Google Maps desktop now shows the world as a spinnable globe
Google has released 3D Globe Mode on Google Maps desktop. Give it a spin!
Topic: Cartography
Abraham Ortelius Google doodle honors cartographer behind first modern day atlas
Published on this date in 1570, Ortelius's 'Theatrum Orbis Terrarum' included a collection of maps from scientists, geographers and cartographers.
Google Maps updates map design, highlights areas of interest and adds business photo carousel
Check out the new look for the Google Maps imagery and features. It is subtle, but Google said it helps users navigate.
Google Revives, Upgrades My Maps
Like many of Google’s local/mapping products, My Maps has had a … let’s call it a “checkered” history. It’s been heavily promoted and then seemingly ignored. It’s been renamed (to “My Places”) and had some of its features co-opted by other Google products. Perhaps most importantly, it wasn’t supported in the new Google Maps that […]
Indian Govt. Rages At Google Maps Outing Of Secret Bases
In 2013, Google imitated a “mapathon” project in India, offering prizes to encourage people to help fill in gaps and improve Google Maps in the country. At the time, India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) asked the company not to collect “classified data,” such as the locations of military installations. The mapathon focused on business […]
Bing Maps API Improves Mapping Imagery
Bing announced on the Bing Maps Developer blog that they have rolled out better rendering and styling improvements to their map imagery. They added a new gradient coloring for land areas that adjusts the brightness to your zoom level. The new gradient helps improve the contrast, making streets and other features more visible, says Microsoft. […]
Google Maps Now Has Driving Directions In North Korea
North Korea Tech reports that Google Maps now has driving directions in North Korea. As the site reports, “North Korea has strict controls on internal movement, a scarcity of private car ownership and almost no internet users.” Despite all of that, Google Maps can give those who do have a car and internet access the […]
Bing Maps Makes It Easier To See Map Features & Distinguish Park Trails From Streets
Last Friday, Bing Maps announced new stylistic updates, designed to make its maps easier to read. Among the new style features, Bing has added more color gradient, adjusting the brightness of a land area depending on the zoom level. From the announcement: The land color will now be lighter when zoomed out and get darker […]
Google Maps Launches Ground Truth Initiative In Russia & Hong Kong
Google Maps announced new updates to their Russia and Hong Kong maps today, launching a “Ground Truth” initiative to build more thorough maps for Hong Kong and a number of Russian cities, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg. According to Google’s announcement: Ground Truth enables us to update a country’s map at a faster […]
Did Google Maps Lose England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland?
The United Kingdom (to use its short name) is a complicated country, actually made up of four countries across two islands. If you were looking to understand it better, forget Google Maps. That’s because the service has lost the constituent countries of England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland — as well as the island of […]
Apple Maps Sees Its First International Territorial Dispute As Korea Protests Island Naming
From the it-had-to-happen-sooner-or-later department: Apple is in the midst of its first international territorial dispute over its new Apple Maps product. As the Korea Times reports (and also picked up by ZDNet), the South Korean government is upset because Apple is displaying a collection of small islands in between it and Japan with different names […]
Bing Adds Boatload Of New “Venue Maps” For International Markets
Microsoft announced today, that in conjunction with Nokia, Bing has added “more than 2,700 venue maps” in North America, Europe and Asia. You can access them online at Bing.com/maps (“explore venue maps”). In the US and UK markets venue (indoor) maps are also available on Windows Phones and through the Bing app for the iPhone. The following […]
Meet The Man Who Makes Sure Google Maps Is Right
MercuryNews.com has a story on Blake Stephens, the man who is responsible for many of the Google Maps edits you see on Google Maps day. In fact, this man is a member of Google Maps’ collaborative cartography corps, where users use Google Map Maker to make corrections and adjustments to the details you see on […]
Google Maps Now Highlighting Borders Of Cities, Postal Codes & More
Google Maps has added a feature where it will highlight in a pink color the borders of a city, postal code or other borders based on your search. To see it yourself, go to Google Maps and search for a city name or even a zip code. You will see a pinkish highlight around the […]
Google Drops Tele Atlas & Uses Their Own Maps Data For UK Maps
Google announced on the Google Maps blog that they are now powering their own map data in the UK, Germany, Finland and Sweden. Google maps data in the U.S. and many other countries is powered by Google’s own data. But this week, Google dropped their third-party map data provider, Tele Atlas, and switched their map […]
Google Maps The Great Indoors (Android Only)
Google is bringing the blue dot indoors. Google Maps for Android 6.0 is going to start showing interior maps of airports, select malls and retail stores in the US and Japan. In Japan transit stations are also mapped. The floor plan data has been obtained from all the participating entities, which Google’s Steve Lee says […]
Bing’s New Airport Maps Aim To Make Air Travel Easier
Finally, some good news for air travelers: Flying gets a little bit easier with Bing’s launch of detailed U.S. airport maps. Much like the previously announced shopping mall maps, Bing’s airport maps take searchers inside the airport to see things like gate locations, stores and restaurants on each concourse, restroom locations and more. Searchers will […]
Google Map Maker Now Open To US Users
Google’s Map Maker has been available since 2008 and is now in more than 180 countries and regions all around the world. For the first time, that list includes the U.S. Google has just announced that Map Maker is (finally) open in the U.S. It’s a tool that lets citizen cartographers update or correct Google […]
No Invasion, But Google Maps Involved In Spanish, Moroccan Island Dispute
Google is correcting how it displays a small island in the Strait of Gibraltar after erring twice and putting Google Maps in the midst of a years-old dispute between Spain and Morocco. At question is a tiny island that’s only about one-third of a mile in each direction. Spain calls it Perejil and Morocco calls […]
Google Maps: Uncle Sam’s To Blame For That Costa Rica-Nicaragua Border Error
Earlier, we covered how a Nicaraguan military commander, using Google Maps, moved into Costa Rican territory and sparked a dispute between the two countries. Now Google has explained where the boundary error came from: the United States government. In a blog post today, Google explained how the error happened: This morning, after a discussion with […]
Louisville, Kentucky: The City Without A Name (In Google Maps)
Here’s another Google Maps oddity, tipped to us by “emallaich” earlier this week: Louisville doesn’t appear in Google Maps. The city is there — Louisville, Kentucky — but you won’t see the name “Louisville” used anywhere to identify the city.
