GOOGLE Inc. has updated and made available online thousands of maps of the Philippines, including street directions all over, the leading Internet research company said yesterday.

The maps were made available at Google Maps after considering the edits made by Filipinos on Google Map Maker, an application that allows users to edit Google Maps data, the company said in a statement.

Google Map Maker was launched in the Philippines in October 2008 to allow locals to contribute to the building and updating of online map data for the Philippines.

?Now millions of Google Maps users around the world can see more accurate and updated online maps of the Philippines including new roads, points of interests, and regions all over the country,? Google said.

The Internet giant says that since the launch of Google Map Maker in the Philippines, hundreds of users have contributed tens of thousands of edits, reflecting the Filipinos? enthusiasm for sharing their knowledge of their neighborhoods with the rest of the Internet community.

The editors who helped included civil engineers, business executives, programmers, entrepreneurs and students.

?Through a moderation and verification process, most of these edits, which include street-level data, landmark tags and business establishments, can now be seen on Google Maps,? Google said.

It says the Philippines was one of the most challenging places to map because of the diverse topography of its more than 7,000 islands and the dearth of accurate map data available online.

?Because of the collaborative efforts of local map enthusiasts, we are beginning to see the physical face of the Philippines getting clearer over time for the global community to see,? said Derek Callow, Google?s head of marketing in Southeast Asia.

?This is a great start but know that there is much more to do, so we encourage you to join your fellow Pinoys and contribute to Google Map Maker to give the Philippines an accurate virtual country map to be proud of.? Roderick T. dela Cruz