First thing to note is that Map Maker is not the same as Google Maps or Google Earth. Although, Map Maker is found inside the Google Maps tools.
Come I explain.
You look for a location in Google Maps, and you notice that your house has not been plotted on the map. So you click on the Google Map button at the bottom right and you start plotting your property out.
You can draw a line, a shape or a place. You contribution then gets uploaded to the community for review. You can also review other peoples contributions.
Obviously the implications are pretty great especially for less developed and thinly populated areas where roads have never been mapped. This is one of the reasons SA is one of the last African countries to go live with Map Maker. In areas like Malawi, Gabon and Nigeria, individual Map Maker users have added thousands and thousands of points over a relatively short time. These people have literally mapped out their entire neighbourhood and surrounding area.
The other benefit is for small business owners and shop keepers to make sure their businesses are found on Google Maps.
The once criticism I have of the Map Maker tool is that some of the functionality is and has been available on some Tom Tom GPS devices for some time now. Your Tom Tom in fact can learn of a new road just by people driving on it, and can suggest routes around hazards based on feedback from the devices. An easier way to get the roads mapped. Doesn’t help much with the shops and parks features though. Hmm.
Here’s some guy with an Indian accent explaining how it works:
