Yahoo set to launch international maps?

Yahoo needs international mapping to be a serious competitor to Google Maps in the long run, and recently there have been a few things that hint that international support may be coming.

First, an interesting post by Yahoo Employee Alan Brown, who points out that last year Yahoo acquired a company that provides geocoding on an international level.

Second, more recently, someone noticed that the Yahoo geocoding API is sporadically returning a number for the precision. The number appears to be the most appropriate zoom level for the geocoded point. This could be looked at as a way to make the interface more generic for international support.

Whatever all this means, my guess is just to stay competitive Yahoo will be going international soon. The question is will they be taking all their nifty geocoding features that make a service like ours possible. To stand above the rest, I’d say its probably a good idea.