apping solutions can be embedded in your website to display locations of various places, provide directions, obtain latitudinal and longitudinal positions, etc. Among
the major mapping solutions providers (like Yahoo! Maps, GSI Map Marts, mapsofindia.com, Bing Maps and Google Maps), Google seems to have scored the highest as far as user preference is concerned. The Google Maps Javascript API was formally launched during the Google I/O Forum in May 2009. At present, APIs are accessible in two different versions: v2 and v3. However, Google has formally deprecated v2.

With the various Google Maps APIs, you can do much more than just embed maps in Web pages; you can even merge personalised data with them to get customised output. Let me briefly describe a few really useful interfaces here:
JavaScript API: This lets you insert a map in a website, alter the map contents, or mark any changes.

API for Flash: You can use ActionScript to insert the map in a Web page and even in Flash-based applications and websites.

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Static Maps: We know that too many dynamic pages are not good for our site rankings. Thus, if you need a fixed map, use the Static Maps API, which doesn't need dynamic pages, or the assistance of JavaScript. Web Services: When you need to retrieve geo codes, site information, directions, or elevations from a client, we use the Web services API. Further, it enables you to make changes via XML or JSON.

The Google Maps Javascript API is basically a blend of JavaScript, HTML and CSS, executing in co¬ordination. As the name suggests, this API comprises JavaScript files containing classes for common lise-cases