Findbyclick.com - Find the Nearest Starbucks

Want to find your nearest Starbucks (other than the one right on your corner)? Findbyclick is a Google Maps mashup that aims to map Starbucks, Tim Hortons, radio stations and beaches from across the world. Currently focused on the caffeine fixes, the site has mapped 14,000 Starbucks and Tim Hortons coffee shops from around the world. Much of the mapping is submitted by users, and any content submitted by a user can be for you personally or for the community as a whole. Findbyclick can also be found on your mobile phone. Their small Java application uses the phone's GPS to fetch nearby, relevant content from the website and displays it on your phone.

The FindByClick project began in 2001. Its goal was to build an information system to manage anything and everything with a location located anywhere on the surface of the earth. Basically, FindByClick exists to foster and promote a community of people interested in sharing location-based information for the mutual benefit of all. For some, FindByClick is a way to find things to consume (as a product) or experience (as an event, attraction, etc.) For others, it is a way to share memorable places: a great place to eat, a hot vacation destination, or a special place to watch the sunset. FindByClick is a place where you get to tell the story.

Findbyclick is part of the next generation of "online maps," that helps internet users find what they want to buy, using innovative mapping products for both web browser and the mobile platforms. As mobile technology becomes more and more ubiquitous, this is the kind of information we will all be seeking.

When are they going to offer more mapped products than Starbucks and Tim Hortons (oh, and what is Tim Horton) ? Does Starbucks not map their own locations on their homepage? How much of this is done by the community and how much is done by the creators of the site? How do they make a profit?