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April 24, 2006

Google Maps Gets Huge Satellite Update from Google Earth

Last Friday Google updated the satellite data used for Google Maps so it now has the many updates recently made to the Google Earth database. This means the new high resolution data for all of Germany, many places in Europe, the new 3"/pixel data for Las Vegas, and many other places are now available to Google Maps users. A big part of the change is that, when zoomed out, the Earth's land masses will look more green because Google is now using a dataset from a company called TrueEarth.

Here are some blog entries with details on the changes:

From a Google Maps perspective, only the data updates to the aerial and satellite photos are significant. The updates to things like place names you will need to use Google Earth to see.

While we are on this subject, OgleEarth points to a hidden feature allowing you to bring up Google Earth for the current view in Google Maps. If you choose the "Link to this page" option in Google Maps after searching for a location, you can bring up the same view in Google Earth by appending "&output=kml" to the URL.

[EDIT 18:10 EDT: Some folks have discovered that as part of these updates Google Maps and Google Earth can now give directions to most European areas - see example for Paris to Berlin.]

Posted by FrankTaylor at April 24, 2006 07:24 AM

  • Google Earth Blog © 2005-2008 Copyright by Frank Taylor. All Rights Reserved.
  • All image screenshots from Google Earth are Copyright by Google


  • Comments

    Well, no updates to my hometown. Still a green blur. I guess Stone Henge is more important than the beautiful, bucolic Athens, Ohio? Puhleaze.

    Posted by: cory at April 24, 2006 11:35 AM

    When is SE Wisconsin (Milwaukee) going to get some decent resolution. Currently it completely sucks. Terraserver, even in the non-subscribe mode, provides better resolution.

    Posted by: Clint Laskowski at April 24, 2006 11:38 AM

    What happend to 3d buildings, I thought at one point google would allow users to view buildings in a 3d aspect. Othewrise what is the point of tilting up and down?

    Posted by: Eugene f at April 24, 2006 11:46 AM

    Eugene, you can see the 3D buildings in Google Earth for 38 major metropolitan areas in the US. You just need to turn on the "Buildings" layer. Even Las Vegas has a few buildings done, but not the more architecturally interesting casinos so far.

    There are a lot of stories about 3D buildings here:

    http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=buildings

    Posted by: Frank Taylor at April 24, 2006 11:55 AM

    Yeah, same for us in northeastern Ky. New photos, but same, poor resolution. Yahoo maps is much, much better, check out the comparison:

    http://www.houseofboyd.com/?p=344

    Posted by: John at April 24, 2006 12:18 PM

    The rural areas of eastern North Carolina need better pictures.

    Posted by: macewan at April 24, 2006 12:28 PM

    Yeah, I noticed the "update" last week. I used to have great resolution in my neighborhood - Hartford, WI and now it's terrible.

    Back before Google bought keyhole, the maps for Milwaukee were great. As far as I can see, the quality of maps is getting WORSE, not better.

    Posted by: Chris at April 24, 2006 12:56 PM

    to be technically correct, satellite photography is not used in google earth. the only current satellite system of appropriate resolution is russia's spin-2 which is not included in the google dataset. the rest of the space-based data is "imagery" not "photography."

    Posted by: jamon at April 24, 2006 12:58 PM

    nothing for maine in the usa still. looks like i still wont be using gearth sorry

    Posted by: aaron at April 24, 2006 01:35 PM

    Yeah, SE Wisconsin never shows up. Our resolution sucks? Is Milwaukee hell, or are we just non-existant? Please refer to the Drew Carey show for more details.

    Posted by: Matt at April 24, 2006 01:51 PM

    I love using Google Earth, especially when it comes to determining directions from one point to another.

    I don't understand Google's pursuit of Maps. I think Google Earth is widely used and that should be their focus when it comes to navigation.

    Posted by: wom at April 24, 2006 02:08 PM

    I get really good detail on my town! You can see everything down to the cars in my driveway!

