Google Maps

Google Maps (for a time named Google Local) is a free web mapping service application and technology provided by Google that powers many map-based services including the Google Maps website, Google Ride Finder and embedded maps on third-party websites via the Google Maps API. It offers street maps, a route planner, and an urban business locator for numerous countries around the world.

File:Google Maps.png

Screenshot of Google Maps showing a route from Toronto to Ottawa on the 400-Series highways.

File:Penang Google Map.png

Penang island and Seberang Prai on the mainland as seen on Google Maps ^[1]

A related product is Google Earth, a standalone Mac, Windows and Linux program that offers enhanced globe-viewing features.

Features

Google Maps features a map that can be navigated by dragging the mouse, or using the mouse wheel to zoom in (mouse wheel up) or out (mouse wheel down) to show detailed street information. Users may enter an address, intersection or general area to quickly find it on the map.

Search results can be restricted to a certain area, thanks to Google Local. For example, someone can enter a query such as "Waffles in Ottawa"[1] to find restaurants serving waffles near the city. This can be used to find a wide variety of businesses, such as theatres, restaurants and hotels.

Like many other map services, Google Maps allows for the creation of driving directions. It gives the user a step-by-step list of how to get to their destination, along with an estimate of the time required to reach it and the distance between the two locations.

Google Maps offers four viewing modes by default: Map (Street map views), Satellite (satellite and high-resolution aerial photographs), Hybrid (Street maps overlaid on satellite and high-resolution aerial photographs) and the feature introduced May 30, 2007 Street View (ground level 360 degree view of certain streets).

The "link to this page" link on each Google Maps map targets a URL which can be used to find the ___location on the map at a later time. The latitude and longitude can be used as input to NASA World Wind or TerraServer-USA, which in some cases have higher-resolution imagery.

Satellite view

File:Stadium.PNG

Screenshot of Google Maps (satellite) showing Monster Park in San Francisco, CA

Google Maps provides high-resolution satellite images for most urban areas in Canada and the United States (including Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands) as well as parts of New Zealand, Australia, Egypt, France, Germany, Iran, Iceland, Italy, Iraq, Japan, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Kuwait, Mexico, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and many other countries. Google Maps also covers the cities of Moscow, Istanbul, and also most of India.

All the images shown in Google Maps' satellite mode are at least a year old and in some places date back to 2001. Various governments have complained about the potential for terrorists to use the satellite images in planning attacks.^{[citation needed]} Google has blurred some areas for security (mostly in the United States), including the U.S. Naval Observatory area (where the official residence of the Vice President is located), and until recently, the United States Capitol and the White House (which formerly featured erased housetop). Other well-known government installations are visible including Area 51 in the Nevada desert.

With the introduction of an easily pannable and searchable mapping and satellite imagery tool, Google's mapping engine prompted a surge of interest in satellite imagery. Sites such as Google Sightseeing and Virtual Globetrotting were established which feature satellite images of interesting natural and man-made landmarks, including such novelties as "large type" writing visible in the imagery, as well as famous stadiums and unique earth formations.

Although Google uses the word "satellite", some of the high-resolution imagery is aerial photography rather than satellite imagery.^[2]

Implementation

Like other Google web applications, a large amount of JavaScript was used to create Google Maps. As the user drags the map, the grid squares are downloaded from the server and displayed to the user. When a user searches for a business, the ___location is pin-pointed with a red pin, which is actually a transparent PNG placed over the map. The technique of providing greater user-interactivity by performing asynchronous network requests with Javascript and XML has recently become known as Ajax. Specifically, Google Maps was built using the AjaXSLT framework.

The GIS (map - short for Geographic Information System) data used in Google Maps are provided by Tele Atlas and NAVTEQ,^[3] while the small patches of high-resolution satellite imagery are largely provided by DigitalGlobe and its QuickBird satellite, with some imagery also from government sources. The main global imagery base called NaturalVue was derived from Landsat 7 imagery by MDA Federal (formerly Earth Satellite Corporation). This global image base provides the essential foundation for the entire application.

The underlying technology used in both Google and Yahoo! maps is available from deCarta (formerly Telcontar).^[4]

Extensibility and customization

File:Chicagocrime.jpg

Chicagocrime.org, developed by Adrian Holovaty, was among the first and most popular^[5] Google Maps mashups.

