There are several decent online map programs available today. Some have come and gone or been renamed or acquired over the last few years, but there are still four primary “players” in this arena. I thought it was high time I looked at them and did a comparison of their features.
MapQuest - Subsidiary of AOL. Main features: Find It (look up airports, hotels, restaurants, etc.), Maps, and Driving Directions. The last two also do outside the U.S. and Canada (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom). This works well, and I was able to easily find obscure villages on the map and even get the best driving routes there. Step-by-step directions have links to display or hide maps for each step. Steps display road signs (like or
Yahoo! Maps Owned by Yahoo!. Main features: Maps, and Driving Directions. Allows “my locations” for saving frequently used locations, as well as the last 10 locations entered (must be logged into Yahoo! for this feature to work). Limited to U.S. and Canada. Able to show or hide “turn by turn maps” (all or none). Steps display instructions and distance. Very few ads. Options: Get Reverse Directions, View Larger Map, View Traffic on Map.
Google Maps - Owned by Google. Main features: Search the Map, Find Businesses, and Get Directions. One basic text box to enter location or use the word “to” for generating directions between places. Clicking the “Get directions” link will make two textboxes for Start and End addresses. Can search for “pizza in Indianapolis” to see pizza places on the map via integrated Google search. Maps of individual steps are popups, displaying nicely on the screen, but not printing out well. Pretty much worldwide for the maps, but driving directions appear to be limited to the U.K. Even the maps are limited in foreign countries to the larger cities. Steps display directions and distance, with maps as pop-ups within the larger overview map. Zero ads! Options: Reverse Directions, Map/Satellite/Hybrid displays (takes advantage of Google Earth and allows display of satellite photos of the map, where you can zoom in pretty close). Can click and drag map around. They are still in “Beta Version” (like all Google products), so any mistakes are blamed on that.
MSN Maps - Used to be MapPoint.com. Back when there was basically just this and MapQuest, I seemed to find that MapPoint was almost always more accurate. Main Features: Type an Address, Paste an Address, Find a Place, with Get Map and Get Directions available for each of those functions. For maps and directions, countries include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland (Helsinki), France, Germany, Greece (Athens), Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States. Steps include directions and distance, but no maps available. Not many ads. Options: Units (Miles/Kilometers), Route Type (Quickest/Shortest), Map Style (Standard/LineDrive-a simplified line drawing style of map). Also Reverse Directions, Change Start, Change End, and three map sizes. Separate traffic reports for major metropolitan areas available.
Summary: Each one has its strengths. MSN Maps offers you the choice of shortest or quickest. Google has a lot of flexibility along with the satellite photography and built-in Google searching. Yahoo remembers your previous locations and has traffic built in. Mapquest and Yahoo! Maps allow maps to be displayed for any selected legs of the trip. Mapquest and MSN Maps both allowed me to find driving directions between European countries, even using tiny villages. Mapquest zooms easily, but moving around (NSEW) is clunky.
Given all that, I can’t really say that any one is better than the other. It depends on what you want to use it for. If you’re just browsing around and “exploring,” Google Maps is great. If you want specific directions between cities in other parts of the world, MapQuest or MSN Maps should be your choice. And Yahoo! Maps is great for recalling maps you’ve made in the past.
I think I like Yahoo! Maps for its simple interface. And the traffic feature. But MapQuest is my favorite for finding out how to get between places in Europe. MapQuest also has the cool signs displayed in the step-by-step directions, so they’re easy to follow while you’re driving. If I want to compare shortest vs. quickest, though, I use MSN Maps. And, of course, Google Maps is just plain fun for its satellite photo element. Especially if you throw in Google Earth! 
Na
