Posted by Flora Wong, Head of Maps for Work Marketing APAC

For the last decade, we’ve been helping businesses make the most of maps with Google Maps APIs. Whether it’s helping Allstate give their customers location information so they can deliver better service, or DHL Same Day a view into where their couriers travel to ensure things arrive on time, we know that companies put their information onto a customized Google Map to see real business value.

To understand more about this value and how businesses are using maps, we commissioned some research into how businesses in the Asia Pacific region use Google Maps APIs. The new report “More Than Pins on a Map” has found that 94 percent of businesses that use Maps APIs have seen real business improvements, 50 percent boosted customer satisfaction and 40 percent improved productivity.

Key findings from the report include:

There’s new revenue to be found with Maps Almost a third of businesses said Google Maps had delivered over $100,000 of value since implementation. This includes a New Zealand airline that created a service to help customers with airport transfers. They pulled information from 20 different taxi services and used Google Maps APIs to provide customers fast facts about driving conditions and transportation options so they could plan their route more easily.

One map leads to another Companies typically introduce Google Maps with a specific purpose in mind — to show customers their store locations, or to track their assets — but they often find maps can be useful in other parts of their business. For example, a government department in Australia first turned to maps to visualize data points on a map but soon realised they could use Google Maps APIs to bring more data management in-house and cut out a third party. This means less coordination and allows them to push data live within one day rather than waiting a week.

Maps give customers power An online auto marketplace changed the way it runs its business after discovering Google Maps could help customers locate the best car deal in the shortest time. They created a trip planner tool that integrates with Google Maps and helps customers plan the most efficient route to cars at various dealerships.

Maps can save dollars and lives Whether an executive’s job is on the line or employees are literally saving lives, it’s critical for teams to work at top efficiency. A disaster management software provider uses Google Maps to investigate ambulance delays. Using real-time data, the company monitored delays longer than 20 minutes and the root-cause of the delay. They found that often these delays occurred because employees weren’t using Google Maps, which takes into account traffic conditions and typography to find the best route.

Maps help employees communicate Google Maps can help departments communicate with one another more clearly by putting technical information on a map. A telecommunications company in Australia once updated teams about network outages via lists. Out of context, these lists did not simply convey the extent of outages and led to confusion. Now outages are visualized on a Map, so the staff has access to real-time contextualized information that makes it much easier to assess the business impacts.

Whether you’re looking to introduce new revenue streams, improve your customers’ experience or boost productivity, putting your information on a map with Google Maps APIs can help. To find out more and learn how Google Maps APIs may be useful for your business download the new white paper.

Posted by Adam Ratana, Developer of Sun Surveyor

(Cross-posted on the Geo Developers Blog.)

Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is Adam Ratana, developer of Sun Surveyor. Read how Sun Surveyor is using Google Maps APIs to help photographers capture the perfect photo.

I’m a photography enthusiast, and I’m always looking for ways to improve my work. That’s what led me to develop Sun Surveyor, an iOS and Android app that uses Google Maps APIs to visualize the location of the sun and the moon anywhere in the world. The app makes it easy to figure out when the natural lighting will be just right — and get the ideal shot.

Sun Surveyor uses augmented reality to overlay the paths of the sun and moon on a camera’s view, so you can see where in the sky they’ll be at a specific time and place. Photographers can use it to plan their shots ahead of time, and businesses can use it to gauge things like how best to align solar panels to make the most efficient use of the angle of the sun.

The app uses multiple Google Maps APIs, including the Elevation API, the Time Zone API, the Google Maps SDK for iOS and the Google Maps Android API. The Android API, which includes Street View, was particularly helpful. It allowed me to overlay the path of the sun and moon on any Street View location anywhere in the world. For programming details, see this blog post.

The following screen captures give you a sense of how the app works. They show overlays on top of the iconic Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. The first shows the paths of the sun (yellow line) and moon (blue line) over an aerial view of Yosemite Valley. The green line shows the distance between the photographer and the object to be photographed — in this case, Half Dome.

This next screen capture shows how the app looks when in Street View mode. Again, the yellow line shows the sun’s path, and the blue line shows the moon’s path. The green line represents the horizon. You can see how the app lets you plan the right time to get a shot of the sun behind Half Dome: in this particular instance, 8:06 am.