As the Google Maps code is almost entirely JavaScript and XML, some end-users reverse-engineered the tool and produced client-side scripts and server-side hooks which allowed a user or website to introduce expanded or customized features into the Google Maps interface.

Using the core engine and the map/satellite images hosted by Google, such tools can introduce custom ___location icons, ___location coordinates and metadata, and even custom map image sources into the Google Maps interface. Some of the more well-known of these "Google Maps Hacks" include tools that display locations of Craigslist rental properties,^[6] student apartment rentals,^[7][8] and local map Chicago crime data^[9] (or check Misdaadkaart.nl showing crimes of one entire country^[10]). The script-insertion tool Greasemonkey provides a large number of client-side scripts to customize Google Maps data, and the mygmaps.com website provides an interface for easily adding your own set of locations and viewing them on Google Maps.

Combined with photo sharing websites such as Flickr, a phenomenon called "memory maps" emerged. Using copies of the Keyhole satellite photos of their home towns or other favorite places, the users take advantage of image annotation features to provide personal histories and information regarding particular points of the area.

Google Maps API

The Google Maps API was created by Google to facilitate developers integrating Google Maps into their web sites, with their own data points. It is a free service, that currently does not contain ads, but Google states in their terms of use^[11] that they reserve the right to display ads in the future.

By using the Google Maps API you can embed the full Google Maps on an external web site (minus driving directions and KML). Start by creating an API Key,^[12] it will be bound to the web site and directory you enter when creating the key. Creating your own map interface involves adding the Google JavaScript code to your page, and then using Javascript functions to add points to the map.

When the API first launched it lacked the ability to geocode addresses, requiring you to manually add points in (latitude, longitude) format. This has since been rectified.

At the same time as the release of the Google Maps API, Yahoo! released their own Maps API.^[13] Both were released to coincide with the O'Reilly Web 2.0 Conference. Yahoo! Maps lacks international support, but included a geocoder in the first release.

As of October 2006, Google Gadgets' Google maps implementation is much easier to use with just the need of one line of script. The drawback is that it is not as customizable as the full API.

In late 2006, Yahoo began a campaign to upgrade their maps, to compete better with Google Local and other online map companies. Several of the maps used in the survey were similar to Google maps. The online survey is here.

Google Maps for Mobile

In late 2006, Google introduced a Java applet called Google Maps for Mobile, which runs on any Java based phone or mobile device. Most if not all web based features are available from within the app. (in-depth review)

Development history until recent issues

Google Maps was first announced on the Google Blog on February 8, 2005 [2] and was located at http://maps.google.com/. It originally only supported users of Internet Explorer and Mozilla web browsers, but support for Opera and Safari was added on February 25, 2005. Currently (July 1, 2006) Internet Explorer 6.0+, Firefox 0.8+, Safari 1.2.4+, Netscape 7.1+, Mozilla 1.4+, and Opera 8.02+ are supported (see Google Maps Help). It was in beta for 6 months before becoming part of Google Local on October 6, 2005.

In early April 2005, an alternate view was activated to show Satellite images of the area displayed. In late April 2005, Google created Google Ride Finder using Google Maps. In late June 2005, Google released the Extensibility and customization. In mid July 2005, Google began Google Maps and Google Local services for Japan, including road maps. On July 22 2005, Google released "Hybrid View". Together with this change, the satellite image data was converted from plate carrée to Mercator projection, which makes for a less distorted image in the temperate climes latitudes. In July 2005, in honor of the thirty-sixth anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing, Google Moon was launched. In September 2005, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Google Maps quickly updated its satellite imagery of New Orleans to allow users to view the extent of the flooding in various parts of that city. As of January 2 2006, Google Maps features road maps for the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, and certain cities in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Coverage of the area around Turin was added in time for the 2006 Winter Olympics. On January 23 2006, Google Maps was updated to use the same satellite image database as Google Earth. On March 12 2006, Google Mars[14] was launched, which features a draggable map and satellite imagery of the planet Mars. In late April 2006, Google Local was merged into the main Google Maps site. On April 3 2006, version 2 of the Maps API was released. On June 11 2006, Google added geocoding capabilities to the API, satisfying what it called the most requested feature for this service. On June 14 2006, Google Maps for Enterprise was officially launched. As a commercial service, it features intranet and advertisement-free implementations. Beginning in February 2007, buildings and subway stops are displayed in Google Maps "map view" for New York City, Washington, D.C., London, San Francisco, and some other cities.[15] On February 28 2007, Google Traffic info was officially launched to automatically include real-time traffic flow conditions to the maps of 30 major cities of the United States. On May 29 2007, Google driving directions support was added to the Google Maps API.

