The best of the blog

Posted by Carter Maslan, Director of Product Management, Google Maps

Since the start of Google Lat Long back in May, we've had fun keeping you updated on all the exciting new developments in the geo world -- from product launches and innovative user-created content to the evolution of the geoweb in general. As the year comes to a close, we thought we'd take a moment to look back at some of the greatest moments in news and notes by the Google Earth and Maps teams.

Street View
Since the launch of Street View in May, our post introducing the service remained one the top five most read posts consistently throughout the year. And "street view" was one the most common search keywords. So just as we did earlier this month in announcing 8 new Street View cities, we'll be sure to keep you posted on new city rollouts.

Google Earth Outreach
We heralded the arrival of this exciting new program for non-profits with a post that pointed to video footage of our kick-off event at our New York office. The video featuring an appearance by Jane Goodall was viewed over 22,000 times.

My Maps and Disaster Relief
When the My Maps tab was added to Google Maps earlier this year, we were eagerly anticipating all the cool and creative custom maps folks would be coming up with. However, we were positively floored to find the incredible maps made to aid areas in need. From flood maps created by "citizen journalists" and by BBC Berkshire to the San Diego fire maps and the Google Earth layer of Southern California imagery, the astonishing number of views pointed to new ways to help.

Sky in Google Earth
Another top post of the year, our note introducing the addition of a new Sky view in Google Earth, caught the attention of many Lat Long readers. Google Earth aficionados are able to zoom in on distant galaxies and explore constellations and supernova explosions from the comfort of their computer screens. A list of great tips on how to use Sky in Google Earth for educational purposes followed, and you can expect more updates in the new year.

YouTube videos in Google Earth
Ever watched a funny, intriguing, or outrageous YouTube video and wondered where it came from? Well, we have too. That's why we were so excited to announce the addition of a new YouTube layer in Google Earth. Videos geotagged in YouTube are included in this browseable layer, making it easy to view clips associated with a location of your choice.

Maps Mania!
2007 saw the addition of a number of great new features in Google Maps, perhaps too numerous to count. Early on in the year, the creation of the My Maps tab and the addition of countless Mapplets enabled just about anyone to create their own mashups. Throughout the year, searching for accurate and helpful directions got a whole lot easier with the launch of draggable directions and the ability to read and write user reviews of businesses, as well as edit address markers. Finally, mapmakers enjoyed the addition of cool new Maps functionalities towards the end of the year, including the ability to both collaborate on customized maps and embed them wherever you see fit, as you might a YouTube video.

As you can see, this year's been a busy one. We're all looking forward to a few days of rest and holiday cheer. And with that, we must bid adieu -- happy holidays and a wonderful new year from all of us at Google Lat Long! Stay tuned for more geo news and notes in 2008, and don't forget to track Santa!

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A worldwide celebration

Posted by Qiushuang (Autumn) Zhang, Software Engineer

As a member of the Maps team, I'm constantly impressed with the creative and meaningful ways people are using our mapping tools. My heart was warmed this morning when I read this post on the Official Google Blog. Readers are invited to add to a map created by the blog team and encouraged to add their personal holiday stories and traditions, punctuated with videos and photos.

Add a video of your kids squealing as they tear through wrapping paper, or pictures of the holiday morning you spent tobogganing with the family. Paste in your holiday wish list and direct your family members to it. Whatever you decide to do, just don't forget to take a peek at the other placemarks across the map. It's a fantastic time of year to celebrate the world around us.


View Larger Map

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Mapping at the speed of light

Posted by Kate Hurowitz, Secret Santa

Just the other day I was perusing the many fantastic customized maps people around the world have created using tools in the My Maps tab when I came across a map that made my face light up. As a child, I loved going on car rides with my family during the holidays, cruising through surrounding neighborhoods and checking out all the beautiful lights and decorations sprinkled throughout the area. That's why when I came across this map pinpointing the locations of holiday light displays put together by The Ledger, a newspaper in Florida, I was filled with glee!

The Ledger's map has markers spread throughout Polk County, just outside of Tampa, describing light displays in the area in detail. They've made their map open for collaboration and are inviting viewers to add placemarks of their own. So if you're in the area and are particularly proud of your holiday decorations, feel free to add them to the map. Just log into your Google account and hit "Edit."

And if you're not in Polk County, I encourage you to make a similar map for your area. Click on My Maps in Google Maps and use the tools in the upper left-hand corner to design a holiday map of your own. I wish this sort of technology had been around when I was a kid -- playing tour guide for my family with a detailed holiday display map might have made the season all the merrier.

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Where in the world is... (Answers)

Posted by Matt Manolides, GIS Specialist

Great detective work, everyone. As always I am very impressed at the speed with which the blogosphere finds these updates. Here's a list of answers to the clues, as well as a more complete listing of updates.

1) A young boy living in this town designed the Alaska state flag 32 years prior to Alaska
gaining statehood.
-- 13 year old Benny Benson designed the current Alaska state flag while living in Seward, AK.

2) The incredible ruins of an old medieval castle, believed damaged during the Swedish
invasion of 1655, are now visible in Google Earth.
-- Ogrodzieniec, Poland

















3) On July 3, 1810, this city declared independence from Spain.
-- Santiago de Cali declared independence from Spain 17 days before the national revolt in Bogata. It wasn't until 1819 that Colombia won its freedom.

