coolApp = new myCreativity(mapsAPI, searchAPI);

AUG. 14, 2006

Post by Mark Lucovsky, Software Engineer

The Google Ajax Search API is designed to work seamlessly with the Google Maps API. One way it adds instant value is to allow your Maps-based applications to execute a search, then take the search results and plot them on a map. Our model for this is simple and straightforward — each search result is a JavaScript object that contains a number of properties including a URL, title, array of phone numbers, street address, city, latitude and longitude, etc. Therefore, adding a search result to a map is as simple as:

var latLng = GLatLng(parseFloat(result.lat),
      parseFloat(result.lng));
var marker = new GMarker(latLng);
myMap.addOverlay(marker);

The AJAX Search API team produced a number of simple sample applications to teach the basics of search-integrated Maps mashups. Two of the most popular samples are My Favorite Places and My Phone List, so take a look and see if they inspire you to add Search to your Maps mashups!

(An example of this search-enhanced Maps mashup idea is the Google Gadget we built using these two APIs — check out the new Google Map Search Gadget.)

Related post: Add Map Search to your site