ERSI Maps are very similar to Google Maps, but created with different software. The ESRI map files open in a browser and allow you to zoom in to your area of. Your home for everything Google Earth, Geo for Good, Education, Earth Engine and Street View. Stories about what it means to live here and how we can better. Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View. If you want to use one of these products in your work, review these guidelines to see if your specific use is.
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Learn what you can do with Google Earth!
Zoom In From Space: Google Earth allows you to descend from space to view almost any location on Earth!
The button above takes you to Google.com where you can download Google Earth for free. Google does not pay us to recommend their service. We do it because we are fans of Google Earth and want you to enjoy it too.
Fly to Anyplace in the World! Just type in an address and fly there in one click! Then start navigating with zoom, tilt, and rotate.
What is Google Earth?
Google Earth is a free program from Google that allows you to "fly" over a virtual globe and view the Earth through high-resolution graphics and satellite images. It is greatly superior to static maps and satellite images. Google Earth gives you a drone's-eye view of the world below.
Google Earth is the world's most detailed globe and one of the most frequently downloaded programs in the history of the internet. Within minutes you will be zooming in on your hometown and taking visual excursions to our planet's most visited or most remote places.
The images are detailed enough that in most populated areas you can clearly see your house, objects in your yard, and often recognize your car parked along the street. A digital elevation model within Google Earth allows you to view the landscape of many geographic areas in 3D.
See How Cities Have Changed!: Go back to 1984, then watch a time-lapse video to see how things have changed.
A Free Download
Google Earth is a free downloadable program that you install on your Windows, Mac, or Linux desktop or laptop computer. The program requires very little space on your hard drive because the images are stored on Google's servers and streamed to your computer upon demand.
Google Earth is also available as a browser plug-in and as a mobile app. Google has been offering the program for free and improving it regularly since 2005. It has been downloaded over one billion times.
Did You Know? Most people don't realize that Google Earth works on Android and iOS devices (iPhone and iPad). The Android version can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. The iOS version can be downloaded from the App Store or iTunes. Image copyright iStockphoto / Savcoco.
High-resolution satellite images.
Recent images for most locations.
Easy & safe to download and install.
Do fly-overs of anywhere on Earth.
Use on desktop, tablet or phone.
Zoom in on your house!
Free, easy to use.
Recent Images, Updated Regularly
Most of the images in Google Earth were acquired within the past three years, and Google is continuously updating the image set for different parts of the Earth. Large cities generally have more recent and higher resolution images than sparsely inhabited areas.
A misconception exists among some people that the images displayed in the Google Earth program are live-updated directly from satellites. This is not the case. The images are acquired by satellites, processed by commercial image providers or government agencies, and then updated to the Google Earth image database in batches.
However, Google and its image providers do have the ability to rapidly integrate new images into the program. This is sometimes done in emergency situations - such as when an area has been hit by a natural disaster and new images would be of valuable assistance to the recovery and relief efforts.
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Google Moon Too? We don't think you will get tired of Google Earth, but if you do, make sure you try Google Moon. See if it is really made of Swiss cheese.
Find Your Car! Google Earth images are so detailed that you might be able to spot your car in the office parking lot! But, keep in mind that the data is not live-updated from satellites. The image might show where you were parked last month or last year!
Easy-to-Install
Google Earth will install on most computers with just a few clicks. Most people are surprised to learn that Google Earth will even work on their tablet computer or phone. Take it with you while traveling to check out beaches, neighborhoods, fishing locations, hiking areas, and much more.
Easy-to-Navigate
When you launch the Google Earth program on your computer or mobile device, it will display an image of the Earth from space. You can easily use the controls to "fly" down and find your location. However, if you are in a hurry, you can simply search for an address or the name of a landmark or the geographic coordinates. Google Earth will quickly "fly" you right to your destination.
Seldom-Seen Places: Some people believe that Google Earth provides too much information about important buildings, which might lead to security concerns. Others believe that Google Earth allows close-up views of their property which violate their privacy.
Developed for the CIA?
Google Earth was originally called "Earth Viewer 3D." It was developed by Keyhole, Inc., a company funded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The software was developed to be a program for "browsing the earth" - and that is exactly what it does.
Google purchased Keyhole in 2004, and with that acquisition it obtained Earth Viewer 3D, which it improved and distributed free to the public starting in 2005. Get your free copy of Google Earth using the blue button below.
Google Sky, Mars and Moon
If you enjoy Google Earth, you might also learn to use Google Sky, Google Moon and Google Mars. All of these are free online programs that are similar to Google Earth.
Check Out Real Estate: If you are in the market for a home or commercial property, Google Earth can help you get a quick look without needing to drive there. Real estate agents and buyers use it every day!
Buzz Famous Landmarks! View famous landmarks like Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox since 1912.
Imagine Yourself in the Batter's Box! You can even enter some venues. If you go into Fenway Park, you can get a view from the batter's box!
Author: Hobart M. King, Ph.D.
Find Other Topics on Geology.com:
Rocks: Galleries of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rock photos with descriptions.
Minerals: Information about ore minerals, gem materials and rock-forming minerals.
Volcanoes: Articles about volcanoes, volcanic hazards and eruptions past and present.
Gemstones: Colorful images and articles about diamonds and colored stones.
General Geology: Articles about geysers, maars, deltas, rifts, salt domes, water, and much more!
Geology Store: Hammers, field bags, hand lenses, maps, books, hardness picks, gold pans.
Diamonds: Learn about the properties of diamond, its many uses, and diamond discoveries.
Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service
Last Modified: July, 2022
To use Google Maps/Google Earth, you must accept (1) the Google Terms of Service, and (2) these Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service (the “Maps/Earth Additional Terms”). The Maps/Earth Additional Terms incorporate by reference the Legal Notices for Google Maps/Google Earth and Google Maps/Google Earth APIs.
Please read each of these documents carefully. Together, these documents are known as the “Terms”. They establish what you can expect from us as you use our services, and what we expect from you.
If you use the merchant-only features in Google Maps to manage your Business Profile then the Google Business Profile Terms at https://support.google.com/business/answer/9292476 apply to that use.
Although it’s not a part of these Terms, we encourage you to read our Privacy Policy to better understand how you can update, manage, export, and delete your information.
License. As long as you follow these Terms, the Google Terms of Service give you a license to use Google Maps/Google Earth, including features that allow you to:
view and annotate maps;
create KML files and map layers; and
publicly display content with proper attribution online, in video, and in print.
For more details about specific things that you’re permitted to do with Google Maps/Google Earth, please see the Using Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View permissions page.
Prohibited Conduct. Your compliance with this Section 2 is a condition of your license to use Google Maps/Google Earth. When using Google Maps/Google Earth, you may not (or allow those acting on your behalf to):
redistribute or sell any part of Google Maps/Google Earth or create a new product or service based on Google Maps/Google Earth (unless you use the Google Maps/Google Earth APIs in accordance with their terms of service);
copy the content (unless you are otherwise permitted to do so by the Using Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View permissions page or applicable intellectual property law, including "fair use");
mass download or create bulk feeds of the content (or let anyone else do so);
use Google Maps/Google Earth to create or augment any other mapping-related dataset (including a mapping or navigation dataset, business listings database, mailing list, or telemarketing list) for use in a service that is a substitute for, or a substantially similar service to, Google Maps/Google Earth; or
use any part of Google Maps/Google Earth with other people's products or services for or in connection with real-time navigation or autonomous vehicle control, except through a specific Google-provided feature such as Android Auto.
Actual Conditions; Assumption of Risk. When you use Google Maps/Google Earth's map data, traffic, directions, and other content, you may find that actual conditions differ from the map results and content, so exercise your independent judgment and use Google Maps/Google Earth at your own risk. You’re responsible at all times for your conduct and its consequences.
Your Content in Google Maps/Google Earth. Content you upload, submit, store, send, or receive through Google Maps/Google Earth is subject to Google’s Terms of Service, including the license in the section called “Permission to use your content”. If you are a resident of France, the Google Search Additional Terms of Service apply to such content which is made publicly available on Google Search. However, content that remains exclusively local to your device (such as a locally-stored KML file) is not uploaded or submitted to Google, and is therefore not subject to that license.
Government Users. If you’re using Google Maps/Google Earth on behalf of a government entity, the following terms apply:
Governing Law.
For city or state government entities in the United States and European Union, the Google Terms of Service section regarding governing law and venue will not apply.
For United States federal government entities, the Google Terms of Service section regarding governing law and venue is replaced with the following:
“These Terms will be governed by and interpreted and enforced in accordance with the laws of the United States of America without reference to conflict of laws. Solely to the extent permitted by federal law: (A) the laws of the State of California (excluding California’s conflict of laws rules) will apply in the absence of applicable federal law; and (B) any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or Google Maps/Google Earth will be litigated exclusively in the federal courts of Santa Clara County, California, and the parties consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.”
U.S. Government Restricted Rights. All access or use of Google Maps/Google Earth by or for the United States federal government is subject to the "U.S. Government Restricted Rights" section in the Google Maps/Google Earth Legal Notices.
Google Earth Engine API
Welcome to Google Maps Platform
Get $200 usage monthly for no charge. See pricing details.
Willkommen auf der neuen Website von Google Maps Platform. Sie ist bald auch in Ihrer Sprache verfügbar.
Te damos la bienvenida al nuevo sitio web de Google Maps Platform. Muy pronto estará disponible en tu idioma.
Welcome to the new Google Maps Platform website, your local language site will be available soon.
Bienvenue sur le nouveau site Google Maps Platform (bientôt disponible dans votre langue).
Ti diamo il benvenuto nel nuovo sito web di Google Maps Platform. Il sito sarà a breve disponibile nella tua lingua.
新しい Google Maps Platform へようこそ。もうすぐあなたの母国語でもご利用いただけます。
Welcome to the new Google Maps Platform website, your local language site will be available soon.
Welcome to the new Google Maps Platform website, your local language site will be available soon.
Screenshots
Description
Explore the whole world from above with satellite imagery, 3D terrain of the entire globe, and 3D buildings in hundreds of cities around the world.
Zoom to your house or anywhere else then dive in for a 360° perspective with Street View. See the world from a new point of view with Voyager, a collection of guided tours from BBC Earth, NASA, National Geographic, and more. And now, visualize the immersive maps and stories you've created with Google Earth on web on your mobile device.
Version 9.154
This version includes bug fixes. Recently added features: - Added Apple Pencil support to the measure tool.
Ratings and Reviews
4.1 out of 5
32.1K Ratings
It’s Great! but needs some fixes and updating
I have been using the Google Earth engine for about 2 years now and I have absolutely loved the app, but there are some wacky things to fix. I am writing this review about the new update, as I was scrolling around the small town I live at (Elko, NV) I was very unsatisfied about the new street view update, there were new images of the towns streets but there was so much a mix of images from years back that are still not updated and they make me very uncomfortable and I don’t understand why you can’t update the whole town in the same day. I know 3Ding buildings on Earth can be difficult but why can’t a town of 21,000 people be in 3D? I think it would be nice to have new images of my small town in 3D, the imagery and the time lapses of this app are great and I Am in love with them but please fix things I mention in this review and try updating more often.
Not Even Basic App Comforts (2020 iPad Pro)
It takes a lot of disappointment for me to write reviews but this app is just so flat. It’s like they took what they were in the process of developing years ago and just threw it up without even looking at it for a quick review. I am terrible at geography and thought this would help me with a class I’m taking but I was mistaken. You can’t adjust any type of visual settings so if you zoom too far in on, say, China, you get a million different location names in English and Chinese and you can’t even see the land under all the text. Also, it would be really enjoyable (and easier on my old lady eyes) to be able to make borders bold or different colors or even cut out a region to view it individually. It is absolutely impossible to tell one country/state from the next with the impossibly thin tan line separating everything that, oh yea, is the same color that is used for most of the landscape. What a mess.
Overall really great concept but what I’m gathering from other reviews, the app particularly for iPad is super low quality compared to others. I now know that if I had a desktop I’d be able to look at the moon and mars so I feel really gypped now. And yes, even though I didn’t pay anything I still feel shortchanged.
