From Google Mapki

Here's a list of some of the parameters that can be passed to maps.google.com. (and .co.uk/.be etc) You might want to pass such parameters if you want to get Google Maps to display driving directions, which are not available under the API.

• q= Query - anything passed in the q parameter is treated as if it had been typed into the query box on the maps.google.com page. In particular:

a precise address is looked up and a marker and info box is displayed at the specified point

a town name, or the first half of a postcode causes the region to be displayed with to marker or info box

an exact location can be specified as latitude,longitude, in decimal form (52.123N,2.456W or 52.123,-2.456) or as degrees, minutes and seconds (52 7 22.8N,2 27 21.6W or 52 7 22.8,-2 27 21.6) or as degrees and minutes (52 7.38N,2 27.36W or 52 7.38,-2 27.36).

any text added in parentheses () is displayed in the info window and sidebar in bold, there appears to be no way to cause a line break, but you can use %A0 as a "no break space" to prevent line breaks happening where you don't want them.

the words "to" and "from" cause the driving directions function to be activated.

the word "near" or "loc:" causes the local search function to be activated

space-ampersand-space (use +%26+ or %20%26%20 in URLs, not +&+ or +&+ otherwise the ampersand gets treated as a separator) can be used between the names of two streets to specify an intersection.

A location can also be specified after an at sign, in decimal form (@52.123,-2.456). This gives a lower zoom level than using the same values without the at sign. Using this format interferes with other options of the query parameter. The @ sign instead of "near" or "loc:" tends to cause only a single business result to be displayed, compare (Church near Hallows Road Blackpool, Lancashire) which returns over 1000 results to (Church @ Hallows Road Blackpool, Lancashire) which returns one result.

The full URL of a Google Earth .KML/.KMZ file or a RSS feed that includes GeoRSS data, can be used, and the contained information will be displayed on the map.

• near= Can be used as the location part of a query instead of putting the whole thing into q=.

• mrt= Specifies a type of search (blank for everything (default).
  • mrt=loc Locations search. Needs the q= param.
  • mrt=yp Businesses search (aka yellowpages). Will need the q= param, and optionally a location.
  • mrt=kmlkmz User-Contributed 'Community' Content collected from the GeoWeb. Only works if the query contains a location and something to search for. E.g. q=hotel&near=london&mrt=kmlkmz or q=hotel+in+london&mrt=kmlkmz.
  • mrt=websearch Mapped Web Pages. Webpages that GoogleBot has been able to assign a geographical position.

• ll= Latitude,longitude of map centre - Note the order. Only decimal format is accepted.

If this is used without a query, then the map is centred at the point but no marker or info window is displayed

• sll= Latitude,longitude of the point from which the business search should be performed. You could use this to perform an off-centre busness search. Google use it so "link to this page" can record a map that has had the centre moved after performing a business search.

• spn= Approximate lat/long span. The zoom level will be adjusted to fit if there's no z= parameter. Use this Mapki tool to find a lat and long.

• sspn= ?? lat/long of... what?

• t= Map Type. The available options are "m" map, "k" satellite, "h" hybrid, "p" terrain.

• z= Sets the zoom level.

• layer= Activates overlays. Current options are "t" traffic, "c" street view. Append (e.g. layer=tc) for simultaneous.

• view= Can be used to select text view (view=text) or the normal map view (view=map)

• saddr= Source address. Use this when asking for driving directions

any text added in brackets is displayed in the sidebar in bold

• daddr= Destination address(es). Use this when asking for driving directions

any text added in brackets is displayed in the sidebar in bold

"+to:" clauses can be appended to the destination to request multiple destination routing, like this daddr=Blackpool+to:Manchester+to:Leeds

text in brackets can also be added to the "+to:" clauses.

• mrad= Additional destination address.

If you've got three points in your trip you can use saddr=, daddr= and mrad= instead of "+to:" clauses.

• dirflg=h Switches on "Avoid Highways" route finding mode.

• via= Comma separated list of intermediate addresses for directions, that should be 'via points'. In the example via=1,3 addresses 1 and 3 will be via points without their own entry in the sidebar. the start(0), the 2nd intermediate (2) and the end (4) will be full addresses.

• doflg= Distance Units. (defaults to prevalent units in country of origin)
  • doflg=ptk Outputs directions in metric (km)
  • doflg=ptm Outputs directions in imperial (miles)

• cbll= Latitude,longitude for Street View.

