Bing Maps beta versus Google maps

15 December 2009, 12:56pm

15 December 2009 - Microsoft has an experimental mapping site tied to its Bing search utility. While Google Maps may have the edge with its street views, Bing Maps beta has an enhanced street view which some claim is a better choice for quickly finding places. Google's street view includes images from most of the USA and much of the rest of the world (where they have not been stopped for privacy reasons!) and Bing Maps has a long way to go to catch up. But the few Bing street view maps currently available (scenes from Atlanta and Charlotte, for example) are of higher resolution and better quality. Overall, Bing Maps seems to offer better tools and more features.

Visit bing.com/maps and your browser should centre on an area based on your computer's URL – but not always with great success, certainly outside the USA. And it is a bit confusing to be honing in on central Brussels, Belgium, to click on the “Tube Map” icon, to be whipped into central London! There was also no “What’s Nearby” option when we tried it out, as referred to in other reviews we’ve seen recently.

You can grab the map with your mouse and move it, or click the plus sign on the map to zoom in, negative sign to zoom out, just as with Google maps. You can also elect to view imagery rather than a street map – as satellite photos or higher resolution. In fact, our editor’s house in Bredene, Belgium, was highly viewable - as was the next door neighbour’s large pond that attracts our local heron each morning!

Some of the options mentioned in site reviews originating in the USA do not seem to work when viewed from Europe, but then, this is only a beta version, and things like local attractions, business locations, news content, etc. will take some time to build up in the system. You can also of course get driving directions, or print or share maps.

Google Maps has many of the same features and it will be interesting to see how it reacts to this attack one of its core services. Google will need to protect this service, as mapping is a key element to the Droid phone using Google's Android mobile platform. Since Microsoft competes with the Windows Mobile platform, it is almost certain that the new Bing Maps service will be integrated into Windows Mobile sometime soon.

Bing Maps beta

Google maps

Geo: International