Nearly 500,000 people around the world have downloaded the free version of Sun Surveyor, and many have paid for the full edition. They’re taking remarkable photos as a result, and what started as a hobby for me has turned into a business — thanks to Google Maps APIs.

Posted by Daniel Scrivano, lead developer for EV Explorer, and currently a developer for Insikt, Inc.

Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is Daniel Scrivano, former lead developer for the UC Davis EV Explorer. See how EV Explorer and other developers rely on Google Maps APIs to bring unique location experiences to their users.

Most people know they can help the environment by driving an electric vehicle, but they often don’t realize they can save money, too. As a student at UC Davis, I started a research project to make these savings clearer. The EV Explorer website, launched last summer, lets drivers compare fuel costs for electric and gas-powered vehicles.

EV Explorer uses the Google Maps APIs and a database called fueleconomy.gov to give drivers information about the fuel economy of 34,000 different vehicles. EV Explorer visitors enter their commuting starting points and destinations, along with how often they commute. Based on that data, the site calculates the annual energy costs for up to four vehicles.

We built EV Explorer using several of Google’s mapping APIs: JavaScript, Directions, Places and Geocoding. EV Explorer downloads the appropriate map and helps people visualize the data they’re inputting. If people don’t know their work address, they can type in the name of their business and Places API geolocates it. The Geocoding API converts any address into latitude and longitude. We query the Directions API when we’ve got the specific points for home and work. The app then draws the route using polylines between the two locations.

We chose Google Maps APIs because Google’s mapping database consistently ranks among the most comprehensive, up to date, and user-friendly. With Google Maps, a user can type in “Safeway” and “San Francisco” to see all the Safeway locations in the city and choose among them. If they mistype something or include incomplete information, auto-correcting tools offer suggestions and corrections.

In building the site, I kept one thing in mind: You won’t make it until you break it. That means you need to experiment, try new things, get your hands dirty, and make random stuff. You’ve got to push the APIs to their limits. And by doing just that, we delivered what we set out to do: Help people understand the wider benefits of electric vehicles and show them how much they could save by switching to electric.

Posted by Elizabeth Schreier, Director of Digital and Social Engagement at Allstate Insurance

Editor's note: This month Google Maps turns ten! Since launching ten years ago, use cases for maps have come a long way. To celebrate a decade of mapping, we’re highlighting new and innovative ways developers are deploying maps. Read how guest blogger, Elizabeth Schreier, Director of Digital and Social Engagement at Allstate Insurance, is relying on Google Maps APIs to bring unique mapping experiences to their users.

Imagine looking at a map of your house and seeing a visual diagnosis of the biggest risks in your area — whether the risk is fire, theft or even freezing pipes. Then imagine getting helpful tips that could help you protect your home against those risks. That’s what we’ve done with GoodHome, a project we created at Allstate with our agency, T3.

We built GoodHome to make a tool that anyone would find useful, whether or not they were an insurance customer or even a homeowner. We realized we could use our proprietary information about insurance claims to help people identify the most common and costly claims in their respective ZIP codes. We decided to visualize this information, along with relevant property statistics, on an interactive map that included tips to help people mitigate potential risks.

We built GoodHome using the Google Maps APIs because of its familiarity, ease of use and comprehensive features. The development team at T3 created the GoodHome prototype using three Google Maps APIs: Static Maps, JavaScript and Street View Image APIs. They customized the maps by drawing layers, integrating a weather API and using CSS to create animations that brought the experience to life. The development process went smoothly and took just three months from concept to completion.

GoodHome is more than informative, it’s compelling. A visitor who uses the GoodHome tool is over 350% more likely to request an insurance quote than one who doesn’t. Forty percent of people type more than one address into the map, and on average, visitors stay on the site for six to seven minutes.

GoodHome also helps our agents build better relationships with customers. When an Allstate customer receives a link to the GoodHome website from their agent, the map automatically opens up to the customer’s home address. The personalized interaction helps agents connect with their clients and provide a great consulting tool that opens the door for a conversation. We plan to introduce GoodHome to all 10,000 Allstate agents across the country so they can spread the tool to their customers.

We’re excited to play a role in enhancing the home insurance experience for consumers. The power of Google Maps has helped us make a product that we hope will help people see their homes in a new way and think differently about what it means to protect what matters to them.

