Locations on Google Maps

Locations on Google Maps can be found from IP numbers and other obscure address parameters.

Default locations on Google Maps are given when you enter the Google maps home page for the first time. For instance, at the time of writing Kansas city is given as a default location. You are also given the option of saving locations on Google maps. Before discussing how you can save locations, I'll tell you how to find locations.

Finding Locations on Google Maps

To find locations on Google maps you need information that will give you at least a hint to where the place you wish to locate is situated. This can be something obvious, like the address or postal code. But Google Maps is becoming cleverer than that. SEOmoz has created a tool that allows you to enter an IP address, and find the physical address of the company that own it on Google Maps. It uses Ajax to display the map as you type. Try it with Class C IP ranges.

It's very useful for those strange IP addresses you find in your stats, or in spam reports. For instance, SpamCop quite often reports only IP addresses. If you are like me, you like to know where the Spam is coming from Using the SEOmoz application you can at least track down the offending country. It is also useful if you want to find the sender of a benign email and can only find the IP address..

Saving locations on Google Maps

You can identify locations on Google Maps and store them as a list of personal addresses. Click on "Saved Locations" in the upper right corner and sign in to your Google Account. Google Maps will then automatically save every location you search for. If you want, you can disable auto-saving of locations or to add, modify, or delete previously-saved locations.

You can add a label, perhaps an easy-to-remember name, to any saved location. Then, when you enter part of of an address, or label, into Google Maps, auto-complete will take an even greater burden off your memory and typing ability. When several auto-completions are offered, you can hit the Tab key to select the first one.