14 DAY TRIAL // Aussies are now allowed to join the big Map Maker party. Google is now letting Australian users to provide better data, more accurate and timelier information for Google Maps via the crowdsourcing tool. Australia joins a long and growing list of countries that are supported in Map Maker.
"Help share Australia’s natural gems with tourists and locals alike by drawing the hiking trails through the Eucalypt forests of Tasmania or adding all the campsites surrounding Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park," Google explained.
"Then, once you’re ready for some rest and relaxation, why not map the beach resorts of Kangaroo Island, all the best restaurants along the Coral Sea of Queensland, or your favourite billabong for a day of fishing? You can even add your neighbourhood rugby club before heading off to a game," it said.
Google created Map Maker out of necessity. Vast regions of the world were poorly or unmapped at all and reliable mapping data was hard to come by for those places or it cost more than Google was willing to pay (which is nothing for most places in the world).
Map Maker enables anyone to provide map data that will eventually end up in Maps. Creators don't get anything out of this other than having a better map for their region but that has been enough in many cases.
It's been a huge success too, entire countries were covered in matter of months. Much of the data in Google Maps today comes from volunteers.
But in time, Map Maker morphed into a more comprehensive tool. Google started using it in developed countries where it already had plenty of data from official sources. But volunteers can provide something that official sources can't, speed.
Someone spotting road repairs can log into Map Maker, mark the change and have it live for everyone in hours. There's no way that can happen via official channels, at least not for now.