Posted by Ed Bindl, Senior Software Engineer and Jacinda Shelly, Lead Platform Engineer, Doctor on Demand

Editor's note: Since the launch of Google Maps ten years ago, maps have come a long way. To celebrate a decade of map innovation, we’re highlighting unique maps built by our developer community. Read how guest bloggers, Ed Bindl and Jacinda Shelly, Software Engineers for Doctor on Demand, use the Google Maps APIs to bring unique mapping experiences to users.

Maps can do much more for an online business than help people get from point A to point B. You might not think that a website for making video appointments with medical professionals would benefit from mapping — but at Doctor on Demand, maps connect our patients to physicians faster and allow physicians to prescribe medications at the right pharmacies. Google Maps make our user experience much more satisfying, which means patients will use our service again.

We use the Google Maps APIs, including the Geolocation and Javascript APIs, to show patients a map of nearby pharmacies before they start a video call with a medical professional. For our users, maps make it easy and convenient to connect with physicians and pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy. But maps can be helpful for other businesses in other ways. And now that we see the great value of incorporating reliable map functionality into our app, we'd love to share how you can do the same:

• Choose a familiar interface. Use a map that’s easy for people to navigate – if it’s hard to understand and requires extensive instructions, they won’t use it. We picked Google Maps because our patients know them well.

• Configure maps for many platforms. If your users find maps helpful on your desktop website, they’ll want to use maps from any browser or device. We’ve made sure our maps work just as well on iOS and Android devices as they do on a desktop computer.

• Maintain accuracy. In our case, we have to update the geolocation information for about 65,000 pharmacies across the country every evening. We use the Google Maps Geocoding API, which minimizes the time it takes to keep our map accurate. We keep a database of all pharmacies from Surescripts, a healthcare network, and each night we get an update to that database that adds, removes, and updates pharmacies and their locations. We use the Google Maps Javascript API to place the pharmacies on our map when a patient is asked to select a pharmacy.

• Meet compliance standards. In order to comply with medical regulations, Doctor On Demand must connect patients with physicians licensed in their state. We use the Google Maps Reverse Geocoding API to accurately determine the state a patient is located in before connecting them with a physician.

• Help users save time and make better choices. Before we built our pharmacy map, patients had to tell doctors which pharmacy they wanted to use. Then doctors emailed us the details. However, our support team had to follow up with doctors and patients to make sure we had the right pharmacy, since patients might say something like, “the drugstore down the street from my house.” Today, there’s no doubt about which pharmacy is the right one, since patients can clearly see their local outlets on the map.

Our pharmacy map inspires us to think about new ways to use maps in the future – like plotting the movement of cold and flu outbreaks and sharing this data with patients and doctors. We see a direct connection between maps and improving patient care. In the greater scheme, Google Maps improve the health of our patients, and, the health of our business.

Posted by Goldy Arora, Director of Google for Work Solutions, MediaAgility

Editor's note: Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is Goldy Arora, Director of Google for Work solutions at MediaAgility, a technology consulting company building industry specific solutions. See how MediaAgility and other developers are using the Google Maps APIs to bring maps and location content to their users. 

I love using elegant code to come up with cool applications, but I also know that being a great developer means thinking both like a business person and an engineer. When we create map-based applications at MediaAgility, we think about not just what we are building and how it will look and operate, but why we are building it. How, in other words, do the maps we make meet both our business objectives and make a positive impact on people’s lives?

We use the tools in the Google Maps API to develop solutions in a way that helps businesses make sense of data. Right now, we’re working on an application called Insurance Insights, which will help sales teams at Insurance companies create campaigns and base decisions on geographic data related to crime, income and natural disasters.

When working with maps, we aim to understand the business objectives of the end customer and how it will impact lives. In the case of Insurance Insights, we are taking several steps in the development process that we think will result in a valuable and user-friendly product, including:

• Publishing data from multiple sources. We’re adding back-end systems and databases so we can add useful information to Google Maps. For example, we’ve integrated income data for residents, locations of recent natural disasters and sales databases. For this product, we built a script to obtain Salesforce data using their API. Then we employed the Google Maps API to publish the Salesforce data to our maps.

