When in Rome: New Street View imagery of historic sites in Italy and France

[Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog] We’ve been busy pedaling the Street View trike around the nooks and crannies of storied sites in Europe, including palaces, monuments and castles, so you can explore them in Google Maps with Street View.Starting today, you can view some of the most historic and architecturally significant landmarks in Italy and France, including UNESCO sites in Rome, the center of Florence and stunning chateaux in the...

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New imagery of Japan after the earthquake

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog, Google.org Blog and Public Policy Blog)It’s now the third week after the devastating 9.0-magnitude earthquake that struck northeastern Japan. Aid organizations have been hard at work and cities are starting to show signs of recovery, but the damage is beyond imagination and there are still thousands of people at shelters grappling with daily challenges. As a native of Sendai city, I’m still speechless seeing...

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Meet the Map Maker Advocates

Today, we’re proud to introduce you to our Google Map Maker Advocates! Google Map Maker is an online tool that enables individuals to add detailed information to the maps of many countries and regions for everyone to view and use in Google Maps. Having a healthy community of people contributing their local knowledge to the maps is essential, and these nearly 50 mappers representing regions from around the world have earned the status of “Map...

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Mapping Hotpot Ratings in Austin, Texas, to Discover the Popular Spots

(Cross-posted on the Hotpot Blog.)For a lot of attendees at SXSW this month, including myself, it was our first trip to Austin, Texas. We’ve all heard stories about the great restaurants and bars found throughout the city, but I didn’t know where to start looking.Luckily for us, on February 11, Google launched a campaign in Austin to promote Hotpot, a new tool to help you find the places you’ll love. Rate and review the places you know using Hotpot, and Google will personalize your search results based on your preferences and recommendations from...

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Amsterdam adds another dimension in Google Earth

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting the beautiful city of Amsterdam for yourself, I’m happy to say that Google Earth now offers the next best thing: Amsterdam in 3D.Recently, several thousand buildings have been added to the capital city of the Netherlands, Amsterdam. Using Google Maps with Earth view or Google Earth’s “3D Buildings” layer, you can now travel the city’s charming streets and canals to experience its rich architectural...

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Imagery Update (and Kansas Basketball)

We’re in the middle of college basketball Madness here in the U.S. and the best is yet to come. Tomorrow night, the Kansas Jayhawks will play the Richmond Spiders in a Sweet Sixteen match-up at the Alamodome in Texas. I’ll proudly admit that I’m a Kansas fan and hoping to see my home team make it to the Finals. But I’m not the only college hoops fan at Google. In fact, our Geo team put together a special page that shows an up-to-date schedule with...

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Marine debris is everyone’s problem

Marine debris is a global problem affecting everything from the environment to the economy; from fishing and navigation to human health and safety; from the tiniest coral polyps to giant blue whales. Marine debris also comes in many forms, from a cigarette butt to a 4,000-pound derelict fishing net. To help show the breadth of this problem, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has created a KML tour for Google Earth. Download...

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New Maps domains in 11 countries in Middle East & North Africa

[Cross-posted from the Google Arabia Blog - in Arabic]With the growing numbers of Internet users in the region, we noticed that a huge number of search queries have a geographic component. So, we’ve been working on providing rich, local geographic data to offer you the best local experience possible and today we are announcing the launch of local Google Maps domains for 11 countries across the region.Now, Google Maps will be easily accessible from...

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Explore the world with updated apps for iPhone: Check in with Latitude and use Places in 30 languages

(Cross-posted from the Google Mobile Blog.) We’re happy to announce updates for two iPhone apps that help you connect the people you care about with the places you love: Google Latitude with check-ins and Google Places in 30 languages.Check in with Google Latitude for iPhoneAfter adding check-ins to Google Latitude for Android-powered devices, we’re happy to announce that you can now start checking in at places with the updated Latitude app...

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Take a festive tour for St. Patrick’s Day

People all over the world today are celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day in many different ways. You might walk in a local parade, spot a leprechaun, get pinched for not wearing green, bake some corned beef and cabbage, or even dare to drink a green pint.For me, this holiday is not just about enjoying a feast with friends (even though I love baking the soda bread) – it’s also about going back to my Irish family heritage. Since Google Maps with Street...

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A Street View showcase

Since Street View first launched in Google Maps, it’s grown from five U.S. cities to locations on all seven continents, and we’ve been able to visit some beautiful and historic places around the world. To share some of our favorite imagery with you, and also give you a behind-the-scenes look at Street View technology, we’ve updated our Street View site.Site homepage, featuring Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town, South AfricaIn addition...