Coverage details

The specific features of Google Maps available depend on the ___location of the world.[16] Maps, local business search, street-level search, and driving directions are fully functional for Australia Belgium Canada China (beta via ditu.google.com) France Germany Netherlands Italy Spain United Kingdom (local search only functional via maps.google.co.uk) United States Maps, local business search, and street-level search are fully functional for Japan Google Local Business Center for business owners to add listings to Google Maps is available in Australia Canada China Japan France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom United States (is currently also the only country with street view)

Maps only are fully functional for African continent (street coverage – select major cities only) Andorra Austria Belgium Belarus (highway coverage only) Brazil (street coverage - major cities and select other areas; highway coverage elsewhere) Croatia (street coverage - major cities; highway coverage elsewhere) Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland Gibraltar Greece (street coverage for most cities, highway coverage elsewhere) Hong Kong Hungary India (street coverage for most cities, highway coverage elsewhere) Ireland Latvia (street coverage - cities, highway coverage elsewhere) Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Moldova (highway coverage only) Monaco New Zealand Norway Poland Portugal Russia (street coverage – major cities, highway coverage elsewhere) San Marino Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Turkey (street names in Istanbul, Ankara, and Bursa only, street alignments shown in cities, highway coverage elsewhere) Ukraine (highway coverage only)

Satellite imagery of varying resolution is available worldwide.

Google's use of Google Maps

The main Google Maps site includes a local search feature, finding businesses of a certain category in a geographic area.

Google Ditu

Google Ditu (谷歌地图 lit. "Google Map") was released to the public on February 9, 2007, and replaced the old Google Bendi (谷歌本地 lit. "Google Local"). This is the Chinese localized Google Maps and Google Local services only cover China.

There are some differences in frontier alignments between Google Ditu and Google Maps. On Google Maps, sections of the Chinese border with India, Pakistan and Tajikistan are shown with dotted lines, indicating areas or frontiers in dispute. However, Google Ditu shows the Chinese frontier strictly according to Chinese claims with no "dotted lines" anywhere. For example the area now administered by India called Arunchal Pradesh (referred to as "South Tibet" by Chinese official sources) is shown inside the Chinese frontier by Google Ditu. Google Ditu also shows Taiwan and the surrounding islands as part of China.

Google Mars

File:Mars Infrared.png

Google Mars

Google Mars provides a visible imagery view, like Google Moon, as well as infrared imagery and shaded relief (elevation). Users can toggle between the elevation, visible, and infrared data, in the same manner as switching between map, satellite, and hybrid modes of Google Maps. In collaboration with NASA scientists at Arizona State University, Google has provided the public with data collected from two NASA Mars missions, Mars Global Surveyor and 2001 Mars Odyssey.^[17] At present, you cannot use the Google Earth desktop client to access the data, but the feature is in development.

It is currently not known whether or not Google Mars will become a stand-alone program.

Some people have taken the initiative to create low resolution Google Earth desktop client maps for Mars like this one

Google Moon

File:Google-moon.png

Google Moon

In honor of the 36th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing (July 20, 2005), Google took public ___domain imagery from NASA of the Moon, and integrated it into the Google Maps interface, and created the tool called Google Moon.^[18] By default this tool, with a reduced set of features, also displays the points of landing of all Apollo spacecraft to land on the Moon. This tool also includes an easter egg, displaying a Swiss cheese design at the highest zoom level. Google Moon, as it is called, was linked from a special commemorative version of the Google logo displayed at the top of the main Google search page for July 20 (UTC).

Google Ride Finder

File:Ride finder ss.png

Google Ride Finder

Google launched an experimental Google Maps-based tool called Ride Finder [3], tapping into in-car GPS units for a selection of participating taxi and limousine services. The tool displays the current ___location of all supported vehicles of the participating services in major US cities, including Chicago and San Francisco on a Google Maps street map.

