It's the last of those questions -- the search for a good place to eat -- that is driving the most recent Web battle: the push to make online mapping services increasingly sophisticated and user-friendly.

Both Google, which operates Google Maps, and Microsoft , which runs Live Search Maps, announced new features on Tuesday that are designed to help users plan trips, get previews of where they are going, and, most importantly, find businesses that might be persuaded to advertise with the mapping services.

Street-Level Views

Two weeks ago, Google signaled the intensity of its work in this area by launching the Google Lat Long Blog, devoted specifically to the company's work on its maps, Google Earth, its local map service, and related APIs.

"Things are changing so fast," said John Hanke, the Director of Google Earth and Maps, in the blog's initial post, "we thought a blog focused on this topic would be the best way to communicate with you, both about our products and about the overall development of geo on the Web."

At the Where 2.0 conference on Tuesday, Hanke rolled out two new Google developments: "Street View" and "Mapplets." The Street View feature offers map users 360 degree images of streets in various urban areas around the country. Initially, images are available for portions of the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Las Vegas, Denver, and Miami, with other areas to be added later.

If street level views are available for a particular area, a new button labeled "Street View" will appear on the Google map. Users can click on the image, pan in every direction, and even move forward or back, creating the illusion of walking down the street.

The other feature introduced by Google, Mapplets, is designed to help developers and consumers create mini-applications that can be embedded on Google Maps to provide information or perform simple tasks. Three sample applications demonstrated by Google included real estate listings, movie times, and a distance-measurement tool. In its press release, Google said that several of its partners, including WeatherBug and Booking.com, have already created customized Mapplets.

"Maps are an enormously popular application," said Greg Sterling, an Internet search analyst and founder of Sterling Market Intelligence. "They've proven to draw millions of users. In fact, Google Maps may be its most successful product, apart from search. These new features are designed to reinforce that usage." (continued...)

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