4) This city's metropolitan area is the most populous in the world, with over 35 million people.
-- Despite a national declining population, the greater Tokyo area has held this title since the 70's.

5) This city, known as the City of Peace for hosting many peace conferences, is a popular
tourist destination.
-- Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Check out the amazing Panoramio photos people have taken of this resort hot spot.

6) The oldest Polish cathedral, burial site of many famous Polish leaders, is now high res.
-- The Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul in Poznan, was first constructed in the second half of the 10th century.

7) This Jersey city is now high res.
-- I said Jersey, not New Jersey. ;) Saint Helier, the capitol of Jersey (a British Crown Dependency located off coast of Normandy) is now high res.

8) Lawrence of Arabia and Cleopatra were both shot at this famous studio.
-- Atlas Studios in Ouarzazate, Morocco.














9) This city is also Ukraine's largest port.
-- Odesa, Ukraine

10) Though completely destroyed in an 1868 fire, this gold rush town was completely
restored by the government of British Columbia to act as a tourist attraction.
-- Barkerville, British Columbia
















11) This was the final port of call for the Titanic before it's ill-fated transatlantic journey.
-- Cobh, Ireland, where the Titanic picked up most of it's third-class passengers.

12) Bach, 38 at the time, was appointed the cantor for St Thomas' Church in this city
-- Leipzig, Germany

13) This deep-water port was constructed in the middle of a bay and is connected to the
mainland by the third longest bridge in the world.
-- You can view the incredible infrastructure development at the Yangshan deep-water port outside of Shanghai.











14) The element Hafnium is named after this city's Latin name.
-- Hafnium was named after Copenhagen's Latin name: Hafnia.

15) The picturesque port in this city has been painted many times over, and helped inspire
the Impressionist movement.
-- The port of Honfleur, France was painted by the likes of Gustave Gourbet, Claude Monet, and Johan Jongkind.

16) Famous as the site where Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral landed in Brazil, this
city is now a tourist destination.
-- Pedro Álvares Cabral, thinking he had landed on an Island, originally named Porto Seguro The Island of the True Cross.

17) The imagery above the headquarters of my favorite search engine has been upgraded!
-- The Googleplex in Mountain View, California!















Here's a more complete list of imagery updates in this data push:
New high resolution:
Americas:
- Canada: Significant amount of British Columbia
- USA: Jefferson City (MO), Central Virginia, Tioga County (NY), Cayuga County (NY),
Jefferson County (NY), Broome County (NY),
- Brazil: Uberlandia
- Colombia: Cali, Pasto
- Mexico: Veracruz

Europe, Middle East and Africa:
- France: Le Havre, Dunkerque

- Poland: Poznan
- Russia: Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Vladikavkaz, Volzhskiy, Barnaul
- Ukraine: Rivne, Odesa
- Morocco: Agadir
- Nigeria: Abuja

- Egypt: 2.5m imagery for eastern half of the country


Asia & Oceania:

- Japan: Kagoshima, Hamamatsu
- New Zealand: Manawatu Wanganui Province, Thames-Coromandel Province
- China: Guiyang, Zhaoqing, Zhongshan, Neijang, Anshun, Zhuzhou, Changde,
Jiaoijang, Sashi, Qinhuangdao, Mudanjiang
- Indonesia: Sukabumi, Surakarta

2.5m imagery for the eastern half of Egypt.

Updated Imagery:
Americas:
- Canada: Calgary
- USA: Bend (OR), Reno (NV), Googleplex (CA), San Miguel (CA), Paso
Robles (CA), Buellton (CA), Thousand Oaks (CA), Los Angeles (CA), Orange
County (CA), Denver (CO), Saint Louis (MO), Knoxville (TN), Chattanooga (GA),
Dayton (CA), Atlanta (GA), Desoto County (FL), Onondaga County (NY), Cayuga
County (NY), McAllen (TX), Sanger (CA), Bellevue (WA)

Europe, Middle East and Africa:
- France: Nantes, Lyon
- Germany: Sindelfingen, Ausburg, Leipzig, Aachen
- Denmark: Entire country
- Niger: Niamey
- Zimbabwe: Harare
- South Africa: Johannesburg
- Iran: Tehran

Asia:
- Japan: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagano
- Thailand: Bangkok
- Vietnam: Hanoi

Antarctica: new 15m imagery

Updated Terrain:
Massachusetts

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Making tracks on holiday shopping

Posted by Pamela Fox, Developer Programs Engineer

If you're anything like me when it comes to holiday shopping, you most likely have yet to put any effort into scavenging for unique gifts and treasures for your loved ones. Well, this year, I decided to make a change: I've started my holiday shopping early! I even did some research and came across a pretty cool shopping guide using Google Maps, put together by a fashion and design site called Jargol. Just click on "Shopping Guide" and select your city. From there, you can view shops tagged by category and neighborhood.

I found this especially useful when I was in New York earlier this month and had some free time to shop but no clue where to go. I wanted to dig up something out of the ordinary for my older sister, so I selected the New York-based map. From there, I narrowed it down to "avant-garde," which led me to nine different shops and, ultimately, one perfect gift. I'd tell you what it is, but my big sis is a snoop when it comes to uncovering her Christmas gifts.

