Editing Google Maps (section)

{{Short description|Google's web mapping service (launched 2005)}}
{{Criticism section|date=June 2024}}
{{use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox website
| name = Google Maps
| logo = Google Maps Logo.svg
| logo_size = 290px
| screenshot = Google maps screenshot.png
| caption = Screenshot of Google Maps in a web browser
| type = [[Web mapping]]
| language_count = 74
| language = Afrikaans, Azerbaijani, Indonesian, Malay, Bosnian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, German (Germany), Estonian, English (United States), Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Latin America), Basque, Filipino, French (France), Galician, Croatian, Zulu, Icelandic, Italian, Swahili, Latvian, Lithuanian, Hungarian, Dutch, Norwegian, Uzbek, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Romanian, Albanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Finnish, Swedish, Vietnamese, Turkish, Greek, Bulgarian, Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Macedonian, Mongolian, Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Armenian, Hebrew, Urdu, Arabic, Persian, Amharic, Nepali, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Sinhala, Thai, Lao, Burmese, Khmer, Korean, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
| owner = [[Google]]
| url = {{official URL}}
| commercial = Yes
| registration = Optional, included with a [[Google Account]]
| launch_date = {{start date and age|2005|2|8}}
| current_status = Active
| programming_language = [[C++]] (back-end), [[JavaScript]], [[XML]], [[Ajax (programming)|Ajax]] (UI)
}}

'''Google Maps''' is a [[web mapping]] platform and consumer application offered by [[Google]]. It offers [[satellite imagery]], [[aerial photography]], street maps, 360° [[interactive panorama|interactive panoramic]] views of streets ([[Google Street View|Street View]]), real-time traffic conditions, and [[route planner|route planning]] for traveling by foot, car, bike, air (in [[Software release life cycle#Beta|beta]]) and [[public transportation]]. {{As of|2020}}, Google Maps was being used by over one billion people every month around the world.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Google Maps Metrics and Infographics |url=https://sites.google.com/a/pressatgoogle.com/google-maps-for-iphone/google-maps-metrics|access-date=2021-04-01|website=Google Maps for iPhone |archive-date=March 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220321192815/https://sites.google.com/a/pressatgoogle.com/google-maps-for-iphone/google-maps-metrics|url-status=live}}</ref>

Google Maps began as a [[C++]] desktop program developed by brothers [[Lars Rasmussen (software developer)|Lars]] and [[Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen|Jens Rasmussen]], Stephen Ma and Noel Gordon in Australia at Where 2 Technologies. In October 2004, the company was acquired by Google, which converted it into a web application. After additional acquisitions of a geospatial data visualization company and a real-time traffic analyzer, Google Maps was launched in February 2005.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.google.co.uk/about/company/history/#2005 |website=Google Company |title= Our history in depth |access-date=June 13, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406123606/http://www.google.co.uk/about/company/history/#2005 |archive-date=April 6, 2016}}</ref> The service's [[Front and back ends|front end]] utilizes [[JavaScript]], [[XML]], and [[Ajax (programming)|Ajax]]. Google Maps offers an [[Application programming interface|API]] that allows maps to be embedded on third-party websites,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://developers.google.com/maps/|title=Google Maps API |website=Google Developers |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420064042/https://developers.google.com/maps/|archive-date=April 20, 2012}}</ref> and offers a locator for businesses and other organizations in numerous countries around the world. [[Google Map Maker]] allowed users to collaboratively expand and update the service's mapping worldwide but was discontinued from March 2017. However, crowdsourced contributions to Google Maps were not discontinued as the company announced those features would be transferred to the Google Local Guides program,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perez |first=Sarah |date=November 8, 2016 |title=Google to shut down Map Maker, its crowdsourced map editing tool |url=https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/08/google-to-shut-down-map-maker-its-crowdsourced-map-editing-tool/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170811010547/https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/08/google-to-shut-down-map-maker-its-crowdsourced-map-editing-tool/ |archive-date=August 11, 2017 |access-date=June 23, 2017 |website=TechCrunch}}</ref> although users that are not Local Guides can still contribute.

{{anchor|Google Maps satellite view}}
Google Maps' satellite view is a "top-down" or [[bird's-eye view]]; most of the high-resolution imagery of cities is aerial photography taken from aircraft flying at {{convert|800|to|1500|ft|m}}, while most other imagery is from satellites.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://support.google.com/earth/answer/21417? |title=Blurry or outdated imagery |website=Google Earth Help |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024133733/https://support.google.com/earth/answer/21417 |archive-date=October 24, 2013 |access-date=January 12, 2014 }}</ref> Much of the available satellite imagery is no more than three years old and is updated on a regular basis, according to a 2011 report.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.technicamix.com/2011/10/18/how-often-is-google-maps-and-google-earth-updated/ |title=How Often is Google Maps and Google Earth Updated? |website=TechnicaMix |date=October 18, 2011 |first1=Frank |last1=Anderson |access-date=November 24, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203003513/http://www.technicamix.com/2011/10/18/how-often-is-google-maps-and-google-earth-updated/ |archive-date=December 3, 2013 }}</ref> Google Maps previously used [[Web Mercator projection|a variant]] of the [[Mercator projection]], and therefore could not accurately show areas around the poles.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/maptypes#MapCoordinates|title=Map Types – Google Maps JavaScript API v3 — Google Developers|date=July 27, 2012|publisher=Google Inc.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115141027/https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/javascript/maptypes#MapCoordinates|archive-date=January 15, 2013|url-status=live|access-date=January 3, 2013}}</ref> In August 2018, the desktop version of Google Maps was updated to show a 3D globe. It is still possible to switch back to the 2D map in the settings.

Google Maps for mobile devices was first released in 2006; the latest versions feature [[Satellite navigation device|GPS]] [[turn-by-turn navigation]] along with dedicated [[parking]] assistance features. By 2013, it was found to be the world's most popular [[smartphone]] app, with over 54% of global smartphone owners using it.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/google-smartphone-app-popularity-2013-9#infographic |title=Google+ Smartphone App Popularity |work=Business Insider |access-date=September 6, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130906083614/http://www.businessinsider.com/google-smartphone-app-popularity-2013-9#infographic |archive-date=September 6, 2013 }}</ref> In 2017, the app was reported to have two billion users on Android, along with several other Google services including [[YouTube]], [[Google Chrome|Chrome]], [[Gmail]], [[Google Search|Search]], and [[Google Play]].