Maps are great for getting around, but online maps could be a lot better. So Google decided to make dynamic, interactive maps that are draggable — no clicking and waiting for graphics to reload each time you want to view the adjacent parts of a map. Want to be able to type in the name of a region or neighborhood and see any part of it as easily as with a regular street map? Now you can with Google Local.

Since these maps are draggable, you can use your mouse or the directional arrows to pan left, right, up and down to see areas that are hidden offscreen. You can also use the slider to zoom in and zoom out.

It's like having a huge map you can scroll around in.

Use Google Local to search within an area or neighborhood. It works like this: Say you want to find free wifi hotspots. Type in "free wifi" and the zip code, and the free hotspots appear at various locations on your map, with phone numbers for each location appearing on the right side of the page. Click on the link for a location and it gives you the name, address and phone number that goes with it, with links offering you directions to and from it.

If you are looking at an area on the map and want to locate a business, say a pizza place, in that area - just enter "pizza" in the search box and we will search around the center of the map - you don't need to enter a location.

Want to see what your target location looks like in real life? Check out our satellite view, which gives you access to satellite and aerial images of your locations that you can zoom in, zoom out, or pan in any direction. (You won’t experience any long reload times when you drag images in the satellite view, either.) To access this view, click "Satellite" at the top right corner of the Google Local page. You can also choose the hybrid view, which superimposes map data–including streets, street names, and landmarks–over satellite images.

Type in a starting and a destination address - Google Local plots the route for you, displaying it visually on the map itself, together with step-by-step directions for getting there (or back from there).

When you click on one of these steps, you see a floating bubble with a magnified view of the area mentioned in the directions. (Note the "Map", "Satellite" and "Hybrid" links at the top of this bubble)

You also have the option to type search terms into a single search box to get local search results and driving directions. Since some users preferred separate search boxes for searching different things, that option is included as well. They both work.

For example, typing "great sushi in New York" will show you great sushi restaurants located in New York, and typing "great sushi" in the What box and "New York" in the Where box should get you the same results. Typing "San Antonio to Dallas" gets you directions from San Antonio to Dallas.

Keyboard shortcuts are great, and Google Local has a bunch of them. For instance, you can...

• use the arrow keys to pan left, right, up and down
• the page up, page down, home and end keys let you pan out even wider
• the plus (+) key lets you zoom in and the minus key (-) is for zooming out.