As a web designer I am frequently required to embed a Google or possibly Bing map onto the contact page of a new website. Often times the client or the allotted area for the map can be fairly small making it hard to see the “Pop-up” window which contains the address information and such on the map. Frequently the window will get cut off on the top or it simply is aligned oddly for the size of the map.

The issue:

Notice how the window is cut off and you can’t really see much.

How it should look:

Now you can see the full Pop-up window, yet without having to change the allotted width and height of the map area.

The Solution:

HTML:
<div class="mapContainer">
<iframe width="400" height="550" src="”></div>
</div>

*Note that most of the map code is removed for ease of reading.

CSS:
.mapContainer
{
width:400px;
height: 300px;
overflow: hidden;
}

If you look at the code above you will see a few key elements to make this work.

First, you need to wrap your iFrame in a simple div with a class or id attached to it, in this case it’s just a class called “mapContainer”.

Secondly, in the css code you need to define your height and width, specifically the height. As you will notice I have set the css height to only 300 pixels (my allotted space on my site), but the iFrame height is 550 pixels. (more on this in a bit)

Thirdly, you will notice I have a css attribute: overflow: hidden; – this is important as it allows us to hide anything that may fall outside of our div container.

Now back to the height settings, if you look at the iFrame you will notice it is set to 550px and not the 300px that we have in our css. What we are doing is making the map “extra tall” which in return pull our location marker and pop-up down further inside of the div, thus lining it up the way we want need it to be while not extending outside of our div container since we have the overflow: hidden value set. (You need to fiddle with the height values until you get the desired vertical placement)

And that is all there is to it, pretty simple but very effective.

I have never actually tried it, but I would expect you can have the same results if you need to adjust the horizontal placement as well, just set your iFrame width larger than the css width.

You will only be able to pull the pop-up down and/or right with this technique.

Has anyone else had a similar issue? How did you solve it? Is there a better way? Let me know your thoughts.

For years now Google has completely dominated the search market and almost all other search providers have continued to lose market share despite numerous re branding, site updates, new features and other tactics. Microsoft has recieved a beating in the press about how they have been struggling to get Live Search higher in market share despite it’s dominance in other areas like the browser and their Windows operating system.

The question now is:
What will it take for Microsoft to actually gain market share in search? Will it be another new re branding with their new Kumo name? Is it by doing more marketing and advertising? Or do they need to simply drop out of the search game?

I think Microsoft can significantly increase it’s market share by making one simple change. One simple change, is that really possible? Yes

Microsoft’s biggest advantage right now over Google is the fact that it has a huge OS market share around the world, their OS comes with their own browser installed called Internet Explorer which is still the dominating browser on the internet. When any person buys a new computer with Windows or does a clean install of Windows onto their computer then that person pretty much HAS to open up Internet Explorer to access the Internet, even if it means they are going to go download FireFox to set as your default browser.

This simple fact that IE is a users first access point to the internet is what Microsoft can use to its advantage to get Live Search to grab marketshare from Google. What is the first page that people see when they open IE for the first time? MSN.com, what else do they see? 50+ links to articles about, sports, news, weather, etc. etc. or links to ads and videos. What do people not see? The search box.

People by nature are going to read what is put in front of them, they will take the lazy route out and simply click on things that look interesting rather than having to hunt down and search for something. Sure it’s “easier” for the user to find news, however it simply kills the need for search. Once one article heading catches the eye of a user that user will click on that link, they will read the article, then find something else to do and never give search a second thought.

However, if you go to Google.com the main and single purpose of the site is Search. When a user is on Google.com their focus stays on search there is very little else to distract the user from doing exactly what Google wants them to do.

If Microsoft wants to gain market share and to get people actually using their search, all they have to do is set the default homepage in Internet Explorer to Live.com (or kumo if/when it comes out and assuming it’s as nice or better as the Live.com). I honestly believe it would be that simple to compete against Google.

Why it would work:

1. It would look totally different and un-expected to every single person that opens up IE for the first time on a fresh install of windows. The user in return would give it at least a few extra seconds of attention and the user would probably be interested at least a little bit about the photo on the page.
2. The photo on Live.com in my opinion is the most appealing part of Live.com versus Google.com I enjoy great photography for one and also enjoy learning about new things that I normally would not have thought to look up. The image accomplishes both of these things, plus the boxes that you can click on about the photo returns Live Search Results not some random article like MSN.com would have brought up.
3. The focus of the user is now Search, there are no articles grabbing my attention and pulling me away from what Microsoft wants most “Search”
4. The interface is super clean and super easy to use. Live.com is minimalistic and has good design, whereas Google.com is simply minimalistic.
5. Windows 7, Microsoft’s next major OS. Over the last few months/year Windows 7 for the most part has gotten great reviews as being the best or nearly the best OS Microsoft has ever put out. With Vista having poor acceptance (despite the fact it really isn’t that bad) Windows 7 will be 100% more successful than Vista without a doubt. If Microsoft would set IE homepage to Live.com when it Windows 7 is released I think Microsoft will be able to get a new and fresh start with it Live Search and since people will find Windows 7 to be a really great operating system they will be happier with Microsoft which will give them confidence in Live Search which will increase market share.

Consequences:
There are certainly a few side effects with changing the default homepage for IE. People may feel lost at first and miss seeing the new pushed in their face. Microsoft will lose significant traffic to MSN.com and all the articles and advertising which could be a big issue in the short term but would be better in the long run if Microsoft is more concerned about Live Search market share and staying competitive in the search market.

I could dig a lot deeper into my theory and provide more points of why it could work and go into futher detail, however this post is already plenty long and doing this writing thing is still quite new to me

Some articles about Kumo:

• http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/11/23/microsoft-to-rebrand-search-will-it-be-kumo/
• http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1736
• http://www.pcworld.com/article/154403/kumo_kmon.html

I look forward to your comments and critiques of my ideas.
zebb.