Touchy Subject: Google Unveils New Borders In Maps, Earth
National borders may not seem important to the average Google Maps user that’s looking for a hotel or a place to eat. But when you’re mapping the world’s boundaries — as Google and other map providers are — getting them right or wrong can have international implications. With that in mind, Google has announced “significant […]
Iceland Volcano Maps: Where’s The Volcanic Ash? What Airports Are Closed? Plus, Refugees Tweeting!
Ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland continues to ground flights across Europe. Indeed, I’m hosting a friend from Britain who can’t get home due to the volcanic ash crisis. This is an event made for mapping. So what have we got out there? Below, satellite images, a great New York Times airport closure tracker, […]
Cambodia Calls Google Maps “Misleading” Over Thailand Border Dispute
Cambodia blasts Google map of disputed Thai border from Reuters reports Cambodia is the latest country upset with Google over how they draw the border on Google Maps. Cambodia’s prime minister, Hun Sen, wrote a letter saying Google was “radically misleading,” “professionally irresponsible” and “devoid of truth and reality.” Cambodia and Thailand have military on […]
California Wildfires: August & September 2009 Edition
Yes, parts of California are burning again — and the map makers are at work. Fires are often breaking out, so at the top of the story, maps to places currently in the news. Below that, general resources to check since this page was last updated. Update: September 1 Los Angeles area fires: Mount Wilson, […]
Microsoft Updates Virtual Earth Data & Images
The Virtual Earth Blog announced that they have updated the data and images for some locations. The update includes data refreshes to Greece, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania and Mexico. In addition Microsoft did global vector […]
Maps Of Fires In Southern California: November 2008 Edition
Fires are burning in Southern California once again. Here’s an update on how to find maps of where the blazes are: NOTE: For the latest fires, see this fire maps section of Search Engine Land, where any updates are listed. Los Angeles Times: Watch the newspaper’s Google Maps account here for the latest maps. Most […]
Los Angeles & Southern California Fire Maps: October 2008 Edition
Southern California is ablaze with wildfires once again, including one I can see out my window in the Newport Beach foothills. Trying to keep track of where they are. Here’s a guide to maps of current fires and place you can expect future ones to be posted. NOTE: For the latest fires, see this fire […]
Microsoft Launches New Live Search Maps India & New Virtual Earth Imagery
Microsoft has announced they released a new Live Search Maps India plus new imagery to Virtual Earth.
June 2008 California Fire Maps
Wildfires, again, in my home state of California. People are looking for maps of where they are at, so here are some resources: NOTE: For the latest fires, see this fire maps section of Search Engine Land, where any updates are listed. California Fires 2008 is an excellent map pinpointing fires across the state. Just […]
Top Causes Of Errors In Online Mapping Systems
Two years ago, my brother was getting married, and he had asked me to help design his invitations and the maps showing how to get from the church to the restaurant where we were holding the rehearsal dinner. I used to be a professional cartographer, so making a map was not a problem, particularly since […]
Searching For Southern Tornado Maps
Now that you can search for user-generated content more easily on Google Maps, I checked to see if people had been creating and sharing information about the tornadoes that tragically tore through the Southern US states of Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Surprisingly, there wasn’t much there in contrast to the mapping that went on […]
South Korea To Google: Return Our Cities From North Korea
Google Under Fire for Flawed Korea Maps from the Digital Chosunilbo reports Google has labeled some of the regions in South Korea as being part of North Korea. Specifically, the city of Incheon and some islands in Ongjin County such as Baegryeong-do, Daecheong-do, and Socheong-do are labeled to be in North Korea but are actually […]
Google Maps Adds Terrain View, Replaces Hybrid View
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Malibu Corral Fire Maps: Burn Area, Evacuation Centers, & More
Fires are burning again in Southern California, and the map makers are hard at work helping people know what’s happening where. Below, maps relating to the Corral Fire in Malibu: NOTE: For the latest fires, see this fire maps section of Search Engine Land, where any updates are listed. Los Angeles Times: Shows evacuation zones, […]
Mapping The Southern California Fires
Looking for information about wildfires in Southern California and across the California in general? This page will guide you to what you’re looking for. NOTE: Since this article was originally written, there have been many other fires on a seasonal basis. The original story is below. For the latest fires that may have brought you […]
Google Agrees To Return Chilean City It Borrowed For Argentina
Chile asks Google to fix map gaffe from the Associated Press reports that Google has mislabeled Villa O’Higgins, a town in Chile, as being in Argentina. The above image is a screen shot I took just a few minutes ago using Google Earth, for a search on “Villa O’Higgins,” which confirms that the mapping error […]
The People Behind Google Maps, Yahoo Maps, MapQuest & Other Mapping Software
Cartographers hit the road to bring updated online maps by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tells the story behind the individuals who draw the maps we use in our GPS devices or via our favorite online mapping software. NAVTEQ is the company that MapQuest, Google, Yahoo and others use for their mapping database. They travel the […]