• Creating multiple viewing options. Our map overlays allow users to choose how they want to view the information. An agent may want to market insurance for valuables in high-income neighborhoods, or perhaps offer flood insurance to people in flood-prone areas. They’ll benefit from the insights provided by the various overlays for different marketing campaigns.
• Erring on the side of more data. We upload as much data as we can. We then call the data with the Maps API whenever we want to test a new feature on the map. Since we are data-ready, we create prototypes within an hour instead of taking days – and build rich, insightful features in less time to market.
• Experimenting and improving. We iterate frequently to make the best possible product. In the case of Insurance Insights, we created a basic application using Google Maps so we could show it to potential customers. As we work with real market feedback, we add more features. This iterative approach is much smarter than spending six months on an application before finding out if customers like it – we’d rather go to market every six weeks so we know which direction to pursue.

Maps are an important part of people’s daily lives, and we're eager to engineer more applications built around new ideas. For example, visual forecasting and pipeline metrics are some of the key features in our next release of Insurance Insights.

In many cases, maps are an intuitive and highly visual way to understand a business — much richer and simpler than spreadsheets or presentations. Even if the information is complex, the user experience need not be, all thanks to the Google Maps APIs.

Posted by Matt Laroche, Android Engineering Lead, Strava

Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is Matt Laroche, Android Engineering Lead at Strava, a social network and community for athletes. See how Strava and other developers are using the Google Maps API to bring maps and location content to their users.

In distance training, runners and cyclists always want to know how far they’ve gone and track where they’ve been. At Strava, we provide them with this information and a lot more: we measure, map and analyze the runs and rides of millions of athletes around the world so they can get the most out of their workouts.

To do this, we use Google Maps to show them exactly where they’ve run or cycled. We can even help them plan future routes.

Mapping is a big part of what our members do with Strava. Maps help them relive past workouts, visually share their run or ride with friends, and engage in friendly competition. We started using Google Maps API when we launched five years ago. We tested other mapping providers, but found that Google Maps was the best API for mobile — it’s the easiest to use to create new maps, especially when using polylines to draw routes and mark items on a map. It’s a straightforward, developer-friendly API.

Because maps are key to the Strava experience, we pay close attention to the tools we use and how our members will benefit. Here are three areas we focus on when developing our maps using the Google Maps API:

Performance

We compile a huge amount of location data — including 400 billion GPS data points of the activities our members share from around the world. GPS data can tell us where our members are going in real-time. With the Google Maps API, interaction and display or map tile latency is minimal and rendering was faster than other services we tried, despite the large amounts of data in use. To make the app work even faster, we trimmed down the data points that are delivered back to the user’s device.

Control

Our members spend a lot of time looking at maps on the Strava app and have different needs, although all of them want detailed information. They also want the power to play with different views. With Google Maps, they have a lot of options. They can switch between different map tiles, including normal, satellite and terrain. Terrain view is key for showing them if a particular route will send them uphill, and if so, what elevation changes they can expect. The maps also have an intricate level of detail, such as bike lanes and paths, which gives users vital information for planning their workouts. The interaction is smooth too — zooming, rotation, and map tilting work in a way our members expect.

Creativity

With Google Maps API, we have a lot of room for creativity and experimentation. For example, we created a Heat Map that visualizes the most popular trails and roads based on 160 million rides and runs. Our Activity Playback project lets users watch their rides and runs and see where they might have passed friends who were on the same path at that time.

Google Maps lets us plot new ways athletes can visualize their data. We’re testing Google My Maps, a feature in Google Maps on Android that offers a simple, fast version for users on the go. We can launch new web ideas on Strava Labs, which doesn’t require us to do full support or commit to integration in the long run. This gives us flexibility to try new things and see what resonates with our users.

We’re able to focus on the user experience — particularly performance, control and creativity — because Google Maps is developer-friendly. It minimizes grunt work, like re-writing thousands of lines of boilerplate code. The API natively handles features we’d otherwise have to build — like identifying which map marker is nearest to a user when she searches for a location. Because of this simplicity, we can focus on making the app more useful and intuitive.

Posted by Antonio Galloni, Founder, Vinous

Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is Antonio Galloni, founder of Vinous, a website and media platform providing first-hand insights into the world of wine. See how other forward-thinking organizations are investing in mapping technology and transforming their business: Maps are Going Google.

