Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by
Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-
time traffic conditions, and route planning for traveling by foot, car, bike, air (in beta) and public transportation. As of
2022, Google Maps was being used by over 1 billion
people every month around the world. Google Maps began as a C++ desktop program developed by brothers
Lars and Jens Rasmussen at Where 2 Technologies. In
October 2004, the company was acquired by
Google, which converted it into a web application. After additional acquisitions of a geospatial data visualization company and a real
time traffic analyzer, Google Maps was launched in February 2005. The service's front end utilizes JavaScript, XML, and Ajax. Google Maps offers an API that allows maps to be embedded on third-party websites, and offers a locator for businesses and other organizations in numerous countries around the world. Google Map Maker allowed users to collaboratively expand and update the service's mapping worldwide but was discontinued from March 2017. However, crowdsourced contributions to Google Maps were not discontinued as the company announced those features would be transferred to the
Google Local Guides program.
