They are also embedded in other websites to provide spatial information.
Online map services are nowadays the most popular source of geographic information for the average web user. In order to answer these questions, the most popular online map services are selected, with respect to their popularity among users from around the world. The massive use of these maps raises a number of questions: “Are cartographic principles and traditional practices applied to online map services?”, “If not, do online map services create a new cartographic culture that will influence the way users read a map or what they expect from a map and as a result what will be the future of cartography?”, “Are the most popular online map services, in harmony with the maps based on cartographic principles?”. The ubiquity of online map services is related to the globalization of cartography: Never before in history have the same maps been utilized by people all around the world on a daily basis and for many different uses. The way each provider collects, processes and presents geographic data to users, creates a competition between them and results in their continuous improvement. Online map services, which present to millions of web users a realistic view of the world, have immense influence. Moreover, suggestions for the improvement of online map services are made regarding cartographic projection, legend, content, symbolization, color, etc. It can be stated that online map services generally adopt well-known cartographic practices, which are not always applied as expected. Color schemes utilized in web maps are discussed in more detail, since based on studies concerning the selection of the preferable map by experts and laymen, color is undisputedly the most frequently mentioned factor.
Online map services are commented based on cartographic principles, conventions and traditional practices addressing topics, such as: Cartographic projection, orientation, scale, marginalia, content (thematic layers), symbology, generalization, annotation, color use and overall map design. The most popular online map services are selected based on worldwide website traffic data, provided by specialized sites, such as Similarweb, in terms of global coverage and popularity among users. In this paper, online map services are reviewed from a cartographic point of view.
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