• cbp= Street View window that accepts 5 parameters:
  1. 1=small window, 2=full screen
  2. Rotation angle/bearing (in degrees)
  3. Tilt angle, -90 (straight up) to 90 (straight down)
  4. Zoom level, 0-2
  5. Pitch (in degrees) -90 (straight up) to 90 (straight down), default 5

• start= Skips the first (start-1) matches

• num= Display, at most, this number of matches. The valid range is 0 to 10 (but 0 is a bit pointless).

• hl= Host language. Only a few languages are supported, e.g. hl=fr for French.

• om= The presence of this parameter with a value other than 1 causes the overview map to be closed. If the parameter is omitted, or present with the value 1, then the overview map is open.

• ie= Can be used to specify the character set. e.g. ie=UTF8.

• output= Output format (blank (default) is a standard webpage for user)
  • output=html Uses the old style Google Local page format from before it merged with Google Maps, with the small map and large sidebar.
  • output=js Outputs JavaScript object literals and function calls used by Google Maps, including encoded polyline data for driving directions, and stage information in HTML format.
  • output=kml Outputs a KML file containing information representing the current map. (works with Normal Searches, Directions and MyMaps)
  • output=nl Outputs a small KML file containing a NetworkLink wrapper linking to a URL from which Google Earth and Google Maps can obtain the information (only known to work with MyMaps).
  • output=embed Outputs HTML suitable for embedding in third party sites, only works with the presence of the encrypted s= param, presumably to stop arbitrary content being included.

• f= Controls the style of query form to be displayed.
  • f=d Displays the "directions" form (two input boxes: from, to).
  • f=l Displays the "local" form (two input boxes: what, where).
  • f=q (or no parameter) The default search form is displayed (single input).

• latlng= This is a weird one. It takes three numbers separated by commas. The first two numbers (presumably representing latitude and longitude multiplied by 1000000) are ignored. The third number seems to be a Google internal "Company ID" number for a particular business. E.g. latlng=0,0,14944637421527611642 represents Blackpool Community Church. Specifying this parameter performs a Google Search for pages that reference that business, and displays a tiny map. Other parameters, in particular q=, must have valid contents (but need not relate to the target business) for this to work.

• cid= Similar to latlng, but generating a different map size. It takes three numbers separated by commas. The first two numbers (presumably representing latitude and longitude multiplied by 1000000) are ignored. The third number seems to be a Google internal "Company ID" number for a particular business. E.g. cid=0,0,14944637421527611642 represents Blackpool Community Church. Specifying this parameter displays a large map of the identified company location. Other parameters, in particular q=, must have valid contents (but need not relate to the target business) for this to work.

• geocode= seems related to these too, doing something similar?? noticed mainly on embedded maps

• iwloc= Specifies where the infowindow will be displayed. In a business search iwloc=A to iwloc=J will open the info window over the corresponding business marker, and iwloc=near will place it over the big green arrow if that's currently displayed. iwloc=addr can be used on map search to explicitly request the info window to be open on the address, but that's the default anyway. Directions search supports iwloc=start, iwloc=end and iwloc=pause1 etc.

• iwd=1 Specifies that the infowindow displayed (iwloc=) will be a detailed (expanded) view.

• iwstate1=sscorrectthiscard Specifies the infowindow is in edit mode

• iwstate1=sscorrectthiscard:ssmovemarkercard The infowindow is in Move marker mode, with the marker bouncing and draggable.

• iwstate1=sscorrectthiscard:ssedithistorycard The infowindow is in View history mode, displaying a graphical list of marker moves.

• pw= Activates print mode and initiates printing. There seems to be a problem at the moment with pw=1, but using settings like pw=2 is OK.

• msa= Involved in My Maps processing. It does nothing without the "/ms" and "/ms" does nothing without the msa=.
  • msa=0 Used with msid= to show a particular My Map.
  • msa=b Activates the "My Maps" sidebar when used in conjunction with "maps.google.com/ms". (Possibly doesn't work anymore)
  • msa=1 Seems to just show the My Maps tab directly. (like msa=b used to)
  • msa=2 Jumps directly to create new My Map form.

• msid= Specifies a My Maps identifier. When used in conjunction with "maps.google.com/ms" and msa=0, the corresponding My Map is displayed.

• vp= The presence of this parameter causes maps.google.com to switch into Copyright Service mode. Instead of returning the html that draws a map, it returns information about the copyright ownership in Javascript format. The vp= parameter specifies the viewpoint (i.e. the centre of the map). Copyright Service only works when the spn= and z= parameters are also supplied, indicating the span and the zoom. Optional parameters are t=, which specifies the map type, and key= which specifies the API key of the site performing the request. E.g. http://maps.google.com/maps?spn=0.030372,0.068665&z=6&t=h&vp=53.859462,-3.038235