"My German Roots," the newsletter for the German Special Interest Group of the Alberta Genealogical Society Edmonton Branch published an article last month about our maps entitled "Where Can I Find My Family's Russian German Village of Origin? A Great Emerging Resource."
The article, written by John Althouse, goes into great detail about how to use the previous version of the map (see tutorial on how to use the new version, not too much different). The article walks you though finding a village, outlining what information is included, its value to genealogists. It includes many screenshots of the map and some of the aerial images of the target Volga village, Alexandertal, which, according to Althouse, happens to be one of his maternal (SLATTER) ancestral villages prior to the family's move to Schilling and who were originally in located in Messer.
I'm pleased to report that all the villages mentioned are accounted for on the map.
Check out the article, and if you have time the rest of the AGS Edmonton Branch and its German SIG, which publishes some very informative newsletters for genealogists.