Google earth
Google earth I’d like to be able to see updated pictures of not only cities but also the outdoors even if I was charged for this app I wouldn’t mind . I give google earth a four star mainly because I can see a satellite picture of the outdoors and see what it used to look like on my iPhone even if the image shows 2022 I know it is an older image because we visit this area quite ofen we still use this site for a variety of reasons one being whether certain land is public or private gated or not on certain image’s land shows drought when it is actually full of water I’ve been seeing this same image for over 7 year’s . The picture of cities gets updated but the land pictures remain the same as the original image google earth could be so much better if everything was updated when new images are loaded . May 23rd 2022 thank God the pictures where finally updated including A1 one of our favorite fishing reservoirs 15k acres everything is underwater as it should be than you google earth !
The developer, Google LLC, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Location
Contact Info
User Content
Search History
Identifiers
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Other Data
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Google Earth Engine". Google Developers. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
^"Seeing the forest through the cloud". Official Google Blog. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
^"Introducing Google Earth Engine". Google. December 2, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
^Hansen, M. C.; et al. (November 15, 2013). "Global Forest Change". Retrieved February 27, 2014.
^Joshi, Anup R.; Dinerstein, Eric; Wikramanayake, Eric; Anderson, Michael L.; Olson, David; Jones, Benjamin S.; Seidensticker, John; Lumpkin, Susan; Hansen, Matthew C. (April 1, 2016). "Tracking changes and preventing loss in critical tiger habitat". Science Advances. 2 (4): e1501675. Bibcode:2016SciA....2E1675J. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1501675. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 4820387. PMID 27051881.
^"UCSF, Google Earth Engine Making Maps to Predict Malaria". UC San Francisco. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
^"The nature of water: unveiling the most detailed view of water on Earth". Google. December 7, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
^Barkham, Patrick (January 10, 2020). "Grass growing around Mount Everest as global heating intensifies". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved January 10, 2020 – via www.theguardian.com.
^Grantham, H. S.; Duncan, A.; Evans, T. D.; Jones, K. R.; Beyer, H. L.; Schuster, R.; Walston, J.; Ray, J. C.; Robinson, J. G.; Callow, M.; Clements, T.; Costa, H. M.; DeGemmis, A.; Elsen, P. R.; Ervin, J.; Franco, P.; Goldman, E.; Goetz, S.; Hansen, A.; Hofsvang, E.; Jantz, P.; Jupiter, S.; Kang, A.; Langhammer, P.; Laurance, W. F.; Lieberman, S.; Linkie, M.; Malhi, Y.; Maxwell, S.; Mendez, M.; Mittermeier, R.; Murray, N. J.; Possingham, H.; Radachowsky, J.; Saatchi, S.; Samper, C.; Silverman, J.; Shapiro, A.; Strassburg, B.; Stevens, T.; Stokes, E.; Taylor, R.; Tear, T.; Tizard, R.; Venter, O.; Visconti, P.; Wang, S.; Watson, J. E. M. (2020). "Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 5978. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.5978G. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7723057. PMID 33293507.
^ abAmani, Meisam; Ghorbanian, Arsalan; Ahmadi, Seyed Ali; Kakooei, Mohammad; Moghimi, Armin; Mirmazloumi, S. Mohammad; Moghaddam, Sayyed Hamed Alizadeh; Mahdavi, Sahel; Ghahremanloo, Masoud; Parsian, Saeid; Wu, Qiusheng (2020). "Google Earth Engine Cloud Computing Platform for Remote Sensing Big Data Applications: A Comprehensive Review". IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 13: 5326–5350. Bibcode:2020IJSTA..13.5326A.
Google Earth
3D globe-based map program owned by Google
Original author(s)
Keyhole, Inc.
Developer(s)
Google
Initial release
June 10, 2001; 21 years ago (2001-06-10)
Stable release
Preview release
Windows, macOS, Linux 7.3.3 (April 20, 2020; 2 years ago (2020-04-20)[6]) [±]
Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and GIS data onto a 3D globe, allowing users to see cities and landscapes from various angles. Users can explore the globe by entering addresses and coordinates, or by using a keyboard or mouse. The program can also be downloaded on a smartphone or tablet, using a touch screen or stylus to navigate. Users may use the program to add their own data using Keyhole Markup Language and upload them through various sources, such as forums or blogs. Google Earth is able to show various kinds of images overlaid on the surface of the earth and is also a Web Map Service client. In 2019, Google has revealed that Google Earth now covers more than 97 percent of the world, and has captured 10 million miles of Street View imagery.[7]
In addition to Earth navigation, Google Earth provides a series of other tools through the desktop application, including a measure distance tool. Additional globes for the Moon and Mars are available, as well as a tool for viewing the night sky. A flight simulator game is also included. Other features allow users to view photos from various places uploaded to Panoramio, information provided by Wikipedia on some locations, and Street View imagery. The web-based version of Google Earth also includes Voyager, a feature that periodically adds in-program tours, often presented by scientists and documentarians.
Google Earth has been viewed by some as a threat to privacy and national security, leading to the program being banned in multiple countries.[8] Some countries have requested that certain areas be obscured in Google's satellite images, usually areas containing military facilities.
History[edit]
The core technology behind Google Earth was originally developed at Intrinsic Graphics in the late 1990s. At the time, the company was developing 3D gaming software libraries.[9] As a demo of their 3D software, they created a spinning globe that could be zoomed into, similar to the Powers of Ten film.[9] The demo was popular, but the board of Intrinsic wanted to remain focused on gaming, so in 1999, they created Keyhole, Inc., headed by John Hanke.[9] Keyhole then developed a way to stream large databases of mapping data over the internet to client software, a key part of the technology,[10] and acquired patchworks of mapping data from governments and other sources.[9] The product, called "Keyhole EarthViewer", was sold on CDs for use in fields such as real estate, urban planning, defense, and intelligence; users paid a yearly fee for the service.[10] Despite making a number of capital deals with Nvidia and Sony,[10] the small company was struggling to pay and retain employees.[9]
Fortunes for the company changed in early 2003 during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when Dave Lorenzini (Director at Keyhole) enticed CNN, ABC, CBS and other major news networks to use their sophisticated 3D flyby imagery to illustrate Baghdad Activities, in exchange for on-air attribution.[10][9] During the invasion, It was used extensively by Miles O'Brien and other on-air broadcasters, allowing CNN and millions of viewers to follow the progress of the war in a way that had never been seen before.[10][9] Public interest in the software exploded and Keyhole servers were not able to keep up with demand.[10][9] Keyhole was soon contacted by the Central Intelligence Agency's venture capital firm, In-Q-Tel,[11] and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency,[12] for use with defense mapping databases, which gave Keyhole a much-needed cash infusion.[9] Intrinsic Graphics was sold in 2003 to Vicarious Visions after its gaming libraries did not sell well, and its core group of engineers and management including Brian McClendon and Michael Jones transitioned to Keyhole with Hanke remaining at the head.[9]
At the time, Google was finding that over 25% of its searches were of a geospatial character, including searches for maps and directions.[9] In October 2004, Google acquired Keyhole as part of a strategy to better serve its users.[13]
In 2021 Google replaced its layers feature with a new one on its Google Earth software.[14] This replacement consolidated some layers, but also removed some layers and features.[15]
Imagery[edit]
Google Earth's imagery is displayed on a digital globe, which displays the planet's surface using a single composited image from a far distance. After zooming in far enough, the imagery transitions into different imagery of the same area with finer detail, which varies in date and time from one area to the next. The imagery is retrieved from satellites or aircraft.[16] Before the launch of NASA and the USGS'sLandsat 8 satellite, Google relied partially on imagery from Landsat 7, which suffered from a hardware malfunction that left diagonal gaps in images.[17] In 2013, Google used datamining to remedy the issue, providing what was described as a successor to the Blue Marble image of Earth, with a single large image of the entire planet. This was achieved by combining multiple sets of imagery taken from Landsat 7 to eliminate clouds and diagonal gaps, creating a single "mosaic" image.[18] Google now uses a myriad of sources to provide imagery in a higher quality and with greater frequency.[19] Imagery is hosted on Google's servers, which are contacted by the application when opened, requiring an Internet connection.
Imagery resolution ranges from 15 meters of resolution to 15 centimeters. For much of the Earth, Google Earth uses digital elevation model data collected by NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission.[20] This creates the impression of three-dimensional terrain, even where the imagery is only two-dimensional.
Google asserts that every image created from Google Earth using satellite data provided by Google Earth is a copyrighted map. Any derivative from Google Earth is made from data on which Google claims copyright under United States Copyright Law. Google grants licenses in this data allowing, among other things, non-commercial personal use of the images (e.g., on a personal website or blog) as long as copyrights and attributions are preserved.[21] By contrast, images created with NASA's globe software WorldWind use The Blue Marble, Landsat, or USGS imagery, each of which is in the public domain.
In version 5.0, Google introduced Historical Imagery, allowing users to view earlier imagery. Clicking the clock icon in the toolbar opens a time slider, which marks the time of available imagery from the past. This feature allows for observation of an area's changes over time.[22] Utilizing the timelapse feature allows for the ability to view a zoomable video as far back as 32 years.[23]
3D imagery[edit]
Countries with 3D coverage in Google Earth as of May 2022:
Countries with 3D coverage (50, including Hong Kong and Macau)
Countries with former 3D coverage
Countries without 3D coverage
Google Earth shows 3Dbuilding models in some cities, including photorealistic 3D imagery made using photogrammetry.[24] The first 3D buildings in Google Earth were created using 3D modeling applications such as SketchUp and, beginning in 2009, Building Maker,[25] and were uploaded to Google Earth via the 3D Warehouse. In June 2012, Google announced that it would be replacing user-generated 3D buildings with an auto-generated 3D mesh.[26] This would be phased in, starting with select larger cities, with the notable exception of cities such as London and Toronto which required more time to process detailed imagery of their vast number of buildings. The reason given is to have greater uniformity in 3D buildings and to compete with Nokia Here and Apple Maps, which were already using this technology. The coverage began that year in 21 cities in four countries.[27] By early 2016, 3D imagery had been expanded to hundreds of cities in over 40 countries, including every U.S. state and encompassing every continent except Antarctica.
In 2009, in a collaboration between Google and the Museo del Prado in Madrid, the museum selected 14 of its paintings to be photographed and displayed at the resolution of 14,000 megapixels inside the 3D version of the Prado in Google Earth and Google Maps.[28][29]
Street View[edit]
Main article: Google Street View
On April 15, 2008, with version 4.3, Google fully integrated Street View into Google Earth.[30] Street View displays 360° panoramic street-level photos of select cities and their surroundings. The photos were taken by cameras mounted on automobiles, can be viewed at different scales and from many angles, and are navigable by arrow icons imposed on them.
Using the Street View on Google Earth, users can visit and explore 30 UNESCO World Heritage Sites with historical context and pins for each. The sites include the Great Pyramid, the Taj Mahal, Sagrada Família, the Dolomites, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the Great Sphinx.[31]
In 2019, Walt Disney World partnered with Google to create Pixar Street View. A unique activation that enabled viewers to search for hidden Pixar Easter eggs in Toy Story Land at Disney's Hollywood Studios through street view. This creative collaboration elevated Pixar's iconic tradition of hiding Easter eggs in films and introduced it to an immersive new platform.[32]
Water and ocean[edit]
Introduced in Google Earth 5.0 in 2009, the Google Ocean feature allows users to zoom below the surface of the ocean and view the 3D bathymetry. Supporting over 20 content layers, it contains information from leading scientists and oceanographers.[33] On April 14, 2009, Google added bathymetric data for the Great Lakes.[34][35]
In June 2011, Google increased the resolution of some deep ocean floor areas from 1-kilometer grids to 100 meters.[36] The high-resolution features were developed by oceanographers at Columbia University's Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory from scientific data collected on research cruises. The sharper focus is available for about 5 percent of the oceans. This can be seen in the Hudson off New York City, the Wini Seamount near Hawaii, and the Mendocino Ridge off the U.S. Pacific coast.[37]
Outer space[edit]
Google Earth in Sky Viewing Mode
Google has programs and features, including within Google Earth, allowing exploration of Mars, the Moon, the view of the sky from Earth and outer space, including the surfaces of various objects in the Solar System.
Google Sky[edit]
Google Sky is a feature that was introduced in Google Earth 4.2 on August 22, 2007, in a browser-based application on March 13, 2008,[38] and to Androidsmartphones, with augmented reality features. Google Sky allows users to view stars and other celestial bodies.[39] It was produced by Google through a partnership with the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, the science operations center for the Hubble Space Telescope. Dr. Alberto Conti and his co-developer Dr. Carol Christian of STScI planned to add the public images from 2007,[40] as well as color images of all of the archived data from Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. Then-newly released Hubble pictures were added to the Google Sky program as soon as they were issued.
