55 Facts About Google Maps

Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google.

Google Maps offers an API that allows maps to be embedded on third-party websites, and offers a locator for businesses and other organizations in numerous countries around the world.

However, crowdsourced contributions to Google Maps were not discontinued as the company announced those features would be transferred to the Google Local Guides program.

Google Maps' satellite view is a "top-down" or bird's-eye view; most of the high-resolution imagery of cities is aerial photography taken from aircraft flying at 800 to 1, 500 feet, while most other imagery is from satellites.

Google Maps previously used a variant of the Mercator projection, and therefore could not accurately show areas around the poles.

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In May 2017, the app was reported to have 2 billion users on Android, along with several other Google Maps services including YouTube, Chrome, Gmail, Search, and Google Maps Play.

In September 2004, Google Maps acquired ZipDash, a company that provided realtime traffic analysis.

Launch of Google Maps was first announced on the Google Blog on February 8, 2005.

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.

On September 23, 2008, coinciding with the announcement of the first commercial Android device, Google announced that a Google Maps app had been released for its Android operating system.

In October 2009, Google replaced Tele Atlas as their primary supplier of geospatial data in the US version of Maps and used their own data.

In June 2012, Google Maps started mapping the UK's rivers and canals in partnership with the Canal and River Trust.

Google Maps has stated that it would update the program during the year to allow users to plan trips which include locks, bridges and towpaths along the 2, 000 miles of river paths in the UK.

In December 2012, the Google Maps application was separately made available in the App Store, after Apple removed it from its default installation of the mobile operating system version iOS 6 in September 2012.

On June 27, 2016, Google Maps rolled out new satellite imagery worldwide sourced from Landsat 8, comprising over 700 trillion pixels of new data.

Google Maps declined the offer, as it was unwilling to accept restrictions on reducing the quality around locations the South Korean Government felt were sensitive.

On October 16, 2017, Google Maps was updated with accessible imagery of several planets and moons such as Titan, Mercury, and Venus, as well as direct access to imagery of the Moon and Mars.

In May 2018, Google Maps announced major changes to the API structure starting June 11, 2018.

In January 2019, Google Maps added speed trap and speed camera alerts as reported by other users.

On October 17, 2019, Google Maps was updated to include incident reporting, resembling a functionality in Waze which was acquired by Google in 2013.

On September 23, 2020, Google announced a COVID-19 Layer update for Google maps, which is designed to offer a seven-day average data of the total COVID-19-positive cases per 100, 000 people in the area selected on the map.

In January 2021, Google Maps announced that it would be launching a new feature displaying COVID-19 vaccination sites.

In January 2021 Google Maps announced updates to the route planner that would accommodate drivers of electric vehicles.

In June 2022, Google Maps added a layer displaying air quality for certain countries.

Google Maps provides a route planner, allowing users to find available directions through driving, public transportation, walking, or biking.

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Google Maps has partnered globally with over 800 public transportation providers to adopt GTFS, making the data available to third parties.

In 2007, Google Maps began offering traffic data as a colored overlay on top of roads and motorways to represent the speed of vehicles on particular roads.

Google Maps has stated that the speed and location information it collects to calculate traffic conditions is anonymous.

On May 25, 2007, Google released Google Street View, a feature of Google Maps providing 360° panoramic street-level views of various locations.

In July 2009, Google Maps began mapping college campuses and surrounding paths and trails.

Since then, Google Maps has blurred faces and license plates through automated facial recognition.

In late 2014, Google Maps launched Google Maps Underwater Street View, including 2, 300 kilometres of the Australian Great Barrier Reef in 3D.

In December 2009, Google Maps introduced a new view consisting of 45° angle aerial imagery, offering a "bird's-eye view" of cities.

Google Maps has staff in India who check and correct listings remotely as well as support businesses with issues.

Google Maps has teams on the ground in most countries, that validate physical addresses in person.

In mid-August 2020 Google Maps made it more convenient for business owners to edit their business profile directly from search, simply by typing the word My business or their company name.

Google Maps can be manipulated by businesses which are not physically located in the area in which they record a listing.

In March 2011, indoor maps were added to Google Maps, giving users the ability to navigate themselves within buildings such as airports, museums, shopping malls, big-box stores, universities, transit stations, and other public spaces.

Google Maps encourages owners of public facilities to submit floor plans of their buildings in order to add them to the service.

My Maps is a feature in Google Maps launched in April 2007 that enables users to create custom maps for personal use or sharing.

In October 2011, Google announced MapsGL, a WebGL version of Maps with better renderings and smoother transitions.

Google Maps has either purchased local map data from established companies, or has entered into lease agreements to use copyrighted map data.

Over 1, 000, 000 web sites use the Google Maps API, making it the most heavily used web application development API.

Google Maps API was free for commercial use, provided that the site on which it is being used is publicly accessible and did not charge for access, and was not generating more than 25, 000 map accesses a day.

Google Maps Latitude was a feature that let users share their physical locations with other people.

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In November 2016, Google Maps announced the discontinuation of Google Maps Map Maker as of March 2017.

Google Maps is available as a mobile app for the Android and iOS mobile operating systems.

However, at launch, Apple Google Maps received significant criticism from users due to inaccuracies, errors and bugs.

In January 2017, Google added a feature exclusively to Android that will, in some U S cities, indicate the level of difficulty in finding available parking spots, and on both Android and iOS, the app can, as of an April 2017 update, remember where users parked.

In December 2017, Google Maps added a new two-wheeler mode to its Android app, designed for users in India, allowing for more accessibility in traffic conditions.

In March 2021, Google Maps added a feature in which users can draw missing roads.

Google Maps Go, a version of the app designed for lower-end devices, was released in beta in January 2018.

At the time of the ANSTO complaint, Google had colored over some areas for security, such as the rooftop of the White House and several other Washington, D C buildings.

Google Maps has since updated its data which it found to be incorrect.

On January 27, 2014, documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA and the GCHQ intercepted Google Maps queries made on smartphones, and used them to locate the users making these queries.