Google has made it easier to create customized maps with a new MyMaps feature. Similar to features recently added by Ask.com in its AskCity offering, and by Microsoft in its “collections” for Windows Live Local.
Google employees tested out the service with a contest, creating mashups for the Googleplex, and a red state/blue state breakdown of the 2004 Presidential election, for example.
MyMaps also supports Google Earth features, as maps can be saved in that application’s KML format, according to Google Earth Blog.
Perhaps more useful for SEW readers this week is one that Search Engine Land’s Greg Sterling made using the service, “Bars and Sushi Near SES Hotel.”