+30 Top Mapping Blogs
Selling the world parcel-wise on Google Maps and being an officially featured project on Google code, we closely follow new developments in the rapidly expanding market of Maps Mashups and the use of digital maps in general. Fortunately, there is a number of great blogs focussing on mapping issues. We would like to share our list of what we consider the top blogs on maps. The top ranking is in accordance with the number of google reader feed subscribers (shown in brackets) at the point of writing this post.
- StrangeMaps (13.576) - taking a humerous approach to map depictions - recommended: WW II - if maps could fight
- Google LatLong (5.350) - official blog edited by the Google Maps and Google Earth team - recommended: Whale Spotting on Google Earth
- Google Earth Blog (3631) - unofficial blog on everything Google Earth - recommended : 3 D Buildings Layer Update
- Ogle Earth (3448) - on how Google Earth and related products affect geopolitics - recommended: Exploring Shanghai’s recent geographic history
- Google Maps Mania (2915) - mostly edited by GMaps developer Keir Clarke focussing on maps mashups - recommended: Big Art Project on Google Maps
- The Map Room (2678) - map blog targeting wider audience - recommended: Is GPS accuracy at risk?
- Mapperz (2131) - introduces new digital maps - recommended: Africa in Open Street Map, lots of miles
- Spatially Adjusted (2067) - fairly technical GIS blog by professional James Fee - recommended: Licensing issues on the Geoweb
- Google Geo Developers (1924) - official blog - recommended: Solution to too many markers problem
- Cartophilia (1.491) - Maps and Map Memorabilia
Google Maps Mashup: WhatsYourPlace - Own The World!
- AllPointsBlog (1.290) - professional and high-frequency source on location technology. Recommended: Did Navteq really launch a rival to Google Maps?
- Free Geography Tools (951) - recommended: Google Maps Route Creation with NetKvik
- Virtual Earth (837) - An Evangelist’s Blog - recommended: MSN City Guides Relaunches
- GISLounge (656) - GIS information portal - recommended: Finding Bin Laden
- Very Spatial (565) - recommended: Digital Cities Concept
- Thematic Mapping (379) - focus on maps and economic/political development issues - recommended: Using KML at Thematic Mapping
- Programmable Web (34) -tremendous resource and catalogue of API-based mashups - recommended: WhatsYourPlace
- The Map Scroll (284) - nontechnological maps-blog - recommended: Taliban Influence in Pakistan
- Digital Earth (262) - personal blog focussing mostly on new developments in Microsoft’s and Google’s digital maps products - recommended Google Earth Imagery Update May
- Paul Ramsey’s GeoTips (259) - Founding Member of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation - recommended: Web Mapping Architecture at OpenGEO
- GeoThought (211) - blog on location technology by industry expert Peter Betty - recommended: The GeoSpatial Technology Revolution (Keynote)
- The Electoral Map (207) - focussing on the “intersection between politics and geography” - recommended: 2008 in political geography
- ManDown (176) - technical perspective on GIS, ESRI in particular - recommended: arcGIS Mobile 9.4 - Whats next?
- CartoTalk (122) - more a forum than a blog, but great place to follow qualified geo-discussions
- WebMapper (211) - focussing on the latest trends in location based services - recommended: UK Crime Maps scrutinized
- Spatiallaw (102) - low-frequency blog focussing on intersection of legal issues and spatial technologies - recommended: Why Spatial Law?
- The Earth Is Square (68) - GIS Blog - recommended: Blocking Geo2Web
- What is Special About Geospatial (67) - Geo-student blogging about the geoweb - recommended: introduction of Pixelcase, where Photography meets Geoinformation
- Google Maps Gone Wild (60) - Examples about things one can do with Google Maps - recommended: recursive queries in Google Maps
- Mibazaar (57) - introduces practical Google Maps Mashups - Swine Flu Tweets on Google Maps
- atlas(t) (52) - recommended: Shoe Map
- WhatsYourPlace (19) - Google Maps Mashup Selling the World - recommended: Obamas Road to Presidency
- Geo2Web (16) - GIS technology blog - recommended: Mapping the Death Penalty
- Maps and Earth (4) - recommended: Find Custom Maps
If you feel that a great mapping blog is missing, please let us know and we will include it. And don’t forget to register for free at WhatsYourPlace, where the real world is for sale on a Google Maps based community platform.
And as our concept not only revolutionized the Maps Mashup sphere but also virtual goods concept, we have collected the best blogs with a focus on virtual goods, too: you can find them here. My twitter account is WYPTobias.