About Google Maps: The history of Google Maps

Google Maps is free, popular and browser-based software which is widely used today by most people. Although it belongs to Google, In fact, Google Map is not researched or developed by Google Company. It is first started as a software application developed by Brothers Lars and Jens Rasmussen for their own company, Where 2 Technologies. By the way, this mapping-related startup was located in Sydney, Australia. Becoming aware of the great value of E-maps, Google Company acquired this private-owing company and transferred it into the web application, Google Maps in October 2004. In year of 2005, this application was officially located at Google.

With the positive repercussion, Google Maps have kept renewing regularly since its launching, and a huge amount of new functions have been adding into this application.

In 2004, the same year Google bought Where 2 Technologies, a start-up company, Keyhole, which developed a product called Earth Viewer were acquired by Google. The product provides a 3-D view of the Earth, and it helps Google Maps more visualize after its launching. With this function, terrains and terrain features can also be showed when presenting a local map besides traditional lines and keys.

When open a web page of Google Maps, there is many groups of information list on the left side of the map. Directions, route to get to the destination, scenic points or even hotel information are all concluded as long as an address is provided. These functions of entertainment, transport, adverting and so on were launched in 2006 and 2007, which helps people a lot.

Another important function of Google Maps is the satellite image. It provides a visual image of the destination, in other words, consumers can have a bird’s eye view of the point or an area with real pictures. They can even look into the street with street view, pretending them walking in the real street and looking for symbols, in order to avoid the condition of missing the way. This function is developed in 2005, even earlier than the commercialize of Google Maps. What follows is the timetable of the developments of Google Maps.