I find Google Maps a very convenient way to quickly embed maps into my sites. However, I have lately discovered some alarming statistics using YSlow on a site I am building.
HTTP Requests:
Without Google Map - 13
With Google Map - 47
Page Size With Empty Cache:
Without Google Map - 375KB
With Google Map - 821KB
It appears that the presence of a basic embedded Google map on the homepage more than doubles my download size and nearly quadruples the number of HTTP requests! (Some of the Google map downloads are gzipped, which I think YSlow doesn’t take into account in the final figure - this might help the weight issue some but doesn’t change the number of HTTP requests - 34 requests for a single page element is staggering to me.)
First, am I reading these figures right, and is there any way to mitigate the crushing load of an embedded Google Map? The only thing I can think of offhand is to replace the map with a static preview image that brings the real map up in an AJAX lightbox when clicked.
Second, if these figures are accurate, how can any webmaster, anywhere, put up with such a millstone around the neck of his site?