Thanks for your feedback Guy. Can you let me know what device you are using please? On a desktop computer the route planner advert should only take up a relatively small part of the width of the screen. If you are using a tablet then the route planner needs to be used in landscape format.
Alternatively, you can use our mobile route planner on a tablet (click the Mobile Site link at the bottom of the page) - this version of the route planner is designed for use on smaller screens (hence has no adverts) and has a user interface which is more suited to touch screen devices.
We are also hoping to add a low cost ad-free subscription option in the new few months as well.
John
Using a Macbook Air John.
I think the Macbook Air has a default screen resolution of 1440 x 900. The advert panel is only 190 pixels wide, so it shouldn't take up much space - just 13% of the width of the screen. It would be worth checking what screen resolution you have in your settings - if it is set much lower then increasing it would give you a much biegger map area. You can do this under System Preferences, Displays, Scaled.
John
Try using Cmd + minus to shrink the browser window's elements, which should increase the screen area rendered on that smaller screen area.