To celebrate 10 years of Creator Weekly, I’m sharing tech highlights from 2015 that still resonate 10 years later. This update was for the week ending February 8, 2015.
- Google Earth launched in May 2005
- Street View launched in May 2007
- Google bought Panoramio, with photos with exact geographical locations, in May 2007
- Google Map Maker launched in June 2008
- Google Map Maker launched the Regional Expert Reviewer Program in September 2011
- Google acquired review company Zagat in September 2011
- Google launched Google+ Local in May 2012
- Google acquired crowd-sourcing traffic site Waze in June 2013
- Google My Business, which let business owners share business information on Search, Maps and Google+ (RIP) launched in June 2014.
- Google acquired satellite imaging company Skybox Imaging in August 2014.
Google Maps in 2015
Maps didn't pause on its 10th birthday. There were a number of notable feature updates that year, including:
- Real time traffic and rerouting while navigating in May 2015
- Real time transit information in June 2015
- Your Timeline in July 2015
- Offline navigation in November 2015
- The most popular times to visit a business in December 2015
Local Guides
From early on, Google has relied on user input to improve accuracy and enhance map listings with information, reviews and photos.
In 2009 Google Maps incorporated photos of landmarks from Panoramio (which it had acquired in 2007) and geo-tagged public photos in Picasa Web Albums.
Map Maker, launched in 2008, allowed users to add features to maps including roads, rivers, businesses and more.
But in 2015 there was a minor scandal when it was discovered someone in Map Makers had added an image of the Android bot peeing on the Apple logo to the map. Google temporarily shut down the program, then reenabled it several months later, with additional moderation.
It's within this context that Google Local Guides launched in January 2015, and expanded the program the following November. Guides were (and are) given points for uploading photos, reviewing businesses and submitting places (like landmarks or businesses). It does not include Map Makers more powerful features to correct maps such as adding roads, rivers or parks.
Picasa Web Albums shut down in 2016 (largely replaced by non-public Google Photos in 2015), as did Panoramio. Map Maker shut down in 2017.
All that's left is Local Guides.
Embedding Maps
References
Stock images and video used in my video
Andre Moura @ Pexels:
A Hologram of the Earth from a mobile phone
Alex Barnes @ Pexels:
Photograph of a man with holographic glasses
Comments
Post a Comment
Spam and personal attacks are not allowed. Any comment may be removed at my own discretion ~ Peggy