Jargol has all sorts of cities mapped out, from Palm Springs to Berlin. So if you're scratching your head over places to shop, try it out. In fact, I think I'm going to give it another go. I'm hoping the "vintage clothing" tag on the San Francisco map might lead me to just the thing for my little sis.

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To grandmother's house we go

Posted by Kat Malinowska, avid mapper

This Friday, I'm packing up the car and taking my pooch, Oscar, along for the ride over the river and through the woods to Portland, Oregon. And I'm picking up my cousin Lily on the way in Colusa, California. The entire trip should take a good 10 hours or so from my home in San Francisco. Luckily, I've got all sorts of mapping tools at my disposal that should help make my trip relatively hassle-free.

The first thing I did to prepare for the trek was create a map using tools in the My Maps tab. I did a quick search for directions from San Francisco to Colusa, then clicked the "Add destination" link at the bottom of the directions to find a route to Portland. Next, I clicked over to the My Maps tab and created a new map, entitled "To grandmother's house we go!" From there, I selected the GasBuddy gas station prices mapplet that I found in the Google Maps directory to find the cheapest pumps on my route. I scanned the markers around the halfway point of my trip where I knew I'd be needing to fill up, and found a great deal at a Medford, Oregon station. I made sure to save the marker to my personal map.

Now, I know what you're thinking: with Oscar in the car, we're going to need to make one more bathroom stop between the gas station and Portland. I decided to consult the directory again to see if there were any parks along the way and came across a fantastic mapplet pinpointing parks in Eugene, Oregon.

And what's a road trip without stopping for snacks? I did a search for fast food near Eugene and discovered a Wendy's mere miles from our park of choice.

If all goes according to plan, we should be arriving in Portland just in time for dessert. I decided to do a quick scan for bakeries near granny's house to pick up something for the family. I came across a place called Papa Haydn that had received high marks from Maps users. I might even have GOOG-411 connect me to the restaurant so I can have the pie waiting for me when I get there.

You can check out my completed map here. Now, the only thing standing between me and grandma now is that nasty holiday traffic, but you can bet I'll be enabling the traffic overlay in Google Maps before I hit the road.

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Fit for a king

Posted by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp Product Evangelist

Not too long ago, I put out a call-to-action on the Google SketchUp blog asking creative modelers to design a sleigh fit for my Santa and his reindeer. Well, I've been keeping an eye on the sleigh-hosting 3D Warehouse collection, and I see that many of you have come through with some impressive designs!

One model in particular caught my eye: a sleigh fit for a king -- literally! SketchUp enthusiast Varchitektur.de has submitted a model of a sleigh used by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Rumor has it that this eccentric king traveled in elaborate coaches and sleighs around Neuschwanstein Castle, often in historic costume. Further investigation into the king and his castle led me to some interesting trivia, including the fact that Neuschweinstein was used as inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle. A sleigh fit for King Ludwig II and Walt Disney?! Surely, Santa can't complain.

And finally, I'm happy to let you know that the submission deadline has been extended to December 31st, so keep those sleighs coming through the end of the year.

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Antarctica: A Virtual Expedition

Posted by Michael E. Jones, GIS Specialist

Pssst... wanna see a nunatak? Feeling the urge to check out some seracs? If so, then it's time to fire up Google Earth and check out Antarctica in greater detail than ever before through our new high resolution satellite view of the coldest continent. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), created Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA) from more than 1,000 Landsat ETM+ scenes. LIMA covers all of Antarctica, with the exception of the South Pole at 90 degrees south to 82.5 degrees south latitude, where there's no coverage because of its near-polar orbit.

We're really happy about this new imagery, but we'd love to see more user-contributed content. Sure, it's a tough place to get to, but we know that Google Earth aficionados tend to be more adventurous than most. So if you've been to Antarctica on a cruise, an expedition, or just because, be sure to geotag your YouTube videos, upload your photos to Panoramio, and model some research stations in SketchUp so the rest of us can explore the snowy expanse from the warmth of our glowing computer screens. And please pass the word along to the explorers in your lives.

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Where in the world is ...

Posted by Matt Manolides, GIS Specialist

Hello, geo fans!

Today I'm very happy to announce that we've published a large amount of new imagery all over the world. I'm particularly happy to say that every continent on Earth has received a certain amount of new imagery in this update. I hope you enjoy discovering the amazing new sights to be seen -- below are some clues that might point you toward some interesting areas.

1) A young boy living in this town designed the Alaska state flag 32 years prior to Alaska gaining statehood.

2) The incredible ruins of an old medieval castle, believed damaged during the Swedish invasion of 1655, are now visible in Google Earth.



3) On July 3, 1810, this city declared independence from Spain.

4) This city's metropolitan area is the most populous in the world, with over 35 million people.

5) Known as the City of Peace for hosting many peace conferences, this city is a popular tourist destination.

6) The oldest Polish cathedral, this burial site of many famous Polish leaders is now high res.

7) This Jersey city is now high res.

8) Lawrence of Arabia and Cleopatra were both filmed at this famous studio.



9) This city is also Ukraine's largest port.

