Dec 24, 2012 at 12:34pm ET by Danny Sullivan

It's Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is on his annual trip delivering presents to all the good little boys and girls around the world. This year, not just one but two major organizations are offering ways to track Jolly St. Nick on his flight. Below, our annual review of how to track him by the web, by app or even through a telephone call. The Santa Tracking Sites You can find the two major Santa tracking sites this year here: NORAD Tracks Santa Google Santa Tracker Below, more about using both of the sites, including related apps or even an email-for-location feature that NORAD [...]

Google Challenges NORAD In Tracking Santa, Launches Google Santa Tracker

Dec 19, 2012 at 12:52pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Google has decided to take on the decades-old Santa tracking service that NORAD offers with its own "Google Santa Tracker." It comes in the wake NORAD booting Google out as a partner in favor of Microsoft. NOTE: For the latest news on 2012 Santa tracking, see our post: Where’s Santa Claus? The 2012 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps How NORAD Began Tracking Santa Since 1955 First some history, then what Google has in store. When I was a kid (I said history, right?) back in the 1970s, I remember listening to the radio to get NORAD updates about where Santa's lo [...]

This Year, NORAD Tracks Santa With Microsoft & Bing, Not Google

Dec 12, 2012 at 2:15pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Google has been helping the popular NORAD Tracks Santa site locate Santa Claus on Christmas Eve since 2007. But this year, Jolly St. Nick will be tracked on Bing Maps, not Google. NORAD is also pushing an official Windows 8 app. It part of Microsoft being the new lead partner for the site. NOTE: For the latest news on 2012 Santa tracking, see our post: Where’s Santa Claus? The 2012 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps Goodbye, Google NORAD Tracks Santa has a new "team" page listing corporate sponsors. Microsoft tops the list; Bing Maps is prominent and Google is [...]

Where’s Santa Claus? The 2011 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Your Phone!

Dec 24, 2011 at 2:24am ET by Danny Sullivan

It's Christmas Eve! Santa Claus is on his annual trip of delivering presents to good little boys and girls around the world. Time also for our annual tradition, telling you how to track Santa using the internet, by smartphone and even through good old-fashioned voice telephone calls. NOTE: For the latest news on 2012 Santa tracking, see our post: Where’s Santa Claus? The 2012 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps NORAD: One-Stop Shopping For Santa Tracking This is my seventh year writing about ways to track Santa. When I started in 2005, there were a variety [...]

For The Holidays, Google Has NORAD Tracks Santa & Bing Has Magical Holiday Calendar

Dec 1, 2011 at 1:50pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Google's teaming up again with NORAD to product one of my favorite Christmas traditions, the NORAD Tracks Santa web site. But new for this year, Bing joins the holiday sweepstakes with a Advent calendar-like Bing Magical Holiday Calendar. NOTE: For the latest news on 2012 Santa tracking, see our post: Where’s Santa Claus? The 2012 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps Where's Santa? Google & NORAD Know Let's start with Santa. Since it's not Christmas Eve, the site has a countdown until it begins Santa tracking operations for 2011: The site also has holiday [...]

Where Is Santa Claus? The 2010 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google Earth

Dec 24, 2010 at 12:01pm ET by Danny Sullivan

It's Christmas Eve, and you know what that means. Santa Claus is busy delivering toys to boys and girls around the world. Where is Santa Claus right now? Below, our annual round up of ways to find Father Christmas, from tracking Santa on Google Earth to monitoring him from your iPhone. NOTE: For news on the 2011 Santa Tracker, see our post: Where’s Santa Claus? The 2011 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Your Phone! NORAD's Santa Tracking Monopoly I've been writing about Santa tracking for five years now. Back in 2005, there were a variety of Santa tracking services out there. Since t [...]

Santa Pegman Comes To Google Maps

Dec 23, 2010 at 12:51pm ET by Danny Sullivan

"Pegman" is the little icon in Google Maps that you can drag to enable the Google Street View feature. Tomorrow, he's getting into the Christmas spirit by becoming "Santa Pegman" and sporting a Santa Claus hat. Google's sent a few preview pictures of how Santa Pegman will appear beginning tomorrow at 2am Eastern time through December 25. Here's a shot at Rockefeller Center: Santa Pegman is down there in the lower right-hand corner. Here he is again at San Francisco's Union Square: And one more, from Santa Claus, Indiana: Google's also put out a blog post reminding peopl [...]

NORAD Santa Claus Tracker 2010 Now Open!

