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Google is expanding into more and more web technologies these days and that's a good thing for us. Google tends to take existing ideas, innovate and improve upon them, and then make them free for the public. You can't really complain with that, can you?

One of Google's latest forays is in online mapping at maps.google.com. I've been using Mapquest and Yahoo Maps for years and have found them to work very well most of the time. Since I've tried Google Maps, though, it's all I use. Mapquest and Yahoo (and all the others) ask you to fill out a form to describe an address and then give you a graphic that shows the location. Google Maps takes a different approach, and that approach to mapping makes all the difference.

The problem with existing online mapping is that when you are shown a location on a map, you don't get any context - that is, you can't get a sense of what's around the location you are looking at. Of course, you can click the buttons that move the map in a certain direction, but this is slow and you easily lose your bearings when the new map is loaded.

Like it's spartan homepage, Google keeps things simple. The Google maps homepage shows a map of the U.S. and has one text field above it to enter an address. You can either start zooming in and moving around the map, or just enter as much information as you know into the text field (you don't even need commas), and Google Maps magically takes you there.

The maps are beautiful. They are large, clear, and much easier to read than other online maps. But, the greatest thing about them is that you can just click and drag and the map automatically moves where you want. There is no page loading - it does this right inside the existing page. You get almost the same feel as just moving your eyes around a physical map. You can easily and quickly navigate around the online map to see what is surrounding your point of interest.

Google Maps just recently added satellite imagery. This is really something to see. It works exactly like the maps - zoom in and out, move around. You can toggle between the maps and satellite imagery by just clicking a link. And it does all of this very quickly. It truly is amazing.

Of course, Google Maps will also do driving directions like the other guys. You can search for businesses as well. Just type something like "pizza rochester, mn" and a map will pop up with pointers to all the pizza places in Google's directory. Switch to satellite imagery and you can see what that pizza place looks like from the sky!

Google Maps is in beta. That means it is released to the public to use, but there may be a few bugs they are working out and some new features being added. I've never experienced any problems while using it.

I really encourage you to give Google Maps a try. Do a search for your house and then switch to satellite to see it from above. Its power, speed, and ease of use will blow you away.