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Google Maps Information
Google Maps is the conventional name of a free, web map server application and technology provided by Google at http://maps.google.com and as part of Google Local. It offers draggable street map and satellite images for the whole world, as well as a route planner and business locator for the U.S., Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, China, the UK and Ireland (city centres only). Since October 6, 2005, Google Maps is part of Google Local, though the core technology is still called Google Maps.
It is similar to but not the same as Google Earth, a standalone Windows program that offers enhanced globe-viewing features but is not easy to link to or integrate in web pages.
Features
Google Maps features a draggable map that can be zoomed in to show detailed street information. The user can control the map with the mouse or the arrow keys to move to the desired location. To allow for quick movement, the "+" and "-" keys can be used to control the zoom level. 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" to find restaurants serving waffles near the city. This can be used to find a wide variety of businesses, such as theatres, restaurants or 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.
The "link to this page" link on each Google Maps map puts a long URL on the clipboard which contains the latitude and longitude. The latitude and longitude can be used as input to NASA World Wind or TerraServer-USA, which in some cases has higher resolution imagery.
In late April 2005, Google added a Ride Finder feature to its maps, in which a person could locate a cab or shuttle in a major city in real-time. The person would have to hit the Update Position bar to find the vehicle's new location.
As of June 2005, Google Maps features road maps for the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
In mid July 2005, Google began Google Maps and Google Local services for Japan, including road maps.
In July 2005, in honor of the thirty-sixth anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing, Google Moon was launched, which featured a draggable map and satellite imagery of the Moon's surface, created with data from NASA satellite imagery. A full zoom-in will humorously make the Moon's surface resemble cheese.
Popularity
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 Google 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.
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.
Coverage details
The specific features of Google Maps available depend on the location of the world.
Maps, local business search, street-level search, and driving directions are fully functional for
- Canada
- China (only functional via bendi.google.com)
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Netherlands
- 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
Google Local Business Center for business owners to add listings to Google Maps is available in
- Canada
- China
- Japan
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
- United Kingdom
- United States
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Maps only are fully functional for
- African continent (street coverage – select major cities only)
- Andorra
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Eastern Europe/former Soviet Union states (highway coverage only)
- Finland
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Hungary
- Ireland
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Monaco
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Russia (street coverage – Moscow & St. Petersburg only)
- San Marino
- Slovakia
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey (street coverage – Istanbul, Ankara, and Bursa only)
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Satellite imagery of varying resolution is available worldwide.
Google's use of Google Maps
Google Local
Google integrates small-scale Google Maps views as part of its Local Search feature, which can find businesses of a certain category in a geographic area. Local Search is in turn available from Google Maps, based on the currently viewed area.
RideFinder
Google launched an experimental Google Maps-based tool called RideFinder, 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 cities, including Chicago and San Francisco on a Google Maps street map.
Google Moon
On July 20, 2005, in honor of the 36th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, Google took public domain imagery from NASA of the Moon, and integrated it into the Google Maps interface. By default this tool, with a reduced set of features, also displayed the points of landing of all Apollo spacecraft to land on the moon. This tool also included an Easter egg, displaying a Swiss cheese design at the highest zoom level. Google Moon, as it was called, was linked from a special commemorative version of the Google logo displayed at the top of the main Google search page for the duration of July 20 (UTC).
Rival Services
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