10) Though completely destroyed in an 1868 fire, this gold rush town was completely restored by the government of British Columbia to act as a tourist attraction.



11) This was the final port of call for the Titanic before it's ill-fated transatlantic journey.

12) Bach, 38 at the time, was appointed the cantor for St Thomas' Church in this city.

13) This deep-water port was constructed far offshore and is connected to the mainland by the third longest bridge in the world.



14) The element Hafnium is named after this city's Latin name.

15) The picturesque port in this city has been painted many times over, and helped inspire the Impressionist movement.

16) Famous as the site where Portuguese explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral landed in Brazil, this city is now a tourist destination.

17) The imagery above the headquarters of my favorite search engine has been upgraded!



Have fun exploring, everyone!

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Confessions of a search box

Posted by The Google Maps Search Box

Believe me, it's not easy being the search box on Google Maps. I sit at the top of the page answering millions of local queries every day. To tell you the truth, sometimes I get a little bored -- I mean, how many times can I search for pizza places? I'm always happy to pick up some new tricks, which is why I'd like to share with you what I've learned recently that makes my life much more interesting.

I can now search for geotagged photos from Panoramio, such as Big Ben in London and Pyramids in Egypt, as well as videos from YouTube (our own Google Geyser and Base jumping in Rio). I can even look up books from Google Book Search! (Try Christmas books in Jerusalem). Those results will appear as blue markers on the map. As always, if you don't see results on the top, you can scroll down and click on the "see community maps" link to see more content from other Maps aficionados.

So feel free to search for whatever you want. Just type it in and I'll do my best to help. Here are some of my favorites:
Stones in Stonehenge , New 7 wonders of the world.

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The Google Earth Outreach showcase

Posted by Phil Verney, Google Earth Community Development

Launched in June of this year, the Google Earth Outreach program helps nonprofit organizations display their information in an engaging, geospatial environment. Our showcase highlights some of the fascinating and innovative KMLs being created by individuals and organizations working for the greater good.

So let's say you want your KML featured in the Outreach Showcase. How do you do it?

Well, first off, it's probably a good idea (and fun to do!) to explore the showcase, taking encouragement from the fact that many of these creators knew little about KML (Keyhole Markup Language). If you have an idea of what you want to do, but are unsure how to go about it, you can check out our tutorials. When you're happy with your final result, submit your KML for consideration, and you just may have people worldwide learn more about your organization. We welcome and encourage submissions from individuals and organizations worldwide.

The showcase is organized into six categories and highlights the breadth of work being undertaken with Google Earth. Some of my favourite KML examples are:

'The Edge of Existence," which illustrates the need to protect and conserve endangered wildlife; an animation showing the spread of avian influenza; Australia's National Pollutant Inventory; elephant poaching in Zakouma National Park; and the layers included in the Global Awareness folder in Google Earth (like this World Wildlife Fund layer), which is where you'll find Outreach partner content.

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Comments, ratings and top links for My Maps

Posted by Qiushuang (Autumn) Zhang, Software Engineer, Google Maps

Since the launch of the My Maps tab in April of this year, people have created over 7 million maps to share their places of interest. However, viewers of these maps haven't been able to connect with the map creators. You may have wanted to send some feedback or praise for a map, but didn't have a place to get in touch with the author. That's why today we've launched a special page for every user-created map where you can leave comments and star ratings. You'll also find a top links section that shows which websites and blogs are referring traffic to the map. If you're curious about where your map's huge number of views have been coming from, just check out your referrals.

To get to the new comments page, just click on the new ratings and comments links on the My Maps pages (outlined in red below).



You'll reach a page that looks like the one below. To leave some comments for the folks at KPBS who created this San Diego wildfire map, go here.



You can also use comments to communicate with your collaborators on an editable map. For example, this recently-created European Travel Tips map is set to Open Collaboration, meaning anyone can edit it. If you wanted to discuss the best way to organize the map or just talk about European travel in general, the comments section would be a great place to do it.

Happy mapping!

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Above and beyond

Rebecca Moore, Manager, Google Earth Outreach

Be sure to check out the new "Earth From Above" layer featuring the stunning photography of Yann Arthus-Bertrand in Google Earth today! You'll find it in the Global Awareness folder. You can also go to www.google.com/earthfromabove to view an interview with Yann or to download an iGoogle gadget that features a new photograph every day. Read more about it on the Official Google Blog.

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Enjoy the holidays with new Street View cities and embeddable panoramas

Posted by Andrew Lookingbill, Software Engineer

Today we're pleased to announce the launch of 8 new cities with Street View. Check out full spherical views of Boston, Dallas, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, St. Paul, Detroit, and Providence. Do some sightseeing, and check out views of places like the Zakim bridge in Boston.



We're also happy to announce the launch of embeddable panoramas. You can take any Street View panorama visible in Google Maps and embed it in your website or blog with a few simple steps. The panorama works just like it does in Google Maps, allowing visitors to your site to pan, zoom, and move between panoramas as they travel down a street. Much like embeddable Google Maps and YouTube videos, embedding a panorama is simple and only requires cutting and pasting a snippet of HTML.

1. Go to Google Maps and find a panorama you like in one of our 23
cities with Street View imagery (such as the gorgeous view of Pittsburgh below).




