<P> Google Maps is a web mapping service developed by Google . It offers satellite imagery, street maps, 360 ° panoramic views of streets (Street View), real - time traffic conditions (Google Traffic), and route planning for traveling by foot, car, bicycle (in beta), or public transportation . </P> <P> Google Maps began as a C++ desktop program 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 realtime 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 urban 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 will be transferred to Google Local Guides program . </P> <P> Google Maps' satellite view is a "top - down" or "birds eye" view; most of the high - resolution imagery of cities is aerial photography taken from aircraft flying at 800 to 1,500 feet (240 to 460 m), while most other imagery is from satellites . Much of the available satellite imagery is no more than three years old and is updated on a regular basis . Google Maps uses a variant of the Mercator projection, and therefore cannot accurately show areas around the poles . </P> <P> The current redesigned version of the desktop application was made available in 2013, alongside the "classic" (pre-2013) version . Google Maps for Android and iOS devices was released in September 2008 and features GPS turn - by - turn navigation along with dedicated parking assistance features . In August 2013, it was determined to be the world's most popular app for smartphones, with over 54% of global smartphone owners using it at least once . </P>

Where does google maps get its satellite images from