My name is Geir Engdahl. I am a Norwegian guy born in ’83. Currently, I hold a master’s degree in applied mathematics. I’ve worked for Google as a software engineer for three years, and I’m currently working as an independent developer.
My interests range from running around and jumping over stuff (search for parkour to see what I’m talking about), to environmental and energy / resource scarcity issues, to science and computer science in particular. I’m passionate about math and computer science education, and I’m coaching the Norwegian team in the International Olympiad in Informatics.
To me, mathematics combined with the awesome power of the computer, is the ultimate tool. A sword that can cut through all kinds of problems where all else fails. Mathematics is the one discipline that will enhance your understanding of all others. To take one example of an unexpected application: Math can revolutionize advertising, making it more relevant to the user and more profitable to the advertiser. This is what I did while working for Google, developing the Conversion Optimizer for AdWords.
Bringing it all back together: I firmly believe that to prosper in the future, we need to think of resources differently. Eliminate waste. Optimize everything. Do more with less. This is the common theme in the projects I’m working on now. I also take on consulting and development projects for external clients. I thrive with projects that need mathematical optimization, world-class algorithms expertise and strong coding abilities. If it is an environmental project or involves maps, that’s even better. And if you want to change the world, I believe I can help.
Pingback: Optimize Your Trips | Code 4 Me University
Pingback: TSP Solver for Google Maps API | Code 4 Me University
Hi Geir,
Do you offer your Optimap as a service? My company is interested in using it to optimize routes for our business. Thank you in advance for your reply.
Ernest Purcell
Hi Geir,
Optimap seams not to be running any more (even pressing shift while reloading).
Did you shut it down?
Best regards,
Alex
Hi Geir,
I discover Optimap and the company I’m working for is truly interested on a professional use of your wonderful work.
I would appreciate a contact from your side, if interested, to discuss a cooperation as soon as possible.
Thank you!!!
Best regards!
Alfredo
Positioning in Google Top 5, that’s what I do and do it effectively. Organic Seo which uses a fully secure and complies with the guidelines of Google. I’m starting from the optimization of the website, or compress all of its elements that allow it without prejudice to the site.
http://pozycjonowanie-google.com/
Hi I was wondering how to add in the google function that detects when all the plot points have been loaded on the map after using the bulk locations options
google.maps.event.addListenerOnce(map, ’tilesloaded’, function(){
//this part runs when the mapobject is created and rendered
google.maps.event.addListenerOnce(map, ’tilesloaded’, function(){
//this part runs when the mapobject shown for the first time
});
}); ?
Hey,
Would like to use Optimap as a service.
Ping me if you are interested.
What happened ?? I’ve been using your mapping for years all of a sudden today a google ad appears, and it doesn’t seem to work !!
Mike
cavenderm@comcast.net
Hope I hear back !
I am so grateful for optimap multi route planner. Thank you so much for providing this service! I don’t like the new layout, but of course it still accomplishes the same results. It will take some time to get use to. I am wondering why you made the change in the layout.
Thank you very much for the optimap tool. I am using it and analyzing it for some months. It is a great tool for the optimization of Route. Apparently the most recent change made to the page has some problems.
For example.:
1. – When you create a route with the option of calculating the “Fastest Roundtrip” route, the result shown is correct, but when you perform a calculation again with the option “Fastest A-Z Trip” the application does not work and hangs. This happens with the three Calculate Route buttons.
2. – When you create a route with the option of calculating the route “Calculate in Order” The main marker does not show it.
Thanks.
rmoscat
I have noticed you don’t monetize your website, don’t waste your traffic,
you can earn extra cash every month because you’ve got high
quality content. If you want to know how to make extra $$$,
search for: Boorfe’s tips best adsense alternative
I just used your software for the first time today. THANK YOU for taking the time to create it. I just formatted a list that normally takes me 3 hours to set up in about 25 minutes, again Thank you.
It is urgent!!! Your Optimap page worked perfectly for me in Sofia, Bulgaria, when you were using Google Maps. Now you have changed the map to another provider. When I import my addresses now Optimap sends them on both sides of Black See instead in Sofia only. I am desperate. Please, return to the previous map version. See for yourself with my list of addresses:
????????, ?????, ??. ???????? 13
????????, ?????, ??. ???? ????? 4*
????????, ?????, ??. ?????? 63
????????, ?????, ??. ??????? 3*
????????, ?????, ??. ??????? 83*
????????, ?????, ??. ????? 14?
