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Although there's nothing preventing you from linking to Google's mapping JavaScript API and referencing the library directly from your views, jumping between Ruby/Rails syntax and JavaScript can quickly become a tedious affair. The YM4R/GM plugin remedies this issue nicely, abstracting the API calls through Ruby's familiar object-oriented syntax. With it you can do everything from render simple maps to build complex maps complete with custom markers, information windows, and clusters for facilitating the rendering of large numbers of markers.