If you do not find the Frequently Asked Question you were looking for, please contact us at marketmaker@iastate.edu to submit your own.

Why do some searches take longer than others?
The searches are basically queries of a large database. The more results within a parameter, the longer it will take to retrieve them. So, for example, I want a map of all the grocery stores in a specific county. The number of grocery stores in a county could be extensive. This will take an extremely long time to view. The best way to avoid this is to narrow your search. Instead of looking in the entire county area “Zoom In” to an area that is smaller, such as the northern part of the county.

How can I get the roads to appear on the map?
Roads will appear as you zoom in to an area. The closer you zoom in, the more detailed the roads will be. This is very convenient for those who are identifying businesses and the easiest routes to get the product there.

Whenever I map demographic information (“Find A Market”), the legend is different, depending on the search. Why is that?
It is important for the user to know that MarketMaker is really a large database that pulls the information requested by the user. Depending on the number of results, the data is then separated into four or five “categories” that represent the legend.

When I try and map retailers over the demographic map, it takes a long time. How can I avoid this?
Usually the amount of time it takes to map depends on the amount of data in the selected map area. The more results there are in that area, the longer it will take to retrieve them. The best way to avoid this is to select a smaller area in the map by zooming in. (The more populated the area, the more results will be returned.) For example, I want a map of all the grocery stores in a specific county over the Foreign Born Eastern Europe map. The number of grocery stores in a county could be extensive. This will take an extremely long time to view. Instead of looking in the entire county area, “Zoom In” to an area that is smaller with a high concentration of Foreign Born Eastern European population. This should expedite the results. If the problem still continues, please contact marketmaker@iastate.edu so we can resolve the issue immediately.

I'm having trouble getting everything to function correctly on this site. What's wrong?
If functionality problems exist, try using a different browser. If you use Netscape V8 or newer, you can change the rendering engine for a site to assist in viewing pages using Internet Explorer. Go to http://browser.netscape.com/ns8/help/nav_help.jsp#nav_swapping for directions on how to do this. For FireFox users, go to https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1419 for an add-on to view pages created for Internet Explorer.