Every wine tells a story. In a sip, you can learn what region the wine is from, the type of grapes grown to make it, the vineyard and even the winemaker. Together, these components paint a picture of the wine’s history and personality. At Vinous Media, we aim to share these stories through videos, images and information that feature our winemakers and the vintages we produce. Google Maps for Work helps us make those stories come alive.

Vinous caters to wine collectors and enthusiasts who want to know more about where and how their favorite wines are made. We realized that overlaying those details on a map would give visitors insights on specific regions and wines without needing to travel to vineyards in person. We also wanted to marry our maps with the decades worth of reviews and analysis I amassed during my time as the founder of Piedmont Report and lead critic for The Wine Advocate. We needed the maps not only look good and be easy for our members to navigate, but also be able to integrate layers of data. Google Maps met these challenges perfectly.

Using Google My Maps Pro, we created Vinous’ first maps on Italy’s Barolo and Barbaresco regions. The vineyards are color-coded by our own classification system, outlining what locations we deem to be “exceptional” or “outstanding.” Clicking on a vineyard opens a window with more information, including ownership and history, and notable wines they make. We also provide information on any reviews or tasting notes we’ve done for wines from that vineyard. This is a unique approach to the wine publishing business, bringing together maps and content to offer a complete picture of what a wine’s all about.

We anticipate even more innovation in our vineyard maps, giving wine connoisseurs stronger connections to the birthplaces and stories behind their favorite wines. We’re glad we chose a company that’s as excited about our maps as we are.

Posted by Michael Dietz, Senior Group Manager, Connected Car at Hyundai Motor America

Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is Michael Dietz, Senior Group Manager of Connected Car at Hyundai Motor America.

Cars are the next frontier of connected information, but developing safe technology for drivers is no simple task. At Hyundai, we’re invested in delivering the best possible connected services at all times. With a little help from Google and the Google Maps APIs, our Blue Link system does just that. Blue Link acts as a copilot and concierge, guiding people to where they want to go, while keeping drivers’ eyes on the road.

Market research showed us that Hyundai drivers want access to reliable, accurate location information, showing a strong preference for Google Maps. We took these customer requests into account, and in January 2014 began running our Blue Link systems with a destination search engine powered by Google.

Integrating Destination Search powered by Google into Blue Link gives our drivers relevant results, and, most importantly, constantly updated data about the businesses and other locations around them. Before we moved to Google, our customers complained that the location information was stale. For instance, they would search for a restaurant and drive to its address, only to find that it had closed two months ago. Our customers told us they wanted their in-car experience to resemble their smartphone’s, which meant giving them relevant, rich data at their fingertips.

3,000-Mile Test Drive” video series produced by INNOCEAN Worldwide, a cross-country journey highlighting various features of the 2015 Hyundai Sonata.

With the Google Maps APIs, we’ve been able to bring the freshest location data to our Blue Link system — whether using the app on their smartphones, on the Web or in their vehicles. Before they get on the road, drivers can open up the Blue Link mobile app or visit myhyundai.com to search for an address, point of interest or category, then send the destination directly to their car. If they’re already in the car, they can press the Blue Link button and search for a nearby location via voice commands.

Now, more than 400,000 of our vehicles have access to the new service. Since implementing Google technology, we’ve made closer connections with our customers by improving their satisfaction with Blue Link and the Hyundai experience. We’ve also seen more free trial sign-ups and fewer complaints, letting our team focus on bringing new services to our customers.

We’re not about selling a car and then saying goodbye; we’re about building relationships. Making the switch to Google has helped us deliver better connected services, deepen our customers’ engagement with their vehicles, and help keep our drivers safer.

Posted by Lawrence Olszak, Director of Technology Services and William Cheaks Jr., Deputy Commissioner of Infrastructure Management, Chicago Department of Transportation.

Editor's note: Today’s guest bloggers are Lawrence Olszak, Director of Technology Services and William Cheaks Jr., Deputy Commissioner of Infrastructure Management at the Chicago Department of Transportation. See how other forward-thinking organizations are investing in mapping technology and transforming their business: Maps are Going Google.

