It is the result of a combination of various technologies such as satellite imagery, aerial photography, street mapping, 360-degree panoramic views, as well as geographic information system (GIS) data, creating a comprehensive digital map that serves the purpose of surveying routes traveled by different means.
Google Maps is constantly updated with new features and data to optimize and enhance its usefulness, making it an indispensable part of modern travel for billions of people around the world.
Behind this seemingly simple application is a complex process of collecting high-quality information from various sources, such as previous users, satellites, vehicles, etc., to be able to answer the navigational queries users are looking for.
A living map ahead of its time
Not long ago, finding a location on a map meant opening a giant sheet of paper and spending countless hours scanning through dots, lines, and tiny letters. Google wasn’t the first company to think about creating a digital map, but when Maps launched in the mid-2000s, it featured technology that had never been seen before. Google Maps even launched with in-browser satellite imagery, a technological system that was ahead of its time.
No one had ever seen their own home in satellite imagery, let alone in color. It was a completely new and exciting view of the world. But it was just the beginning.
Google began to improve and enhance its digital mapping product through a number of smart acquisitions. Much of the success that Maps has achieved today comes from its early acquisitions of Where 2 Technologies and Keyhole. The technological additions that these two companies added to Google’s existing tools significantly improved the quality of Maps, making the product more accessible and interactive for consumers.
With Keyhole, the search giant owns the software that is essential to creating an easy-to-use satellite imagery evaluation tool. Meanwhile, the Where 2 deal offers a user interface experience that is far superior to other products. The way people scroll and zoom in and out of digital maps without reloading the page from this company gives Google a unique competitive advantage.
Giant "jigsaw" game
Google Maps has been quick to expand its technology and open it up to developers to integrate Streetview on Android and iOS. But how exactly does the company combine all of this to get users from point A to point B?
“The fundamental thing is to have a model of the real world, a digital reality of the world, including roads,” said Christopher Phillips, director of Geo at Google.
To create this realistic model, Google uses satellite imagery and aerial remote sensing images. The images are then layered with data from Streetview using a process called photogrammetry. This is then combined with GPS data to create an image with precise coordinates. From this, Google can measure the distance between the images and their locations.
After getting all the information and imagery that makes up the map, Google layers on data about traffic, routes, and businesses. With more than 1 billion monthly users, the company’s real-world data is constantly being replenished and refreshed. It also pulls in data from local governments, such as bus and train schedules, as well as information from businesses.
But the work wasn’t done yet. Google needed a way to fill the data and imagery gaps in remote or hard-to-reach areas. That’s where Streetview came in.
Streetview is not just a mode that allows users to “virtually” explore the places around them, it also plays an important role in the comprehensive image data collection process. The search giant has attached cameras to everything they can think of, from cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, to camels, divers, and even astronauts.
These camera systems do more than just take photos; they also help the company double-check, refine, and optimize the most up-to-date map data. The AI technology on the camera detects any changes and sends them back to Google servers to compare and find differences or discrepancies with previous images.
How does Google Maps estimate travel time from point A to point B?
To predict how long it will take to get from one point to another, or gauge how crowded a location is, Google relies on reviews, contributed information, and anonymized user location data as inputs to complex algorithms that refine predictive models.
So the final prediction is a combination of data from millions of accounts, combined with mapping tools and the approximate location of the user. This information also helps Google to make targeted ads to users - one of the main areas of this giant's money.
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