????????, ?????, ???. ???????????? ???? 247
????????, ?????, ???. ?????????? 278
????????, ?????, ??. ????. ?????? ??????? 22*
????????, ?????, ???. ?????? ?????? 1*
????????, ?????, ??. ??????????? ??? 251*
????????, ?????, ???. ?????? ???? 54
????????, ?????, ???. ?????????? ??????? 23*
Hi bro, bulk add address is not working in India. we have tried in all browsers (chrome,IE 11 and Firefox latest). Please help us.
Hi, all the functions (single address type, bulk add) out of order at me. Chrome, ffox, ie. Please help. Thx
Hi Geir! Would you be interested in allowing the purchase, non-exclusive, of your code for optimap?
I work for a company that has grown used to using your site for our day to day operations with about 80 users per day, and we’ll need a lot more than that as we grow.
We would be interested in hosting it ourselves for our own purposes.
Please let me know!
Hi! is there any way to use your optimap-script on my own server?
I would use this to route 60 + locations per day. Does anyone out there have a great alternative? One that can be exported to garmin. Please let me know. mdw2003@gmail.com
HELP!!!!!!!! Can you please please please please bring back Optimap?!! I use the site everyday for my job and now I’m lost. I tried Speedyroute as suggested, but the results are not anywhere as wonderful as Optimap. What can I do to help bring this back? I’ve spent hours yesterday and today trying new sites and signing up for free trials desperately looking for something simple, easy and effective that will plan my routes. It’s all too much. Please. I’m truly desperate. Nothing out there offers up to 100 stops with simple and free route planning. I love Optimap. PLEASE bring it back.
Hello, thank you for offering optimap for the longest time. Sometimes we do stuff not knowing how much we are helping others. I am trying to develop an app for work is this something you
Optimap was by far the best instrument available to me for routing multiple postcodes. If you want a subscriber just tell me the monthly fee.
Regards
Geir,
I believe I speak for all OptiMap users when I say THANK YOU for providing this for free for so many years. We have all become reliant on the BEST routing system on the web.
PLEASE, consider bringing it back as a paid subscription service. I believe most, if not all of us would be willing to pay to use it.
Thanks in advance for your consideration.
Hi,
I just want to clarify a few things regarding the shutdown of Optimap:
The main reason is that I am 150% busy in my current job as CTO of Cognite, which has grown from 0 to 100 employees in less than 2 years. There is no way I can keep supporting Optimap and Cognite and remain sane.
The cost of keeping the site online would be roughly $5000 per month. Offering it as a paid service would also require a lot of time adding authentication and payment services. It would also add a legal dimension, and require more support.
Migrating it to another solution is a massive undertaking, which I did attempt, so I know it is hard. Some of you may have noticed it running on OpenStreetmap. It was not a great success. I think Google’s maps are just better and more accurate than what is out there elsewhere. I believe with the current pricing of Google and alternative solutions, there is no way that you are going to get free routing software with support for many stops. What happened during the last 11 years when Optimap was running was basically a giant free lunch that is now over.
Geir
Thanks for clarifying. Great lunch.
all the best lad
Thanks for the free lunch Geir. Optimap was the best.
I wonder if your could do a Patreon? I would pledge nothing because I am a disgusting freeloader but others might.
Best luck in the future!
Great Service, I hate to see it go. Wish you the best! Nothing out there like even as a paid service.
Thank you, your site has saved me hours of work trying to optimize routes.
Hallo Mr. Engdahl.
I would like to ask about a Optimap. We are small companny, in Czech Republic. We would like to use your progam Optimap, for road planning. Our business is inly in Czech republic, so we do not need an Europe maps.
Is a possibility, to buy Optimap, even there are not actual maps? Use it in condition it´s now?
We do not need any update from Google maps.
Thank you for an answer
Vojt?ch Müller
I am so sad to see you close this site. It was the ONLY site that let me plan routes with many stops. I have not found a replacement yet. Google is wrong to do what they did. You were providing an excellent service.
When I started contracting 2 years ago, I used Optimap to route 10-50 addresses a day. Now that it is gone, I am lost. There is nothing that even comes close to the clean and simple interface, speed, and reliability of Optimap. You would think there would be… but there just isn’t. You were it, my friend. As much as you don’t want to admit it, you are probably the only person who could provide the world with such a service again.
You say you are partnered with Speedyroute… Ok. That site is hot garbage compared to what Optimap was. The map only loads halfway, and the route appears and disappears randomly. 30% of the addresses I entered came out just plain wrong. It’s unusable. At the very least, PLEASE work with the Speedyroute people to get their site looking like at least a shadow of what Optimap was.
