Scavengeroogle: A Google Maps Scavenger Hunt To Waste More Of Your Time On

I know this site is called Scavengeroogle because we utitlize Google Maps in clues, but we aren’t tied to using only them by any stretch; they just happen to have the best interface. So I thought I would mention Microsoft’s foray into “draggable” maps which they’ve dubbed MSN Virtual Earth.

Not such an original choice for a name. But then again, I used to use Microsoft’s Terraserver long before Google Maps existed. But that one was not draggable.

Anyhow, Virtual Earth is in Beta right now, and there’s a lot of hitches and glitches. But the basic premise is the same as Google Maps. Street map level and satellite terrain views along with zooming. They have an interesting “continuous” zoom-bar that is not divided into discrete bars (not really good for Scavengeroogle, because I won’t be able to tell you whatthe zoom factor in numbers is).

They have this sort of dorky looking compass that I’d get rid of, or make transparent, if I were them. They have a semi-search functionality that will bring up locations on the map, though it feels a bit clunky compared to Google’s . Also, double clicking on the map does center, but it tries to do a strange continuous zoom out first. Their default satellite level map is actually a “hybird” with both street and satellite, but you can turn off the labels.

One thing people are going to notice right away is that it seems like you can zoom in really close in certain areas. This isn’t a surprise because I remember that Terraserver had this kind of closeup data. But with the new interface, it’s pretty trippy to be able to see that close. You can easily see cars and sometimes faintly make out people.

Overall, it’s very interesting. Microsoft is notorious for not letting any other tech company run with a good idea for long without trying to get their hands all over the goodies. Granted, they did have Terraserver and used map technology first… but Google made a better interface. Whether or not they’ll make as much of an impact as Google Maps has remains to be seen. But I’d be keeping an eye of them either way.

So are we going to have to start doing clues in BOTH Virtual Earth and Google Maps here at Scavengeroogle? Who knows. Maybe we will fork the site to be Scavengeroogle and Scavengerahoo… what do you say?