Google recently announced its Map Maker tool, (in the words of OSM) “a kind of faux Open Street Map.” On the surface, the idea is clear–have users make contributions, as they know local geography better than anybody else. An excerpt from the OSM blog post today:

Like Knol, the mooted ‘wikipedia killer’, Google refuse to acknowledge existing communities, trample on their hard work and lack the mindset to engage with an open project.

But, this really doesn’t matter.

What’s fascinating is that they haven’t set themselves up against OpenStreetMap so much but rather TeleAtlas/TomTom, NAVTEQ/Nokia and AND. This is really a swipe at things like TomTom’s MapShare(TM) and ANDs Map 2.0. The question is now going to be, when do they switch on editing of existing data markets, if at all? Only those with intimate knowledge of the contracts will know.

The fundamental reasons for OpenStreetMap remain intact and if anything are now stronger. At first glance it sounds like OpenStreetMap, until you realise that Google own that data you give them, there’s no community and you are unlikely to see use of the data in ‘creative, productive, or unexpected ways’.

The pattern with Google is by now well-understood. Given their massive scale, subsidizing such efforts is trivial. Gmail, Google Apps and other products follow this model. It won’t have any kind of material impact in the immediate future, and that’s why the US airline industry ignored jetBlue. Whoops.

Umibot’s not preaching conspiratorial here–what Google is doing is great for satisficing the masses–much of the nuance is lost, but in return millions of users get something they can use. Of course they don’t own that contribution and Google (and of course others exist) is able to build out more page views, resulting in more advertising, more revenue, and so on…

Urban Mapping now finds its first customer competing against our first product. It isn’t that Google can do neighborhoods ‘better’ than UMI (or anybody else), it’s the idea that Google doesn’t need anybody else to do it for them. In fact, they don’t need to do it themselves–throw it over to a fanatical user base, and watch them diligently work away, and allow the new Microsoft to reap the rewards. If Umibot were a thinking human, no doubt it would be saying “these guys are smart.”

A few months ago Yahoo! announced it had incorporated neighborhood search into Local and other properties. We’re pleased to say this is brought to you by Umibot and the hard-working team at Urban Mapping, so Yahoo! can now enjoy the same neighborhood goodness as many of our other satisfied customers.

Here’s the official news.

UMI’s own Ian White will share the podium with several yet-to-be-determined panelists at the SMX Local & Mobile conference in San Francisco July 24-25 at the Marriott Hotel. The panel, Monetizing Local & Mobile: Who’s Making Money, is bound to be provocative if past panels are any indication.

Urban Mapping’s Ian White will perform a hat trick at this year’s conference, participating on a panel, Monetizing Maps & Mashups. Greg Sterling will moderate and other panelists will be revealed in short order…

Umibot is all kinds of tired from several days in Las Vegas, where Urban Mapping brought together industry leaders for two days of off the record discussion about the ‘state of local.’ The event was billed as a ‘part salon, part workshop,’ recognizing that a substantive and engaging dialog is best set in a relaxed and informal environment.

UMI brought together industry stalwarts and upstarts. Analysts presented research, executives shared key insights and the group worked (and ate and drank) through the complexities, nuances and opportunities around local search: geotargeting perils and realities, ‘market inversion’ around local ad inventory, mobile growth, user behavior and market forces.

The esteemed group:

Jake Ballie, Managing Director, STN Labs

Matthew Berk, Lead Search Architect, Marchex

Pete Flint, Founder and CEO, Trulia

Craig Greenfield, Director, Local Search, DoubleClick

Jeff Greenwald, Director, Search Products, MapQuest

Martin Herbst, Senior Strategy Manager, Kijiji

Peter Krasilovsky, Program Director, Marketplaces, The Kelsey Group

Farhan Memon, Senior Product Manager, AOL Search

Ted Morgan, CEO, Skyhook Wireless

Fred Owens, Vice President, Business Development, Medio Systems

Justin Sanger, President, LocalLaunch!

Greg Sterling, Founding Principal, Sterling Market Intelligence and Senior Analyst, Local Mobile Search

Steven Stern, SVP, Sales & Market Development, Urban Mapping

Ethan Stock, CEO, Zvents

Joel Toledano, CEO, Krillion

Jaron Waldman, CEO, Placebase

Ian White, CEO, Urban Mapping

Disclosure: Jake Baillie and Greg Sterling sit on the Board of Directors at UMI.

Today we announce the addition of Greg Sterling to UMI’s board. His insight and experience lend a shining stamp of approval to the company.

After some hard work/late nights and prodding from the geo-techno elite, we’ve humbly completed and are pleased to offer RESTful access to our neighborhood API.

What does this mean for developers? Probably less time spent developing and more time doing. Since we offered the SOAP-based free neighborhood API last month, dozens of individuals and companies have signed up, and we’re confident this announcement will spur another wave.

We’re also thrilled to be using Mashery to manage our multiple APIs. Ciaran and team twisted themselves pretzel-wise to get us up and running in no time at all. Calling Mashery ‘on demand’ is exactly what what they offer, and it’s what they delivered.

The news release with a quote from Brady Forrest and other goodness.

Urban Mapping’s Ian White will moderate a panel, Why Local Is Different, at the annual SES New York Conference & Expo at the Chicago Hilton, March 17-20.

UMI’s Ian White will speak at the Pelorus Group’s Mobile Local Search Forum in Albuquerque, New Mexico, February 20-21, 2008. He will participate in a panel on GPS & Location Based Services: Profit vs. Privacy.

UMI’s Ian White will speak at ad:tech in San Francisco, April 15-17, 2008. He will participate in a panel on local and mobile search