2. Then click "Link to this page" in the top right-hand corner. Copy the text that you see in the second box.



3. Paste that text into your blog editor or into the HTML of your webpage. We use an <iframe> so it works on most blog hosting sites like Blogger. The resulting embedded panorama will be fully functional; an example is shown below:


View Larger Map

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You sleigh me!

Posted by Aidan Chopra, SketchUp Product Evangelist













I've got a quick Santa fix for those of you who are eagerly counting down the days till NORAD tracks Santa's flight.

I spent some time modeling jolly ole St. Nick and his reindeer entourage -- and now all we need is a sleigh! I encourage everyone to take a stab at modeling one and uploading it to the 3D Warehouse. I've created a collection in there for yuletide modelers to show off their best work.

Check out my latest post on the SketchUp blog for more info. Ho-ho-hope to see your submissions soon!

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Area man finds onion planted in earth

Posted by Kat Malinowska, Onion enthusiast

The Onion, one of our favorite news-spoofers, has made available a fantastic layer for Google Earth in tandem with Our Dumb World: Atlas of The Planet Earth, a hilarious new book parodying (you guessed it!) a world atlas. Placemarks across the globe pinpoint lots and lots of geographic features and a whole bunch of important historic sites (read: jokes and more jokes).

The Onion has also put together an awesome Google Maps mashup with even more factoids about your favorite lands. Check it out often to see the latest featured country of the week.

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Flooding in Washington State

Keith Golden, Software Engineer, Google Maps

I used to live in Seattle, and I have a lot of friends around there, so all the recent flooding really hits home. Like most people, the first thing I wanted to know was whether my friends were safe and their homes were still intact. I found some great user-created maps that offer more context around what is actually happening on the ground than a few isolated photos or videos from news stories can provide:

December 2007 Flooding shows flooding in Snohomish and Island counties.




Storm reader reports was produced by the Seattle Times from reader reports.




Kitsap/Mason Road Closures shows roads that have been washed out.

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December Updates in Google Earth

Posted by Wei Luo, Senior GIS Specialist

Here's good news for the international folks: we've just added roads and business listings in a number of countries. We've launched roads for South Africa and Poland, and we've added business listings in six new countries -- Finland, Norway, Denmark, Austria, Sweden and Switzerland. Our Transit layer has also been enhanced with new colors and icons. If you're in one of those countries, launch Google Earth and check out the updates.

Roads in South Africa:



and roads in Poland:



An example of a business listing in Denmark:



Transit's new look:

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Google presents the Elections 2008 gadget

Posted by Brittany Bohnet, Elections Project Manager

With the 2008 presidential election just around the corner, political news is continuing to grow more important to U.S. voters. In fact, more than a third of Americans (that's more than 100 million people!) are expected to turn to the Internet for their election information in the coming year.

To make accessing this information easier, we have created an elections gadget that will help people stay up-to-date on the latest campaign maps, news, videos and blog posts from the election trail. Add the gadget to your iGoogle homepage to follow the race. You can choose the candidates you want to follow, or keep tabs on them all.

Make sure to check out the maps tab of this gadget to view candidate event trails. Try searching for your own city or state to see which presidential hopeful will be campaigning near you!

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The countdown begins

Posted by Melissa Crounse, Santa Tracker

For those of you who have followed Santa's trip in Google Earth for the past few years, you'll be interested to know that this year we've paired up with the real Santa-tracking pros -- the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

Starting tomorrow, December 1st, you'll be able to count down to the big sleigh ride on the NORAD Tracks Santa website; starting at 1 am PST on December 24th, you'll be able to download a special KML file that lets you follow his trip in real time. Check out the Official Google Blog to learn more about our involvement in this Santa-tracking tradition that began more than 50 years ago.

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Update on Street View via search

Posted by Stephen Chau, Product Manager, Google Maps

We've heard from some of you that you're having trouble accessing Street View imagery within the local search and address bubbles, so we're going to work on it a bit more. We're sorry for any disappointment, and we'll keep you posted on our progress. Stay tuned...

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Location, location, location

Posted by Steve Lee, Product Manager, Google Mobile Team

Anyone who's used a GPS-enabled version of Google Maps for mobile knows how useful it can be to have location information. But very few devices actually support GPS, and the technology is still evolving -- it can sometimes take a while to acquire a satellite signal, getting coverage indoors can be difficult, and using GPS can drain your phone's battery.

Today Google launched a new version of Google Maps for mobile with a beta technology called My Location, which provides approximate location information for those of us without GPS, and complements GPS location information for those of us who do have it. Read more on our new mobile blog.

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Import your KML, KMZ, and GeoRSS files

Posted by Brian Cornell, Software Engineer, Google Maps

If you use Google Earth, you're probably familiar with the KML and KMZ file formats, which are used to store geographic information like placemarks, lines and shapes. Now you can share your KML files more easily with other people (who may not have Google Earth installed) by importing them into My Maps. Your file will be stored online and will be viewable on any computer with a web browser.

To import a KML file, create a new map and click the Import link. You'll be able to upload a file from your desktop, or enter the URL of a file on the web. We'll import all of the data from that file into your map for online access and editing. Keep in mind that Google Maps doesn't support as many features of KML as Google Earth, so some of your information (like 3D models) won't be imported into your online map.

