Google Maps

A few months back, I tested both Google maps and MSN maps for locating some addresses in Chennai and Tamilnadu State in India. Google maps fared poor in comparison with MSN maps while locating local addresses. Both maps were inaccurate in many ways. Some street names and area names were shown in wrong places. Some road directions did not match the actuals. Mistakes were many, but Google maps was much poorer in search results and in zoom details than MSN maps. I was disappointed with Google maps, being a fan of Google. My primary need of any map program is to locate local addresses in Chennai and India.

In case of USA addresses, Google Maps stood out. I typed some US addresses and I was taken to those places exactly in the map. The expressway numbers were shown and the directions were clear. Even some important places near the search places were shown. I wanted same type of detailing and accuracy for my locations, which I could not get in Google maps. I could use MSN maps only sparingly, since there were many inaccuracies. I was disappointed with both.


I used Google Earth extensively for fun. It provided physical visibility of places and I could identify famous places through landmarks. The satellite picture shown beside was saved using Google Earth. The area in the picture is one of the busiest road traffic junctions in Chennai, connecting the city with Southern and Western parts of Tamilnadu. When I saved this picture from Google Earth, I expected partly constructed over bridge in this area. It was not there. The satellite picture was at least some moths old. I assume that only Google Earth Pro has the privilege of having latest satellite pictures. I may be wrong. Google Earth did not accept also local addresses of Chennai. Chennai structures could not be viewed in 3D.

Recently, I found the release of a new version (4.1) of Google Earth. I downloaded it and installed in my PC. The latest Google Earth showed a new feature. That is "View in Google Maps". By clicking the icon "view in google maps", I can open the same picture (opened in Google Earth) in Google Maps. Then I noticed that Chennai map has improved a lot. Accuracy has also tremendously improved. I am giving a picture of Chennai map saved recently using Google Maps. It is only to show that it is a lot better.



PS: Google Maps recognizes area names in Chennai, but still not street or door numbers, while doing a search. I hope it would be remedied soon.

Picture created using Inkscape