LinkedIn Groups and Google Maps integration

Question

Has anyone seen an implementation of Google Maps using LinkedIn group information?

Specifically I would like to plot the location of members within a group as pins on a Google Map.

Any help or guidance would be great.

Thanks.

Answer 1

If you are able to get the location of your LinkedIn group members, you can geocode their addresses with the Google Maps HTTP Geocoding API as follows:

Simple CSV:

http://maps.google.com/maps/geo?q=Oxford+Street,+London&output=csv&sensor=false

More Complex XML:

http://maps.google.com/maps/geo?q=Oxford+Street,+London&output=xml&sensor=false

Simply change the "q" parameter with the address.

You will receive the Latitude and Longitude of each address through geocoding. Then it is simply a matter of putting the markers on the map in the browser through JavaScript:

map.addOverlay(new GMarker(new GLatLng(GEOCODED_LAT, GEOCODED_LON)));

Answer 2

Thanks Daniel. I'm familiar with Google Maps but it is the LinkedIn feed side that I'm unfamiliar with.

Is there a way to get the location of group members via a feed of some sort? Assuming I was the group owner.

Answer 3

According to the LinkedIn Developer API, a request to a users profile will return:

<person>
  ...
  <location>
    <name>
    <country>
      <code>
    </country>
  </location>
  ...
</person>

Which you should then be able to Geocode into the Lat/Long points.

It all really depends on whether you can get a list of people in a group. Apparently there's not much support for groups API yet.