Under the Hood<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Before we dive\ninto the facts and figures about this amazing utility, we should take a look\ninto how it actually works and some statistics about its usage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Google\nMaps has collected 20 petabytes of data:<\/strong>\nConsidering the fact that Google Maps now covers almost the entire planet, it\nis absolutely no surprise that they have to collect a large amount of data.\nSome estimates suggest that Google has collected more than 20 Petabytes, i.e.\n21 million Gigabytes of data till date. This is enough to completely fill up\nmore than 328,000 iPhones! <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: G-Maps Widget)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. The data\non Google Maps is usually 1 to 3 years old: <\/strong>If you\nwere ever wondering why you house on the Google Maps is still showing your roof\nthe way it was 3 years ago, it is because of the fact that Google Maps are only\nupdated every one to three years. This is despite the fact that Google Maps\ncollects data every two weeks. However, this data then needs to be heavily\nprocessed in order to be appropriate for the map. Even then Google processes\ndata for the areas that have changed to a significant degree first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Google Earth Blog)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Google\ndoesn\u2019t own the satellites that provide the data for the Maps: <\/strong>Satellite imaging is a tough issue. There are many challenges\ninvolved in the process which are very expensive to overcome. This might be why\ngoogle opts to collect data from reliable sources instead of attempting to\nlaunch satellites of their own. They even tried to purchase a fleet of\nsatellites from an imagine company, but they quickly abandoned the idea and\nsold the fleet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Google Earth)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Street\nview images are being used as reCAPTCHA to help decode objects: <\/strong>CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell\nComputers and Humans Apart. This is a service provided by Google which websites\ncan use to prevent bots from skewing their standards. Captcha depends on humans\nbeing able to perform some tasks that involve identifying patterns\/numbers and\nletters in the images provided by google. Google has long since used captcha to\nhelp their Artificial Intelligence, which powers the classification and\nidentification algorithm in Google Maps, to help in increasing its accuracy.\nThis is done by providing already classified images for captcha. When users identify\nan image as being wrongly classified, they get sent for review. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Tech Crunch)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Google Maps has made life that much easier for everybody. IT provides amazing function to its users, that make traveling on the road not taken becomes easy as pie. From tourists looking for amazing new places, to daily commuters looking to avoid traffic, there is no end of the uses Google Maps can give you. Let\u2019s take a brief look into some of the ways Google Map does good:<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5. Google\nEarth was responsible for the reuniting of a family: <\/strong>in 1986 a boy named Saroo lived in the village of Ganesh Talai, in\nKhadva district, India. He was separated from his family by accident and was\nput up for adoption. Soon he was adopted by an Australian family. He grew up in\nMelbourne and went to New York to study. There he discovered Google Earth and\nlocated his village using the tool. This led him back to his family after 20\nyears. There was eve a movie based on his life, called Lion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: The Guardian)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 6. Governments\ncan get Google to remove sensitive information: <\/strong>Having\nsecret bases show up on a public domain is a nightmare scenario for any government.\nHowever, this scenario has already occurred multiple times. For this very\nreason, Google has a policy of 100% co-operation with government and\nimmediately removes any and all information that any government requests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Google)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 7. You can\nvisit 156 museums around the world through Google Maps: <\/strong>Museums are the corner \u2013 stone of human culture, housing the best of\nthe culture of the part of the world in which it is situated. These museums\ntypically need to be visited in person and also charge an admission fees for\nupkeep. However, museums that are a part of Google\u2019s Art Project upload their\nentire museum onto Google Street View to generate interest in their collection.\nSome of the most popular museums available in Google Street View are The\nBritish Museum in London, The Muse\u00e9 d\u2019Orsay in Paris, and the Pergamon\nMuseum in Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Google Art Project)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 8. Street\nView has covered more than 41 times the distance from earth to the moon: <\/strong>Google Street View has covered more than 10 million miles of streets\nacross the world. For context, the distance between the Earth and the Moon is\n284,000 miles on an average. The company also claims that they have covered\nmore than 98% of all places that humans inhabit. The only areas that haven\u2019t\nbeen covered by Street View are highly militarized areas or war zones like\nNorth Korea or Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: CNET)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 9. Street\nView uses trolleys, trikes, snowmobiles and even handcarts to take images: <\/strong>Google doesn\u2019t always use cars to take footage for their street view\nservice. They have used trolleys, tricycles and even handcarts to take images\nwhere a car cannot go. This includes churches, college campuses, and even some\nmountain tops. The Matterhorn was one of the first mountains to get Street View\navailable on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Wired)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 10. You can\ndrop a nuclear bomb on someone you don’t like, using Google Earth: <\/strong>Nuclear bombs are the most destructive weapons ever created. The\ngood people at Carlos Labs have created a tool to show you what will happen if\none of these bombs drop on any location of your choice. They have included a\nlarge variety of nuclear bombs, from the \u2018Fat Man, and \u2018Little Boy\u2019 to the\nlargest nuclear bomb till date, the Tsar Bomba. You can even see what happened\nwhen the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs impacted the Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Carlos Labs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11. Fiat\npranked VW using Google Maps: <\/strong>Companies playing stupid\npranks on each other is always fun. Burger King dissing McDonalds using signs,\nWendy\u2019s twitter handle trolling everyone, etc. never stops being amusing.