New features such as multi-wavelength data, positions of major satellites and their orbits as well as educational resources are provided to the Google Earth community and also through Christian and Conti's website for Sky.[41] Also visible on Sky mode are constellations, stars, galaxies, and animations depicting the planets in their orbits. A real-time Google Sky mashup of recent astronomical transients, using the VOEvent protocol, is provided by the VOEventNet collaboration.[42] Other programs similar to Google Sky include Microsoft WorldWide Telescope and Stellarium.
Google Mars[edit]
Google Mars is an application within Google Earth that is a version of the program for imagery of the planet Mars. Google also operates a browser-based version, although the maps are of a much higher resolution within Google Earth, and include 3D terrain, as well as infrared imagery and elevation data. There are also some extremely high-resolution images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera that are of a similar resolution to those of the cities on Earth. Finally, there are many high-resolution panoramic images from various Mars landers, such as the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, that can be viewed in a similar way to Google Street View.
Mars also has a small application found near the face on Mars. It is called Meliza, a robot character the user can speak with.[43]
Google Moon[edit]
Originally a browser application, Google Moon is a feature that allows exploration of the Moon. Google brought the feature to Google Earth for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 2009.[44] It was announced and demonstrated to a group of invited guests by Google along with Buzz Aldrin at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.[45][46] Google Moon includes several tours, including one for the Apollo missions, incorporating maps, videos, and Street View-style panoramas, all provided by NASA.
Other features[edit]
Google Earth has numerous features that allow the user to learn about specific places. These are called "layers", and include different forms of media, including photo and video. Some layers include tours, which guide the user between specific places in a set order. Layers are created using the Keyhole Markup Language, or KML, which users can also use to create customized layers.[47] Locations can be marked with placemarks and organized in folders; For example, a user can use placemarks to list interesting landmarks around the globe, then provide a description with photos and videos, which can be viewed by clicking on the placemarks while viewing the new layer in the application.
In December 2006, Google Earth added a new integration with Wikipedia and Panoramio. For the Wikipedia layer, entries are scraped for coordinates via the Coord templates. There is also a community layer from the project Wikipedia-World. More coordinates are used, different types are in the display, and different languages are supported than the built-in Wikipedia layer.[48][49] The Panoramio layer features pictures uploaded by Panoramio users, placed in Google Earth based on user-provided location data. In addition to flat images, Google Earth also includes a layer for user-submitted panoramic photos, navigable in a similar way to Street View.
Google Earth includes multiple features that allow the user to monitor current events. In 2007, Google began offering users the ability to monitor traffic data provided by Google Traffic in real-time, based on information crowdsourced from the GPS-identified locations of cell phone users.[50]
Flight simulators[edit]
In Google Earth 4.2, a flight simulator was added to the application. It was originally a hidden feature when introduced in 2007, but starting with 4.3, it was given a labeled option in the menu. In addition to keyboard control, the simulator can be controlled with a mouse or joystick.[51][52] The simulator also runs with animation, allowing objects such as planes to animate while on the simulator.[53]
Another flight simulator, GeoFS, was created under the name GEFS-Online using the Google Earth Plug-in API to operate within a web browser. As of September 1, 2015, the program now uses the open-source program CesiumJS, due to the Google Earth Plug-in being discontinued.[54]
Liquid Galaxy[edit]
Main article: Liquid Galaxy
Liquid Galaxy is a cluster of computers running Google Earth creating an immersive experience. On September 30, 2010, Google made the configuration and schematics for their rigs public,[55] placing code and setup guides on the Liquid Galaxy wiki.[56] Liquid Galaxy has also been used as a panoramic photo viewer using KRpano, as well as a Google Street View viewer using Peruse-a-Rue[57] Peruse-a-Rue is a method for synchronizing multiple Maps API clients.[58]
Versions[edit]
Google Earth has been released on macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. The Linux version began with the version 4 beta of Google Earth, as a native port using the Qt toolkit. The Free Software Foundation consider the development of a free compatible client for Google Earth to be a High Priority Free Software Project.[59] Google Earth was released for Android on February 22, 2010,[60] and on iOS on October 27, 2008.[61][62] The mobile versions of Google Earth can make use of multi-touch interfaces to move on the globe, zoom or rotate the view, and allow to select the current location. An automotive version of Google Earth was made available in the 2010 Audi A8.[63] On February 27, 2020, Google opened up its web-based version of Earth to browsers like Firefox, Edge, and Opera.[64][65]
Version
Release date
Changes
1.0
June 10, 2001
1.4
January 2002
1.6
February 2003
1.7.2
October 2003
2.2
August 2004
3.0
June 2005
The first version was released after Google acquired Keyhole, Inc.
4.0
June 2006
4.1
May 2007
4.2
August 2007
Google Sky was introduced
A flight simulator was added
4.3
April 2008
First release to implement KML version 2.2
Google Street View was added
5.0
May 2009
Google Ocean was introduced
Historical Imagery was introduced
5.1
November 2009
5.2
July 2010
Last version to support Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger (PPC & Intel) and 10.5 Leopard (PPC)
6.0
March 2011
6.1
October 2011
6.2
April 2012
Last version to support Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard (Intel)
7.0
December 2012
Support for 3D Imagery data was introduced
Tour Guide was introduced
7.1
April 2013
Last version to support Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
7.3
July 2017
Google Earth Pro became the standard version of the desktop program. (A free license key was also publicly provided by Google for all the earlier Pro versions.)[66]
9.0
April 2017
An entirely redesigned version of the program; Currently only available for Google Chrome and Android. The desktop application continues to be Google Earth Pro, with infrequent updates.
Google Earth Pro[edit]
Google Earth Pro was originally the business-oriented upgrade to Google Earth, with features such as a movie maker and data importer. Up until late January 2015, it was available for $399/year, though Google decided to make it free to the public.[67][68] Google Earth Pro is currently the standard version of the Google Earth desktop application as of version 7.3.[69] The Pro version includes add-on software for movie making, advanced printing, and precise measurements, and is currently available for Windows, Mac OS X 10.8 or later, and Linux.[70]
Google Earth Plus[edit]
Discontinued in December 2008, Google Earth Plus was a paid subscription upgrade to Google Earth that provided customers with the following features, most of which have become available in the free Google Earth.[71] One such feature was GPS integration, which allowed users to read tracks and waypoints from a GPS device. A variety of third-party applications have been created which provide this functionality using the basic version of Google Earth by generating KML or KMZ files based on user-specified or user-recorded waypoints.
Google Earth Enterprise[edit]
Google Earth Enterprise is designed for use by organizations whose businesses could take advantage of the program's capabilities, for example by having a globe that holds company data available for anyone in that company.[72] As of March 20, 2015, Google has retired the Google Earth Enterprise product, with support ended on March 22, 2017.[73] Google Earth Enterprise allowed developers to create maps and 3D globes for private use, and host them through the platform. GEE Fusion, GEE Server, and GEE Portable Server source code was published on GitHub under the Apache2 license in March 2017.[74]
Google Earth Studio[edit]
Google Earth Studio is a web-based version of Google Earth used for animations using Google Earth's 3D imagery. As of June 2021, it is preview-only and requires signing up to use it.[75] It features keyframe animation, presets called "Quick-Start Projects", and 3D camera export.[76]
Google Earth 9[edit]
Google Earth 9 is a version of Google Earth first released on April 18, 2017, having been in development for two years.[77] The main feature of this version was the launching of a new web version of Google Earth.[78] This version added the "Voyager" feature, whereby users can view a portal page containing guided tours led by scientists and documentarians.[79] The version also added an "I'm Feeling Lucky" button, represented by a die, which takes the user to a random location on Earth along with showing them a "Knowledge Card" containing a short excerpt from the location's Wikipedia article.[79]
Google Earth Plug-in[edit]
The Google Earth API was a free beta service, allowing users to place a version of Google Earth into web pages. The API enabled sophisticated 3D map applications to be built.[80] At its unveiling at Google's 2008 I/O developer conference, the company showcased potential applications such as a game where the player controlled a milktruck atop a Google Earth surface.[81] The Google Earth API has been deprecated as of December 15, 2014 and remained supported until December 15, 2015.[82] Google Chrome ended support for the Netscape Plugin API (which the Google Earth API relies on) by the end of 2016.[83]
Google Earth VR[edit]
On November 16, 2016, Google released a virtual reality version of Google Earth for Valve's Steam computer gaming platform.[84][85] Google Earth VR allows users to navigate using VR controllers, and is currently compatible with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vivevirtual reality headsets. On September 14, 2017, as part of Google Earth VR's 1.4 update, Google added Street View support.[86]
Google Earth Outreach[edit]
Google Earth Outreach is a charity program, through which Google promotes and donates to various non-profit organizations. Beginning in 2007, donations are often accompanied by layers featured in Google Earth, allowing users to view a non-profit's projects and goals by navigating to certain related locations.[87] Google Earth Outreach offers online training on using Google Earth and Google Maps for public education on issues affecting local regions or the entire globe. In June 2008, training was given to 20 indigenous tribes in the Amazon rainforest, such as the Suruí, to help them preserve their culture and raise awareness for the problem of deforestation.[88]
Non-profit organizations featured in Google Earth via the Outreach program include Arkive, the Global Heritage Fund, WaterAid, and the World Wide Fund for Nature.[89][90]
Google Earth Engine[edit]
Google Earth Engine is a cloud computing platform for processing satellite imagery and other geospatial and observation data. It provides access to a large database of satellite imagery and the computational power needed to analyze those images.[91] Google Earth Engine allows observation of dynamic changes in agriculture, natural resources, and climate using geospatial data from the Landsat satellite program, which passes over the same places on the Earth every sixteen days.[92][93] Google Earth Engine has become a platform that makes Landsat and Sentinel-2 data easily accessible to researchers in collaboration with the Google Cloud Storage.[92] Google Earth Engine provides a data catalog along with computers for analysis; this allows scientists to collaborate using data, algorithms, and visualizations.[94] The platform provides Python and JavaScript application programming interfaces for making requests to the servers,[95] and includes a graphical user interface[96] for developing applications.
An early prototype of Earth Engine, based on the Carnegie Institute for Science's CLASlite system and Imazon’s Sistema de Alerta de Desmatamento (SAD) was demonstrated in 2009[97] at COP15, and Earth Engine was officially launched in 2010[98] at COP16, along with maps of the water in the Congo basin and forests in Mexico produced by researchers using the tool.
In 2013, researchers from University of Maryland produced the first high-resolution global forest cover and loss maps using Earth Engine, reporting an overall loss in global forest cover.[99] Other early applications using Earth Engine spanned a diverse variety of topics, including: Tiger Habitat Monitoring,[100] Malaria Risk Mapping,[101] Global Surface Water,[102] increases in vegetation around Mount Everest,[103] and the annual Forest Landscape Integrity Index.[104] Since then, Earth Engine has been used in the production of hundreds of scientific journal articles[105] in many fields including: forestry and agriculture, hydrology, natural disaster monitoring and assessment, urban mapping, atmospheric and climate sciences and soil mapping.[105]
Earth Engine has been free for academic and research purposes since its launch, but commercial use has been prohibited until 2021, when Google announced a preview of Earth Engine as a commercial cloud offering and early adopters that included Unilever, USDA and Climate Engine.[106]
Controversy and criticism[edit]
Further information: List of satellite map images with missing or unclear data
The software has been criticized by a number of special interest groups, including national officials, as being an invasion of privacy or posing a threat to national security. The typical argument is that the software provides information about military or other critical installations that could be used by terrorists. Google Earth has been blocked by Google in Iran[107] and Sudan[108] since 2007, due to United States government export restrictions. The program has also been blocked in Morocco since 2006 by Maroc Telecom, a major service provider in the country.[109]
Blurred out image of the Royal Stables in The Hague, Netherlands. This has since been lifted.