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Baseline to baseline, we’ve got the basketball games covered

[Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog]Do you hear the dribble on the court and the chanting of the fans? Following an action-packed week of buzzer beaters, the 2011 NCAA® Championship here in the U.S. promises to be as exciting as ever.As a college hoops fan, I often wish I could experience the games sitting in the arenas—and I’m sure I’m not alone. This year, our college basketball tournament map lets you get as close as you can to the games...

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Post-earthquake images of Japan

In response to the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan, we’ve worked with our satellite imagery providers to get the latest available data of the areas affected most.To view this high-resolution imagery, courtesy of our partners at GeoEye, download this KML file and explore it in Google Earth. You can also explore the imagery with Google Maps, or have a look at this Picasa album of before-and-after shots. Here’s a sample:Before...

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Women get together to map Kenya

[Cross-posted on the Google Africa Blog]Many people enjoy using Google Maps to locate and learn about places around the world. Others, however, relish taking a more active role: improving Google Maps by adding and editing roads, parks, businesses, and more through Google Map Maker. In some cases, these citizen mappers take a day to collaboratively focus on a specific area, as more than 60 women did recently in Nairobi, Kenya. Together, they planned...

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A fairytale marriage: Google Earth and London in 3D

[Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog]On April 29, the eyes of the world will focus on London for the royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, and the U.K. will deliver a royal celebration that will capture the imagination of a global audience. We’re doing our part too: following last week's announcement of new aerial imagery for London, we’re expanding our 3D imagery of central London’s buildings and trees in Google Earth—including...

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Check in, gain status, and unlock offers with Google Latitude in Austin

Do you have a go-to restaurant you love – a place where everybody knows your name? If you’ve been checking in there from Google Latitude in Google Maps for Android, we want to help you get a little extra love right back. After launching check-ins for Latitude last month, today we’re rolling out our first check-in offers at more than 60 great places in Austin, Texas.Checking in from Google Latitude lets you easily share the places you go with friends,...

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Visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in Street View

We’ve added many historic sites to Street View to let you explore these places online, and now we’ve included Street View imagery of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial,  also known as the “Atomic Bomb Dome.” On August 6, 1945 at 8:15am, the first nuclear device to be used in warfare exploded almost directly above this building. The annihilated structure became an iconic symbol of the bomb’s devastation, and despite rebuilding the rest of the city,...

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Find electric vehicle charging stations on Google Maps

[Cross-posted from the Google.org Blog]At Google, we’ve been supporting environmentally-friendly cars through initiatives such as RechargeIT, an effort to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles. As consumers embrace electric vehicles, we’ve also been adding information to Google Maps over the past few months to help users find charging stations. Just search on Google Maps for “ev charging station” plus the appropriate area, for example, “ev...

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100 years of celebrating women

[Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog]As today’s doodle shows, we’re very excited to celebrate the centenary of International Women’s Day. Late last month we teamed up with Women for Women International to announce the Join me on the Bridge campaign, a celebration of the achievements of women taking place on bridges around the world. Since then almost 300 bridge events in more than 50 countries have been added to the map. I’ve found it inspiring...

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Post-earthquake images of Christchurch, New Zealand

We’ve been closely following the news about the damage from the magnitude 6.3 earthquake on February 22. We recently published new satellite imagery over the affected area to show an aerial view of the impact. To view this high-resolution imagery, courtesy of our partners at GeoEye, download this KML and explore it in Google Earth. You can also have a look at this Picasa album of before and after shots. Here’s an example of what you’ll see:Before...

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You’ve got better things to do than wait in traffic

[Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog and the Google Mobile Blog]Ever been stuck in traffic, only to find out you’d have been better off going a bit out of your way to take a less congested route? If you’re like me, you probably hear the traffic report telling you what you already know: traffic is bad on the road you’re currently on, and you should have taken another. It doesn’t need to be this way, and we want to help. So we’re happy to announce...

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Tweet your Hotpot ratings in Google Maps for Android

(Cross-posted from the Google Mobile Blog.)Whether it’s Google Places with Hotpot or Google Latitude, we’re working on helping you connect the people you care about with places you love. Now, when you’re rating your dinner spot using Google Maps for Android, you can share your review with even more people by posting it to Twitter.Post your ratings and reviews to TwitterWhen you rate and review places like restaurants or cafes from Google Places,...

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