Google Maps’ focus on Germany and Holland
Google Maps tries really hard to return search results no matter what you type. I performed a bit of an experiment tonight where I only typed in a single letter, trying A through Z, to see what I got. I deleted my history and cookies before each search in an attempt to ensure I didn’t get any results based on previous searches. Of the 26 results, five went straight to cities in Germany and two to Holland. Those results:
- C - Chemnitz, Germany
- D - Düsseldorf, Germany
- E - Essen, Germany
- G - Gera, Germany
- K - Cologne, Germany
- L - Limburg, Netherlands
- U - Utrecht, Netherlands
Lest you say these may just be the largest cities whose names start with these letters, I’ll point you to London, which is probably a bit larger than Limburg; New York, which is a bit larger than N, Denham Springs, Louisiana; and Paris, which is somewhat larger than the three options Google returns for ‘P’.
[maven] Said,
April 10, 2007 @ 12:56 am
This (at least for the German cities) makes a bit more sense than it seems at first, as the letters are the (car) number plate designations for these cities, while they are “only” the starting letter for the larger cities you mention.