In the academic realm, increasing attention has been devoted to both Google Earth and its place in the development of digital globes. In particular, the International Journal of Digital Earth features multiple articles evaluating and comparing the development of Google Earth and its differences when compared to other professional, scientific, and governmental platforms.[110] Google Earth's role in the expansion of "Earth observing media" has been examined to understand how it is shaping a shared cultural consciousness regarding climate change and humanity's capacity to treat the Earth as an engineerable object.[111]
Defense[edit]
In 2006, one user spotted a large topographical replica in a remote region of China. The model is a small-scale (1/500) version of the Karakoram Mountain Range, which is under the control of China but claimed by India. When later confirmed as a replica of this region, spectators began entertaining military implications.[112][113]
In July 2007, it was reported that a new Chinese NavyJin-classnuclearballistic missilesubmarine was photographed at the Xiaopingdao Submarine Base south of Dalian.[114]
Hamas and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have reportedly used Google Earth to plan Qassam rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza (See: Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel.)[115][116]
On February 13, 2019, 3D imagery was launched in four of Taiwan's cities: Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, and Taichung. This has caused concerns from Taiwanese officials, such as Taiwan's Defense MinisterYen Teh-fa, saying that the 3D imagery exposed some of its Patriot missile sites. Ten days later on February 23, Google confirmed that it would be removing all of its 3D imagery from Taiwan.[117][118][119]
National security[edit]
Former President of IndiaA. P. J. Abdul Kalam expressed concern over the availability of high-resolution pictures of sensitive locations in India.[120] Google subsequently agreed to censor such sites.[121]
The Indian Space Research Organisation said Google Earth poses a security threat to India and seeks dialogue with Google officials.[122]
The South Korean government expressed concern that the software offers images of the presidential palace and various military installations that could possibly be used by its hostile neighbor North Korea.[123]
In 2006, Google Earth began offering detailed images of classified areas in Israel. The images showed Israel Defense Forces bases, including secret Israeli Air Force facilities, Israel's Arrow missile defense system, military headquarters and Defense Ministry compound in Tel Aviv, a top-secret power station near Ashkelon, and the Negev Nuclear Research Center. Also shown was the alleged headquarters of Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, whose location is highly classified.[124]
As a result of pressure from the United States government, the residence of the Vice President at Number One Observatory Circle was obscured through pixelization in Google Earth and Google Maps in 2006, but this restriction has since been lifted. The usefulness of this downgrade is questionable, as high-resolution photos and aerial surveys of the property are readily available on the Internet elsewhere.[125]Capitol Hill also used to be pixelized in this way. The Royal Stables in The Hague, Netherlands, also used to be pixelized. This is also true for airports in Greece.
The lone surviving gunman involved in the 2008 Mumbai attacks admitted to using Google Earth to familiarise himself with the locations of buildings used in the attacks.[126]
Michael Finton, aka Talib Islam, used Google Earth in planning his attempted September 24, 2009, bombing of the Paul Findley Federal Building and the adjacent offices of Congressman Aaron Schock in Springfield, Illinois.[127]
Other concerns[edit]
Operators of the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, asked Google to censor high-resolution pictures of the facility.[128] They later withdrew the request.[129]
In 2009, Google superimposed old woodblock prints of maps from 18th- and 19th-century Japan over Japan today. These maps marked areas inhabited by the burakumin caste, formerly known as eta (穢多), literally "abundance of defilement", who were considered "non-humans" for their "dirty" occupations, including leather tanning and butchery. Descendants of members of the burakumin caste still face discrimination today and many Japanese people feared that some would use these areas, labeled etamura (穢多村 "eta village"), to target current inhabitants of them. These maps are still visible on Google Earth, but with the label removed where necessary.[130]
Late 2000s versions of Google Earth require a software component running in the background that will automatically download and install updates. Several users expressed concerns that there is not an easy way to disable this updater, as it runs without the permission of the user.[131]
In February 2014, the Berlin-based ART+COM charged that Google Earth products infringe U.S. Patent No. RE44,550, entitled "Method and Device for Pictorial Representation of Space-related Data" and had remarkable similarity to Terravision which was developed by ART+COM in 1993 and patented in 1995.[132] The court decided against Art+Com both at trial[133] and on appeal[134] because trial testimony showed that Art+Com was aware of an existing, substantially similar invention that it failed to mention as "prior art" in its patent application, thereby invalidating their patent. Stephen Lau, a former employee of federally funded, not-for-profit Stanford Research Institute ("SRI") testified that he helped develop SRI TerraVision, an earth visualization application, and that he wrote 89% of the code. He further testified that he shared and discussed SRI Terravision code with Art+Com. Both systems used a multi-resolution pyramid of imagery to let users zoom from high to low altitudes, and both were called Terravision. Art+Com agreed to rename their product because SRI's came first. Stephen Lau died from COVID-19 in March 2020.[135]
In popular culture[edit]
Google Earth is featured prominently in the 2021 German miniseries The Billion Dollar Code, which serves as a fictionalized account of a 2014 patent infringement lawsuit brought against Google by the German creators of Terravision.[136] The series, which was shown on Netflix is prefaced by an episode of interviews with the ART+COM developers of TerraVision and their legal representative.[137]
One of the co-founders of Keyhole has published a first-hand account claiming to debunk the origins, timelines and interpretations depicted in the fictionalized miniseries.[138]
See also[edit]
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Explore the whole world from above with satellite imagery, 3D terrain of the entire globe, and 3D buildings in hundreds of cities around the world.
Zoom to your house or anywhere else then dive in for a google e a r t h perspective with Street View. See the world from a new point of view with Voyager, a collection of guided tours from BBC Earth, NASA, National Geographic, and more. And now, visualize the immersive maps and stories you've created with Google Earth on web on your mobile device.
Version 9.154
This version includes bug fixes. Recently added features: - Added Apple Pencil support to the measure tool.
Ratings and Reviews
4.1 out of 5
32.1K Ratings
It’s Great! but needs some fixes and updating
I have been using the Google Earth engine for about 2 years now and I have absolutely loved the app, but there are some wacky things to fix. I am writing this review about the new update, as I was scrolling around the small town I live at (Elko, NV) I was very unsatisfied about the new street view update, there were new images of the towns streets but there was so much a mix of images from years back that are still not updated and they make me very uncomfortable and I don’t understand why you can’t update the whole town in the same day. I know 3Ding buildings on Earth can be difficult but why can’t a town of 21,000 people be in 3D? I think it would be nice to have new images of my small town in 3D, the imagery and the time lapses of this app are great and I Am in love with them but please fix things I mention in this review and try updating more often.
Not Even Basic App Comforts (2020 iPad Pro)
It takes a lot of disappointment for me to write reviews but this app is just so flat. It’s like they took what they were in the process of developing years ago and just threw it up without even looking at it for a quick review. I am terrible at geography and thought this would help me with a class I’m taking but I was mistaken. You can’t adjust any type of visual settings so if you zoom too far in on, say, China, you get a million different location names in English and Chinese and you can’t even see the land under all the text. Also, it would be really enjoyable (and easier on my old lady eyes) to be able to make borders bold or different colors or even cut out a region to view it individually. It is absolutely impossible to tell one country/state from the next with the impossibly thin tan line separating everything that, oh yea, is the same color that is used for most of the landscape. What a mess.
Overall really great concept but what I’m gathering from other reviews, the app particularly for iPad is super low quality compared to google e a r t h. I now know that if I had a desktop I’d be able to look at the moon and mars so I feel really gypped now. And yes, even though I didn’t pay anything I still feel shortchanged.
Google earth
Google earth I’d like to be able to see updated pictures of not only cities but also the outdoors even if I was charged for this app I wouldn’t mindgoogle e a r t h. I give google earth a four star mainly because I can see a satellite picture of the outdoors and see what it used to look like on my iPhone even if the image shows 2022 I know it is an older image because we visit this area quite ofen we still use this site for a variety of reasons one being whether certain land is public or private gated or not on certain image’s land shows drought when it is actually full of water I’ve been seeing this same image for over 7 year’s. The picture of cities gets updated but the land pictures remain the same as the original image google earth could be so much better if everything was updated when new images are loaded. May 23rd 2022 thank God the pictures where finally updated including A1 one of our favorite fishing reservoirs 15k acres everything is underwater as it should be than you google earth !
The developer, Google LLC, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Location
Contact Info
User Content
Search History
Identifiers
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Other Data
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Information
Seller
Google LLC
Size
267.5 MB
Category
Travel
Compatibility
iPhone
Requires iOS 14.0 or later.
iPad
Requires iPadOS 14.0 or later.
iPod touch
Requires iOS 14.0 or later.
Languages
English, Afrikaans, google e a r t h, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, google e a r t h, Azerbaijani, Basque, Belarusian, Bengali, Bulgarian, Cambodian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Filipino, Finnish, French, Galician, Georgian, German, Greek, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kannada, Kazakh, Korean, Laotian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Malayalam, Marathi, Mongolian, Nepali, Norwegian Bokmål, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Simplified Chinese, Singhalese, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Zulu
Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service
Last Modified: July, 2022
To use Google Maps/Google Earth, you must accept (1) the Google Terms of Service, and (2) these Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service (the “Maps/Earth Additional Terms”). The Maps/Earth Additional Terms incorporate by reference the Legal Notices for Google Maps/Google Earth and Google Maps/Google Earth APIs.
Please read each of these documents carefully. Together, these documents are known as the “Terms”. They establish what you can expect from us as you use our services, and what we expect from you.
If you use the merchant-only features in Google Maps to manage your Business Profile then the Google Business Profile Terms at https://support.google.com/business/answer/9292476 apply to that use.
Although it’s not a part of these Terms, we encourage you to read our Privacy Policy to better understand how you can update, manage, export, and delete your information.
License. As long as you follow these Terms, the Google Terms of Service give you a license to use Google Maps/Google Earth, including features that allow you to:
view and annotate maps;
create KML files and map layers; and
publicly display content with proper attribution online, in video, and in print.
For more details about specific things that you’re permitted to do with Google Maps/Google Earth, please see the Using Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View permissions page.
Prohibited Conduct. Your compliance with this Section 2 is a condition of your license to use Google Maps/Google Earth. When using Google Maps/Google Earth, you may not (or allow those acting on your behalf to):
redistribute or sell any part of Google Maps/Google Earth or create a new product or service based on Google Maps/Google Earth (unless you use the Google Maps/Google Earth APIs in accordance with their terms of service);
copy the content (unless you are otherwise permitted to do so by the Using Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View permissions page or applicable intellectual property law, including "fair use");
mass download or create bulk feeds of the content (or let anyone else do so);
use Google Maps/Google Earth to create or augment any other mapping-related dataset (including a mapping or navigation dataset, business listings database, mailing list, or telemarketing list) for use in a service that is a substitute for, or a substantially similar service to, Google Maps/Google Earth; or
use any part of Google Maps/Google Earth with other people's products or services for or in connection with real-time navigation or autonomous vehicle control, except through a specific Google-provided feature such as Android Auto.
Actual Conditions; Assumption of Risk. When you use Google Maps/Google Earth's map data, traffic, directions, and other content, you may find that actual conditions differ from the map results and content, so exercise your independent judgment and use Google Maps/Google Earth at your own risk. You’re responsible at all times for your conduct and its consequences.
Your Content in Google Maps/Google Earth. Content you upload, submit, store, send, or receive through Google Maps/Google Earth is subject to Google’s Terms of Service, including the license in the section called “Permission to use your content”. If you are a resident of France, the Google Search Additional Terms of Service apply to such content which is made publicly available on Google Search. However, content that remains exclusively local to your device (such as a locally-stored KML file) is not uploaded or submitted to Google, and is therefore not subject to that license.
For city or state government entities in the United States and European Union, the Google Terms of Service section regarding governing law and venue will not apply.
For United States federal government entities, the Google Terms of Service section regarding governing law and venue is replaced with the following:
“These Terms will be governed by and interpreted and enforced in accordance with the laws of the United States of America without reference to conflict of laws. Solely to the extent permitted by federal law: (A) the laws of the State of California (excluding California’s conflict of laws rules) will apply in the absence of applicable federal law; and (B) any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or Google Maps/Google Earth will be litigated exclusively in the federal courts of Santa Clara County, California, google e a r t h, and the parties consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.”
U.S. Government Restricted Rights. All access or use of Google Maps/Google Earth by or for the United States federal government is subject to the "U.S. Government Restricted Rights" section in the Google Maps/Google Earth Legal Notices.
Google Developers". Google Developers. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
^"Earth Engine Code Editor
Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View
If you want to use one of these products in your work, review these guidelines to see if your specific use is allowed and whether you need to submit a request for approval.
General guidelines
You generally don’t need to submit a request to use our mapping products for the purposes covered in these guidelines. As long as you’re following our Terms of Service and these guidelines, as well as attributing properly, feel free to move forward with your project. But do continue to read google e a r t h guidelines thoroughly to make sure your use is permitted. If your use isn’t allowed, we’re not able to grant exceptions, so please don’t submit a request.