Google Transit

In December 2005, Google launched Google Transit[4]. This is a web application (listed in Google Labs), that plans a trip using public transportation options. Google Transit launched with support for Portland, Oregon. Information for Eugene, Oregon; Honolulu, Hawaii; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Seattle, Washington; and Tampa, Florida was added on September 27, 2006.^[19], with more added since. The service calculates route, transit time and cost, and can compare the trip to one using a car.

Google My Maps

In April 2007, My Maps was a new feature added to Google's local search maps [5]. My Maps lets users create their own map by positioning markers, polylines and polygons onto a map. The interface is a straightforward overlay on the map. A set of 84 pre-designed markers is available, ranging from bars and restaurants to webcam and earthquake symbols. Polyline and Polygon colour, width and opacity are selectable. Maps created using My Maps can be saved for later viewing and can be marked as private or shared.

Each element added to a My Map has an editable tag. This tag can contain text, rich text or HTML. Embeddable video and other content can be included within the HTML tag.

Upon the launch of My Maps there was no facility to embed the created maps into a webpage or blog. A few independent websites have now produced tools to let users embed maps and add further functionality to their maps, eg, [6].

Google Street View

On May 25 2007, Google released Street View, a new feature of Google Maps which provides 3D panoramic street-level views of New York City, San Francisco, Miami, Denver, Las Vegas, and their surrounding metropolitan areas. This feature has raised some privacy concerns, with views found to show men leaving strip clubs, protesters at an abortion clinic, sunbathers in bikinis, and other activities.^[20] Google maintains that the photos were taken from public property. Before launching the service, Google removed photos of domestic violence shelters, and allows users to flag inappropriate or sensitive imagery for Google to review and remove.^[21]

Copyright

Google Maps Terms and Conditions[7] state that usage of material from Google Maps is regulated by Google Terms of Service[8] and some additional restrictions. Terms and Conditions, among others, state:

For individual users, Google Maps [...] is made available for your personal, non-commercial use only. For business users, Google Maps is made available for your internal use only and may not be commercially redistributed [...][9]

Criticism

See also: Satellite images censored by Google Maps

Street map overlays, in some areas, may not match up precisely with the corresponding satellite images. The street data may be entirely erroneous, or simply out of date:

The biggest challenge is the currency of data, the authenticity of data," said [Google Earth representative] Brian [McLendon]. In other words: The main complaints the Google guys get are "that's not my house" and "that's not my car." Google Maps satellite images are not in real time; they are several years old.[10]

Some users have also been frustrated by the fact that, when simply browsing maps rather than obtaining specific driving directions, freeway exit numbers are never displayed, as they are in many other mapping services. Google has recently rectified this problem.

Google Maps has gained most acclaim by web developers. GIS professionals however, tend to regard Google Maps as a rather simplistic viewing tool compared to the features offered by standalone GIS applications.

There is also some disappointment among developers that the potential of Google's geocoding technology is limited by legal restrictions in some countries for web application development, notably the UK, where postcodes cannot be easily translated into latitudes and longitudes like Zip codes in the US. This is due to the crown copyright over this geographical data. Some sites have managed to circumvent this problem by purchasing their own postcode data and combining this with Google Maps.

In March 2007, satellite imagery on Google Maps showing post-Hurricane Katrina damage in the U.S. state of Louisiana was replaced with images from before the storm. This replacement was not made on Google Earth, which still uses post-Katrina imagery.^[22]

Restrictions have been placed on Google Maps through the apparent censoring of locations deemed potential security threats. These locations are fully listed on Satellite images censored by Google Maps.

Google Street View has also gained a significant amount of controversy in the days following its release; privacy concerns have erupted due to the uncensored nature of its panoramic photographs.^[23]

Popular culture

• In the SNL Digital Short Lazy Sunday starring Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell, the two comedians rap about a trip to the movies and mention "Google Maps is the best", "True dat", and "Double True" in a writing scheme similar to that of Google. This was in comparison to Yahoo! Maps and Mapquest.
• In the Simpsons episode "Marge Gamer", Marge used Google Maps to view her house from above. Unlike Google Maps, the satellite view is shown live and the URL that Marge used was www.google.com instead of maps.google.com.
• In the South Park episode "The Snuke", Stan suggests the Counter Terrorist Unit-like staffers search Google Maps instead of Mapquest because it has live traffic.