You can use this feature to transfer placemarks from Google Earth to Google Maps, make an editable copy of some geographic data you find on the web, or upload KML data from a GPS tracking device. Then you can bring it back to Google Earth by clicking on the KML link to download a KML file. Make some changes in Google Earth and import it back into the same map, checking the replace checkbox this time to replace the existing map with the updated one.

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My Our Maps

Posted by Jess Lee, Google Maps Product Manager

The My Maps feature of Google Maps lets people create maps to share their hobbies and expertise with the world. For example, a surfing enthusiast could map out their favorite surf spots or a surfing club could plot all the best beaches in Southern California. Now imagine if all the surfers around the globe worked together, leveraging their combined knowledge to create a single map of the best surf spots worldwide, applying the power of wiki-style collaboration to cartography.

Starting today, Google Maps supports collaborative map-making, so multiple people can edit the same My Map. Just click the "Collaborate" link and enter the email addresses of the people you want to invite. They'll receive an email invitation with a link to the map. Once they open the map, they should be able to edit it, as long as they are signed into a Google Account that's associated with that email address. You can also open your map to the world so anyone can edit it by selecting the "Allow anyone to edit this map" checkbox.

By the way, we're always looking for good surf spots, so please add your favorites to our collaborative map. Or if you're not the surfing type, we'd still love to see your maps, whether you're cataloging the best wineries in Australia, reporting UFO sightings to the National UFO Reporting Center, or planning a cross-country road trip with friends.

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Another way to take in the view

Posted by Jie Shao, Software Engineer

I'm pleased to announce a whole new method for cruising the streets: Street View via search. In the past, a search of a specific location in Maps yielded a placemark on its location and a pop-up balloon containing its address. Starting today, the balloon will also display a thumbnail preview of the panoramic image for locations where Street View is available. Just click on the thumbnail or the "Street View" link under it to display the location in full view.



Street View links really come in handy if you're searching for a local business. Let's say you're not quite sure where to eat. Searching "pizza place near 40 Market St., San Francisco, CA," for example, will yield many results. Now you'll see a pop-up balloon containing a Street View link for each result so you can actually see which one looks best! And don't forget to scope out which pizza place has the most convenient parking.



Personally, I'm excited to have the addition of this feature as the holiday season kicks off. Holiday planning can be stressful, as everyone knows, and we're hoping this tool will help ease some of those holiday woes.

And speaking of the holidays, the Maps team here at Google has already received the best gift of all: Street View's spot on Time's "Best Inventions of 2007" list!

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Explore new terrain

Posted by Chris Pennock and Keith Ito, Software Engineers

We've noticed that many people build customized maps using My Maps and KML to help others see the planet in a new light. We've seen everything from maps of hiking trails with pictures taken along the way to a guide to the world's mountain peaks. Today we're releasing Terrain maps to help highlight this natural beauty even more. These maps focus on physical features such as mountains, valleys, and vegetation. They contain labels for even very small mountains and trails and are enhanced with subtle shading that can often give a better sense of elevation changes than a satellite image alone.

For example, we think Terrain maps may just be the best way to experience the grandeur of the Grand Canyon or to plan your hiking trip on the Appalachian Trail. And of course, big mountains look really cool. Better yet, you can mix them with custom maps from our users, such as a map of highest points in the United States or a guide to the Pyrenees mountains.

To see the new style, simply click on the "Terrain" button in the upper-right corner of the map.



You may notice in this screenshot that the handy "Hybrid" button, which shows satellite images overlaid with labels and roads, seems to have gone missing. Don't worry -- this view can now be accessed by clicking the "Satellite" button and checking the "Show labels" check box that will appear under the "Satellite" button:

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A breath of fresh air

Posted by Steve Miller, Product Manager, Google Earth Outreach

We're so happy (OK, more like ecstatic) about the recent wave of people, companies and organizations "going green." Everywhere you look these days, you see hybrid cars, solar panels, recycling bins, and so on. And we were really thrilled to learn about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's new project using Google Earth.

The EPA has created an amazing KML file that tracks air emission sources. That means Google Earth users can now track air quality, near and far, from the comfort of their computer screens.

The layer also makes it possible to see which companies are generating air pollutants at the highest rates. Select a given location and view placemarks of all of the companies in the area. Tilt the earth until you're at ground level and check out the collection of placemarks; they vary in height based on pollutants emitted at their particular location. Click on a company of interest to read about their eco-history.

We hope people make good use of this great new tool, whether it be to simply discover the air quality in different areas around the world or to encourage companies to engage in more environmentally friendly practices. To find out how to get started, take a look at this informative EPA page -- it couldn't be simpler.

Update: The EPA has actually created not one but two informative KML files. In addition to a layer that tracks air emission sources, the EPA has created a KML file that provides real-time air quality information. This tool displays the most current air quality conditions by city, updated hourly with data taken from the AIRNow database. Check out their website, which includes instructions for using this informative tool.