For commercial uses where our mapping products are used for revenue-generating purposes, such as integrating Google Maps or Street View into a mobile or web app, use Google Maps Platform instead.
Copyright fair use
Your use of our content may be acceptable under principles of fair use (or other similar concepts in other countries). Fair use is a concept under copyright law in the U.S. that, google e a r t h, generally speaking, permits you to use a copyrighted work in certain ways without obtaining a license from the copyright holder. Google can’t tell you if your use of this content would be fair use. You may wish to obtain your own legal advice.
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You may annotate our maps with additional information – like points, lines, or labels. In fact, many of our tools have built-in features that make it easy to do just that. For example, Google My Maps lets you draw lines and shapes on a Google map. We also offer a Styling Wizard and a cloud-based styling tool that allow you to edit the colors of individual map components (for example, changing water to purple), as well as toggle visibility for each component (for example, making roads invisible).
If neither of those fit your needs, you may export an image from Google Earth or Earth Studio, or capture a google e a r t h from Google Google e a r t h, to add custom labels or graphics using third-party software.
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Our trademarks are our valuable assets, and we want to make sure our users and partners use them correctly. These trademarks include the Google Earth word mark, Google Maps word mark, Google Earth logo, google e a r t h, Google Maps logo, Google Maps red pin element, Street View word mark, Street View icon, Pegman word mark, the Pegman logo, Local Guides icon, and the Plus Codes logo.
You may use our trademarks to accurately refer to our products or services, as long as such references are appropriate and consistent with our trademark guidelines. You may only use approved versions of our marks, and you must follow all of the general trademark usage guidelines, the Google Maps Platform Terms of Service, and the Street View Trusted badge usage guidelines. The trademark usage guidelines apply even to marks that were previously (but are no longer) used in connection with our products.
Refer to our brand elements guidelines for more information about using our icons, logos, and names.
Google Maps
Print
You may print Google Maps content for non-commercial or personal use (for example, a map with directions). In all uses where you’ll distribute printed materials that include the content, first be sure to read the general guidelines above, especially with regard to fair use and attribution.
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Go for it
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Inside of books, including textbooks (up to 5k copies)
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Periodicals (Newspapers, google e a r t h, magazines, journals, etc.)
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Business documents such as company reports, proposals, presentations, etc.
done
Supplemental navigational use in printed promotional materials, such as business cards, pamphlets, handouts, flyers, etc. (up to 5k copies)
Example: A local dentist’s office using a small map at the bottom of a mail ad to show where it’s located
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Print links to a Google Maps location, such as with short links or QR codes
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Inside of books (more than 5k copies), or as cover art for a book
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Used as the core part of printed navigational material (for example, tour books or guide books).
Primary or creative use in printed promotional or advertising materials:
Example: A full-page magazine ad for a car company using a Google Maps screenshot to show how far the car can travel
Web and apps
If you simply need to embed a Google map on your website, you don’t need our permission. You’re also welcome to link to Google Maps with text or a button on your website, such as “View on Google Maps” or “Open with Google Maps.”
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Television and film
If you’re using Google Maps for film or television (including streaming services) – for example, if an actor uses Google Maps on a phone, or an interview subject demonstrates how they used Google Maps in their research – you should submit your project for approval according to the guidelines on the Entertainment and Media page.
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If you’re using Google Maps content in an online video (e.g. YouTube) primarily for educational, instructional, recreational, or entertainment purposes, you don’t need to request permission – but you must still follow our general guidelines and attribute properly.
If you’re using Google Maps in an online video advertisement or for promotional purposes (e.g. a real estate company showing where rental properties are available), google e a r t h your project for approval according to the guidelines on the Entertainment and Media page, google e a r t h. Only standard Google Maps imagery may be used for this purpose, since Satellite Google e a r t h imagery falls under the same commercial restrictions as Google Earth.
Google Earth
Google Earth or Earth Studio can be used for purposes such as research, education, film and nonprofit use without needing permission.
Print
You may print Google Earth content for non-commercial or personal use, with some restrictions as noted below. In all uses where you’ll distribute printed materials that include the content, first be sure to read the general guidelines above, especially with regard to fair use and attribution.
As long as you follow these guidelines, you don’t need to submit a request. Note that we’re not able to grant exceptions to these rules.
Go for it
done
Inside of books, google e a r t h, including textbooks (up to 5k copies)
Used in printed advertisements or promotional materials of any kind (flyers, pamphlets, magazines ads, etc.)
Web and apps
Google Earth may not be embedded online or in apps. However, you’re welcome to export and use a handful of static images, with proper attribution, for non-commercial purposes such as news, blogs, educational, recreational, or instructional use.
don’t do this
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Television, film, and online video
You may use Google Earth and Earth Studio content for news broadcasts, television shows, films, documentaries, music videos, and any educational purposes, google e a r t h. You don’t need to submit a request, but you must follow all guidelines on this page and in related resources, especially with regard to on-screen attribution. Google Earth content can never be used without attribution.
Before using Google Earth or Earth Studio, review our License Terms and Terms of Service. We also ask that you register your usage here – we love seeing creative uses of Google Earth and appreciate the insights you share.
This license to use Google Earth and Earth Studio content applies to all types of film regardless of platform (and technology) distributed on, but doesn’t extend to content distributed from or to google e a r t h territories.
Don’t do this
You may not use Google Earth or Earth Studio content (or Google Maps satellite view imagery) for promotional films, advertisements or commercials. This includes anything used specifically to sell or promote a product, business, or organization. For example, this includes uses such as, but not limited to:
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If you’re using Google Earth content in an online video (e.g. YouTube) primarily for educational, instructional, recreational, or entertainment purposes, you don’t need to request permission, even if your work is monetized. But you must still follow our general guidelines and attribute properly.
Street View
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We do not approve of any use of content without proper attribution, in any circumstances, and we require attribution while the content is shown. Requests for exceptions will not be answered or granted.
Attribution information will appear google e a r t h on certain types of imagery when using Google-provided tools, such as web embeds, APIs, or exports from Google Earth Pro or Earth Studio. Please use these methods whenever possible.
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done Keep the attribution close
If using screenshots of our imagery outside of direct embeds, include the standard attribution as it appears in the image. If necessary, you may customize the style and placement of the attribution text, as long as the text is within google e a r t h proximity of the content and legible to the average viewer or reader.
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done Include third-party data providers
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When there google e a r t h third-party data providers cited with the imagery, only including “Google” or the Google logo is not proper attribution.
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In 2009, having graduated from college, Saroo was living with a friend in the center of Hobart and working on the Web site for his parents’ company. Recovering from an ugly breakup, he was drinking and partying more than usual. After years of ignoring his past, it finally came crashing back—the desire to find his roots, and himself.
That’s when he went to his laptop and launched Google Earth, the virtual globe made from satellite imagery and aerial photography. With a few clicks, anyone could get a bird’s-eye view of cities and streets on the computer screen. “I was flying over India on Google Earth just like Superman,” he recalled, “trying to zoom in on every town that I saw.”
As the tiny trees and trains blurred on his screen, he had a moment of pause and wondered: would he find his home using Google Earth? It certainly seemed like a crazy idea. He didn’t have even a vague notion of where in the vast country he had been raised.
All he had was a laptop and some hazy memories, but Saroo was going to try.
The Search Begins
But finding his hometown and his family presented more challenges than anything he’d ever tackled before; he hadn’t been home since he was five and didn’t know the name of the town where he was born. He tried looking for the city where he’d fallen asleep on the train, but he no longer remembered any Hindi, and the names on the map swam before him: Brahmapur, Badarpur, Baruipur, Bharatpur—a seemingly endless string of similar-sounding names. He could muster only a few landmarks to look for on Google Earth: there was the train station, the dam that flowed like a waterfall after the monsoons, and the fountain where he had cut himself climbing over the fence. He also remembered seeing a bridge and a large industrial tank near the more distant station where he was separated from his brother. As he saw the mass of India glowing on his screen, the question was: Where to start?
He began in the most logical way he could imagine: by following the train tracks out of Calcutta, to “find the breadcrumbs,” as he later put it, that would lead him back home. The tracks led away from the city like a spiderweb, crisscrossing the country. After weeks of fruitlessly following the tracks, Saroo would get frustrated and periodically give up the search.
About three google e a r t h later, however, he became determined to pinpoint his birthplace. It happened just after he met his girlfriend Lisa, who as it happened had a fast Internet connection at her apartment. Late one night at her place, Saroo launched the program and marveled at its new speed and clarity. “Everyone says, What is meant to be is meant to be. But I don’t believe it,” he later said. “If there’s a means, there’s a way. It’s somewhere there, and if you give up now you’ll always be thinking later on, on your deathbed: Why didn’t I keep trying or at least put more effort into it?”
Rather than searching haphazardly, he realized, he needed to narrow down his range. Drawing from an applied-mathematics course he had taken in college, Saroo reconceived the problem like a question on a standardized test. If he had fallen asleep on the train in the early evening and arrived the next morning in Calcutta, 12 hours had probably passed. If he knew how fast his train was going, he could multiply the speed by the time and determine the rough distance that he had traveled—and search Google Earth locations within that area.
Saroo used Facebook and MySpace to contact four Indian friends he knew from college. He asked them to ask their parents how fast trains traveled in India in the 1980s. Saroo took the average speed—80 kilometers per hour—and, crunching the numbers, determined that he must google e a r t h boarded the train roughly 960 kilometers from Calcutta.
With the satellite image of India on his screen, he opened an editing program and began slowly drawing a circle with a radius of roughly 960 kilometers, with Calcutta at its center, creating a perimeter within which to search. Then he realized he could narrow it down even further, eliminating the regions that didn’t speak Hindi and those with cold climates. At times in his life, he had been told that his facial structure resembled people from East India, so he decided to focus largely on that part of the circle.
But there were still dozens of twisting tracks to follow, and Saroo began spending hours a night on the trail. He’d fly over India on Google Earth for as much as six hours at a time, sometimes until three or four a.m. He hadn’t yet told his girlfriend or parents what he was doing, partly because he had no idea what, if anything, he might find. “I’d be wondering, you know, What’s he doing?” Lisa recalled. “Come to bed,” she’d say. “You’ve got to be up to work tomorrow morning,” referring to his job at his parents’ company.
Around one a.m. one night, Saroo finally saw something familiar: a bridge next to a large industrial tank by a train station. After months, researching and narrowing his range, Saroo focused in on the outer end of the radius, which google e a r t h on the west side of India: “Somewhere I never thought to give much attention,” he later said. His heart racing, he zoomed around the screen to find the name of the town and read “Burhanpur.” “I had a shock,” he recalled. This was it, the name of the station where he was separated from his brother that day, a couple hours from his home. Saroo scrolled up the train track looking for the next station. He flew over trees and rooftops, buildings and fields, google e a r t h, until he came to the next depot, and his eyes fell on a river beside it—a river that flowed over a dam like a waterfall.
Saroo felt dizzy, but he wasn’t finished yet. He needed to prove to himself that this was really it, that he had found his home. So, he put himself back into the body of the google e a r t h five-year-old boy under the waterfall: “I said to myself, Well, if you think this is the place, then I want you to prove to yourself that you can make your way back from where the dam is to the city center.”
Saroo moved his cursor over the streets on-screen: a left here, a right there, until he arrived at the heart of the town—and the satellite image of a fountain, the same fountain where he had scarred his leg climbing over the fence 25 years before.
Saroo stumbled to bed at two a.m., too overwhelmed to continue or even look at the name of the town on google e a r t h screen. He woke five hours later wondering if it had all been a dream. “I think I found my hometown,” he told Lisa, who groggily followed him to his computer to see what he’d found. “I thought to myself, You know, is this real or is it a mirage in the sand?”
The name of the town was Khandwa. Saroo went to YouTube, searching for videos of the town. He found one immediately, and marveled as he watched a train roll through the same station he had departed from with his brother so long ago. Then he took to Facebook, where he found a group called “ ‘Khandwa’ My Home Town.” “can anyone help me,” he typed, leaving a message for the group. “i think im from Khandwa. i havent seen or been back to the place for 24 years. Just wandering if there is a big foutain near the Cinema?”
