Yahoo Maps Beta Launched last night

Yahoo launched its Beta version of the all new Yahoo Maps last night. I haven’t been a big fan of Yahoo since they started charging for listings. However, I did check out the new Yahoo Maps this morning. As a matter of fact I have a friend driving from Seattle down here to Austin. She called me from Idaho this morning asking if I could find a more southern route for her because their were heavy snow reports in Wyoming. So, I used that opportunity to take a look at Yahoo Maps. I’m now a fan. The map is done entirely in Flash instead of AJAX (Google Maps) and has some really cool features. The one feature that I found very handy and like a lot, is the multipoint directions function. You can actually plan a trip and get directions from multiple locations (Google and MSN don’t offer this). Yahoo Maps also has done an excellent job with the integration of Yahoo Local. They have a open search field on the map; that let’s say you type in beer, it will pull up everything from Yahoo Local and show points on the map that has anything to do with beer.

Additionally, if you’re a developer, they offer a couple of different API options. I expect to see a lot of Yahoo Map “mashups” in the near future.

Check out Yahoo Maps Beta when you get the chance.

Take a look at what other people are saying about Yahoo Maps.
tom raftery it
Error 500 (spanish)
Technosight
Standard Deviations
Techcrunch

technorati tags: yahoo, yahoo maps, flash, trip planner, google maps, MacroMedia Flex