Google Map Maker Finally Adopts the New Google Design

For the past few months, Google has been feverishly updating all of its products, painting them in the new team colors, i.e. the new universal Google design is live on more and more sites.

Google Maps was one of the very first products to get a new coat of paint, after Google+ debuted and Google Search adopted the new look.

But it took several more months for Google Map Maker to catch up. Now, the map making and editing tool has adopted the new look.

"With 2012 approaching, we're getting a head start on our New Year's resolution to shed some excess weight and improve our overall appearance," Google wrote.

"You may have seen our ongoing efforts to improve the look, feel, and user experience across many other Google products to date. And with Google Map Maker available in the United States, Canada, and more than 180 other regions, it's time for another makeover," it said.

"Today, we’re revealing a new version of Google Map Maker to help users map the places they know best and make their hometowns sparkle on Google Maps," it announced.

Google Map Maker enables anyone to contribute to the data in Google Maps. Existing features can be edited, for example, when a road is temporarily blocked, or it becomes a one way street.

But it also serves as a tool for creating large areas of the map, adding details such as streets, buildings, points of interest and so on. Entire countries have been mapped with this tool, entirely by volunteers.

Considering that Google owes so much to the people working for free to make Maps better, a revamped site is the least it could do to repay the favor.

The new Google Maps should feel very familiar, since it's based on the design elements used in all new Google sites and in Google Maps in particular.