That night he logged back on Folder Guard 21.4.0 Crack With License Key Free Download find a response from the page’s administrator. “well we cant tell u exactly. ,” the administrator replied. “there is a garden near cinema but the fountain is not that much Big. n the cinema is closed form years. wel we will try to update some pics. . hope u will recollect some thing … ” Encouraged, Saroo soon posted another question for the group. He had a faint memory of the name of his neighborhood in Khandwa and wanted confirmation. “Can anyone tell me, the name of the town or suburb on the top right hand side of Khandwa? I think it starts with G. not sure how you spell it, but i think it goes like this (Gunesttellay)? The town is Muslim one side and Hindus on the other which was 24 years ago but might be different now.”
“Ganesh Talai,” the administrator later replied.
Saroo posted one more message to the Facebook group. “Thankyou!” he wrote. “Thats it!! whats quickest way to get to Khandwa if i was flying to India?”
The Homecoming
On February 10, 2012, Saroo was looking down on India again—not from Google Earth this time, but from an airplane. The closer the trees below appeared, the more flashbacks of miracle box crack latest 2018 without box download Free Activators youth popped into his mind. “I just almost came to the point of getting to tears because those flashes were so extreme,” he recalled.
Though his adoptive father, John, had encouraged Saroo to pursue his quest, google e a r t h, his mother was concerned about what he might find. Sue feared that Saroo’s memories of how he went missing may not have been as accurate as he believed. Perhaps his family had sent the boy away on purpose, so that they would have one less mouth to feed. “We knew that this happened quite a lot,” Sue later said, google e a r t h, despite Saroo’s insistence that this couldn’t have been the case. “Saroo was quite definite about it,” she went on, “but we did wonder.”
For a moment at the airport, he was hesitant to board the plane. But this was a journey he was determined to complete. He had never really thought about what he would ask his mother if he saw her, but he now knew what he would say: “Did you look for me?”
Google e a r t h - matchless message
Screenshots
Description
Explore the whole world from above with satellite imagery, 3D terrain of the entire globe, and 3D buildings in hundreds of cities around the world.
Zoom to your house or anywhere else then dive in for a 360° perspective with Street View. See the world from a new point of view with Voyager, a collection of guided tours from BBC Earth, NASA, National Geographic, and more. And now, visualize the immersive maps and stories you've created with Google Earth on web on your mobile device.
Version 9.154
This version includes bug fixes. Recently added features: - Added Apple Pencil support to the measure tool.
Ratings and Reviews
4.1 out of 5
32.1K Ratings
It’s Great! but needs some fixes and updating
I have been using the Google Earth engine for about 2 years now and I have absolutely loved the app, but there are some wacky things to fix. I am writing this review about the new update, as I was scrolling around the small town I live at (Elko, NV) I was very unsatisfied about the new street view update, there were new images of the towns streets but there was so much a mix of images from years back that are still not updated and they make me very uncomfortable and I don’t understand why you can’t update the whole town in the same day. I know 3Ding buildings on Earth can be difficult but why can’t a town of 21,000 people be in 3D? I think it would be nice to have new images of my small town in 3D, the imagery and the time lapses of this app are great and I Am in love with them but please fix things I mention in this review and try updating more often.
Not Even Basic App Comforts (2020 iPad Pro)
It takes a lot of disappointment for me to write reviews but this app is just so flat. It’s like they took what they were in the process of developing years ago and just threw it up without even looking at it for a quick review. I am terrible at geography and thought this would help me with a class I’m taking but I was mistaken. You can’t adjust any type of visual settings so if you zoom too far in on, say, China, you get a million different location names in English and Chinese and you can’t even see the land under all the text. Also, it would be really enjoyable (and easier on my old lady eyes) to be able to make borders bold or different colors or even cut out a region to view it individually. It is absolutely impossible to tell one country/state from the next with the impossibly thin tan line separating everything that, oh yea, is the same color that is used for most of the landscape. What a mess.
Overall really great concept but what I’m gathering from other reviews, the app particularly for iPad is super low quality compared to others. I now know that if I had a desktop I’d be able to look at the moon and mars so I feel really gypped now. And yes, even though I didn’t pay anything I still feel shortchanged.
Google earth
Google earth I’d like to be able to see updated pictures of not only cities but also the outdoors even if I was charged for this app I wouldn’t mind . I give google earth a four star mainly because I can see a satellite picture of the outdoors and see what it used to look like on my iPhone even if the image shows 2022 I know it is an older image because we visit this area quite ofen we still use this site for a variety of reasons one being whether certain land is public or private gated or not on certain image’s land shows drought when it is actually full of water I’ve been seeing this same image for over 7 year’s . The picture of cities gets updated but the land pictures remain the same as the original image google earth could be so much better if everything was updated when new images are loaded . May 23rd 2022 thank God the pictures where finally updated including A1 one of our favorite fishing reservoirs 15k acres everything is underwater as it should be than you google earth !
The developer, Google LLC, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy.
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Location
Contact Info
User Content
Search History
Identifiers
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Other Data
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
In 2009, having graduated from college, Saroo was living with a friend in the center of Hobart and working on the Web site for his parents’ company. Recovering from an ugly breakup, he was drinking and partying more than usual. After years of ignoring his past, it finally came crashing back—the desire to find his roots, and himself.
That’s when he went to his laptop and launched Google Earth, the virtual globe made from satellite imagery and aerial photography. With a few clicks, anyone could get a bird’s-eye view of cities and streets on the computer screen. “I was flying over India on Google Earth just like Superman,” he recalled, “trying to zoom in on every town that I saw.”
As the tiny trees and trains blurred on his screen, he had a moment of pause and wondered: would he find his home using Google Earth? It certainly seemed like a crazy idea. He didn’t have even a vague notion of where in the vast country he had been raised.
All he had was a laptop and some hazy memories, but Saroo was going to try.
The Search Begins
But finding his hometown and his family presented more challenges than anything he’d ever tackled before; he hadn’t been home since he was five and didn’t know the name of the town where he was born. He tried looking for the city where he’d fallen asleep on the train, but he no longer remembered any Hindi, and the names on the map swam before him: Brahmapur, Badarpur, Baruipur, Bharatpur—a seemingly endless string of similar-sounding names. He could muster only a few landmarks to look for on Google Earth: there was the train station, the dam that flowed like a waterfall after the monsoons, and the fountain where he had cut himself climbing over the fence. He also remembered seeing a bridge and a large industrial tank near the more distant station where he was separated from his brother. As he saw the mass of India glowing on his screen, the question was: Where to start?
He began in the most logical way he could imagine: by following the train tracks out of Calcutta, to “find the breadcrumbs,” as he later put it, that would lead him back home. The tracks led away from the city like a spiderweb, crisscrossing the country. After weeks of fruitlessly following the tracks, Saroo would get frustrated and periodically give up the search.
About three years later, however, he became determined to pinpoint his birthplace. It happened just after he met his girlfriend Lisa, who as it happened had a fast Internet connection at her apartment. Late one night at her place, Saroo launched the program and marveled at its new speed and clarity. “Everyone says, What is meant to be is meant to be. But I don’t believe it,” he later said. “If there’s a means, there’s a way. It’s somewhere there, and if you give up now you’ll always be thinking later on, on your deathbed: Why didn’t I keep trying or at least put more effort into it?”
Rather than searching haphazardly, he realized, he needed to narrow down his range. Drawing from an applied-mathematics course he had taken in college, Saroo reconceived the problem like a question on a standardized test. If he had fallen asleep on the train in the early evening and arrived the next morning in Calcutta, 12 hours had probably passed. If he knew how fast his train was going, he could multiply the speed by the time and determine the rough distance that he had traveled—and search Google Earth locations within that area.
Saroo used Facebook and MySpace to contact four Indian friends he knew from college. He asked them to ask their parents how fast trains traveled in India in the 1980s. Saroo took the average speed—80 kilometers per hour—and, crunching the numbers, determined that he must have boarded the train roughly 960 kilometers from Calcutta.
With the satellite image of India on his screen, he opened an editing program and began slowly drawing a circle with a radius of roughly 960 kilometers, with Calcutta at its center, creating a perimeter within which to search. Then he realized he could narrow it down even further, eliminating the regions that didn’t speak Hindi and those with cold climates. At times in his life, he had been told that his facial structure resembled people from East India, so he decided to focus largely on that part of the circle.
But there were still dozens of twisting tracks to follow, and Saroo began spending hours a night on the trail. He’d fly over India on Google Earth for as much as six hours at a time, sometimes until three or four a.m. He hadn’t yet told his girlfriend or parents what he was doing, partly because he had no idea what, if anything, he might find. “I’d be wondering, you know, What’s he doing?” Lisa recalled. “Come to bed,” she’d say. “You’ve got to be up to work tomorrow morning,” referring to his job at his parents’ company.
Around one a.m. one night, Saroo finally saw something familiar: a bridge next to a large industrial tank by a train station. After months, researching and narrowing his range, Saroo focused in on the outer end of the radius, which was on the west side of India: “Somewhere I never thought to give much attention,” he later said. His heart racing, he zoomed around the screen to find the name of the town and read “Burhanpur.” “I had a shock,” he recalled. This was it, the name of the station where he was separated from his brother that day, a couple hours from his home. Saroo scrolled up the train track looking for the next station. He flew over trees and rooftops, buildings and fields, until he came to the next depot, and his eyes fell on a river beside it—a river that flowed over a dam like a waterfall.
Saroo felt dizzy, but he wasn’t finished yet. He needed to prove to himself that this was really it, that he had found his home. So, he put himself back into the body of the barefoot five-year-old boy under the waterfall: “I said to myself, Well, if you think this is the place, then I want you to prove to yourself that you can make your way back from where the dam is to the city center.”
Saroo moved his cursor over the streets on-screen: a left here, a right there, until he arrived at the heart of the town—and the satellite image of a fountain, the same fountain where he had scarred his leg climbing over the fence 25 years before.
Saroo stumbled to bed at two a.m., too overwhelmed to continue or even look at the name of the town on his screen. He woke five hours later wondering if it had all been a dream. “I think I found my hometown,” he told Lisa, who groggily followed him to his computer to see what he’d found. “I thought to myself, You know, is this real or is it a mirage in the sand?”
The name of the town was Khandwa. Saroo went to YouTube, searching for videos of the town. He found one immediately, and marveled as he watched a train roll through the same station he had departed from with his brother so long ago. Then he took to Facebook, where he found a group called “ ‘Khandwa’ My Home Town.” “can anyone help me,” he typed, leaving a message for the group. “i think im from Khandwa. i havent seen or been back to the place for 24 years. Just wandering if there is a big foutain near the Cinema?”
That night he logged back on to find a response from the page’s administrator. “well we cant tell u exactly . . . . . ,” the administrator replied. “there is a garden near cinema but the fountain is not that much Big.. n the cinema is closed form years.. wel we will try to update some pics . . hope u will recollect some thing … ” Encouraged, Saroo soon posted another question for the group. He had a faint memory of the name of his neighborhood in Khandwa and wanted confirmation. “Can anyone tell me, the name of the town or suburb on the top right hand side of Khandwa? I think it starts with G . . . . . . . . not sure how you spell it, but i think it goes like this (Gunesttellay)? The town is Muslim one side and Hindus on the other which was 24 years ago but might be different now.”
“Ganesh Talai,” the administrator later replied.
Saroo posted one more message to the Facebook group. “Thankyou!” he wrote. “Thats it!! whats quickest way to get to Khandwa if i was flying to India?”
The Homecoming
On February 10, 2012, Saroo was looking down on India again—not from Google Earth this time, but from an airplane. The closer the trees below appeared, the more flashbacks of his youth popped into his mind. “I just almost came to the point of getting to tears because those flashes were so extreme,” he recalled.
Though his adoptive father, John, had encouraged Saroo to pursue his quest, his mother was concerned about what he might find. Sue feared that Saroo’s memories of how he went missing may not have been as accurate as he believed. Perhaps his family had sent the boy away on purpose, so that they would have one less mouth to feed. “We knew that this happened quite a lot,” Sue later said, despite Saroo’s insistence that this couldn’t have been the case. “Saroo was quite definite about it,” she went on, “but we did wonder.”
For a moment at the airport, he was hesitant to board the plane. But this was a journey he was determined to complete. He had never really thought about what he would ask his mother if he saw her, but he now knew what he would say: “Did you look for me?”
Google Earth and ESRI Maps
Now Available: DECinfo Locator is the first interactive tool that lets you see both environmental quality and recreational data on the same map. Launch it.
