Instant Answers adds maps and traffic info

Do a search in Live.com or MSN.com, and as of today, if you type in an address you should get an inline interactive map as the first answer, according to the Virtual Earth / Live Maps blog.

(click to enlarge)

The new Instant Answers feature extends to traffic information as well, for cities that feature it. Typing "traffic Seattle", or "commute Chicago" will provide instant traffic information, although the info will be a snapshot and will not update in real time on the search page (although it will in a sidebar gadget, of course). The maps are fully interactive however, and pan, zoom, and even aerial imagery are supported.

Metro area traffic currently supported include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St Louis, Tampa, and Washington DC.

Published Jun 05 2007, 04:47 AM by Kip Kniskern

Filed under: Search, Maps, Traffic

Comments

	jamiet said: Ha! Not only does this not work (no map was displayed), when i typed in my address the first link was a link to a map showing my home on Google Maps. If i didn't laugh i'd cry!!! June 5, 2007 5:13 AM
	Kip Kniskern said: It's a little picky as to the format (not making excuses, but it is). Try it in the format of <street address>, <city>,<state or province> (using the commas). I also found that it was picky as to how the street names were spelled out. Obviously there's work still left to do on address recognition - did Sanaz move all the way to California just for that? ;) June 5, 2007 5:38 AM
	JoeM said: I am happy things are moving in the correct direction June 5, 2007 6:00 AM
	foaf said: The picky'ness is across the board when searching for places in the UK, whether searching from live.com, local.live.com or from within outlook. It's a shame google requires far less detail June 5, 2007 11:46 AM
	quikboy said: If you like Instant Answers, then you should read this article : http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3623732 It's goes into some specifics with Instant Answers, and I thought it was a pretty good read. June 6, 2007 4:16 AM