Yahoo Maps
| Company type | Service |
|---|---|
| Industry | Web mapping |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Defunct | June 30, 2015 |
| Fate | Discontinued |
| Headquarters | United States |
Area served | United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Europe |
| Owner | Yahoo! |
| Website | https://search.yahoo.com/ (discontinued) |
Yahoo! Maps was an online mapping service provided at no cost by Yahoo!, featuring local weather updates powered by The Weather Channel, map printing capabilities, and local business reviews through Yelp. The platform was discontinued on June 30, 2015. In 2019, Yahoo! Maps briefly reappeared in the United States via https://search.yahoo.com/, utilizing Here WeGo technology, but this iteration has since been terminated.
Map data
The street layout and vector information for Yahoo! Maps were obtained from HERE alongside multiple public data sources. Comprehensive mapping coverage included the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and a significant portion of Europe. Basic representations of national boundaries, urban areas, and water features were accessible globally.
Satellite images varied from low-resolution worldwide to detailed 1–2 meter resolution across most of the contiguous United States and select cities internationally.
History
Yahoo! Maps debuted circa 1998 using data supplied by Vicinity Corporation. In November 2005, a Flash-based version titled Yahoo! Local Maps entered beta testing. By April 2006, aerial and satellite imagery options were introduced.
On May 16, 2007, Yahoo! launched a redesigned map style created by Cartifact, which incorporated shaded relief and land cover colors to improve environmental visualization.
Before May 2007, detailed maps of India were integrated into http://in.search.yahoo.com, a non-Flash interface offering more extensive Indian map coverage than the primary site.
In May 2010, Yahoo! formed a partnership with Nokia to adopt Nokia's mapping platform (later rebranded as Here WeGo) for powering Yahoo! Maps; this change was implemented in October 2011.
A mobile-friendly version of Yahoo! Maps became available in 2014.
On June 4, 2015, Yahoo! announced it would discontinue Yahoo! Maps along with several other services by the end of that month.
Functions
The core Yahoo! Maps website delivered street-level maps and driving directions across the US and Canada, including features such as:
- Address Book: Allowed registered users to store frequently used addresses for quick selection via a drop-down menu.
- Live Traffic: Showed current traffic events and highway conditions directly on the map.
- Find On The Map: Enabled local searches within the map interface by business name or category; users could click on points of interest categories and filter results by user ratings or related classifications.
- Driving Directions: Offered route guidance both as maps and printable text with optional turn-by-turn instructions; directions could be emailed or sent to mobile devices. Multi-stop routing supported adding and rearranging multiple destinations.
- Draggable Maps: Users could pan maps by dragging or using arrow keys; zooming was controlled through mouse scroll wheel, keyboard shortcuts, or an on-screen zoom slider.
- Widgets: Included navigation tools, map type selectors (map, satellite, hybrid), and zoom controls.
- Satellite Imagery: Provided global satellite views with or without labels (hybrid option).
- Overview Map: Featured a collapsible overview window with a draggable selector to control the main map viewport.
- International Coverage: Recognized geographic names such as cities, provinces, and countries outside North America, offering small-scale maps or satellite imagery.
- Right Click to Set Waypoint: Enabled users to set start points, destinations, or midpoints on routes by right-clicking the map.
- Draggable Markers: Allowed markers to be moved into the route input area to add locations.
Developer API
Up until December 2011, Yahoo! Maps provided APIs that allowed developers to integrate interactive maps into websites for creating mashups. These APIs comprised:
- Flash APIs: Built on Adobe Flash technology, compatible with JavaScript, ActionScript, or Adobe Flex 1.5 programming.
- Ajax API: Enabled interactive mapping functionality through browser features without requiring Flash; applications were developed using JavaScript.
- Simple API: An XML-based extension of GeoRSS designed for showcasing points of interest on Yahoo! Maps.
Moreover, several foundational APIs were available for tasks such as geocoding, retrieving map images, searching for local businesses, and accessing traffic information. Yahoo! also made content from platforms like Flickr and Upcoming.org accessible via web services to facilitate the creation of innovative mashup applications.