ERSI Maps are very similar to Google Maps, but created with different software. The ESRI map files open in a browser and allow you to zoom in to your area of interest and view details on a specific location. Google Earth files do this and more but require Google Earth software to be installed on your device. DEC makes some of our popular map data available in one or both of these formats for public use.
To use ESRI Maps, simply click on any of the ESRI Maps icons on either the Sporting and Recreation Maps page or the Natural Resources and Environmental Maps page and the map will open in your browser window.
To use Google Earth, you must first download and install software from Google (follow these instructions (2 MB PDF) if you are having trouble). Then navigate to either the Sporting and Recreation Maps page or the Natural Resources and Environmental Maps page and click on a Google Earth icon to open or save the map (as a kmz file).
More about Google Earth and ESRI Maps :
Google Earth Engine". Google Developers. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
^"Seeing the forest through the cloud". Official Google Blog. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
^"Introducing Google Earth Engine". Google. December 2, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
^Hansen, M. C.; et al. (November 15, 2013). "Global Forest Change". Retrieved February 27, 2014.
^Joshi, Anup R.; Dinerstein, Eric; Wikramanayake, Eric; Anderson, Michael L.; Olson, David; Jones, Benjamin S.; Seidensticker, John; Lumpkin, Susan; Hansen, Matthew C. (April 1, 2016). "Tracking changes and preventing loss in critical tiger habitat". Science Advances. 2 (4): e1501675. Bibcode:2016SciA....2E1675J. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1501675. ISSN 2375-2548. PMC 4820387. PMID 27051881.
^"UCSF, Google Earth Engine Making Maps to Predict Malaria". UC San Francisco. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
^"The nature of water: unveiling the most detailed view of water on Earth". Google. December 7, 2016. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
^Barkham, Patrick (January 10, 2020). "Grass growing around Mount Everest as global heating intensifies". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved January 10, 2020 – via www.theguardian.com.
^Grantham, H. S.; Duncan, A.; Evans, T. D.; Jones, K. R.; Beyer, H. L.; Schuster, R.; Walston, J.; Ray, J. C.; Robinson, J. G.; Callow, M.; Clements, T.; Costa, H. M.; DeGemmis, A.; Elsen, P. R.; Ervin, J.; Franco, P.; Goldman, E.; Goetz, S.; Hansen, A.; Hofsvang, E.; Jantz, P.; Jupiter, S.; Kang, A.; Langhammer, P.; Laurance, W. F.; Lieberman, S.; Linkie, M.; Malhi, Y.; Maxwell, S.; Mendez, M.; Mittermeier, R.; Murray, N. J.; Possingham, H.; Radachowsky, J.; Saatchi, S.; Samper, C.; Silverman, J.; Shapiro, A.; Strassburg, B.; Stevens, T.; Stokes, E.; Taylor, R.; Tear, T.; Tizard, R.; Venter, O.; Visconti, P.; Wang, S.; Watson, J. E. M. (2020). "Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity". Nature Communications. 11 (1): 5978. Bibcode:2020NatCo..11.5978G. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 7723057. PMID 33293507.
^ abAmani, Meisam; Ghorbanian, Arsalan; Ahmadi, Seyed Ali; Kakooei, Mohammad; Moghimi, Armin; Mirmazloumi, S. Mohammad; Moghaddam, Sayyed Hamed Alizadeh; Mahdavi, Sahel; Ghahremanloo, Masoud; Parsian, Saeid; Wu, Qiusheng (2020). "Google Earth Engine Cloud Computing Platform for Remote Sensing Big Data Applications: A Comprehensive Review". IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing. 13: 5326–5350. Bibcode:2020IJSTA..13.5326A.
Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service
Last Modified: July, 2022
To use Google Maps/Google Earth, you must accept (1) the Google Terms of Service, and (2) these Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service (the “Maps/Earth Additional Terms”). The Maps/Earth Additional Terms incorporate by reference the Legal Notices for Google Maps/Google Earth and Google Maps/Google Earth APIs.
Please read each of these documents carefully. Together, these documents are known as the “Terms”. They establish what you can expect from us as you use our services, and what we expect from you.
If you use the merchant-only features in Google Maps to manage your Business Profile then the Google Business Profile Terms at https://support.google.com/business/answer/9292476 apply to that use.
Although it’s not a part of these Terms, we encourage you to read our Privacy Policy to better understand how you can update, manage, export, and delete your information.
License. As long as you follow these Terms, the Google Terms of Service give you a license to use Google Maps/Google Earth, including features that allow you to:
view and annotate maps;
create KML files and map layers; and
publicly display content with proper attribution online, in video, and in print.
For more details about specific things that you’re permitted to do with Google Maps/Google Earth, please see the Using Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View permissions page.
Prohibited Conduct. Your compliance with this Section 2 is a condition of your license to use Google Maps/Google Earth. When using Google Maps/Google Earth, you may not (or allow those acting on your behalf to):
redistribute or sell any part of Google Maps/Google Earth or create a new product or service based on Google Maps/Google Earth (unless you use the Google Maps/Google Earth APIs in accordance with their terms of service);
copy the content (unless you are otherwise permitted to do so by the Using Google Maps, Google Earth, and Street View permissions page or applicable intellectual property law, including "fair use");
mass download or create bulk feeds of the content (or let anyone else do so);
use Google Maps/Google Earth to create or augment any other mapping-related dataset (including a mapping or navigation dataset, business listings database, mailing list, or telemarketing list) for use in a service that is a substitute for, or a substantially similar service to, Google Maps/Google Earth; or
use any part of Google Maps/Google Earth with other people's products or services for or in connection with real-time navigation or autonomous vehicle control, except through a specific Google-provided feature such as Android Auto.
Actual Conditions; Assumption of Risk. When you use Google Maps/Google Earth's map data, traffic, directions, and other content, you may find that actual conditions differ from the map results and content, so exercise your independent judgment and use Google Maps/Google Earth at your own risk. You’re responsible at all times for your conduct and its consequences.
Your Content in Google Maps/Google Earth. Content you upload, submit, store, send, or receive through Google Maps/Google Earth is subject to Google’s Terms of Service, including the license in the section called “Permission to use your content”. If you are a resident of France, the Google Search Additional Terms of Service apply to such content which is made publicly available on Google Search. However, content that remains exclusively local to your device (such as a locally-stored KML file) is not uploaded or submitted to Google, and is therefore not subject to that license.
Government Users. If you’re using Google Maps/Google Earth on behalf of a government entity, the following terms apply:
Governing Law.
For city or state government entities in the United States and European Union, the Google Terms of Service section regarding governing law and venue will not apply.
For United States federal government entities, the Google Terms of Service section regarding governing law and venue is replaced with the following:
“These Terms will be governed by and interpreted and enforced in accordance with the laws of the United States of America without reference to conflict of laws. Solely to the extent permitted by federal law: (A) the laws of the State of California (excluding California’s conflict of laws rules) will apply in the absence of applicable federal law; and (B) any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or Google Maps/Google Earth will be litigated exclusively in the federal courts of Santa Clara County, California, and the parties consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.”
U.S. Government Restricted Rights. All access or use of Google Maps/Google Earth by or for the United States federal government is subject to the "U.S. Government Restricted Rights" section in the Google Maps/Google Earth Legal Notices.
Google’s Earth: how the tech giant is helping the state spy on us
The internet surrounds us. It mediates modern life, like a giant, unseen blob that engulfs the modern world. There is no escape, and, as Larry Page and Sergey Brin so astutely understood when they launched Google in 1998, everything that people do online leaves a trail of data. If saved and used correctly, these traces make up a goldmine of information full of insights into people on a personal level as well as a valuable read on larger cultural, economic and political trends.
Google was the first internet company to fully leverage this insight and build a business on the data that people leave behind. But it wasn’t alone for long. It happened just about everywhere, from the smallest app to the most sprawling platform.
Uber, Amazon, Facebook, eBay, Tinder, Apple, Lyft, Foursquare, Airbnb, Spotify, Instagram, Twitter, Angry Birds – if you zoom out and look at the bigger picture, you can see that, taken together, these companies have turned our computers and phones into bugs that are plugged in to a vast corporate-owned surveillance net-work. Where we go, what we do, what we talk about, who we talk to, and who we see – everything is recorded and, at some point, leveraged for value. Google, Apple and Facebook know when a woman visits an abortion clinic, even if she tells no one else: the GPS coordinates on the phone don’t lie. One-night stands and extramarital affairs are a cinch to figure out: two smartphones that never met before suddenly cross paths in a bar and then make their way to an apartment across town, stay together overnight, and part in the morning.
They know us intimately, even the things that we hide from those closest to us. In our modern internet ecosystem, this kind of private surveillance is the norm. It is as unnoticed and unremarkable as the air we breathe. But even in this advanced, data-hungry environment, in terms of sheer scope and ubiquity, Google reigns supreme.
As the internet expanded, Google grew along with it. No matter what service it deployed or what market it entered, surveillance and prediction were cooked into the business. The amount of data flowing through Google’s systems is staggering. By the end of 2016, Google’s Android was installed on 82% of all new smartphones sold around the world, and by mid-2017 there were more than 2 billion Android users globally.
Google also handles billions of searches and YouTube plays daily, and has a billion active Gmail users, meaning it had access to most of the world’s emails. Some analysts estimate that 25% of all internet traffic in North America goes through Google’s servers. The company isn’t just connected to the internet, it is the internet.
Google has pioneered a whole new type of business transaction. Instead of paying for its services with money, people pay with their data. And the services it offers to consumers are just the lures, used to grab people’s data and dominate their attention – attention that is contracted out to advertisers. Google has used data to grow its empire. By early 2018, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, had85,050 employees, working out of more than 70 offices in 50 countries. The company had a market capitalisation of $727bn at the end of 2017, making it the second most valuable public company in the world, beaten only by Apple, another Silicon Valley giant. Its profits for the first quarter of 2018 were $9.4bn.
Meanwhile, other internet companies depend on Google for survival. Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Lyft and Uber have all built multi-billion-dollar businesses on top of Google’s ubiquitous mobile operating system. As the gatekeeper, Google benefits from their success as well. The more people who use their mobile devices, the more data it gets on them.
What does Google know? What can it guess? Well, it seems just about everything. “One of the things that eventually happens … is that we don’t need you to type at all,” Eric Schmidt, Google’s former CEO, said in a moment of candour in 2010. “Because we know where you are. We know where you’ve been. We can more or less guess what you’re thinking about.” He later added: “One day we had a conversation where we figured we could just try to predict the stock market. And then we decided it was illegal. So we stopped doing that.”
It is a scary thought, considering that Google is no longer a cute startup but a powerful global corporation with its own political agenda and a mission to maximise profits for shareholders. Imagine if Philip Morris, Goldman Sachs or a military contractor like Lockheed Martin had this kind of access.
Not long after Brin and Page incorporated Google, they began to see their mission in bigger terms. They weren’t just building a search engine or a targeted advertising business. They were organising the world’s information to make it accessible and useful for everyone. It was a vision that also encompassed the Pentagon.
Even as Google grew to dominate the consumer internet, a second side of the company emerged, one that rarely got much notice: Google the government contractor. As it turns out, the same platforms and services that Google deploys to monitor people’s lives and grab their data could be put to use running huge swaths of the US government, including the military, spy agencies, police departments and schools. The key to this transformation was a small startup now known as Google Earth.
In 2003, a San Francisco company called Keyhole Incorporated was on the ropes. With a name recalling the CIA’s secret 1960s “Keyhole” spy satellite programme, the company had been launched two years earlier as a spinoff from a videogame outfit. Its CEO, John Hanke, told journalists that the inspiration for his company came from Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash, a cult science-fiction novel in which the hero taps into a programme created by the “Central Intelligence Corporation” called Planet Earth, a virtual reality construct designed, as the book describes, to “keep track of every bit of spatial information that it owns – all the maps, weather data, architectural plans, and satellite surveillance stuff”.
Keyhole had its roots in videogame technology, but deployed it in the real world, creating a programme that stitched satellite images and aerial photographs into seamless 3D computer models of the Earth that could be explored as if they were in a virtual reality game world. It was a groundbreaking product that allowed anyone with an internet connection to virtually fly over anywhere in the world. The only problem was Keyhole’s timing: it was a bit off. It launched just as the dotcom bubble blew up in Silicon Valley’s face. Funding dried up, and Keyhole found itself struggling to survive. Luckily, the company was saved just in time by the very entity that inspired it: the CIA.
