As reported by ThomasB on the OmTalk-forum, Google has finally started Google Maps for Europe. The new data-material is already online at maps.google.co.uk and will make those users happy who are irritated by the competitions overburdened Java-3D-applets. It is interesting to see that there are also available data for the German/European version of Google Local. It seems that Google wants to have a piece of the local search pie.