Virtual Earth, An Evangelist's Blog

Multimap Launches Free API (And It Includes Virtual Earth)

It's been almost a year since Microsoft acquired Multimap. We've been pretty quiet integrating them into Microsoft; however, it's time to make a little noise. As part of the first significant announcement the Multimap team has release a new free API which contains lots of robust features which you can leverage in your applications. And, if you're a licensed Virtual Earth customer you can gain access to the Multimap platform via your agreement. So, if you see something you like on the Multimap platform contact your Solution Specialist and get them crackin' to add it to your VE contract!

So, what's the deal with the Multimap Free API? Here are the Marketing facts:

• We launched a new service for small businesses, personal websites and hobbyists this week.
• The service, available for free from Multimap.com, provides a single line of HTML to cut and paste into a web page.
• The user gets a slippy map in a choice of map styles (TeleAtlas, Ordnance Survey and Barts) or aerial for anywhere in the world (US included, using VE maps and aerial).
• The pasted HTML includes four hyperlinks back to Multimap.com:
1. See this location on Multimap (for a bigger map, POI, business listings, etc)
2. See this location in Birds Eye
3. Get directions to this location
4. Get directions from this location
• The service is limited to 50,000 transactions per year (which we track) and cannot be used for internal apps (eg BI, CRM)

And, to top it off, Multimap just added some additional coverage and localization elements:

New Maps and Parsers

The Multimap API now offers street level mapping for several countries in the Middle East:

• Bahrain
• Kuwait
• Oman
• Qatar
• Saudi Arabia
• United Arab Emirates

Map Control Enhancements

The map control, routing instructions and widgets (POI, map type, zoom/pan) have been updated to support the following languages (in addition to en-US):

• da-DK
• de-DE
• es-ES
• fr-FR
• it-IT
• nl-NL
• nb-NO 
• pt-PT    
• sv-SE    
• ru-RU
• zh-CN

The initial payload has been trimmed to just 86k

So, give it a whirl:

1. Go to Multmap.com
2. Search for a location
3. Select Link (top right of map)
4. Check the box for Ts and Cs and either cut and paste the line of HTML or configure it to change map size or move the red circle

There are already a number of sites using this feature. Check out BaconAndEggs.co.uk as a sample. I had a Bacon and Eggs Ravioli in Vegas a month ago - money. Random.

To be clear, we're not splintering our efforts here, just complimenting them. We realize Multimap has an extensive data set and Virtual Earth has benefits that could help Multimap customers. If you see something you like, use the platform that has what you need. And, don't you haters say G**gle! :P

CP