When Rahm Emanuel became mayor of Chicago in 2011, the city’s infrastructure was seriously aging. Under an ambitious program to reinvest in making Chicago a world-class city, we repaved city streets, replaced sewer and gas lines and installed new water pipes all across the city. There were a lot of projects happening and little to no coordination between the 26 different utilities and agencies doing the work.

To better manage the many overlapping projects—which often meant pavement and streets were dug up and restored twice—the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) launched the Project Coordination Office (PCO). The PCO, which is overseen by locally based Collins Engineers, Inc., needed a way to make it easy to share data stored in different siloed databases and display it on a map. The PCO contracted with Google for Work Premier Partner SADA Systems to develop dotMaps, an interactive web mapping service providing collaborative tools that allows people to manage, create and edit, as well as resolve overlapping projects—or conflicts—using geolocation, all in real-time. This application was built on many Google products: Google Maps Engine, the Maps API and Cloud Platform, which offer infrastructure for hosting applications and includes App Engine, a hosted service used for building web applications.

Lawrence Olszak, Director of Technology Services

Before dotMaps, workers spent a lot of time jumping around between different applications in order to validate the accuracy of the data provided. Now, the processes for overseeing projects are streamlined, permit and project data is accessible in one central location and it’s all viewable on a “live” interactive map. We’ve ported information on all the 30,000 current projects, including details like type of project, agency in charge, date of construction and other data, into the dotMaps so agencies can easily search for projects using that information and by address. For instance, users can attach construction contract plans directly into the map so a field inspector can view it on a mobile device while visiting a project site, without having to ask someone in the office to email it. Workers in the field—affectionately dubbed “asphalt helpers”—can search in the mapping application for information on projects, such as why there may be a hole in a sidewalk at any particular intersection. In the past they would have had to make several phone calls to try to find the employee who could answer that question.

Not only is all the data now in one place, we are able to improve our inter- and intra-agency communications. Employees used to share information about new projects and updates in weekly three-hour meetings where dozens of people would provide input. Today, people share that information in real-time directly in the dotMaps. They provide updates, ask questions and communicate via a pop up “chat” window that is displayed just by clicking on a project location marked on a map. Email notifications are sent out to people who need to see the updates.

The new PCO processes and dotMaps mapping solution helps officials to make more informed decisions about scheduling projects which has already saved the city $14.5 million YTD 2014, by eliminating duplicated work—saving resources and reducing the amount of time streets are closed. Citizen complaints about works projects to local officials also have been dramatically reduced. In the future, we plan to use Google satellite imagery, traffic and transit data to make the mapping even more useful. With the help of Google tools we’re on target to rebuild Chicago one construction project at a time.

Posted by Kalin, Director of Open Data, Socrata

Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is Ian Kalin, Director of Open Data at Socrata, a provider of cloud-based software that helps public sector organizations increase transparency, improve citizen service and make data-driven decisions. Ian is a former U.S. Navy Officer and White House Presidential Innovation Fellow who led open data projects for the U.S. Department of Energy. See how other forward-thinking organizations are investing in mapping technology and transforming their business: Maps are Going Google.

As a former government employee, I know firsthand that there is tons of valuable data locked away in databases and spreadsheets on government computers; data that may never see the light of day. Until recently there was no easy way for citizens to view, use and share that information. Now, technology is liberating data so organizations can use it in new ways.

Socrata publishes its geospatial datasets onto Google Maps Gallery to make it easier to discover and use public sector maps. Before using Maps Gallery, people would have to do separate online searches for different types of information, and hope that it was in a web-browser friendly format. Then they would have to visualize all the data points on a map. Now that we’ve added maps to Google Maps Gallery, users don’t need sophisticated technical skills to get to the data and make it actionable. They can more quickly find answers to their questions — such as, where should I open a restaurant? or which neighborhood should I move into? — then personalize the information to their needs, and make informed decisions.

Using the Socrata platform, the City of Chicago has published several helpful maps on Google Maps Gallery for its residents. This map shows locations of affordable housing developments with contact information for potential renters.

We’re seeing all sorts of exciting things happen with open data projects like these. Governments are becoming more transparent and providing better service to the public, enabling citizens to access and consume information in more useful and beneficial ways. Our partnership with Google Maps means that even more data will be opened up and easier to consume. Displayed on the web’s most popular mapping interface, we’re one step further in ensuring that valuable data is in the hands of the people who need it most.

