Due to the uncertain future of the Google Earth plugin, many prominent sites that used to use it have started to transition to other alternatives.
Here are three examples:
Ships 2 Career from PlanetInAction.com
Back in 2009 PlanetInAction.com released a fantastic free ship simulator using the Google Earth plugin. In 2011 it was upgraded to version 1.5.
However, the developer, Paul van Dinther, is now working on Ships 2 Career, which is entirely Google Maps based. Follow his progress on his Google+ page. We are sure that when it is released it will be an excellent game.
Ships 2 Career will be entirely Google Maps based.
GE Teach
GE Teach, a site developed by 9th-grade geography teacher Josh Williams, received a Geographic Excellence in Media Award in 2012. The site, until now, has been making excellent use of the Google Earth plugin to show side by side comparison views of various maps.
However, the site is now transitioning to a new version based on Google Maps. Despite the lack of 3D, it still looks good and has a number of notable features, including drawing tools, access to Google Maps Gallery, and Street View.
GE Teach Google Maps version
YoubeQ
YoubeQ is a cross between a social network and a driving/flying simulator. It allows you to drive or fly a large number of different vehicles/aircraft around the globe while socializing with other people you meet on the way. When we featured it in June 2014, it had 13 vehicles and 3 languages. Until recently it was based on the Google Earth plugin. It has now been completely redone in WebGL using Cesium. Read more about it here. It now uses Bing Maps for the 3D portion and Google Maps for navigation.
The new YoubeQ, using Cesium and Bing Maps.
About Timothy Whitehead
Timothy has been using Google Earth since 2004 when it was still called Keyhole before it was renamed Google Earth in 2005 and has been a huge fan ever since. He is a programmer working for Red Wing Aerobatx and lives in Cape Town, South Africa.
One more alternative is the Earth 3D Map (earth3dmap.com). A full drop down menu with a list of the countries in the world, a list with the highest buildings, mountains and more.