    Posted by: Kevinchai at April 24, 2006 03:23 PM

    Yah, despite the great resolution that some of the more popular and heavily populated areas can be seen with, I'm still wondering when all those people from out in the middle of nowhere such as myself will get a chance to see our own house's too. I'm not particularly a big fan of looking at a giant green blob that's supposedly supposed to be my hometown and can only be viewed somewhat clearly at an altitude of 20,000 feet. Though some of the thing's you'll find on Google Earth are still quite amusing. I found one area that you can see 3 completely different seasons that only encompases a few square miles!

    http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/6067/image18ku.jpg

    Posted by: Tristan Dion at April 24, 2006 05:43 PM

    How about a good closeup of Yermo, CA? Part of the movie "The Incredible Hulk" was filmed there and You can't identify the local streets there, Also in Lenwood, CA there is a short Dirt road named Knight Rd(Realtor) or Knight Ct.(SW Gas) that is seen and not labeled(It's south of 3rd st and east of Paris Ave and west of the Church parking lot).

    Posted by: Victor Bobier at April 25, 2006 05:56 AM

    I sure hope we get more detail for Guam and Philippines. There is a lot of Golf courses I would like to study in these places.

    Posted by: Vic Libranda at April 25, 2006 10:55 AM

    Any chance you could cover more than a tiny bit of Ireland considering your European HQ is here?

    Microsoft Local Live goes right down to local side-street level in my little town.

    Posted by: Conor O'Neill at April 25, 2006 06:01 PM

    cory: Sounds a lot like another Athens-- specifically, the one in Georgia, which only has ridiculously low-res imagery on Google.

    Interestingly, maps.ask.com and the Yahoo Maps beta have much better imagery of Athens, Georgia than Google... but their aerial photos of Macon, my previous home, are seriously out of date compared to Google's.

    Posted by: codeman38 at April 26, 2006 11:55 AM

    hey google earth people.. u guys rock!!! my class is using ur program for a project... but can u guys update on GUAM.. please... cuz on the version we are using now.. its only a blob of green land.. please and thank you.. oh and also the Philippines... =]

    Posted by: kris at May 17, 2006 04:33 AM

    This is so neat! Can you update the info on the Outerbanks, NC. It is old views as places like the Cabana East Motel that was next to Shore Leave, is no longer there. Still trying to find out about The Wharf. Thanks.

    Posted by: Beatrice Shanholtz at May 27, 2006 08:53 PM

    I like Google Earth very much and watch it whenever I got time for it. I hope you will continue to make it larger and larger, because I find it such an atractive site.
    Yours Truly,
    Dennis.

    Posted by: Dennis den Boer at October 30, 2006 08:04 AM

    I love google earh because it gives a great view of da wrld....although I hope U can update the Philippines (spclly Paniqui, Tarlac)...there are alot of blurry places I hope U guys can update it ASAP....thnkxz :-)

    Posted by: Ja9 at November 26, 2006 02:48 PM

    > Image Details <
    Does anyone know why the low elevation images in Google Maps are more detailed than most of low elevation images in Google Earth?

    Posted by: JH at January 16, 2007 03:44 AM

    Right now, I believe the Google Maps and Earth databases for imagery are the same. There are times when the two are out of synch when they do a big update, or when they have done very small updates. But, this usually only lasts a few days.

    Google Earth also lets you zoom down to a lower elevation than Google Maps, so it is usually Google Earth that appears to have higher resolution. This really is just a limitation in Google Maps zoom levels, the imagery is the same.

    Can you give the coordinates for an example of what you are talking about?

    Posted by: Frank Taylor at January 16, 2007 07:51 AM

    I was now 2 times in Shimla / Himachal Pradesh / India. Its a very nice hilltown on the foots of Himalaya. I saw on GoogleEarth only the west part of Shimla. This part is not so interesting. I hope 'they' will update the east part of Shimla soon.... S.P. Germany Apr. 2007

    Posted by: Stefan at April 8, 2007 12:21 PM

    Who doesn't like that Google maps shot of Vegas? If you can't be there, G-maps is the best thing I've found so far!

