Comments on: Microsoft’s Live Map users revolt as it switches on Multimap

By: steve clayton

steve clayton — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 19:30:13 +0000

back to normal – with an explanation!

http://virtualearth.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!2BBC66E99FDCDB98!14442.entry

By: jimfd

jimfd — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:15:48 +0000

I used to prefer maps.live.com after much debating between the big two. The main reason is because I can draw routes on the map and it saves the distance. I use this for running. Came home from a run to map a new route I had just taken and, oh, multimap? MULTIMAP!!!
Jeez.
Oh well, that was actually the last MS online app I was using. I am now lock, stock and barrel with the Big G. Sorry Microslop, oops, soft.
By the way, when seeking an alternative, I stumbled across http://www.mapmyrun.com which does everything that I need and uses, yes, Google Maps. Don’t you just love well-written and open API?

By: foaf

foaf — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:32:43 +0000

Great that it’s back, the backlash was amazing and effective.

@ Chris Fleming: OS maps and some ‘UK features’ (Cash machine locations etc) add to the value of MultiMap, but ideally they would reverse engineered into Live Maps. I can only hope

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:16:52 +0000

“go to” rather than “got to” obviously!

More coffee needed!

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:15:31 +0000

Stephen was/is right.

I’m was also getting Live Maps rather than multimap. Now, I don’t actually get anything….when i got to msn.co.uk and click on Maps…it doesnt divert me to anywhere? (it did about half an hour ago?)

Personally, I prefer multimap however, it looks like I may be in the minority!

By: Stephen

Stephen — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 01:09:25 +0000

Looks like they’ve reversed their decision.

Live Maps is back for UK!

By: coulson

coulson — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 22:15:01 +0000

It’s not just the UK users – In France the same multimap.com redirects too. Perhaps all outide the States – or maybe all EU ? Dunno.

“Your feedback and feature requests are truly important to us…” it says on the virtualEarth site announcing the improvements, that’s just before the 76 comments nearly all bad and not one word of reply.

By: Chris Fleming

Chris Fleming — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 21:39:40 +0000

It worth noting that multimap does have better mapping in it’s OS 1:50000 maps and much better aerial imagery than live maps!

By: Grant

Grant — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 20:18:33 +0000

Microsoft has lost the plot! If Live Maps UK keeps redirecting to Multimaps (or MuliCrap as some people call it) then I will go back to Google Maps for good! Just as the Live brand is becoming recognisable Microsoft do this, WTF??? Multimaps seems so old fashioned, I remember I used to use it years ago and it was rubbish then, so to go back to it now when Live Maps is so much better is just plain stupid. SORT IT OUT MICROSOFT!

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:42:42 +0000

Does this apply to people using the API as well? I am so glad I went with Google on this one.

By: Nick Marsh

Nick Marsh — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:48:49 +0000

Please join the Facebook group campaigning against the change to Multimap in the UK:

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14574166409&ref=mf

By: Hugo

Hugo — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:41:55 +0000

Well well well. What a mess.

I’m a regular user of Live Maps. I use it pretty much every day. Last night, I go to the site as usual, and without any kind of warning, I suddenly find myself dumped on the Multimap site (a site I had been happy never to have to visit). I find every map view is littered with ads, the map view is restricted to a thin letterbox view (with no ability to resize it), I can’t scroll the view using the mouse wheel, all the navigation controls have been completely reorganised, and worst of all, all my saved collections have vanished. And not even so much as a word of explanation for confused users such as myself. The only thing I could imagine that had happened was that hackers had launched a ‘pharming’ attack, forcibly redirecting the Live Maps site to Multimap in some kind of childish prank. It couldn’t *possibly* have been an intentional decision… surely?

But then today I found out, to my disbelief, that it was fully intentional. And I also found out that I’m not the only one hopping mad about it.

This move is so counterproductive, so poorly thought out, so DUMB, I just want to punch the marketing executive that even so much as suggested it. Why should UK users, surely one of the biggest markets for Live Maps, be arbitrarily separated from the rest of the world and funneled into a truly dire imitation of the site they’ve been happily enjoying for years already, and not even be given a choice in the matter? How on EARTH can anyone consider that to be “good business sense”?

Luckily, I quickly found a simple method which brings back the good old Live Maps I actually want to use. You just have to pretend to be an American:

http://maps.live.com/?mkt=en-us

So, panic over — I will never have to use “MultiCrap” — hooray! But it’s not really satisfactory. Not everyone will know about this trick, and they’ll still be just as confused as I was first thing this morning.

UK users deserve an explanation of why this has been done and deserve to be told how to get to the “bona fide” Live Maps they’re entitled to. Or better still: just reverse the decision. I would think the amount of protestation all over the blogosphere in such a short period of time should be enough to convince them they made a bad call.

By: Mesh Time

Mesh Time — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 22:14:57 +0000

I can’t help but express my bitter disappointment at this.

Live Maps is one of the few services that is head and shoulders better than the Google equivalent. And they change it to… Multimap? Are they serious?

I do note the 45,000 adverts on the MM homepage though. I guess its all about the $$$

By: John Handelaar

John Handelaar — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:09:02 +0000

Also: maps.live.com’s very-high-quality aerial photography of Irish cities has been completely deleted.

But hey – at least the week-old Bird’s Eye imagery is still there. All you have to do is search for the address…

…oh, never mind. There’s no search either.

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:40:27 +0000

Wow – I’m stunned by how badly microsoft have failed at this.

Live maps really were pretty cool but to just take that all away (and break a shed load of links in the process) seems unbelievably stupid. And that’s for a company known for doing dumb stuff! Just wow.