WebProNews

National Geographic, Weather.com Befriend Bing

National Geographic and Weather.com are not, if we're to be honest, nearly as trendy as something like Twitter or Facebook.  Still, both entities garner a significant amount of respect (and a significant number of page views), and Bing recently received a sort of nod from each of them.

Google Makes Biggest Design Changes to Maps Yet

Google is rolling out the biggest set of changes it has ever made to Google Maps since it launched nearly five years ago. The changes come in a variety of manners, like refinements to color, density, typography, and road-styling. These changes are visible in the "map" and "hybrid" views around the world.

MapQuest Launches Navigator iPhone App

Update: MapQuest has now issued a pricing update on the official blog:

Google Updates Maps with New Dataset

Google announced the launch of a new dataset for Google Maps, which opens up a lot more scenery. Now Google is able to provide better imagery and maps for things like parks, college campuses, and hiking trails.

Using Google Maps for a Giant Game of Monopoly

Update: The day came for the big game, but apparnetly too much interest had been generated because the game's site has been down most of the day. Original Article: Tomorrow (September 9), a giant worldwide game of Monopoly will commence, using the real world. That is, the real world on Google Maps. Hasbro, the creators of the classic board game, are launching the game called, "Monopoly City Streets," in which players will fight for the largest empire in the world.

Businesses Can Submit Their Property to Google Street View

Google introduced its Street View Partner Program today. This lets organizations and businesses apply to have their property featured in Street View on Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Maps for Mobile.

Google Improves Maps for Mobile

Google is adding a good deal of the functionality from Google maps to Google Maps for Mobile. This includes the ability to access and interact with different layers like Traffic, My Maps, and Search layers at the same time.

Live Search Comes to MSN City Guides

Microsoft has introduced a new version of MSN City Guides in a move the company calls "one step in a long term plan to help users stay in the know wherever they are." The new MSN City Guides makes ample use of Live Search and Live Search Maps as well as video and social media. Users can share information through Windows Live and Facebook. Microsoft says this makes event organization easy.

New Saving and Sharing Features for Google Maps

Google has added features to Google Maps that let you save, annotate, and share directions using My Maps. Users can save driving directions by simply clicking the  "save to my maps" link below the directions.

Google Knows Where You Live

Google’s changing it up, and local search optimization just became very, very important. It used to be a searcher had to be very specific about a query to bring back local results. To borrow from Search Engine Guide's Miriam Ellis, who tips us off to the changes in the usual Google “10 pack,” or the top ten search results, a search for “chiropractor” reveals just how geographically targeted Google’s results are now.