Posted by Milt Baker, CEO, Blue Water Satellite

Editor's note:Today’s guest blogger is Milt Baker, CEO at Blue Water Satellite. BWS is the leading provider of algorithmically enhanced satellite images that identify the presence and concentrations of minerals, vegetation, chemical and biological constituents on land and in water. See how other forward-thinking organizations are investing in mapping technology and transforming their business: Maps are Going Google.

At Blue Water Satellite (BWS) we use satellite imagery to monitor the world's land and water resources. Our goal is to change the way these resources are managed by helping our customers get detailed, real-time data about the minerals, vegetation and chemical constituents on land or in water, anywhere in the world. We’re doing it better and faster now that we we’re using Google Earth Engine and Maps Engine to automate the image-serving process.

Our customers need accurate, digital information about the resources in a particular area. For instance, power plants use our imagery to measure water effluent temperature and ensure they’re complying with cooling regulations. Previously, an engineer would have to travel to take manual samples and send them back to the lab for testing. This provided information about a finite area, but didn’t show what was happening in the entire region over time. Our imaging technology makes it possible to get that data without having to get in a boat or car, take samples, then wait for the results.

The richness of our satellite imagery provides valuable information to our customers, but poses a challenge when it comes to delivering data at scale. After being quoted hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single software product that would automatically process and serve our images, we asked one of our engineers to investigate Google Earth Engine. Using Earth Engine, within three days we had figured out how to integrate the functionality we previously got from multiple products in a unified, high-speed, cloud-based solution. Soon we were processing and delivering our imagery using Earth Engine, without buying expensive hardware and software licenses, or training people to use the software.

Using Google Earth and Maps Engine, BWS can deliver processed images to customers seamlessly formatted for any browser-enabled device — desktop, smartphone, tablet — anywhere in the world. In addition to being familiar and easy-to-use, Google Maps imagery is rich in detail and comprehensive. Google has archived historical shots going back to 1984, which means our customers can see how resources have changed over time and note degradation trends. Google also provides ancillary data, so we can see the names of buildings and other physical objects that are in and around the water and land sites.

With nano-satellites, drones and hyperspectral cameras on the horizon, we’re excited for the future of mapping. Google Earth and Maps Engine are very much a part of that vision too, giving us and our customers the processing power we need to improve the way we use data and solve resource issues on earth.

Posted by James Stuart, Office Manager, Blue Carrot Catering

Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is James Stuart, Office Manager for Blue Carrot Catering, a catering company in Wellington, New Zealand.

One of the key ingredients to a successful event is that your food and drink are served on time (nothing fizzles out a cocktail party like an empty glass!). At Blue Carrot Catering, our job is to not only make mouth-watering food for all occasions, but to make sure that it gets to people where and when they need it. We’re one of the biggest corporate catering companies in Wellington, making 60 deliveries each day to everything from weddings and birthday parties (and occasionally serving canapes at the zoo). Getting all these tasty treats laid out on trestle tables and perched on cake stands around the city not takes both a team expert chefs and a team of Greg Murphys.

Until recently though, we relied on a manual, time-consuming and inefficient means of getting food delivered to the right place at the right time. We used to give each of our drivers a piece of paper at the beginning of the day with a schedule and list of drop-off locations. This became quite a hassle if anything changed along the way. If a client’s address was different to the one listed, the delivery time or order changed, or the driver got stuck in traffic, we’d have to jump on the blower and let the customer or driver know what was going on. It was inefficient, to say the least, and made it hard to give customers exact arrival times for their food.

To help us get a more accurate picture of where drivers are and make it easier to update information about deliveries on the fly, we started using Google Maps Coordinate. Maps Coordinate helps us manage our drivers and the way we schedule deliveries by plotting drivers on a map and making it easy to update jobs and see driver locations in real time.

Now, instead of having a piece of paper with a list of the day’s deliveries, drivers have everything they need on their handset — from the route for their deliveries plotted out on a map, to a list of the day’s jobs. If a delivery address changes we can update drivers automatically, and if a customer calls to see where their delivery is, we can jump online and see exactly where it is and let them know if the driver is two blocks down the road, or two kilometres away stuck in a traffic jam. Maps Coordinate also integrates with our email and calendar system, Google Apps so we can plan and manage things like menus and rosters in a more integrated way.