\nHowever, arguably the best corporate prank was pulled by Fiat on VW. When Fiat\nlearned that the Street View car was going to be visiting their city, Fiat had\na fiat 500 drive behind the car for 30 miles, and then got the car parked and\nphotographed right in front of the VW building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Inquisitor)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 12. Anyone\ncan get their house blurred in street view: <\/strong>Upon\nthe rising concern for privacy, Google has made it very easy for an individual\nto get information on their house deleted. All one needs to do is go to the\n\u2018report an issue\u2019 form on Google Street Views website, and request information\nabout a particular location be deleted. This location can be anything, though\nGoogle asks its users to understand that once the information is deleted it can\nnever be restored as even the next time the street view images will be taken,\nthe location will automatically be skipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Google Street View)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 13. If you\u2019re\ninterested in pranking someone as well, you can check when the Google Street\nView car will come to your city: <\/strong>There are a large\nnumber of Easter Eggs and pranks that can be found on Google Street View. These\ninclude a group of six men in pigeon masks, a large field spelling out a curse\nword, and even a mock murder scene. If after reading about the pranks you feel\nlike you have an amazing idea for pranking everyone on Earth, you can simply\nlook at the month that your country will be visited by the street view vehicle.\nThe country then receives a detailed schedule of the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Google Street View)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 14. Israeli\nengineers emblazoned the star of David on the roof of Tehran\u2019s airport which\ngot discovered on Google Earth: <\/strong>The escalating\ntensions between the Jew community and the country of Iran is a well-known\nfact. However, this was not always the case When Tehran\u2019s airport was being\nbuilt, in 1938, it was Israeli Jewish engineers that were invited to construct\nthe same. They designed and built the airport as per specifications, except for\none small thing. They incorporated a huge Star of David on the roof of the\nbuilding, so that any plane flying into the airport may have a glimpse of the\nstar if they knew what to look for. The star went unnoticed by Iranian\nauthorities until November 2010 when it was spotted on google earth images of\nthe airport. It caused massive outrage throughout the country, which since the\nIslamic Revolution of 1979, has had a very strained relationship with its\nneighbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: ABCNews)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 15. Google\nEarth helped in discovery of ancient pyramids: <\/strong>Google\nEarth is a very powerful tool that can be used for a variety of purposes. One\nof these purposes might surprise you! Archeologists are championing the tool to\nlocate previously unknown sites of archeological importance. Google Earth\nhelped in discovering a series of underwater pyramids which were previously\nunknown. It also helped in discovering a 1000 year old fish trap, and even some\ntemporary islands!<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Mother Nature Network)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 16. There is\na flight simulator built into Google Earth: <\/strong>If\nwhile exploring Google Earth you\u2019ve wanted to take a flight through the skies,\nnow you can! Google has built a flight simulator on their Google Earth engine,\nwhich on can access without any further installs needed. You can control a\nvariety of airplanes using either a joystick or just your mouse and keyboard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Google)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 17. You can\nview the 9\/11 attacks with Google Earth: <\/strong>The 9\/11\nattacks on the twin towers in New York were among the worst terrorists\u2019 attacks\never. They caused the total destruction of the World Trade Center. If you ever\nwant to bear witness to the chilling event yourself, then there is plug in that\nwas created for Google Earth to facilitate the same. It was created using the\n3D modelling tools that are provided by Google for the purpose of aiding\ncreativity. There is also an image of the WTC burning taken from one of the\nsatellites from which Google sources its information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Google Earth Blog)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 18. The\nlargest natural bridge on the planet was discovered with Google Earth: <\/strong>Natural Bridges are a beautiful type of natural arches that form\nover a flowing source of water, like a river or a stream. These bridges\ntypically form in some of the most inaccessible areas of the world. The Fairy\nBridge is no different. Found in the Northwestern area of the Guangxi Province,\nChina, it is the largest known natural bridge in the world. To reach it one\nmuch take a three hour raft ride through some rapids, or trek there via unpaved\nroads. It is said to be one of the most beautiful sights in the world. It was\ncompletely unknown to anyone except locals before it was accidentally\ndiscovered in 2009 using Google Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Natural Arches)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 19. The\ncenter of the universe is at Brian McClendon\u2019s house: <\/strong>The exact center of our physical universe may not be known to\nanyone, but the center of the Google Earth universe is very clear. If you start\nup Google Earth and keep zooming into the default start up point, you\u2019ll notice\nit to be a small house in the state of Kansas, USA. This is the house of Brian\nMcClendon, the creator of Google Earth. He used the co-ordinates of his\nchildhood bedroom as the center for Google Earth from which it navigates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: CN Travels)<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have been\npraising the various ways Google Maps is an amazing piece of innovation.