Google Maps



Google Maps is a web mapping service developed by Google, and is available for Android, iOS, and the Web. The service's front end utilizes JavaScript, XML, and AJAX; it also offers an API that allows maps to be embedded on third-party websites, and a locator for urban businesses and other organizations in numerous countries.

Google Maps offers satellite imagery, street maps, 360&deg; panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions (Google Traffic), and route planning for traveling by car, foot, bicycle, and air, or public transportation.

History
Google Maps began as a C++ desktop program at Where 2 Technologies, which was acquired by Google in October 2004 and the C++ app was converted into a web application. After additional acquisitions of a geospatial data visualization company and a real time traffic analyzer, Google Maps was launched on February 8, 2005.

On January 31, 2012, Google was found guilty of abusing the dominant position of its Google Maps application and ordered to pay a court fine and damages to French mapping company Bottin Cartographer, due to offering the service for free. This ruling was overturned on appeal.

Google started mapping Britain's rivers and canals in June 2012, in partnership with the Canal and River Trust. The company has stated that it will update the program during the year to allow users to plan trips which include locks, bridges and towpaths along the 2,000 miles of river paths in the UK.

In December 2012, the mobile application of Google Maps was separately made available in the App Store, after Apple removed it from its default installation of its iOS 6 mobile operating system. Apple CEO Tim Cook was forced to make an apology and recommend similar applications after multiple complaints regarding the newly release Apple Maps.

In August 2013, Google Maps removed the Wikipedia Layer that provided links to Wikipedia articles about locations shown in Google Maps via Wikipedia geocodes.

Mobile app
Google Maps is available for the Android and iOS mobile operating systems. The Android app was released in September 2008, and was the default mapping application for iOS up until the release of iOS 6 in September 2012, at which point Apple Maps replaced it. A standalone iOS app was released the following December.