Google has added a profile page for its My Maps and local reviews products. The profile page allows users to roll up their maps and reviews onto one page. Here’s a screenshot of my profile page:
In addition to links to the reviews and maps that I’ve created, there are a few fields to tell people a little bit about myself. It’s not as robust as Yelp’s profile page, but it shows the beginnings of a social bent to Google’s local properties.
Among the things I’d like to see:
- People-friendly URLs. The URL for my profile page is http://maps.google.com/maps/user?uid=110282169465175925759&hl=en&gl=us. On Yelp, my URL is http://rocky.yelp.com.
- The option for people who use my maps to leave comments. The feedback options on flickr and Yelp are important drivers of continued participation; if I hear from people who find my work useful, I’m more likely to contribute.
- A Facebook application that distributes my maps and reviews to my friends. Google has already released a Google News application and a third party has created a Google Reader app.
[...] December 11, 2007 Google is continuing its efforts to turn its My Maps personal mapmaking tools into a geographic blogging platform. Back in October, they added profile pages for map creators. I wrote at the time that it would be nice to have user comments on the maps to introduce flickr-like incentives for map creators. [...]
Pingback by Google My Maps gets bloggy « reDesign — December 11, 2007 @ 9:43 pm