WebProNews

Ask.com launched its revamped Maps product at SES 2006 NY last week to the warm approval of users, and called out its competition on imagery quality.

Unfortunately, Ask didn't issue the kind of invitation normally bellowed across the ring at WrestleMania. That's too bad, because it would have been really funny if the next time Matt Cutts visits Ask he encountered Kane in a butler's outfit. Chokeslam! (Ok, well, maybe not funny for Matt. Sorry, Matt!)

But Ask does believe its Maps product offers a better experience with its collection of images. They said so in their blog:

(T)here seem to be a lot of people comparing our aerial imagery with our competitors. We believe our partners at GlobeXplorer have the most comprehensive and rich set of satellite and aerial imagery in the United States, and as some of you have noticed, in western Europe (check out this awesome view of The Louvre for all of you Da Vinci Code fans).

So far, we have only tapped into their most recent imagery in 12 major markets in the US. Over the next couple of weeks we will update this across the board, so you will be seeing major enhancements all across the country as they build out their cache (another speed improvement).
Ask.com Maps does have an advantage over Google and Microsoft with its European coverage. Ask Maps has street maps of places like Paris and Barcelona, something the other two have yet to match.

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.