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It used to be that looking something up on a map
meant unfolding a huge piece of paper
you kept in your glove box
and driving past the turnoff to Des Moines
in the time it took to find section A53.
Fast forward a few years, and now thanks to Google Maps,
you can zoom in so far on nearly any street in the world
that whether you want a bodega in the Big Apple
or just a regular apple in Manhattan, Kansas,
you're not bound to have a problem.
But this unprecedented level of detail
didn't happen overnight.
Google managed to get a foothold
in the online mapping scene back in the mid-2000s
when it acquired WhereTo Technologies,
who had the idea to let people scroll around on a map
without having to refresh,
a novel concept that helped set Google Maps apart early on.
But they needed more than just a pretty interface.
Fortunately, Google is first and foremost a data company,
so they often start by working directly
with national and local government offices
to determine not only exactly where every road is,
but how lanes are spaced and allocated on freeways
to give an accurate base experience.
Unfortunately, oftentimes the government won't
or isn't able to provide a completely accurate picture
of how an area is laid out.
Oh, you.
So this is where Google Street View comes in.
You can learn more about that up here,
but hold on, isn't Street View just a way
for users to virtually sightsee?
The answer, as it turns out, is no.
Google also uses Street View internally
in order to double check and tweak
its existing mapping data.
As the Street View car takes photos of its surroundings,
special AI can recognize any signs caught by the camera
and send them to be analyzed by Google's servers
to determine not only lane placement
and traffic restrictions,
but among other things,
even the proper addresses of local businesses.
All of this information is then also used
to prevent Maps from giving you bad directions by,
for example, sending you the wrong way
down a one-way street.
That would be bad.
Adding another layer to Maps is Google's access
to a huge amount of satellite data,
partly from its acquisition
of satellite imaging service Keyhole in 2004,
and partly from government sources.
They use top-down views of street markers
to further improve accuracy,
and they've even got to the point
where they can use satellite imagery
to extrapolate the shapes and footprints of buildings,
not only to give you 3D views in Google Earth,
which are super cool,
but also to enable you to see outlines of these buildings
in the regular Maps view.
So by intelligently combining data
from all of these sources,
Maps can construct quite an accurate picture
of any given patch of land pretty well,
but even Google can't completely automate things, yet.
They also use human employees
in a project called Atlas to make necessary adjustments.
One of this team's common tasks
is to investigate user error reports
and tweak routes on the map layer
that clearly don't match up
with a recent satellite image or street view capture.
And this kind of user reporting
reflects how crowdsourcing is another major piston
in Google Maps' engine.
And I'm not just talking about the photos you see
on business listings, either.
Google relies partially on volunteers
to map areas it may have limited data on,
something that's especially important
in less developed countries,
where it's harder for Google to send vehicles
or get accurate mapping data from a government.
Of course, Google uses other tricks, too,
to flesh out the experience.
Once upon a time, they licensed databases
to dramatically expand how many businesses Maps would show,
but these days, listings are pulled
from other public sources and from business owners
who are eager to take advantage
of the visibility that Google Maps provides.
Owners of large facilities have even submitted floor plans
and granted Google permission to do site surveys
to help you find your way around.
This is particularly useful for sports arenas,
shopping malls, and airports,
and Google even works with a third-party service
that keeps track of gas prices
by looking at credit card data
and even getting direct data feeds
from major gas station chains.
Finally, whether you realize you've signed up for it or not,
Google also uses you.
Location services and the GPS on your phone
helps Google understand, on top of where it is,
how to get there,
and how many square feet of patio space is available,
what times of day your favorite watering hole gets crowded.
And they don't show you,
but they probably know the demographic makeup
of the clientele, too.
Wow.
So the real answer to how does Google Maps work
is that Google simply has so many information gaps,
and gathering tentacles,
that if they were the star of a Japanese anime,
I probably wouldn't watch it at work.
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