Preload Marker Images For Google Maps

I am using Google Maps V3 API to create a google map where the markers change their marker icons on mouseover. However i notice the icons flicker once the first time the user does

Solution 1:

I'm unsure if this works in every browser, but on modern browsers (FF 3.6+, IE8/9 (I think), Safari/Chrome), with cache enabled, simply adding the elements to the DOM loads them and caches them (i.e. put them on the page in a hidden div), so the next time they're requested, its from your cache, not the server, totally eliminating the flash.