At Blue Carrot we pride ourselves on attention to detail and this includes being able to offer punctual and reliable deliveries. Since making the move to Maps Coordinate over a year ago we’ve not only been able to give our customers more accurate estimations of our delivery times, but we’ve been able to track the status of all our orders and benchmark our delivery times so our overall service is now better.

Posted by Steve Huffman, Co-founder and CTO of Hipmunk

Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is Steve Huffman, Co-founder and CTO of Hipmunk, a San Francisco-based travel startup focused on taking the agony out of travel search. 

We started Hipmunk in 2010 with a simple notion: take the agony out of booking travel. We wanted to build a travel website that we would want to use. Based on our own travel experiences we knew that people want a faster, easier way to search and book travel. In our recent hotel search redesign, we incorporated Google Maps to enable our users to better identify and compare hotels located near the things they care about most.

Many of our users are tech-savvy travelers who appreciate the problem we’re trying to solve and understand what it takes on the back end to deliver a great product. Using Google Maps allows us to sort through and simplify complex travel data so we can present the factors that are most important to users in an easy-to-understand and visual way.

Travelers often want to stay close to family, a particular attraction, or even a business meeting location. That’s why 70 percent of Hipmunk visitors use maps when searching for a hotel. Our Heatmaps feature now relies on Google Maps data to highlight the areas with the highest concentration of food, nightlife, tourism, shopping, and “vice” (i.e., casinos, bars). By simply clicking Heatmaps and selecting a filter option, users can quickly and easily see which areas suit their travel style.

Since location is a top factor in deciding where to stay, another update we rolled out in the recent redesign is the ability to drop a pin near a specific point of interest. This allows users to locate a tourist attraction or relative’s home and then pick a place to stay in close proximity. Another feature that highlights the importance of location and proximity is our integration with Google Calendar. Users can even integrate their calendar so that they can easily see where their meeting or events are taking place so they can stay somewhere convenient nearby.

At Hipmunk, we consider an interactive and personalized map experience to be integral to a positive user experience. Thanks in part to Google Maps, our users avoid the agony of travel planning and spend less time planning so they can spend more time relaxing.

Posted by Dawn Santone, ‎Manager of Workflow and Technology Integration, CBC

(Cross-posted on the Google Canada Blog)

Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is Dawn Santone, Manager of Workflow and Technology Integration at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). CBC is Canada’s national public broadcaster and provides a range of radio, television, internet and satellite-based services. See how other forward-thinking organizations are investing in mapping technology and transforming their business: Maps are Going Google.

Canada didn't have a national team at the 2014 World Cup, but our crew at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation knew that wouldn’t stop Canadians from wanting to experience the tournament alongside the rest of the world. Who did our viewers root for? We created a SuperFan Map to spotlight our fans’ unique experiences as they enjoyed the frenzy and excitement in Brazil.

The idea for the SuperFan Map began with a Google Form that we used to survey our fans about their favorite teams. As we looked at their responses, we noticed the diversity of fans — across Canada and across the world. We used this geolocation data to drop pins on a map and visualize where our fans were located when they enjoyed games. We made the map even richer by pulling in photos and videos from Google+, Instagram and Twitter, curated using our #cbcworldcup hashtag.

We knew we wanted to use Google to create the SuperFan Map. The turnaround was quick — we started using Google Maps Engine in the beginning of June and had our map up and running before the first game was played on June 12. It worked consistently, even during major matches and other spikes in traffic.

 The map also connected our fans in a way that went far beyond sport alone: it created a sense of community, from coast to coast to coast in Canada, from Australia to Norway, and dozens of countries in between. We saw an incredible diversity of teams, geographies and faces surface on a single Google Map.

 The SuperFan Map has helped us take engagement further by connecting with fans in real time. A cross-promotion with CBC Music connected our SuperFans with The Beetle Roadtrip Sessions traveling across Canada. We used the map to see where people were cheering, then invited them to celebrate with us. For instance, we held a giant party in Montreal after seeing a high concentration of fans in the area.

We’ve seen how Google Maps can help us better inform our organization and inform our fans about the events that matter to them, no matter where they happen in the world. Beyond helping us connect with our fans, Google Maps helped connect fans with one another.