Imagery Update: Week of November 28th

The winter and holiday seasons are quickly approaching but that hasn’t stopped the Google Earth and Maps Imagery Team from updating aerial and satellite imagery throughout the globe. Today, we’d like to share several interesting features identified in this latest release.The first example shown below is part of an aerial image acquired this past September of the ski slopes in Breckenridge, Colorado. The slopes have already accumulated several inches...

Read More

A new frontier for Google Maps: mapping the indoors

(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog)“Where am I?” and “What’s around me?” are two questions that cartographers, and Google Maps, strive to answer. With Google Maps’ “My Location” feature, which shows your location as a blue dot, you can see where you are on the map to avoid walking the wrong direction on city streets, or to get your bearings if you’re hiking an unfamiliar trail. Google Maps also displays additional details, such as places,...

Read More

Visualizing water and energy solutions in a warming world

Editor’s Note: Today’s guest author is Zachary Hurwitz from International Rivers, an environmental and human rights organization with staff in four continents, who has worked to protect rivers and the rights of communities that depend on them for over 25 years. International Rivers was the recipient of a Google Earth Outreach Developer Grant, funded through the Google Inc. Charitable Giving Fund at the Tides Foundation. We are excited to showcase...

Read More

Street View comes to beautiful Belgium

Belgium may be a small country but it’s big on culture with more than 300 castles, 40 UNESCO World Heritage sites, 200 museums, 500 types of beer and 2000 chocolate shops. Today we are opening up our beautiful sites to users all over the world as we launch the country at the centre of Europe on Street View.In the heart of the capital, Brussels, you can now take a virtual stroll around the famous Grand Place which houses the town hall, markets, cafes, museums and the magnificent flower carpet.View Larger MapGrand Place, BrusselsBelgium was one of...

Read More

Street View special collections: ski and snow edition

(Cross posted on the Official Google Blog)From the streets to the slopes, Street View in Google Maps recently updated its special collections to include a number of new ski resorts, so you can tour some of the world’s most beautiful ski terrain right from your browser. Whether you’re planning your annual trip to your favorite resort or hunting for an exciting new adventure, Street View can transport you to your desired destination. Tour a few of our favorite ski resorts below.First stop off the ski lift is the world famous Squaw Valley, in northern...

Read More

Finding the perfect home with Google Fusion Tables

Editor’s Note: This is a true story, but some of the details have been changed for privacy purposes.My husband and I were recently in the market for a new home. We worked with a realtor for a few months, looking at several houses every weekend. As we checked out each house, we tracked our thoughts about it in a Google spreadsheet, which included columns for the address, our pros and cons, individual ratings and the combined rating of the house.One...

Read More

Follow robotic wave gliders on a record setting Pacific crossing in Google Earth

Join a journey of discovery virtually in Google Earth, as Liquid Robotics launches four wave-powered robotic gliders to cross the Pacific ocean in their Pacific Crossing (PacX) Challenge Expedition. The wave gliders are attempting to set a new world record for the longest distance ever attempted by an unmanned vehicle and will be collecting data about the Pacific ocean for use by scientists and students back on dry land. These R2D2s of the sea will...

Read More

See your rated places and discover new ones directly on the map

(Cross-posted on the Google Places Blog)Since the My Places tab was released earlier this summer, you’ve been able to view all the places you’ve rated in one manageable list. This list is now being used to personalize your view of Google Maps, enabling you to visualize all the various places you’ve visited, loved, loathed, and might want to check out right on the map.Starting today, business labels for locations you’ve rated with Google Places will...

Read More

Map your military service for Veterans Day

Today is Veterans Day in the U.S., and we’re honoring this community by sharing relevant Google tools for veterans and families all over the world--you can learn more on the Google for Veterans and Families site. I specifically wanted to highlight a couple of these tools that enable people to map and tell their stories using Google Earth and Google Maps.Explore veteran tours in Google EarthFor Veterans Day we’re featuring several stories created...

Read More

Announcing the 2012 Google Model Your Town Competition

[Cross-posted from the SketchUp blog]Following the success of last year’s Google Model Your Town competition, today we're launching the second Google Model Your Town Competition. Model Your Town is about geo-modeling – making photo-textured models of real-life buildings that appear in Google Earth. The Model Your Town Competition is also a chance to celebrate your town by adding it to the 3D map. Of course, the USD$25,000 for a local school/district...

Read More

Getting to know you

Every week, we try to share a fun little something about Google Maps and Google Earth on our social channels to help you stay tuned in to the latest product announcements and provide tips on how to get the most out of your Maps and Earth experiences.But to make sure our posts are interesting and valuable to you, our readers, we thought it’d be useful to ask what you’d like to read, watch and share. Whether you're a user, developer or journalist, we want to know more about who you are and what you’d like to see from us. To collect your feedback,...

Read More

Get news, learn tips and join Hangouts on the Google Maps Google+ page

Just a few moments ago, the Google+ team introduced Pages to help you better get to know your favorite brands, businesses and organizations. But the exciting news doesn’t end there! Today, we’d like to welcome all fans of Google Maps to join us on Google+ by adding our new page to your circles.Here’s just some of the stuff you’ll find when you follow us on Google+:Product news and announcements. Stay up to date and share with friends. Hangouts with...

Read More

Share biking and walking directions with Custom Maps

Attention avid bikers and walking enthusiasts: You can now use your desktop to create a biking or walking itinerary using Custom Maps in Google Maps. You can choose to share these directions by allowing people to view your Custom Map and avoid the hassle of scribbling them down or printing them out. Additionally, you can access these stored directions from your phone with the Google Maps Android application. This provides a quick and easy way to...

Read More

Recap: Google Geo User Summit in Barcelona

Settled between the Catalan Coastal range and Mediterranean sea, the city of Barcelona is home to an array of culinary treasures, iconic architecture, endless museums and beaches, and the impressive FC Barcelona football stadium. The city’s distinctive mix of tradition and innovation thus proved the ideal host to the Google Geo User Summit Barcelona. From October 12th-14th, Google Map Maker, Google SketchUp and Building Maker, and Panoramio welcomed...

Read More

Connect with mapping enthusiasts in the Google Earth Community

Do you ever wonder what Europe’s light pollution looks like? You might be curious to tour the world’s mazes. Or maybe you have a school project to research all of New York City’s cemeteries? In the Google Earth Community, we’ve learned that if you can dream it up, you can map it.Map showing artificial night sky brightness in Europe, posted by member markdj in the Google Earth Community.Exploring the Google Earth Community’s discussion forums, you’ll...

Read More

A new way to get information about real-world places

(Cross-posted on the Inside Search blog.)I love eating out with my friends and trying new places, but one of the most difficult questions you can ask me is "Where do you want to eat?" Today, we’re making a few improvements to Google search that will make it a lot easier and faster to answer this question. For example, I mentioned to a friend that I’ll be visiting Boston, and he suggested that I check out a barbecue place called Redbones BBQ in Davis...

Read More

Take a walk in the park with Street View

(Cross posted to Official Google Blog) Whether you’re planning a trip to a park around the block or around the world, you’ll now find more parks showing up in Street View. Over the past year, the Street View team, equipped with the Street View trike, traveled to 22 different countries to photograph some of the world’s most beautiful and unique parks. Starting today, you can explore the couple hundred new special collections we’ve added by visiting our gallery.You can now tour High Line, which sits 30 feet in the air, over the bustling streets of...

Read More