Helicopter view of your driving directions on Google Maps

Update Oct 3, 12:00 pm: In order to use 3D driving directions, you'll need to have the Google Earth plug-in installed on your computer.Getting directions is one of the most popular features on Google Maps, whether it be for driving, walking, biking or transit. Today, we are launching a new feature that allows you to bring your upcoming trip to life, by allowing you to preview your route in 3D.Let’s say you’re planning a road trip down the beautiful...

Read More

Refocused Design Evolution, Continued

In June we launched the start of a comprehensive visual redesign for Google Maps founded on three key principles: focus, elasticity, and effortlessness. This week we’re continuing to implement that philosophy by improving and evolving a few key features.Our new pinPerhaps the most notable change is an update to the styling and color of our iconic pins across all Google properties. This change reflects our interface’s recent design evolution, introducing...

Read More

Search Stories: Surfing for the Perfect Wave

(Cross posted from the Google Inside Search Blog)Searches can become stories. Some are inspiring, some change the way we see the world, and some just put a smile on our face. Today we continue our series of posts about people who have used Google to discover or do something extraordinary. Have a story? Share it. - Ed.I’ve surfed all my life. And every summer I spend a couple weeks with my family on a small island called Hornby just east of Vancouver Island. I always think that area would be paradise if only it had great surf. It turns out it does......

Read More

Welcome to the world’s largest intact forest: Canada’s boreal

Editor’s Note: Today's guest author is Steve Kallick, from the Pew Environment Group’s International Boreal Conservation Campaign. We are excited to support Pew in the development of this narrated tour and think that Google Earth is a great way to make Canada’s boreal forest accessible to the world.In just three minutes, you can take a non-stop, coast-to-coast Google Earth narrated tour of Earth’s “green halo:” the boreal forest. The Pew Environment...

Read More

Trying on the new Dynamic Views from Blogger

As you may have noticed, the Lat Long blog looks a lot different today. That’s because we—along with a few other Google blogs—are trying out a new set of Blogger templates called Dynamic Views.Launched today, Dynamic Views is a unique browsing experience that makes it easier and faster for readers to explore blogs in interactive ways. We’re using the Magazine view, but you can also preview this blog in any of the other six new views by using the view selection bar at the top left of the screen.We’re eager to hear what you think about the new Dynamic...

Read More

Google Earth Outreach launches in Canada

We are excited to announce the launch of the Google Earth Outreach program in Canada. To celebrate the Google Earth Outreach team is directly engaging the Canadian non-profit and aboriginal communities through a week of exciting workshops and activities in Vancouver, BC. The program has been successful in helping non-profits around the world bring their stories to life through the use of Google’s mapping tools. To date, the Google Earth Outreach team has facilitated the use of mapping tools to stop mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia,...

Read More

Google Earth 6.1 now available: New features make it easier than ever to explore your world

Today we are pleased to announce new features available in Google Earth. The Google Earth 6.1 update includes enhancements to make Google Earth easier than ever for both everyday users and business professionals.Easier to use My PlacesIf you’re like me, your growing collection of maps in the My Places panel is getting a bit unwieldy. Every time I find a great new map or upload a new GPS track, it gets a little harder to find things. With this release,...

Read More

The Philippines hosts a Summer of MapUps for disaster preparedness

This summer, a group of Filipino mapping enthusiasts organized an impressive series of Google MapUps throughout the Philippines. The events brought together Google Map Maker mappers across the country to map their communities in preparation of natural disasters. Located in the western Pacific typhoon belt, the Philippines is struck by an average of 20 tropical cyclones every year. As demonstrated by the 2009 Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma),...

Read More

South Sudan is now official on Google Maps

Following the Republic of South Sudan's recognition as the UN's 193rd Member State, we have updated Google Maps and Google Earth to reflect the new country borders.Satellite view of the Republic of South SudanGoogle -- along with the World Bank, UNOSAT, and RCMRD-- is also helping to create better maps of South Sudan by supporting communities who map schools, hospitals, roads, and more with Google Map Maker. The events kicked off in late April at...

Read More

+Snippets on Google Maps: if you can see it, you can share it

[Cross-posted from the Official Google Blog]We recently launched +snippets for users and publishers, making it easy to visit a webpage and then share it on Google+. We want to make sharing across Google just as easy, so today we're bringing +snippets to Google Maps.Suppose you’re planning a weekend trip to Napa. Your packing list probably includes driving directions, hotel information and a list of nearby wineries. Many of you visit Google Maps for...

Read More

Map Maker Turns to the Locals with the Regional Expert Reviewer Program

Necessity is indeed the mother of invention, as Google Map Maker has experienced time and again. Following a momentous 2009 launch in Eastern Europe, Map Maker mappers hit the ground running, particularly in Romania, and with each public map edit requiring reviewing, our internal reviewers could hardly keep up. This extreme mapping was a happy problem for Google, and in seeking a solution, we turned to the real experts: our local users. After a time...

Read More

Combatting Spammy Closed Listing Labels on Google Maps

Yesterday, the New York Times published a story about business listings on Google Maps that are incorrectly being labeled as closed as a result of spam. We thought it’d be helpful to share our view about this recent issue and directly assure business owners and Maps users that we’re actively working on a solution.Every year, millions of businesses open, close, move, change their hours, get a new website, or make other types of changes. Because we can’t be on the ground in every city and town, we enable our great community of users to let us know...

Read More

Google Earth Outreach trains environmental journalists in the Amazon

In July, my Google Earth Outreach teammate Sean Askay and I traveled from the Ecuadorian Andes all the way to the Amazon basin with a group of journalists who report on environmental issues impacting the Amazon region.We were there at the invitation of Internews’ Earth Journalism Network to train journalists on how to incorporate compelling geographic visualizations into their stories using Google’s mapping tools. Over 20 journalists and communications...

Read More

New 45° imagery available for 24 cities

This month’s update to 45° imagery in Google Maps includes coverage of more U.S. and international cities, particularly in Spain.For example, Girona, a city in the autonomous region of Catalonia and close to the French border, has many historical monuments in the city center. One of these monuments, Santa Maria Cathedral, features several different architectural styles because it was erected during a period of more than 400 years, beginning in the 14th century.View Larger MapAnother new city with 45° imagery is the city of Merida, the capital of...

Read More

Using Google Earth to hunt for treasure

For as long as I can remember my dad has had a real knack for doing puzzles, in particular cryptic crosswords. On the other hand, I don’t have a clue when it comes to puzzles. I just don’t seem to be able to get into that “figuring out puzzles” mindset. But my time may have come with the release of a new book The Great Global Treasure Hunt on Google Earth by Carlton Books.Filled with beautiful artwork, The Great Global Treasure Hunt allows you to...

Read More