> Hi Everyone, your fellow user, Faceman, suggested a great idea to
> answer some of the most commonly asked questions on this forum.
> Consequently, these are also the questions that most often go
> unanswered. We'll try not to send you guys to too many Google Maps
> Help Center links, but there's so much amazing content in the Maps
> Help Center, why wouldn't you want to read it??? Here we go:

> ***When will Google Maps add Maps of my country? Or allow me to add my
> business in my country?
> Well, this kind of information is confidential, so if we knew, we
> wouldn't be able to tell you anyway. However, you can always visit
> this excellent Help page:

> http://maps.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=16634

> This page tells you all the countries that you can search for map data
> or add your business in, as well as details all the other features
> that currently exist in those countries. As you might expect, there's
> a number of things that have to happen before we can launch Maps or
> other services in any country.  We can't tell you when your specific
> country will be included, but we're working on adding more countries
> sometime in the future.

> ***How often does Google update its Maps?
> Maps are updated as soon as we get new data from our providers. In the
> US, those providers are NAVTEQ and TeleAtlas, mainly. The providers
> vary from country to country, and you can tell who the providers are
> by looking in the bottom right-hand corner of your map screen, just to
> the left of that little zoom map.
> Our satellite imagery is mostly from 1 year to 3 years in age. Some of
> our imagery is newer, and some is older. We can't update the pictures
> for your location, and they're definitely not real time. ie: if you go
> outside and wave your arms, you won't be able to see yourself on
> Google Maps. =)

> ***Why won't the maps I create display more than 100 points per page?
> 100 is the limit. When you have 101 points, it will automatically put
> that 101st point onto the next page. We hear your feedback about this
> but there's no way to work around it right now!

> ***Can I view driving distances in kilometers?
> If you're in the US, driving distances will always show in miles. In
> other countries where the International System of Units is used,
> driving directions should appear in kilometers/kilometres.

> ***Is it okay if I use Google Maps for my paper/presentation/
> invitation
> /brochure/other printed project?
> See here:http://www.google.com/permissions/
> Read especially carefully the "Special cases: Google Maps and Google
> Earth" section. Then, if you still want to try to get permission, fill
> out the Request Form.

> ***Why can't I view maps of other countries in English?
> All of our maps are provided in their local language. You can still
> perform many searches using the Latin alphabet and English equivalents
> on Google Maps. For example, searching for [ Tokyo, Japan ] will take
> you right to the city center:http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=T...

> ***How do I get walking directions?
> Sorry, we don't yet have this option for Google Maps!

> Local Business Center related questions:

> ***What is "Awaiting Next Update?"
> Sometimes it can take up to 8 weeks for us to update our index in
> Google Maps. We know that sometime waiting for this update is like
> waiting for a package to come, the closer you think its getting to
> you, the more anxious you are to receive it. However, we ask that you
> be patient - there isn't anything that we can do to manually speed it
> up. If you've been waiting more than 8 weeks, then you might want to
> start asking questions.

> ***How do I change the address, website, and other information
> associated with my business listing?
> Even if you didn't provide this listing originally, you can still
> update it. We run a complicated set of algorithms to determine what
> website to associate with a listing but upon occasion, it's the wrong
> one. As the business owner, you can change it. Just go through the
> Local Business Center. There's complete steps on how to add or edit,
> or remove a listing, athttp://maps.google.com/support.  Once you
> change the information and verify it, it will appear as "Provided by
> the business owner."
> Any listing that doesn't say "provided by the business owner" was
> given to us by one of our many data providers, and you can correct it
> as the business owner.