Yahoo! has just released it’s beta for Yahoo! Local Maps. It’s all done in Flash, unlike Google Maps which is done in AJAX.

I like:

  • The functionality for when you find a restaurant, or other location.
  • How “map and directions” work – very smooth
  • The ability to rate businesses (this could be HUGE!)

I don’t like:

  • Load times between zooms
  • That it only covers North America
  • That there is no satellite/hybrid view (maybe I’m spoiled by Google on that though)

Overall it’s a good application. Is it going to draw me away from Google Maps? I doubt it. However, the fact that you can rate restaurants, banks, or any other business that shows up on the Yahoo! Map is very nice. I really like that functionality and I think that that type of user feedback will really begin to affect companies over the coming years.

Yahoo! Local Maps

Yahoo! Local Maps - Reviews

EDIT: Here’s some neat stuff you can do with Yahoo! Maps. I might have jumped the gun on how scalable and flexible the Yahoo! format is. We’ll see as more and more people start utilizing, hacking, and mashing it up.