\nHowever, this doesn\u2019t mean that the application can do no wrong. In fact, there\nhave been many incidents in the past that have shone an ugly light on some\naspects of Google Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 20. Google\nMaps records the user\u2019s position, even if the user doesn\u2019t want it to do so: <\/strong>Google Maps is a piece of software that is distrusted by a lot of\npeople. This isn\u2019t without cause. Google Maps has been revealed to collecting\nuser data even when the user chooses to opt out of sending their location. They\nclaim to only collect passive usage data and not anything personal at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: AP News)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 21. Google\nhelped put stoners in jail: <\/strong>There is a wide\nconsensus on the internet that a huge chunk of Google\u2019s \u2018weird\u2019 section of the\nengine comes from marijuana smokers. However, the company didn\u2019t appreciate the\nsentiment when the Swedish police service found a 2 \u2013 Acre marijuana farm using\nGoogle Earth. The field was first spotted by a local and was reported to the\npolice. Google then aided the police in obtaining recent data based on which\nthe police arrested the farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Telegraph)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 22. Android\nPhones are actively tracked by Google Maps, to generate real time traffic data:\n<\/strong>One of the most important features provided by\nGoogle Maps is the real time traffic data that it overlays on top of the road\nmaps. This data aids a lot of people in planning their trips and commutes.\nHowever, have you ever wondered how google is able to generate this data? It is\nby tracking all the android phones on the road at that moment. They average the\nspeed at which each phone is travelling to determine factors about the traffic\non the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Google)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 23. At one\npoint anyone could go to Google Earth and shoot people with automatic rifles: <\/strong>Some people are just tasteless, and some of them are also\npsychopaths. Maybe that is why someone created a plug in for google earth that\nlet people go into street view while carrying an automatic rifle, and then\nshoot the pedestrians. There were sound effects and blood animations flying out\nfrom the pedestrians. It was taken down by Google within three days, although\nby that time the website was receiving 3,000 visitors per minute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Business Insider)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 24. At least\none murder scene was on display on google maps: <\/strong>Google\nMaps cover a vast area of the planet. So, it should come as no surprise that\nsome very morbid scenes have been caught on the Maps. One such scene was when a\nfamily in Richmond discovered that the murdered body of their 14 year old son\nwas on display in Google Street View. Understandably it caused them a great\ndeal of anguish, and Google removed it very soon after.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Mercury News)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 25. Google\nMaps often causes border disputes: <\/strong>National Borders\nare a matter national security for every country. So, when the world\u2019s most\npopular map displays disputed territory as belonging to one of the countries,\nit is cause for great concern for the two countries. This has happened often in\nthe past with heavily contested territories like Kashmir and The Hungyan\nIslands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: The Guardian)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 26. Google\nmaps almost caused a full scale war: <\/strong>Border\nDisputes can often cause massive misunderstanding between the two nations.\nHowever, this came to a head when Nicaraguan troops accidentally invaded Costa\nRica. They dredged the river and set up camp on what they thought was\nNicaragua. Costa Rica responded to them by sending out security agents to\nsecure the area, since they don’t have a military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: The Telegraph)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Google Maps have\nsome amazing features. From voice navigation to street level photos of a huge\narea of the world. Google keeps adding even more new features to the\napplication with constant updates. The updates make the application even more\nuser-friendly that it already is. Let\u2019s take a look at some of the best\nupcoming features of Google Maps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 27. Google is\ndeveloping an AR based feature for Google Maps: <\/strong>Augmented\nand virtual reality is the new thing in the technology word. So, it should come\nas no surprise when one of the biggest tech companies in the world rolls out an\nAR feature for their Maps service. Google\u2019s new feature, currently being tested\nin USA, will allow users to generate AR images and overlays in their Maps\napplication. These will include arrows on the streets pointing your way,\ninformation about places in bubbles above them, among many others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: CNBC)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 28. Google\nMaps\u2019 new feature will tell you about your monthly statistics: <\/strong>Everyone loves finding out interesting things about their own life.\nTo this end Google has rolled out a feature that will allow users to find out\nstatistics about their own life. This will include things like total kilometers\ndrives, total distance walked, locations most visited, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Google)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 29. You can\nnow stream music straight through Google Maps: <\/strong>Most\npeople prefer to listen to some music or a podcast on their commutes. It is a\nhassle to switch between your navigation app and your music app. Google has\nmanaged to avoid that frustration completely by allowing Spotify to seamlessly\nintegrate into the Maps app. Now you can listen to music while navigating\neasily! Click on the link in the source for a detailed list of instructions of\nhow to achieve this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Google)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 30. Your\nrobot butler can tell you where to go: <\/strong>The \u2018For You\u2019\ntab got\/is getting a huge update (according to your location) which can track\nyour activity on Google Maps. This is then taken into consideration by an AI\npowered algorithm which can then give you locations around that you will find\ninteresting. This AI algorithm can also tell you what you would like in the\nplace you are at by virtue of data collected from everyone who has been to that\nparticular place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Source: Endgadget)<\/p>\n\n\n\nGoogle Maps is Amazing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nGoogle Maps is Not Amazing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Google Maps is Going to be\nAmazing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Data Sources & References<\/h3>\n\n\n\n