{"id":10626,"date":"2010-02-15T13:55:02","date_gmt":"2010-02-15T12:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onsoftware.en.softonic.com\/my-favorite-features-in-google-maps-labs\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T02:16:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T09:16:15","slug":"my-favorite-features-in-google-maps-labs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/my-favorite-features-in-google-maps-labs\/","title":{"rendered":"My favorite features in Google Maps Labs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After coming to <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/onsoftware.en.softonic.com\/new-features-in-gmail-labs\/\">Gmail<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/onsoftware.en.softonic.com\/first-look-at-google-calendar-labs\/\">Google Calendar<\/a><\/strong>, now it&#8217;s the turn of <strong>Google Maps<\/strong> to have its own set of experimental tools: <a href=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?mid=1266232614&amp;showlabs=1\"><strong>Google Maps Labs<\/strong><\/a>. Google has added a total of nine new features to its gorgeous online atlas, as you can see in the pop-up windows layered over the Google Maps site when you open it on your browser:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2010\/02\/maps-labs-01.png\" alt=\"Google Maps Labs\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Some of them are a bit silly (like <strong>Back to Beta<\/strong>, which adds a Beta tag to the Google Maps logo, or <strong>Rotatable Maps<\/strong>, which lets you turn maps upside down. But some others seem to be quite interesting, and I hope they make their way as Google Maps permanent options. My favorite ones so far are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Drag &#8216;n&#8217; Zoom<\/strong> \u2013 Makes zooming in on a specific area on your map much easier. Click the Drag &#8216;n&#8217; Zoom button (right under the zoom slider), draw a square around the are you want to zoom in and you&#8217;re done!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2010\/02\/maps-labs-03.png\" alt=\"Google Maps Labs\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Aerial Imagery<\/strong> \u2013 Displays satellite images in a new perspective (a more angled one) that lets you see more than just the building&#8217;s roofs. Unfortunately it&#8217;s only available in certain locations in the US, but it&#8217;s worth a try.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2010\/02\/maps-labs-02.png\" alt=\"Google Maps Labs\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>What&#8217;s Around Here?<\/strong> \u2013 A handy add-on that displays all sorts of interesting places (hotels, bars, restaurants, shops&#8230;) located in the are you&#8217;re currently viewing. A whole new way to explore your map!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2010\/02\/maps-labs-04.png\" alt=\"Google Maps Labs\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Where in the World Game<\/strong> \u2013 Labs wouldn&#8217;t be the same without a game. Try this one and put your knowledge of geography to the test. Don&#8217;t be fooled by the first few easy questions&#8230; it gets increasingly difficult!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-images.sftcdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2010\/02\/maps-labs-05.png\" alt=\"Google Maps Labs\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After coming to Gmail and Google Calendar, now it&#8217;s the turn of Google Maps to have its own set of experimental tools: Google Maps Labs. Google has added a total of nine new features to its gorgeous online atlas, as you can see in the pop-up windows layered over the Google Maps site when you &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/my-favorite-features-in-google-maps-labs\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;My favorite features in Google Maps Labs&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2011,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[],"tags":[2346],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-10626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-app-subdomain-redirectiongoogle-maps"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2011"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10626"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10626\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":335119,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10626\/revisions\/335119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10626"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=10626"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=10626"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=10626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}