Why should trip planning be any more complicated than opening your browser and entering the name of your favourite city? Six months ago we launched City Tours on Google Labs with the goal of making vacation planning as easy as searching the web. After …
Indigenous people worldwide face special challenges in planning, policy and advocacy work. Issues such as cultural preservation, sovereignty, land use management, and handling mineral rights are just a few that they have to tackle. Recognizing this, we…
At the UK’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Gardens, you’ll find more than 250 plant and fungi species discovered by their botanists, including: giant rainforest trees, gorgeous rare orchids, spectacular palms, minute fungi, wild coffee species, and even an…
A few weeks ago we released new 3D models with more detailed facades for 5 California cities. Even though we’re based in California, we know there are a lot of beautiful cities with amazing architecture elsewhere around the country, so we’re add…
In the past few months, you may have noticed that Google Maps directions have been using some new phrases such as “Take the 2nd right” rather than just “Turn right”. We’re using phrases like this because they’re natural concepts that relate to the way …
Nowadays, it seems like everything is connected to the Internet: mobile phones, laptops, netbooks, portable game consoles, personal navigation devices. Think of how applications such as Google Maps for mobile have changed the way you find locally relev…
Let the mapping begin! Google’s first Global Mapping Competition runs from December 15 – January 31, 2010. During this period, the mapper who adds the most universities, schools, hospitals, and medical clinics with high quality into Google Map Maker w…
Throughout December, Google Map Maker team members are touring around India with Google’s Internet Bus to show people how to create maps of their local villages and towns. The Internet Bus Project is an initiative to educate people about the Internet, …
Today, we launched a new feature to rank and show distinguishing aspects for businesses on their Place Pages. By taking a look at a Place Page, you can quickly get a better sense of what people are saying about a business and view relevant snippets abo…
Earlier this year, we proclaimed that “1000 is the new 10″ when we began showing small dots on the map for all your local search results. This has been a great way to get a better understanding of the density of certain listings – for example, figuring…
As part of the lead-up to COP15, we have been releasing a series of Google Earth tours that illustrate climate change issues and solutions. Many of these include tours created by NGOs, which guide you through their efforts to tackle some of the impacts…
When I’m exploring my neighborhood or planning a trip, I often find places I want to know more about. That’s why I love using Place Pages for Google Maps to see lots of great information about a place on a single page. I can browse photos of the Roya…
As an avid travel planner or discerning house hunter, you might always be looking for another view of a location before you make your final decision. On the Google Maps team we’re always looking for ways to make search experiences like this more useful…
Just before Thanksgiving we made Google Maps Navigation available on Android 1.6 (Donut). Before we head out for the holidays, we wanted to launch one more update to Google Maps for Android-powered phones to help you get around during your holidays. Wi…
If like me you’re an avid traveller (of the virtual or standard variety) you’ll probably know that in the last few months the Street View team has been working with tourist agencies, the public and partners from across the world to bring a new kind of …