For over two decades, Google Earth has been a window to our world, allowing millions to explore the planet from above. However, today's global challenges demand more than just exploration; they demand action. In 2026, Google is hitting the accelerator, transforming Google Earth into an advanced geospatial platform built specifically for professionals. Here is a look at the core shifts driving the platform's future. Iconic Imagery Meets Professional-Grade Data The foundation o

High-stakes projects rely on high-quality location data, but getting the context you need shouldn't feel like a scavenger hunt. Historically, answering spatial questions meant hunting down disparate datasets, wrestling with formatting, toggling between tools, and trying to paint a complete picture. To help you spend more time making decisions and less time wrangling data, Google Earth has announced massive improvements: global coverage of data layers, native Earth Engine rast

Managing massive infrastructure networks has historically relied on costly, time-consuming field surveys. But what if you could remotely inventory and monitor assets at scale, straight from your desk? Google Maps Platform has officially made Street View Insights Generally Available, a powerful dataset designed to help organisations automate asset management and shift from reactive to proactive maintenance. Unlocking the Power of Street View Insights Street View Insights taps

Buying a home is often cited as one of life’s most stressful experiences, especially when moving to an unfamiliar area. With nearly half of today's buyers willing to consider purchasing a property without seeing it in person, the demand for robust, digital-first real estate platforms is at an all-time high. Realtor.com is meeting this challenge head-on, leveraging Google Maps Platform to provide buyers with total confidence in a 'sight unseen' market. Bringing Listings to Li

Local knowledge is the lifeblood of Google Maps. With over 500 million contributors globally, authentic photos, reviews, and videos play a massive role in helping users navigate their world and confidently decide where to go. To make it even easier for this community to share their perspectives, Google Maps has rolled out three exciting new updates. 1. Quickly Find and Share Your Favourite Moments Photos and videos are essential for giving users a true sense of a location, wh

For South African Internet Service Providers (ISPs), expanding network coverage is a strategic necessity. Whether you are targeting local underserved areas or looking northward into the broader African market, stepping into new territories means the familiar landscape vanishes. The biggest disadvantage is not a lack of capital; it is a lack of visibility. Without direct access to established fibre maps in neighbouring countries, South African ISPs often fly blind. This leads

Imagine you’re a delivery driver: your route is efficient, your ETA is spot on, and the map says you have arrived at your destination. Yet, you’re standing at a random office building instead of the correct delivery address. Addresses used to be treated as simple points on a map, but they actually need context, such as specific entrances, access points, and outlines.  These complexities are often overlooked by traditional address systems, leaving businesses and drivers confus

Better Trucks is a last-mile delivery network on a mission to create tech-first and radically transparent delivery systems.  Their engineering strategy is deeply aligned with Google Cloud and Google Maps, which power their APIs, routing systems, and machine learning models. These platforms also help them plan, price and execute delivery routes for a growing multi-market network.  Single-Vehicle Routing with Google Maps Platform Before implementing full-scale route optimisatio

In today’s rapidly scaling cloud architectures, APIs are the essential building blocks that drive applications. But as organisations grow, these APIs often become scattered across various gateways, teams, and platforms.  This decentralised sprawl can lead to blind spots, impacting management and resuability and creating obstacles for adopting AI tech.  In this blog, we’ll take a look at how you can solve this with:  Specification boost add-ons. A new integration between API H

AI search is changing the rules of business visibility. Now, it’s about credibility instead of keywords.  Today’s AI engines prioritise businesses that can confidently ground real-world, verified location data. If your addresses, coordinates, and coverage areas aren’t structured and consistent, it means your business is practically invisible. In this article, we dive into what exactly you need to do to maximise your business’s location data to improve your visibility in AI se

Innobrix, a startup from the Netherlands, is redefining how buildings are visualised and configured in the architecture, engineering and construction sectors. They are combining interactive 3D modelling with real‑world map context from Google Maps Platform 3D Maps. The platform earned the Grand Prize at the 2025 Google Maps Platform Awards for its innovative use of mapping technologies. Making Construction Projects Visible and Customisable Traditional construction workflows o

Kroo Bank, a digital bank serving customers across Europe, has improved how users understand their finances.

The AI era is transforming how businesses connect with customers, especially in sectors like e-commerce, logistics, and connectivity.

Text-based AI replies can feel flat. With the new Contextual View, part of Google Maps AI Kit, it’s now possible to enrich AI chat interfaces with interactive maps, real-world data and visual context.

With Google Maps Platform’s new Builder agent, you can now go from concept to working prototype using just plain language.

A Google Business Profile (GBP) is the most crucial, high-intent discovery tool for local services. Having a pin on the map is not enough. As businesses strive to capture high-value "near me" searches, success hinges on one often-overlooked factor: deep local knowledge. When you understand a community's geography, preferences, and culture, your business can use those insights to improve its local ranking, build trust, and deliver unmatched customer experiences.  In this artic

Many AI coding assistants promise faster development, but often generate code based on outdated APIs or documentation. Code Assist Toolkit solves that by connecting your AI assistant to up-to-date, official resources from Google Maps Platform. This includes documentation, code samples, best practices and more. Give Your AI Assistant Reliable Google Maps Expertise Code Assist Toolkit functions as a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server. When your coding assistant runs a prompt i

Google Maps Platform (GMP) has just introduced a robust set of AI-driven tools designed to make location-based development faster, easier, and more accessible, especially for teams without deep GIS or mapping expertise.  From building interactive maps with natural language prompts to accessing fresh real-world data at scale, these new tools can help businesses across logistics, internet services, e-commerce and beyond do more with maps. Here’s what you need to know. 1. Build

In a competitive retail environment, offering a seamless customer experience is non-negotiable.  Google Maps makes this easier than ever, helping customers find exactly what they need while helping businesses optimise operations and increase foot traffic.  As shoppers constantly expect more, making the most out of the capabilities of tools like Google Maps has never been more important.  In this article, we take a look at how exactly Google Maps can transform the customer jou

Dear Valued Customer, As 2025 draws to a close, we extend our sincere gratitude for your continued partnership and valuable support throughout the year. Please take note of the following important dates and operational details for the holiday period: Annual Software Production Deployment Freeze To ensure system stability during the holiday season, we will implement our annual Software Production Deployment Freeze . Freeze Period: 1 December 2025 through 5 January 2026 . Imp