Google Maps and Label Readability

In Google Maps & Label Readability 41Latitude explores the question: "Why Do Google Maps’s City Labels Seem Much More ‘Readable’ Than Those of Its Competitors?"

TechCrunch summed it up nicely: "The primary difference seems to be the way the city labels are placed and weighted. The low-contrast background and various levels of white outline to the type make larger cities pop, and looser rules on where the city label is relative to its dot allow for better spacing between items. And there is apparently a sort of “halo” around larger cities that suppresses labeling of smaller items, the better to highlight the big cities and routes on the map."