Google and Microsoft Engage in Virtual World War Over 3D Maps

Strategic Insights -

Google and Microsoft are racing to bring interactive 3D versions of city streets onto the World Wide Web, allowing users to click around and explore digital representations of the globe. The two tech giants aim to make navigation easy and immersive, with users able to customize their visits by zooming in on individual points of interest. Microsoft's MSN Virtual Earth project, scheduled for release this summer, will allow users to view images 50 to 100 feet above the tops of buildings in many urban areas, while Google's Google Earth is still in testing, using technology developed by Keyhole Corp.

Key Takeaways:

  • Microsoft's MSN Virtual Earth will allow users to view images 50 to 100 feet above the tops of buildings in many urban areas, while Google Earth will provide a similar experience, but with an uncertain release date.
  • Both companies are working to make navigation easy and immersive, with users able to customize their visits by zooming in on individual points of interest.
  • Google's Google Earth uses technology developed by Keyhole Corp., a company Google acquired in October, while Microsoft's project is not including rural areas at the launch.
  • The competition between Google and Microsoft is part of an ongoing contest for dominance among users and customers, as the two companies have released products that encroach on each other's dominance among search tools and desktop software applications.
  • MapQuest, a service with a distant head start, has 43 million unique users for the month of May, about 76 percent of online map users.
  • Some contributors at techie-oriented Web sites have worried that such detailed virtual maps could be used by terrorists to gather information for an attack, but security experts have dismissed this concern.

Statistics:

  • 43 million unique users of MapQuest for the month of May (Source: ComScore Media Metrix).
  • 76 percent of online map users on MapQuest (Source: ComScore Media Metrix).
  • 50 to 100 feet above the tops of buildings in many urban areas, the resolution of images provided by Microsoft's MSN Virtual Earth.
  • October, the month Google acquired Keyhole Corp.
  • This summer, the scheduled release date for Microsoft's MSN Virtual Earth project.

Sources:

  • ComScore Media Metrix (no date mentioned in the original text).
  • MapQuest spokesman Brian Hoyt (no date mentioned in the original text).
  • LATWP News Service (no date mentioned in the original text).