Archive notice: This article was originally published on November 19, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Google Maps is now available in two new localized versions. Last Thursday, the starting signal for the Austrian edition http://maps.google.at was given in Vienna. Almost simultaneously, the Swiss variant was also presented to the public. “Localizing does not just mean translating”, explains Google Maps Product Manager Christoph Oehler in conversation with the pressetext.de news service. The inclusion of geographical factors always also has an emotional value. Through the local cooperation partners, the country-specific product is also tailored to the respective users on site, says Oehler.
The Swiss development center in Zurich, with more than 300 employees, was significantly involved in the technical and content implementation of the two portals in cooperation with the Austrian colleagues. The search function, for example, but also the route-planning function, was refined. If you enter the term “Sachertorte”, in Vienna, for example, not only Hotel Sacher but also other restaurants and delicatessens where the coveted Austrian specialty can be bought are displayed. Each of the displayed locations is marked with the familiar Google Maps pin, which, when clicked, contains important information such as telephone number, address and further links.
Entirely in accordance with the proven Google concept, the localized variants once again build on the input of private users and companies. On the one hand, Google draws on the know-how of business providers represented on the market that offer company lists and the associated geographical information in various categories. On the other hand, every company can register with Google and feed its own content into the platform free of charge. Private users are also called upon to create their own maps or feed the existing map material with additional information, videos, snapshots or the like. The individually created maps can be forwarded to friends or also integrated easily into one’s own homepage.
“Especially for small and medium-sized companies, we are creating a wonderful opportunity here to connect to a community of one bn. people with little effort”, says Karl Pall, Country Manager Austria, on the occasion of the presentation. With the launch of the Austrian variant, the local Google branch is sending out a strong sign of life almost exactly one year after its establishment. “A year ago, two-thirds of the companies we contacted still had no idea what search engine marketing is. Our local presence has meanwhile changed a lot in this area”, Pall draws an initial conclusion.
The developers are particularly proud of the realization of Maps on mobile devices. By supporting almost all platforms and device types, Google is slowly but surely bringing itself into play in the navigation market, especially since the application only needs to have a Web connection. All functions familiar from the desktop, such as directions, switching between graphical and satellite maps as well as the zoom function, are available. Google Austria also goes one step further with cooperation partner BMW. Specially created maps and routes can simply be fed into the navigation system in the car via the BMW Assistant.
Local know-how and development ideas contributed by locations such as Zurich are also increasingly proving to be a gain for the US parent platform. “It is indeed the case that relevant improvements, such as search refinement or route planning, immediately flow into all other localized versions as well. That also constitutes the special appeal and shows how relevant the local implementations are for Google”, Oehler explains in response to a query from pressetext.
