Google Maps

Google Maps is quickly closing the gap with the top ranked mapping website MapQuest, according to recently published data from Hitwise. A year ago, for every one US-based visit to Google Maps, MapQuest (owned by AOL) registered more than five visits, but now that ratio has declined significantly to 1.2: 1 in favour of MapQuest. Yahoo! Maps and MSN's Local Live are placed third and fourth respectively in terms of traffic for their mapping services.

Visits to MapQuest have actually dropped by a fifth in the last six months, in stark contrast to Google Maps which has more than doubled its traffic compared to last year and seen an increase of 7% over the last six months.

Google has a significant advantage in terms of being able to direct traffic from its search engine, both through organic and paid listings. If current trends continue, Google Maps will shortly become the leading online provider of mapping services.

Instant Offices Group and Google Maps

Instant Offices Group uses Google Maps to display the locations of serviced offices in over 40 countries around the world. Users can view locations of offices compared to major landmarks, motorways and highways, roads and, importantly, to other serviced offices in the area.

Simply navigate by dragging the hand icon over the map image, or by clicking on the direction arrows in the top left. Users can zoom out using the bar on the left to view and compare several offices from a distance, or zoom in to identify the street on which a serviced office is located. Google Maps is set to appear in graphical form by default, but can also be viewed in aerial mode, by clicking "Satellite" in the top right corner; a combination of map and satellite imagery is available by clicking "Hybrid".

When searching for serviced offices on the Instant Offices Group website, a results page will load detailing available serviced offices in your chosen location. Each serviced office on the results page is tagged by a numbered marker and by clicking on the marker, the map will automatically move to that office location. You can use this method to quickly identify the location of an office in which you are interested instead of clicking into the centre information page.

NOTE: The map markers on the Instant Offices Group website are only meant to be indicative of the office location. However, if you believe the map marker for your serviced office is inaccurate, please email gc@instant-offices.com with your centre information and details of where the marker should be placed.