On the flip side to that, many people nowadays use google maps to show things unrelated to navigation.
When you're trying to pinpoint locations that aren't street addresses, or show large area overlays, all that extraneous information is distracting, and works against usability.
It'll also be great to finally be able to show a map that's not jarringly obviously from a third party provider. (I'm totally cool with the small google logo/copyrights, but the color scheme just screams 'outside embed').
Yeah, there are definitely cases when it makes sense, but I think that the majority of times when people think it's a good idea to make something look custom, it's actually not when looked at from a usability perspective.
I realize that I'm in the minority about this when I look around and see most of my competitors customizing the look of their markers, etc, but I think they just make it worse most of the time. This is granting much more power in that department.
I'm happy for the power, I just vehemently disagree that this is going to make map mashups much better overall.
I don't think "outside embed" is a bad thing when viewed from the eyes of the user - it's comforting familiarity for many. Making it seem custom is just an ego trip.
When you're trying to pinpoint locations that aren't street addresses, or show large area overlays, all that extraneous information is distracting, and works against usability.
It'll also be great to finally be able to show a map that's not jarringly obviously from a third party provider. (I'm totally cool with the small google logo/copyrights, but the color scheme just screams 'outside embed').