(http://readwrite.com/files/styles/800_450sc/public/fields/googlemaps.png) Even as developers were celebrating the about-face of Google leaving its Calendar APIs open after all (http://readwrite.com/2013/06/05/google-to-developers-ok-you-can-still-have-an-open-calendar-api), another team inside Google was making an announcement of its own: the availability of the Google Maps Engine API.
Formerly known as Google Earth Builder, the Maps Engine API (https://developers.google.com/maps-engine/) will enable developers to create and share customized Google Maps within web- or mobile-based applications.
Rather than just doing a standard "hey, look at the cool product!" blog post, Google opted to bring in FedEx for a customer spotlight (http://googleenterprise.blogspot.com/2013/06/fedexcom-re-imagined-with-google-maps.html) on the Google Enterprise Blog.
Pat Doyle, Manager IT, FedEx, outlined how it plugged its database of store and pickup point information into Google Maps so that store and drop-box information was mapped out on a real-time basis, with pickup schedules and store hours kept continuously updated.
"Everyone who looks at this says, 'Wow, this is the way a store locator ought to be,'" Doyle stated in a video describing FedEx's journey to using the Maps Engine API.
Using maps for such a seemingly mundane thing as a store locator tool may not seem like a big deal, but it's a clear indicator that this is how Google wants to work with enterprise customers: share its wealth of acquired data (in this case, maps) for such integrated tools. The payoff? Collaborators have a way to get cloud-based, easier-to-implement apps for mobile and Web customers, and Google widens its footprint on the mobile Web even more.
(See also: The Future Of Google Maps: Social, Personalized And Way Smarter (http://readwrite.com/2013/05/15/the-future-of-google-maps-social-personalized-and-way-smarter))
As users look for the release of the new Google Maps interface announced during I/O last month, expect to see more collaborations like this with enterprise customers deploying map-based tools as a gateway to richer mobile Web experiences.
ReadWrite