So Google Maps DOESN'T directly support KMZ files as they had in the past. That functionality was removed earlier this year.
But I've discovered a number of solutions:
1) As mentioned above, the Gmap4 website is fantastic. Very powerful map engine. And it still supports KMZ files / overlay maps.
2) I ran into some problems that appear to be related to the speed at which the JPEG images would be read out of the KMZ files. Found a great workaround:
Within a KML file, instead of referring to embedded JPEG files within a KMZ file, simply post the JPEG images on a server and use an absolute reference to the JPEG files in the KML file. In essence, you build a KMZ file to get the proper KML language and lat-long bounds of the overlay, then you deconstruct the KMZ file and use the resulting KML file and images that were in the KMZ file.
A picture is worth a thousand words:
http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/78581604/maps/blue_hills.kml
That KML file is hosted in the public section of my Dropbox. If you open / edit that KML file, you see that it refers to 24 JPEG images hosted in the Dropbox folder - not in a KMZ file.
So you get the benefits of a KMZ overlay map, with all the great features of the Gmap4 map engine, plus it renders much faster than opening a KMZ file.
The link above works great on an iPhone - and by turning "location on" in the MENU of the Gmap4 webpage, your location is displayed in real time....kind of like a GPSr....uh oh...did the Gmap4 website just put another nail in the handheld device coffin?
But I've discovered a number of solutions:
1) As mentioned above, the Gmap4 website is fantastic. Very powerful map engine. And it still supports KMZ files / overlay maps.
2) I ran into some problems that appear to be related to the speed at which the JPEG images would be read out of the KMZ files. Found a great workaround:
Within a KML file, instead of referring to embedded JPEG files within a KMZ file, simply post the JPEG images on a server and use an absolute reference to the JPEG files in the KML file. In essence, you build a KMZ file to get the proper KML language and lat-long bounds of the overlay, then you deconstruct the KMZ file and use the resulting KML file and images that were in the KMZ file.
A picture is worth a thousand words:
http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?q=https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/78581604/maps/blue_hills.kml
That KML file is hosted in the public section of my Dropbox. If you open / edit that KML file, you see that it refers to 24 JPEG images hosted in the Dropbox folder - not in a KMZ file.
So you get the benefits of a KMZ overlay map, with all the great features of the Gmap4 map engine, plus it renders much faster than opening a KMZ file.
The link above works great on an iPhone - and by turning "location on" in the MENU of the Gmap4 webpage, your location is displayed in real time....kind of like a GPSr....uh oh...did the Gmap4 website just put another nail in the handheld device coffin?