Google Wants You To Search The World… Literally
from the spymaster-Google dept
Google continues their effort to make sure you can search and find just about anything you’d want online by buying Keyhole, the somewhat popular satellite map provider. Keyhole is known for their program that lets you zoom in and move around in the 3D maps they create. Google’s first move with Keyhole was to cut the price by more than 50%, from $70 down to $30 per year. While you can see how they could integrate this with Google’s local offering in a way that’s differentiated from the competition, it will be interesting to see if they try to branch out and do even more with it. For example, with the 3D navigation tools within Keyhole, you could do a search for directions on your computer, and then be able to transfer the Keyhole results to a mobile phone to show you where you’re going.
Comments on “Google Wants You To Search The World… Literally”
Lots of synergies
Mike, think we might be on the same page on this…
http://www.buzzhit.com/2004/10/google-on-map-acquires-satellite-image.html
While the obvious near term stuff is interesting enough, future applications (e.g., mobile, photography, etc) make this a compelling buy.
Mapquest
Mapquest used to offer a satellite view, but it’s gone now. I wonder what happened to it? You could switch from the “Street map” view to the “Satellite” view, and zoom in and out.