    Posted by: Richard Martin at April 19, 2007 11:39 AM

    How often are the images in Google Earth updated?

    Posted by: fourdram at April 27, 2007 01:57 PM

    Maps for TR7 updated & now at least 5 years older. Why

    Posted by: d at June 19, 2007 12:33 PM

    Geeze, - Alot of griping here for something that's FREE, and incredibly beautiful & interesting. - Thank you Google! - As far as resolution, some spots ARE better than others, but be patient out there. - I live in Jacksonville< Fl. (USA) and if you 'fly' out to the mouth of the St. Johns River, where it empties into the Atlantic, check out the Mayport naval Base on the South side of the river. - Zoom in enough, and you'll see an aircraft carrier, - more zoom will let you see a fighter jet on the flight deck that you can almost read the numbers on! - How's THAT for resolution?

    Posted by: Pat at June 29, 2007 01:21 AM

    what is the date of current map please..keith.

    Posted by: keith at August 25, 2007 06:30 AM

    I feel your resolution pain when I try to find my folks house in upstate NY but even those of us in not so rural areas are missing data. I actually live in Discovery Bay, California, 40 miles form Silicon Valley and my 4 year old house does not seem to exist according to Google Earth. It's still a dirt lot. I love this application and think it is great for teaching our kids about the world and geo but it's hard to convince my kids that it is anything more than old technology since it is updated so rarely. Google Earth is to cutting edge as ethernet cables are to wireless networks they say....
    -S

    Posted by: Steve at September 5, 2007 02:23 PM

    How do we find out when images were captured?

    Posted by: ray at September 6, 2007 07:55 AM

    Is there anyway google map guys can broadcast or posts their next map update? if there is, please post the link. Thank you

    Posted by: Jayzon Ragasa at September 30, 2007 09:54 PM

    Google Earth crashes more than Wile E. Cyote. I like the idea of the program but I can't stand the instability.

    Posted by: Fred at October 15, 2007 06:28 AM

    wont the map to appear in wy website

    Posted by: mohammed kassim at October 20, 2007 10:02 AM

    Anyone know perhaps how to view the old maps?

    Posted by: David at October 27, 2007 10:51 PM

    I live in Taylorsville,Kentucky and would like to know if and when the photo of my location will be updated to have better resolution?

    Posted by: Ron Mason at October 28, 2007 09:20 AM

    I also live in Taylorsville and i would like to be able to see my house. When will there be an update where i can

    Posted by: travis sidebottom at December 21, 2007 03:06 PM

    Still no update in Philippines, I hope google earth can update the map of our town Capas ( 15°20'16"N 120°35'35"E)from province of Tarlac.. The Death March ended here, where thousands of filipinos and americans died during world war 2.

    Posted by: Nathan at January 29, 2008 06:09 AM

    I love Google Earth... but any idea when Green Bay, Wisconsin will get more than the green blobs?

    We DO have a professional football team you know (... we're not exactly in the middle of "nowhere")

    Posted by: Rex Johnson at February 22, 2008 01:32 AM

    Hello, i have a question

    is there any way of asking Google to update the satellite image for a specific area. or may be is there any paid service for this kind of thing ?

    thanks

    Posted by: ozgur atmaca at April 16, 2008 12:53 PM

    Definitely a DOWNGRADE for me. I used to be able to see my car in the drive and now the whole neighborhood is a green blur. The new resolution realy sucks in Ottawa

    Posted by: Pat Jeffries at April 26, 2008 09:26 AM

    Pat, that was exactly what I said after 'upgrading' to 4.3.7204.0836 (beta)! I might try uninstalling the 'upgrade' and reinstalling the original, because it's just not worth having this blurry mess.

    Perhaps it's a ploy to get us to upgrade to Google Earth Plus?

    Posted by: Paul in NJ at May 6, 2008 10:45 PM

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