The View from Google Earth, by Mary Jo Wagner, Geospacial Solutions (May 1) -- Michael Jones, CTO at Google, answers questions about Google Earth. Very interesting article on how Google Earth is being used and directions for future development.
+ Local Search: In the beginning, "Google Earth really was an Earth-browsing tool, and now it's an Earth-information tool. We have access to a rich, local search infrastructure at Google. From a value standpoint, if you go on Google Earth and search on businesses, you can type in "I want golf near here" and it won't offer businesses with only "golf" in the name, it'll have businesses like "Steve's Sports" that specialize in golf training. That's really useful and it speaks directly to our mission to get the world's information organized but present it in a geographical context."
+ Updates (some data is 3 years old): "Almost every month we publish a major update to our Earth model. Last month we did all of Germany, but we haven't done France yet. "
+ Use by organizations of the for-fee versions of Google Earth. "The people that use the enterprise product tend to be major home developers that build thousands of houses a year; major international construction companies; and governments, because they tend to have their own data as well. Pseudo-governments like the United Nations use Google Earth for some of their missions, like new peacekeeping exercises in the Congo."
+ Partnering: "We also just did a project with Discovery Channel where you can fly around the world and visit national parks and you can see interesting videos about these places for free, but you can click to pay more for more information if you so desire. We see this as the next phase of organizing all the world's information."
Posted by Gwen at May 15, 2006 04:18 PM