I can’t count the number of times I’ve wanted to do this and wondered if it were even possible. Well, it seems it wasn’t — until now.

Now you can embed Google Maps in Flash applications thanks to the Google Maps Flash API. HT to Google LatLong via Journerdism.

I’m kind of surprised this took so long.

Apparently with the API you can build Google Maps with ActionScript instead of JavaScript. This will be great for streamlining those projects that call for an interactive map as well as other interactive elements. Of course you could have always abandoned Flash for more HTML/CSS and JavaScript. The functionality would be the same and would certainly be more accessible to average computers. Maybe that’s why the Google Flash API took so long.

But it is always good to have options. Many newsrooms aren’t structured to allow constant fiddling with the backend from anyone who has the fancy. That’s where Flash and Google Maps come in handy. And now they can work together.