. Here the satellite map is displayed alongside photographs taken in the square.

Click on the picture above to see the page with a full size interactive map and images.

Street View

Google Street View is a facility that provides a 360 degree photographic street level views. Street view is available for most New Zealand addresses and streets. However there are some streets that the camera cars taking the images did not drive down, this means that it is not available everywhere in New Zealand.

NZ.com provides a local version of Google's street view facilties on most of our location sites. For each of these location site, a starting location has been chosen in the middle of the region's major city. For example, in the Auckland Street View, we have selected the starting position as a view of the SKYCITY building beside Aotea Square in Queen Street.

Click on the picture above to see the page with a full size interactive map and images.

Adding Extra Information

Google maps can have extra information added to them. This is done using JavaScript programming and the possibilities are endless.

NZ.com has added a route map to the Christchurch Tram Restaurant Dinner Tour. This is primarily to illustrate the trip. Because these are interactive maps, the route is redrawn correctly on the map when our web site users zoom in, zoom out, or shift the map display point.

Click on the pictures above to see the page with a full size interactive map.

Maps for NZ.com's Clients

Google maps are used in a variety of ways to enhance NZ.com's clients' advertising.

The listing for Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferry from Wellington has a small satelite map displayed underneath the images of a ferry travelling across Cook Strait. The satellite map has a marker on it showing the location of the ferry terminal which is the departure point for the trip. Below the satellite map is a link to a street view of the ferry terminal area.

The street view has a zoomed in satellite map and the street view shows vehicles lined up to drive on to the ferry.

Click on the pictures above to see the pages with full size maps and street views.

The listing for Fitzherbert Court Motel has a location map displayed underneath the address at the bottom of the page. This is a good example of selecting the right type of map based on what is available in that area. A standard Google map was chosen to illustrate this property because the high resolution satellite imagery was not available. Google maps display a grey background and instructions to zoom out if the imagery is not available. They can also display blurry images at some zoom levels.

Click on the pictures above to see the page with a full size interactive map.

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