The mobile version of Google Maps has always had a “My Location” button which will plot your exact location using your mobile device and GPS. Google have now added the “My Location” button to the desktop version of Google Maps. In order to view the new icon you will need to be running a compatible web browser, currently this is Google Chrome 2.0 and Firefox 3.5. You can also use any web browser with Google Gears installed on it.
The new icon is located below the onscreen compass interface and above the zoom and street views icon.
On testing we were able to get a location but unfortunately it was 5 miles away from our actual geographic location. Apparently the location can be calculated by using local Wifi points to triangulate the approximate location of the user. It would be interesting to hearing your comments on whether you have had any success using the new button. It might be that there is no public access points is our direct location which has resulted in the results being inaccurate. Have you been able to make this service work, let us know?
Author: Creative SEO UK
