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Yahoo has updated its U.S.-based mapping service to offer driving directions for 34 European countries.

Yahoo has uupgraded is U.S.-based Yahoo Maps service to offer driving directions for 34 European countries, in a move which lets U.S. Yahoo Maps users plan routes overseas. The upgrade is a move to give Yahoo's mapping product traction against rival services from Google, Microsoft, and AOL's Mapquest (which have been major players in the online mapping marketplace) and increase the appeal of Yahoo's mapping services to business and local merchants, who increasingly look to the advertising opportunities offered by online mapping and mobile mapping services.

In addition to offering driving directions, Yahoo says it will be adding additional landmarks to its overall mapping service and increasing the number of visual cues and indicators it uses to help people find their way in unfamiliar locales.

Yahoo faces an uphill battle with its mapping services; recent figures from comScore gave Yahoo about 29.4 million U.S. users during 2006, a net decline of 5 percent. In contrast, AOL's Mapquest service got 49.2 million U.S. users, while Google jumped to 30.8 million U.S. users (which represented an overall increase of almost 50 percent for the year).