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Armchair parade watching

Posted by Elaine Filadelfo, Thanksgiving Day Parade Enthusiast

I'll admit it, I still love the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In fact, this is the first year in as long as I can remember that I won't be spending my Wednesday evening braving the crowds on 77th Street to see the balloons getting inflated. But I'll definitely be camped out in front of my TV tomorrow morning (with frequent trips to the kitchen to baste my turkey, of course) watching the balloons, floats, and marching bands make their way through Herald Square. Plus, there are several maps and a KML file that plot out the route so you can follow along at home. That way, when the commentators say the Big Apple Circus float is at Columbus Circle, you'll know you've got plenty of time to stir your cranberry sauce before they perform.

There are also lots of parades happening in other cities across the country. Take a look in Google Maps and see if your city's parade is already in there (I just found Chicago's parade, for example). If you don't see it there, create your own MyMap of the route and the best viewing places.

And if all that parade watching makes you antsy to hit the streets yourself, there are plenty of Thanksgiving races charted out in MyMaps. Many of them show the actual routes, so you can also use them on Friday morning to burn off some of those calories from the big dinner!ost content

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Think globally, mark locally

Posted by Seth LaForge, Software Engineer, Google Maps

The last time I threw a party, I used the My Maps feature of Google Maps to tell my friends exactly how to find my house. But if they'd just searched Maps on their own for my address and had gone to the marker location, they would have been partying in the middle of the street!

Now for your next party (or any other occasion), you can move the marker for your address to show the exact entrance of your house. Just search for your address, click "Edit," click "Move Marker," and drag the marker to your front door.

Of course, we couldn't limit ourselves to just addresses — businesses can be hard to find too. Take your favorite restaurant, for example. Now you can find it on Google Maps and move the marker to its front door. You might just save someone's date with this information! Fixing markers can be downright addictive. I've spent hours using Street View to locate businesses and houses, and then moving their markers.

You might be worried about people monkeying with markers. Fear not, we've thought of that. Whenever you find a recently-moved address or business, you'll see a "Show original" link you can click to see where the marker was originally. If it's in the wrong place, just move it to the right one.

Move a marker, and make your virtual neighborhood a better place -- that is, in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, where it works right now. You'll need a Google Account to join the fun. And I should also tell you that's not actually my house.

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Teaching a thing or two

Posted by Anna Bishop, Google Earth Education Coordinator

Rounding out our celebration of Geography Awareness Week, I’d like to point you to some Google Earth and Maps educational applications that recently caught my attention:

Here in the United States, Tim Hunter of the Advanced Technology Environmental Energy Center (ATEEC) brought together over a dozen educators to develop a virtual field trip that explores political and environmental issues in the Arctic. The purpose of this National Science Foundation-supported project is to explore fossil fuels, discuss sustainable sources of energy, and explore the Alaskan wilderness.

Across the pond in the UK, middle school geography teacher Noel Jenkins created a lesson plan that combines fiction with film-making and climatology. Acting as location scouts, students use Google Earth to find ideal spots for filming the movie version of Philip Pullman's book The Golden Compass. They need to read the text carefully, but the decision-making process is also based on how they interpret the landscape.





















And schools across the globe have joined forces to commemorate the 2007-2008 International Polar Year. In this initiative, environmental science, history, anthropology, and technology come together to immerse students in the world of geography. Check out which schools have launched virtual balloons to mark their participation.

We'll keep you posted on more educational resources as we hear about them. And be sure to visit the Google Earth for Educators page and the Google Earth Community for additional lesson plan ideas and discussion forums.

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Map of the day: My Maps for teaching Physics and Literature

Posted by Sowmya Subramanian, Engineering Manager, Google Maps

In my time spent combing through all of the amazing customized maps created by our users, I've been pleased to find many maps that illustrate the usefulness of My Maps in a classroom setting. For example, I recently found two great ones that illustrate how tools in the My Maps tab can be used by teachers in two very different subjects: Physics and Literature.

For one, check out this cool map created by a Physics teacher who has been teaching his 9th grade students about speed, velocity and displacement. In an effort to make the class more interesting, he had his students pair up and use map-making tools in the My Maps tab to plot out different bus routes in the area. Each route was labeled with the average time needed for a bus to make a complete loop and the average speed of the bus. Pretty cool, huh? You can read more about it on his blog .

And then there's an English teacher who got his students (and me!) hooked on a reading assignment by mapping out a novel's plot points. In the book Whirligig by Paul Fleischman, main character Brent travels to the four corners of the U.S. on a Greyhound bus. Tom used My Maps to plot out the character's entire route, highlighting key placemarks and engaging students along the way. And be sure to read more about the assignment on his blog.

Teachers, what are you waiting for? On your marks... get set... map!

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Sky in the classroom

Posted by Andrew Connolly, Google Visiting Faculty (University of Washington)

Google products can be useful in many classes, but today I want to point out how they can be useful in my favorite high school class: astronomy!

When I studied astronomy, the teachers used to bring a gigantic star map to class, point at the stars, and tell us all those great stories about them. I always wanted to see deeper into the sky and know more about it, but I had to wait for the annual trip to the observatory to actually do that, unfortunately. With Sky in Google Earth you can do all of that and much more now without even leaving the classroom. Just open Google Earth, click on the new "Sky" button, and you'll see the very sky above your location. Here are some tips on how to get an astronomical education:

- To see a particular object, just search for it in the search box (for example, try searching "Betelgeuse"). If you want to know more about a particular star, just select the "backyard astronomy" layer from the layer panel and click on a star to get more details.

