It’s been in development for a while, but version 2 of the Google Maps API was officially released today. Besides technical improvements such as a smaller JavaScript codebase, Google has lifted the page view limits and has promised 90 days’ warning before their advertising starts appearing in Google Maps mashups.

And speaking of ads and Google, it was reported last week that ads had come to Google Maps for real (see previous entries: 1, 2, 3), but only when searching for a related product or service. And not just ads, but ads with images in them — and possibly even more interactivity in the future.