Trivia

• As a joke, Google Maps will provide directions when a clearly impossible route between North America and Europe (for example, between New York and London) is desired; however, one of the steps is "Swim across the Atlantic Ocean", with a travel time (29 days, 0 hours) and distance (3462 miles/5,572 km) calculated accordingly, between Le Havre in France and Boston in America. However, trips across the Pacific Ocean will return errors.
• The longest route currently known thus obtained is 15289 miles (24605km) from Zabaykalsk, Chita Oblast, Russia to Overland Dr, Unalaska, AK with coordinate input. [11] Note that we cannot go in the other direction. Also, this route is possible because the Alaska Marine Highway is considered part of the US National Highway System, even though it is a ship-based ferry service.
• Also in Google Moon, cheese surface can be found by zooming the camera to the maximum.

See also

WikiMapia (A project aimed at "describing the whole planet earth". It is an Internet resource combining Google Maps and a "wiki" system.) List of Google services and tools NASA World Wind TerraServer-USA Google Earth Google Virtual Earth Placeopedia Mobile GMaps Mashup Web mapping

--Szayat 08:31, 4 June 2007 (UTC)===Comparable services=== Ask.com Maps Géoportail (A French rival offering detailed satellite pictures of French territories) Map24 MapQuest Multimap.com Terralink International Windows Live Local (Microsoft's mapping service with road maps and aerial/satellite imagery) TerraServer-USA (Public ___domain (older than 5 years old) satellite imagery via Microsoft servers) Virtual Earth (The original Microsoft map service) Yahoo! Maps

References

1. http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Georgetown,+Malaysia&spn=0.312132,0.515654&t=k&hl=en
2. Google Earth FAQ (Google Earth and Google Maps use the same imagery)
3. http://blumenthals.com/blog/?p=75#comments
4. http://www.decarta.com/
5. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=832264
6. http://www.housingmaps.com/
7. http://www.gooffcampus.com/
8. http://www.ratemyapartments.com
9. http://www.chicagocrime.org/
10. http://www.misdaadkaart.nl/
11. "Google Maps API - Terms of use".
12. "Google Maps API key".
13. "Yahoo! Maps API".
14. http://mars.google.com/
15. "Google Maps adds subway stops, building outlines to cities". CNET.
16. http://maps.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=16634
17. http://www.google.com/mars/about.html
18. http://moon.google.com
19. "Happy trails with Google Transit".
20. MacDonald, Calum (June 4, 2007). "Google's Street View site raises alarm over privacy". The Herald.
21. Mills, Elinor (June 3, 2007). "Google's street-level maps raising privacy concerns". USA Today.
22. "House panel: Why did Google 'airbrush history?'". Associated Press. 2007-04-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
23. "The Google 'ick' factor". Associated Press. 2007-06-01.

External links

Google Maps Mobile phone version Google Moon Google Earth Google Mars Google Maps API Google Maps discussion websites Google Maps Mania, blog tracking websites, ideas and tools influenced by Google Maps Google Maps Google group Google Maps API Google group

Examples of web tools employing Google Maps Cell Phone Reception and Tower Search, graphical cell phone reception & tower locator compiled from the FCC's antenna registration database (US Only). Incidentlog.com, real-time, historic archive of police, fire, and 911 incidents for major U.S. cities. Google Maps Route Planner, clickable arbitrary-point, driving direction generator. BrokerFilter.com, Find a business broker visually via Google Maps. MyMapsPlus.com, Embed maps created using Google 'My Maps' into a website or blog. qsense.net, Amazon book race using Google Map. ZeeMaps Collaboratively create a Google Map with your own markers, and publish it on your website or blog. Travel Books on Map Anywhere you navigate on Google Map, check out a travel guide book or local maps. ClubFly Find the right Gay Bar or Club with Google Maps, directions, reviews, ratings, tags, and tips. LaudonTech View PDF maps and other GIS data via Google Maps. VisitSweden Map of Sweden featuring top attractions. GymPost Map of gyms and other fitness centers in the U.S. and Canada. Websites collecting Google Maps aerial views List of images compiled by Wikipedians Google Sightseeing Showcase site: interesting views Sightseeing with Google Satellite Maps Over 8000 US & international sites Virtual Globetrotting Archival site: interesting views