I used Google’s Spreadsheet Mapper template, which generates both a .kmz file that can be opened in Google Earth and a link to a live Google Maps page with the relevant addresses plotted. I did have an issue getting the custom “Spreadsheet Mapper” menu to appear in the template, which I resolved by following the instructions on this page:
…click the “Tools” menu, and select “Script Editor”. When the script editor opens, you should see a script called “Copy of SM3.0″, which is about 460 lines long. … Force the menu creation by clicking the “Run” menu and selecting “addSpreadsheetMapperMenu”. Then go back to the spreadsheet and see if the menu has appeared.
Although the Spreadsheet Mapper template purportedly works with a list of addresses, the instructions say it works much better if the addresses are first geocoded (i.e., if an address database is used to first look up the points’ lat/long coordinates). I used the Mapbox Geo for Google Docs toolkit to do this geocoding, which worked quite well using Yahoo’s geocoding service. (The instructions say you need a Yahoo API key for this, but it worked fine for me without one — perhaps due to the small number of queries I submitted.)
I am a PhD candidate in Business Economics at Harvard. I'm interested in normative economics, tax policy, and bicycle touring.