Google (GOOG) has enabled a feature that allows Google Maps users to easily embed maps in their websites or blogs, a feature that is likely to increase usage of the service.
It was possible to embed maps in web pages before, but it required use of the Google API and more technical knowledge. With this latest move, Google is making embedded maps as easy to use as the embeddable videos on its YouTube site, or as easy as placing a link on a page. Below, a map showing the Business 2.0 office in San Francisco:
The new feature makes Google Maps more accessible to content creators than rival mapping products from Yahoo (YHOO) and Microsoft (MSFT). Yahoo Maps and Microsoft’s Live Maps do not yet allow quick embedding.
The feature comes with complications, however. Certain blogging services, including those from Six Apart, may have trouble handling the markup language that comes with the map.
