Google to Discontinue Map Maker

Map Maker, the editing tool for Google's crowdsourced Maps, will disappear early next year, the search giant announced this week.

Introduced in 2011 in the US, Map Maker lets you add places, "lines" (like railroads or back alleys), and "shapes" (like a parking lot or laundromat) to a map. It's open to any cartography enthusiast or business owner who wants to make sure they appear on the map, but unlike Wikipedia, changes must be approved before they go live.

In a blog post, Google said that it will integrate Map Maker features directly into Google Maps by March 2017, at which point it will retire the standalone editing product.

Google Maps already offers basic editing capabilities, including suggesting updates or reporting a closed business. It does not offer the ability to edit roads or other geographic features. Google said it will update Maps to add road-editing capabilities and other features in advance of Map Makers' retirement. Starting this week, edits made in Maps will no longer show up in Map Maker for approval.

Although Google Maps has proven reliable as smartphone owners increasingly use its mobile app for in-car navigation instead of standalone GPS units, the crowdsourcing model has occasionally resulted in problems. A spate of incidents early last year caused Google to temporarily suspend community edits. When they returned, the company revamped its approval process, designating "Regional Leads" who are responsible for reviewing edits made in their countries.

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