All that being said, thank you for all your work on this. For what it’s worth, I would gladly pay for this service. It allowed me to do wonders for my clients, and without it I am severely hobbled.
PS if AAAAAANNNNNNYYYYOOOONNNNEEEEE has an alternative site to Optimap that provides similar results, PLEASE post it here. I’ve been burning the midnight oil trying to find something here and so far all I have is crap.
Hi all Used optimap everyday and like the rest of you was completely lost without it . But then I discovered that if you buy certain models of Garmin Nuvi sat navs that have the apps icon on the main screen you will find inside an app called trip planner . This lets you put in your postcodes and then optimises the rout for you and because you’ve already entered the post codes you don’t have to again it just takes you from stop to stop . I’ve been doing about 50 drops a day using it and works a treat . Got mine from eBay for £60 (best £60 I’ve ever spent) . You tube videos show you how to use it
Dear Mr. Engdahl,
Thank you very much for creating the Optimap progman. I have used it for many months to plan my sales trips to great success. I’m sad to learn that the program will be discontinued as it was the best free program that I have found on the internet. I wish you the best of luck with your future endeavors!
Optimap was EXACTLY what I needed to route ‘s my trips. It’s simplicity and accuracy could not be matched.
I am very sad it is not available now.
Is there ANY WAY your fans can fund you to get this back up?
Otherwise, is there ANY WAY to convert the server program to a PC program? I would pay for a fee for it!
Unfortunately, speedy route does not map my addresses properly and I cannot understand why. I follow their instructions, but many mapped points end up in states they do not belong. Someone I can contact?
I am in complete agreement. I would like to help fund keeping Optimap up or converting to PC program. I have been using your web based service for years now, almost since inception. Please help?????
email : fourlevel@gmail.com
I also used optimap for a few years. It was the best solution out there for mapping my sales day once streets and trips was no longer supported. I would gladly pay a subscription for the service. It is/was the best out there. I loved that I could even include the client names and it would always map them correctly. I’ve tried speedyroute and it does not come close. The addresses come up wrong and the export is worse. The routes aren’t even that good when I fix the addresses. Please, please, please, find a way to keep it going with Google maps. Could we start a go fund me? Anything?
I am another huge fan of optimap. I used it weekly to organize / plan and divide 15-40 stops into multiple delivery routes. I totally understand that it takes time and money to maintain but I think that there are plenty of us that would be happy to pay a subscription fee or membership fee to be able to have optimap back. I have been looking for something comparable and have been unsuccessful.
If anybody finds anything close please post it on here.
Please bring optimap back.
Allen
Hi,
1. The economics don’t add up. If I went from free site to collect payments, Google Maps would cost me even more (commercial subscription costing at least $15 000 per month). I did run a poll some time ago to find out how many users are willing to pay, and it is far from enough.
2. I have a full-time job as CTO in a company that has grown from 0 to 100 employees in 20 months. This takes up all my time and more (ask my wife or kid!). No way I have time to port the site to another provider than Google, maintain or add payment features, do support etc. It is a money-losing hobby that I no longer have time for.
3. Everyone complaining about inferior geocoding on other sites: Google’s geocoding is amazing. Quite possibly because they have cars driving around and taking pictures of every street in the world. Nobody else comes close. Google is in its full right to charge a lot of money for this, and they do. So other sites will also use inferior alternatives. The alternative would be you paying $150 per month instead of $15. They have done the math and it just doesn’t make sense to offer Google geocoding.
Dear Geir,
Your program was wonderful. I just found it 2 months ago and now i am shaking my head and wishing/hoping that you could figure out a way to monetize your amazing app!
Hopefully, you will figure out a way very soon!
Best regards, Rob
comgaskets@gmail.com
Thank you for the great program for many years.
It is good to hear that you are busy and doing well in your new role as CTO, husband and father.
I wish you the best of luck.
I have read the comments someone else has made about downloading from github and using your own API.
I have one of these from a so far unsuccessful Place Review project, so I will be trying to achieve this for our business to use again just for internal route planning. We only run it a couple of times a day, and so the pay per use API billing costs on that should not be too bad compared to a memeber of staffs time.
Are you open to offering the program to another with the time and desire to keep it running. I, too, agree this is the best software I’ve used to date. I didn’t realize there was such a cost to it. It seems there are many who would like to see it stay alive. If you’re not interested, that’s cool. Just wanted to ask.
