Google Maps Expanded With 25 Million New Building Footprints

by Mike on October 19, 2012

Google Maps has been the go to mapping application for a number of years now and recently, the search engine giant has been on a real tear to expand this service. The reasoning behind this is not exactly clear and but could probably be attributed to one of many factors.

To begin with, it may just be business as usual or alternatively, with Apple Maps still limping along, this might be a good time to expand their service to keep a leg up on the competition. In any case though, the new set of updates sees Google Maps expand with the introduction of 25 million building footprints, thereby providing an even higher level of completeness.

In terms of just how Google managed to get all of these footprints, the search engine turned to aerial pictures which were then processed by a computer to render the actual building designs on the maps. As with any automated process, there is always opportunities for improvements and in this regards, Google is turning to the public. Using Google Map Maker, you can assist in finding inaccurate renderings and you will also be able to label businesses on the newly included buildings. It will be interesting to see just how much touch up work Google Maps will require after this automated injection.

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