- To see a giant cosmic explosion in space, search for "crab nebula" and fly 6,300 light years in a second. Click on the icon to learn more. And you can explore other Hubble pictures using the layers panel.

- To explore the planets as they move across the sky, double-click the "planets" layer on the left panel and then press play on the time slider on the top-right corner. If you want to explore, say, the moon or Mars, just click on either one of them to land in a map. It's almost like being there ...

- Go to HeyWhat'sThat to access a night sky overlay in Google Earth and see what your sky will look like tonight.

- With planets and asteroids moving through our own solar system, and with exploding stars and mysterious flashes of gamma ray radiation, there are always new things to see in the night sky. At voeventnet.org you can use Sky to find out whats new in the sky tonight and go and see for yourself.

- We also have special tours you can use: just click on the "User's guide to galaxies" or the "Life of a Star" tour on the layers panel, and then click on the star or galaxy icon to learn more. You can also create your own tour of Sky to share with friends or students, using the same tools in Google Earth. Here's a good tutorial.

Additionally, you can learn more about the planets through a new layer created by exoplanets.org, which will show you all of the stars with planetary systems that we currently know about. Download it from the Google Earth gallery.

It's our hope that Sky will help educate kids around the world on the wonders of space. We encourage you to share your feedback with us in the Sky forum.

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Viva la via!

Posted by Ryan Sturgell, Software Engineer

A few months ago we added a simple and fun way to interactively modify the directions created by Google Maps. You can drag the endpoints of your route to change where the route starts or stops. You can also drag the route itself to modify how you get to your destination. Perfect, right? Well, almost. Our users have told us that, while they love dragging their routes to use the roads they want, they don't like that we add a new destination at the spot they dragged: I want to go via the I-90 bridge, not stop on it! We wouldn't want to either. So we've tweaked this feature by adding a "via" point to the spot where you dragged, rather than a whole new destination:



This also improves our directions: No longer will we suggest you stop on the bridge during your trip. Viva la via!

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Google Maps comes to Switzerland

Posted by Giorgio Scherl, Product Manager Google Maps, Switzerland

Falling in love with Switzerland just got even easier. Those romantic lakeside hotels, world-famous chocolate shops, and winding roads through the Alps can now be discovered using Google Maps for Switzerland. The all-new Maps service, developed right here in Zurich, will help people in Switzerland find and enjoy the businesses and services around them. It also includes easy-to-use driving directions and trip-planning public transport information. We worked with Swiss content providers, ranging from Swiss doctors to the Public Transit Authority, to provide a comprehensive one-stop-shop of local information. The same information can also be accessed from Google Earth.

So whether you're taking public transportation in Zurich, planning a family ski trip, or looking for a special place to stay in Geneva, Google Maps can help.

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Google Transit trip planning in Europe

Posted by Christoph Oehler, Product Manager

We are very happy to announce the launch of Google Transit trip planner in Europe. For quite some time, Google Maps has featured transit stop icons with helpful information like lines serving a station and next departures for many cities. But now you can plan your entire journey using public transportation! So far we have information for the following places and transport companies:

- Traveline South East, UK
- SBB, Switzerland (train, ferries and long distance bus coverage)
- VBZ, Zurich, Switzerland
- Turin, Italy
- Florence, Italy

Try it yourself: type your start and end address in the "get directions" boxes. The default results are driving directions, but in the areas that we have transit routing coverage, you can simply click on the "Take Public Transit" link.

We believe this is an important step in encouraging people to use public transit. We're hoping folks will decide to leave the car at home if they can easily discover a transit stop next to a business as they're searching for it, or if they realise it's easy to take a train as they plot their journey from point A to point B. We're always looking to improve our coverage and work with more partners -- we'll keep you posted as more places and transport companies are added.

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Architect ideas with Project Spectrum

Posted by Tom Wyman, Market Development Manager

It's always incredible to witness even the youngest children mastering sophisticated web applications at lightning speed. Not long ago, I was wowed to learn that many children with autism have proven to be particularly adept at creating 3D models using Google SketchUp. Last week on the Official Google SketchUp Blog, we announced the creation of Project Spectrum, a program dedicated to connecting the autistic community with free software and learning materials.

Project Spectrum was dreamed up by the Google SketchUp team in partnership with the Boulder, Colorado chapter of the Autism Society of America, the Boulder Valley School District, and the Center for Lifelong Learning and Design at University of Colorado. By connecting children with SketchUp tools and the know-how to use them, Project Spectrum makes it possible for kids with special abilities to create 3D models of anything from actual existing buildings to imagined dream homes. They can even show off their work in the 3D Warehouse, an online repository of 3D models in which users can publish the models they've created, as well as search and download models built by others. And what's even cooler, the best models in the 3D Warehouse are added to the 3D Buildings layer in Google Earth, giving every child the opportunity to share their hard work with the whole world!

The creators of Project Spectrum have put together a very cool video to showcase ways in which children with autism can take advantage of SketchUp. Check it out:





It's especially inspiring to learn about Project Spectrum's launch right in the middle of Geography Awareness Week. We hope people continue using our products in such fun, educational ways. If you are an educator who would like to use Google SketchUp in the classroom, please visit our SketchUp for Education page.

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