I would pay $150 for Optimap monthly. It was by far the best option I have found to plan my routes. Speedy Route is not a good alternative. Can someone recommend something else, a bit more like what Optimap was?
Also looking for a new, reliable routing site or software. I LOVED and ENDEARED Optimap, goes to show though that you can’t really appreciate a thing until it is gone :-\
if anyone here looking for an alternative to optimap, or something close, mapquest is close but only allows 26 points, next is myrouteonline, its not free but its the close as you are going to get
gpsies.com/ can do multiple points but won’t calculate – so you have to manually link the places.
Here is an example:
https://picload.org/view/dcgidacr/example.jpg.html
optimap code is available on github if anyone is able to update it and run own server
got as far as below: (no coding knowledge)
download code : https://github.com/geirke/optimap
install xampp to run local server
load website
got new google api code
but not sure where to add it to code…. think something to do with javascript updating to V3
any help would be appreciated
thanks
Kerry
Hi all Used optimap everyday and like the rest of you was completely lost without it . But then I discovered that if you buy certain models of Garmin Nuvi sat navs that have the apps icon on the main screen you will find inside an app called trip planner . This lets you put in your postcodes and then optimises the rout for you and because you’ve already entered the post codes you don’t have to again it just takes you from stop to stop . I’ve been doing about 50 drops a day using it and works a treat . Got mine from eBay for £60 (best £60 I’ve ever spent) . You tube videos show you how to use it
Se puede ingresar direcciones como en Optimap y que las geolocalice??
Hi Geir,
A few things –
1. Thank you for Optimap for so many years, it was an amazing website.
2. If you don’t want to sell it on and have someone else try and make a go of it, that’s up to you but it is definitely a waste if you don’t.
3. If you want to put your name to speedy route at least assist them with –
– getting their addresses correct (some addresses in Australia just cannot be found)
– re-routing automatically once a change has been made (we can move the drops around but it does not then reroute itself like yours did so well)
– rounding the trips, their site is ok, but yours was superior at that.
I hope you get a chance to read this and try and help us poor desperate drivers who do pay and would pay if there is something similar to yours out there.
Would you consider selling it?
**SOLVED** lot s of steps not perfect but works
1. download code : https://github.com/geirke/optimap
2. download and install xampp – to run a local server
3. tick apache server on xampp control
4. register with google cloud services to get developer api code – needs credit card but wont’t charge
5. get unique api code
6. Unzip the downloaded code into xamp folder called htdocs (C:\xampp\htdocs)
7. from the downloaded files find file “index.php” open with notepad
8. use the find function and search work “key”
9. You will need to copy your google api key into the space where the old key is and save
10. use chrome browser and type address “C:\xampp\htdocs\optimap-master\index.php” – assuming you saved as default locations
good luck
Kerry
I could not find any place to install the new api key. Didnt see an old one in index.php. Can you clarify?
Same here 🙁 Index.php did not have a key line
optimap starts, but map is in develpoper mode and no adress is found always undefined reason
Hi Kerry, is there any chance you could send me a copy of your Index.php file? I can’t work out how to add in my API key
sorry step 10 should read “localhost/optimap-master/index.php”
Found the solution :
just put this into your index.php with your key
worked fine but now have miles instead of km and not the nice overview with the points / numbers in the map.
Map is still grey 🙁
Show me!!! I don’t see it!
Thats what you need to add
What did you add? I didn’t see anything?
A code line where you can add your key in it.
just google add api key it is a one line .
script sec then http maps key=your key this line must be added to the index.php then it works. Maps in Developer Mode now numbers of the adresses but all works fine
1
2
script src=”http://maps.google.com/maps?file=api&v=2&key=IHR_KEY”
type=”text/javascript”></script
i believe i got my api key correctly, and inputted the api key i got after signing up, and i still get this page cant load google maps correctly error
I am happy to pay. Your app was the best. nothing even close to.
Hi, I am using the widget for Dollar Index, Oil price, etc. and it has an old television test screen on the main window. The price digits seem OK. This happened when I upgraded my mac OS.
Hi,
I loved using Optimap, and am sad to see it disapear, and very disappointed that an equally good alternative cannot be found.
@Joe
I have the same problem with the Commodities dashboard widget. Eight commodities still chart OK (Gold, Silver, Euro in US$, L in US$, US$ in Yen, US$ in Sw Francs, US$ in Cdn$, and NASDAQ) but the others do not. I suspect the data feed from ino.com changed for some of the commodities.
Well I really liked studying it. This subject offered by you is very useful for accurate planning.