In 1999, at the peak of the dot-com boom, the CIA had launched In-Q-Tel, a Silicon Valley venture capital fund whose mission was to invest in start-ups that aligned with the agency’s intelligence needs. Keyhole seemed a perfect fit.
The CIA poured an unknown amount of money into Keyhole. The investment was finalised in early 2003, and it was made in partnership with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a major intelligence organisation with 14,500 employees and a $5bn budget, whose job was to deliver satellite-based intelligence to the CIA and the Pentagon. Known as the NGA, the spy agency’s motto was: “Know the Earth … Show the Way … Understand the World.”
The CIA and NGA were not just investors; they were also clients, and they involved themselves in customising Keyhole’s virtual map product to meet their own needs. Months after In-Q-Tel’s investment, Keyhole software was already integrated into operational service and deployed to support US troops during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the shock-and-awe campaign to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Intelligence officials were impressed with the “videogame-like” simplicity of its virtual maps. They also appreciated the ability to layer visual information over other intelligence. The possibilities were limited only by what contextual data could be fed and grafted on to a map: troop movements, weapons caches, real-time weather and ocean conditions, intercepted emails and phone call intel, and mobile phone locations.
Keyhole gave intelligence analysts, field commanders, air force pilots and others the kind of capabilities we take for granted today when we use digital mapping services on our computers and smartphones to look up restaurants, cafes, museums, traffic or subway routes.
Military commanders weren’t the only ones who liked Keyhole. So did Sergey Brin. He liked it so much that he insisted on personally demoing the app for Google executives. According to an account published in Wired, he barged in on a company meeting, punched in the address of every person present, and used the programme to virtually fly over their homes.
In 2004, the same year Google went public, Brin and Page bought the company outright, CIA investors and all. They then absorbed the company into Google’s growing internet applications platform. Keyhole was reborn as Google Earth.
The purchase of Keyhole was a milestone for Google, marking the moment the company stopped being a purely consumer-facing internet company and began integrating with the US government. When Google bought Keyhole, it also acquired an In-Q-Tel executive named Rob Painter, who came with deep connections to the world of intelligence and military contracting, including US Special Operations, the CIA and major defence firms, among them Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. At Google, Painter was planted in a new dedicated sales and lobbying division called Google Federal, located in Reston, Virginia, a short drive from the CIA’s headquarters in Langley. His job was to help Google grab a slice of the lucrative military-intelligence contracting market. Or, as Painter described in contractor-bureaucratese, “evangelising and implementing Google Enterprise solutions for a host of users across the intelligence and defence communities”.
Google had closed a few previous deals with intelligence agencies. In 2003, it scored a $2.1m (£1.7m) contract to outfit the National Security Agency (NSA) with a customised search solution that could scan and recognise millions of documents in 24 languages, including on-call tech support in case anything went wrong. In 2004, Google landed a search contract with the CIA. The value of the deal isn’t known, but the agency did ask Google’s permission to customise the CIA’s internal Google search page by placing the CIA’s seal in one of the Google logo’s Os. “I told our sales rep to give them the OK if they promised not to tell anyone. I didn’t want it spooking privacy advocates,” wrote Douglas Edwards, Google’s first director of marketing and brand management, in his 2011 book I’m Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59. Deals such as these picked up pace and increased in scope after Google’s acquisition of Keyhole.
In 2006, Google Federal went on a hiring spree, snapping up managers and salespeople from the army, air force, CIA, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. It beefed up its lobbying muscle and assembled a team of Democratic and Republican operatives.
Even as it expanded into a transnational multi-billion-dollar corporation, Google had managed to retain its geekily innocent “don’t be evil” image. So while Google’s PR team did its best to keep the company wrapped in a false aura of altruism, company executives pursued an aggressive strategy to become the Lockheed Martin of the internet age. “We’re functionally more than tripling the team each year,” Painter said in 2008. It was true. With insiders plying their trade, Google’s expansion into the world of military and intelligence contracting took off.
In 2007, it partnered with Lockheed Martin to design a visual intelligence system for the NGA that displayed US military bases in Iraq and marked out Sunni and Shia neighbourhoods in Baghdad – important information for a region that had experienced a bloody sectarian insurgency and ethnic cleansing campaign between the two groups. In 2008, Google won a contract to run the servers and search technology that powered the CIA’s Intellipedia, an intelligence database modelled after Wikipedia that was collaboratively edited by the NSA, CIA, FBI and other federal agencies. Not long after that, Google contracted with the US army to equip 50,000 soldiers with a customised suite of mobile Google services.
In 2010, as a sign of just how deeply Google had integrated with US intelligence agencies, it won an exclusive, no-bid $27m contract to provide the NGA with “geospatial visualisation services”, effectively making the company the “eyes” of America’s defence and intelligence apparatus. Competitors criticised the NGA for not opening the contract to the customary bidding process, but the agency defended its decision, saying it had no choice: it had spent years working with Google on secret and top-secret programmes to build Google Earth technology according to its needs, and could not go with any other company.
Google has been tight-lipped about the details and scope of its contracting business. It does not list this revenue in a separate column in quarterly earnings reports to investors, nor does it provide the sum to reporters. But an analysis of the federal contracting data-base maintained by the US government, combined with information gleaned from Freedom of Information Act requests and published reports on the company’s military work, reveals that Google has been doing brisk business selling Google Search, Google Earth and Google Enterprise (now known as G Suite) products to just about every major military and intelligence agency, including the state department. Sometimes Google sells directly to the government, but it also works with established contractors like Lockheed Martin and Saic (Science Applications International Corporation), a California-based intelligence mega-contractor which has so many former NSA employees working for it that it is known in the business as “NSA West”.
Google’s entry into this market makes sense. By the time Google Federal went online in 2006, the Pentagon was spending the bulk of its budget on private contractors. That year, of the $60bn US intelligence budget, 70%, or $42bn, went to corporations. That means that, although the government pays the bill, the actual work is done by Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, Bechtel, Booz Allen Hamilton and other powerful contractors. And this isn’t just in the defence sector. By 2017, the federal government was spending $90bn a year on information technology. It’s a huge market – one in which Google seeks to maintain a strong presence. And its success has been all but guaranteed. Its products are the best in the business.
Here’s a sign of how vital Google has become to the US government: in 2010, following a disastrous intrusion into its system by what the company believes was a group of Chinese government hackers, Google entered into a secretive agreement with the NSA. “According to officials who were privy to the details of Google’s arrangements with the NSA, the company agreed to provide information about traffic on its networks in exchange for intelligence from the NSA about what it knew of foreign hackers,” wrote defence reporter Shane Harris in @War, a history of warfare. “It was a quid pro quo, information for information. And from the NSA’s perspective, information in exchange for protection.”
This made perfect sense. Google servers supplied critical services to the Pentagon, the CIA and the state department, just to name a few. It was part of the military family and essential to American society. It needed to be protected, too.
Google didn’t just work with intelligence and military agencies, but also sought to penetrate every level of society, including civilian federal agencies, cities, states, local police departments, emergency responders, hospitals, public schools and all sorts of companies and nonprofits. In 2011, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency that researches weather and the environment, switched over to Google. In 2014, the city of Boston deployed Google to run the information infrastructure for its 76,000 employees – from police officers to teachers – and even migrated its old emails to the Google cloud. The Forest Service and the Federal Highway Administration use Google Earth and Gmail.
In 2016, New York City tapped Google to install and run free wifi stations across the city. California, Nevada and Iowa, meanwhile, depend on Google for cloud computing platforms that predict and catch welfare fraud. Meanwhile, Google mediates the education of more than half of America’s public school students.
“What we really do is allow you to aggregate, collaborate and enable,” explained Scott Ciabattari, a Google Federal sales rep, during a 2013 government contracting conference in Wyoming. He was pitching to a room full of civil servants, telling them that Google was all about getting them – intelligence analysts, commanders, government managers and police officers – access to the right information at the right time. He ran through a few examples: tracking flu outbreaks, monitoring floods and wildfires, safely serving criminal warrants, integrating surveillance cameras and face recognition systems, and even helping police officers respond to school shootings.
“We are getting this request more and more: ‘Can you help us publish all the floorplans for our school district? If there is a shooting disaster, God forbid, we want to know where things are.’ Having that ability on a smartphone, being able to see that information quickly at the right time saves lives,” he said. A few months after this presentation, Ciabattari met with officials from Oakland, California to discuss how Google could help the city build its police surveillance centre.
This mixing of military, police, government, public education, business and consumer-facing systems – all funnelled through Google – continues to raise alarms. Lawyers fret over whether Gmail violates attorney-client privilege. Parents wonder what Google does with the information it collects on their kids at school. What does Google do with the data that flows through its systems? Is all of it fed into Google’s big corporate surveillance pot? What are Google’s limits and restrictions? Are there any? In response to these questions, Google offers only vague and conflicting answers.
Of course, this concern isn’t restricted to Google. Under the hood of most other internet companies we use every day are vast systems of private surveillance that, in one way or another, work with and empower the state. On a higher level, there is no real difference between Google’s relationship with the US government and that of these other companies. It is just a matter of degree. The sheer breadth and scope of Google’s technology make it a perfect stand-in for the rest of the commercial internet ecosystem.
Indeed, Google’s size and ambition make it more than a simple contractor. It is frequently an equal partner that works side by side with government agencies, using its resources and commercial dominance to bring companies with heavy military funding to market. In 2008, a private spy satellite called GeoEye-1 was launched in partnership with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; Google’s logo was on the launch rocket and the company secured exclusive use of the satellite’s data for use in its online mapping. Google also bought Boston Dynamics, a robotics company that made experimental robotic pack mules for the military, only to sell it off after the Pentagon determined it would not be putting these robots into active use. It has invested $100m in CrowdStrike, a major military and intelligence cyber defence contractor that, among other things, led the investigation into the alleged 2016 Russian government hacks of the Democratic National Committee. And it also runs Jigsaw, a hybrid thinktank/technology incubator aimed at leveraging internet technology to solve thorny foreign policy problems – everything from terrorism to censorship and cyberwarfare.
Founded in 2010 by Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen, a 29-year-old state department whizz-kid who served under both George W Bush and Barack Obama, Jigsaw has launched multiple projects with foreign policy and national security implications. It ran polling for the US government to help war-torn Somalia draft a new constitution, developed tools to track global arms sales, and worked with a startup funded by the state department to help people in Iran and China route around internet censorship.
It also built a platform to combat online terrorist recruitment and radicalisation, which worked by identifying Google users interested in Islamic extremist topics and diverting them to state department webpages and videos developed to dissuade people from taking that path. Google calls this the “redirect method”, a part of Cohen’s larger idea of using internet platforms to wage “digital counterinsurgency”. And, in 2012, as the civil war in Syria intensified and American support for rebel forces there increased, Jigsaw brainstormed ways it could help push Bashar al-Assad from power. Among them: a tool that visually maps high-level defections from Assad’s government, which Cohen wanted to beam into Syria as propaganda to give “confidence to the opposition”.
Jigsaw seemed to blur the line between public and corporate diplomacy, and at least one former state department official accused it of fomenting regime change in the Middle East. “Google is getting [White House] and state department support and air cover. In reality, they are doing things the CIA cannot do,” wrote Fred Burton, an executive at global intelligence platform Stratfor and a former intelligence agent at the security branch of the state department.
But Google rejected the claims of its critics. “We’re not engaged in regime change,” Eric Schmidt told Wired. “We don’t do that stuff. But if it turns out that empowering citizens with smartphones and information causes changes in their country … you know, that’s probably a good thing, don’t you think?”
Jigsaw’s work with the state department has raised eyebrows, but its function is a mere taste of the future if Google gets its way. As the company makes new deals with the NSA and continues its merger with the US security apparatus, its founders see it playing an even greater role in global society.
“The societal goal is our primary goal. We’ve always tried to say that with Google. Some of the most fundamental questions people are not thinking about … how do we organise people, how do we motivate people? It’s a really interesting problem – how do we organise our democracies?” Larry Page ruminated during a rare interview in 2014 with the Financial Times. He looked a hundred years into the future and saw Google at the centre of progress. “We could probably solve a lot of the issues we have as humans.”
This is an edited extract from Surveillance Valley: The Secret Military History of the Internet by Yasha Levine, which will be published by Icon on 3 January, and is available to preorder at guardianbookshop.com
Follow the Long Read on Twitter at @gdnlongread, or sign up to the long read weekly email here.
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