Dec 1, 2010 at 8:30pm ET by Danny Sullivan

It's the most wonderful time of the year again -- the time to track Santa Claus! The NORAD Tracks Santa site has gone live for the upcoming holiday season. You can't really track him yet, but there are fun and games. More below, as well as what to expect on Christmas Eve. NOTE: For the latest news on 2012 Santa tracking, see our post: Where’s Santa Claus? The 2012 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps NORAD -- the North American Aerospace Defense Command -- has been tracking St. Nick for over 50 years. In 2007, it teamed up with Google formally on the project. Goo [...]

From NORAD Santa Tracker To Twitter: Santa Tracking For Christmas Eve 2009

Dec 23, 2009 at 8:53pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Merry Christmas! Christmas Eve, that is, and you know what that means. Santa Claus is coming to town! How long until he arrives? Can you spot him in flight? Yes, Virginia. There is a Santa Claus, and he can be tracked. Below, a round-up of Santa trackers. NOTE: For the latest news on 2012 Santa tracking, see our post: Where’s Santa Claus? The 2012 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps Most of the ones below come from NORAD, the missile tracking people. They've been tracking Santa for more than 50 years, thanks to a phone number that was misprinted (and sadly, [...]

NORAD Santa Tracker 2009 Goes Live

Dec 1, 2009 at 10:45am ET by Danny Sullivan

I have a long history loving and writing about that classic tradition, the NORAD Santa Tracker service. It's just gone live for those who are ready to start searching for St. Nick. While you won't actually get to track him until Christmas Eve, there are resources at the site now. Either I or someone else here at Search Engine Land will update this post with a deeper review, but my understanding from Google -- which coproduces the site -- is that everything is virtually the same as last year. The main difference is that there will be a plug-in for Google Earth on the web you can use, rather [...]

8 Santa Trackers For Christmas Eve 2008, From NORAD Santa To Twitter

Dec 24, 2008 at 1:13pm ET by Danny Sullivan

NOTE: For the latest news on 2012 Santa tracking, see our post: Where’s Santa Claus? The 2012 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps It's Christmas Eve, and that means Santa Claus is out doing his run. But where is Santa right now? Thanks to the internet, there's a huge number of ways to get Santa sightings. Below, a summary that covers online video sightings, Santa's phone number (apparently he can talk while driving), email updates, tracking him via your mobile phone and yes, even getting Twitter updates: 1) Video Clips From NORAD Tracks Santa [...]

Santa Tracker 2008: Google & NORAD Team Up Again

Dec 2, 2008 at 12:47pm ET by Danny Sullivan

My favorite Christmas activity is tracking Santa's route around the world. Once again, NORAD and Google are making it easy. The NORAD Tracks Santa 2008 site is now up, and a countdown for your iGoogle home page can now be downloaded. Google just blogged the news today. Below, what to expect. NOTE: For the latest news on 2012 Santa tracking, see our post: Where’s Santa Claus? The 2012 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps NORAD -- you know, the missile tracking people -- might seem an unlikely group to track Santa. But they've been doing it for over 50 years, t [...]

Instructions On Tracking Santa With NORAD & Google: The 2007 Edition

Dec 24, 2007 at 8:39am ET by Danny Sullivan

I'm a serious Santa Claus tracker. When I was a kid, I used to get Santa updates from NORAD (the US missile tracking people) via the radio. As an adult, I've long used the NORAD Tracks Santa web site to keep up with St. Nick, Father Christmas, or whatever your local name is for the jolly red suited man. This year, Google officially partnered with NORAD, bringing the NORAD Santa tracking site some of its most substantial changes in years. Some of the changes I like, and some make me think I wish Google had stayed out of it. Here's how to use the site, what's different, and what's cool. NO [...]

Tracking Santa: NORAD & Google Team Up For Christmas

Dec 1, 2007 at 1:11pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Every year, I enjoy helping my kids track the approach of Santa Claus through the NORAD site, as I've written about before. This year, Google's getting in on the action. You'll be able to track Santa in Google Earth on Christmas Eve with the help of a special file. You can also download a countdown for your iGoogle home page that Google offers here. NOTE: For the latest news on 2012 Santa tracking, see our post: Where’s Santa Claus? The 2012 Santa Tracker List, From NORAD To Google, From The Web To Apps Didn't Google already partner with NORAD on tracking Santa last year? Unofficia [...]

Tracking Santa Through NORAD & Google Earth

Dec 18, 2006 at 3:54pm ET by Danny Sullivan

I love to track Santa courtesy of NORAD, the North American Air Defense Command. I did a post on my personal blog last year, Tracking Santa Through The NORAD Web Site, talking about how I moved from listening to Santa's location on the radio to monitoring him with my kids on the web. Gary Price tipped me to the news that the NORAD Tracks Santa 2006 site is now up. Can't wait for him in flight? Nathan over at InsideGoogle highlighted an official Google blog post about how you can find presents he's left behind in Google Earth and then track him in the software on Christmas Eve. More info o [...]

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