yes it is! they block the faces of people due to confidentiallity people so it is entirely safe.

Answer #2

Google Earth as a web browser has restricted what is rendered in a web page so "harmful" JavaScript is not even executed in addition to not allowing links in Google Earth to access local files by default. Google Earth has many security safeguards in place.

If you search for vulnerabilities and exploits in Google Earth in OVAL or US-CERT databases you will find only a few which are applicable to old versions of the product.

But with any software application (e.g., Internet Explorer, MS Office, OutLook, etc.) in addition to the Operating System itself there are vulnerabilities and exploits that get fixed after being discovered. Best plan is to maintain the latest version of the software on your computer to incorporate the latest security fixes.

Note Google Maps is implemented with the front-end client interface and API as well as the backend server components and database. In 2004 Google Maps was first implemented as a C++ program. The front-end client interface and API are implemented in JavaScript so it can run in a web browser.

Note that there are different implements of Google Maps including the standard web site for web browsers from desktop and some mobile devices, but also the native apps for some mobile devices such as iPhone which would typically be written in C++.

Quite old 2012's article states that "Combining satellite, aerial and street level imagery, Google Maps has over 20 petabytes of data, which is equal to approximately 21 million gigabytes, or around 20,500 terabytes."

Another reported estimate for the total size of the Google Earth and Maps database is 3,017 TB or approximately 3 Petabytes not including Street view imagery.

Here are estimates for the Google Maps and Google Earth database by type of data:

• 3D Imagery: 1024 TB
  
• Default Layer Aerial Imagery: 179 TB
  
• Satellite Imagery: 196 TB
  
• Historical Imagery: 1,618 TB

Source: http://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2016/04/big-google-earth-database.html

You can enter latitude/longitude coordinates in Google Maps to zoom to that location.

With Google Maps open you can, for example, enter "48.86,2.35" into the search text box to jump to Paris, France. The order of coordinates is latitude,longitude in decimal degrees.Sometimes the coordinate search gets confused and in that case you should prefix the coordinates with the location tag "loc:" such as "loc: 48.86,2.35" not including the quotes.

Likewise, you can use a URL for Google Maps with the parameters ?q=48.86,2.35 added to end of the base URL in your web browser.

If you're browsing Google Maps and want to know the coordinates of a location, just right-click on the map and select 'What's here?'. The coordinates will automatically pop up in the search box.

To learn more about understanding coordinates, check out this article in related links below.

It is important to note that only the Arabs insist on calling the Persian Gulf the Arabian Gulf. It is not a commonly used term in any major language other than Arabic and the other five UN languages call the area the Persian Gulf. The same issue arises with the term "English Channel" which is called "La Manche" in French and variations of that name in other languages.

In English and most other languages, the proper term is "Persian Gulf" as much as it offends Arab sensibilities, just as the term "Manche" is the proper international linguistic term of the English Channel as much as that may offend British sensibilities.

However, there are several reasons that Arabs feel the need to push others to see the situation from their perspective:

1. It is used by the Arab League and nations
2. It is used by United Nations in their Arabic documents and Arabic Language is an official language in the United Nations
3. The name "Persian gulf" is linked to the Persian empire that does not exist any more. As Mediterranean sea used to be called Roman Sea
4. Iran does not mean Persia, Iranian people consist of Persians, Arabs, Azeri, Turkmen, Kurds, Gilakis, Mazandaranis, Lurs, and Baluchis
5. The people who live around the Gulf are mostly Arabs so by demography it should be called Arabian Gulf
6. There are 6 Arabic countries around the gulf but Iran is alone and 70% of the coast line is under Arabic countries
7. Stated clearly in the Arabian history.

All of those are refuted by International Observers who say correspondingly:

1. This is true because its name in Arabic is the Arabian Gulf, this is not in dispute. The question is whether non-Arab parties acquiesce to this.
2. All five other UN languages use a variant of Persian Gulf and those five other languages are the majority. Arabic has no special privilege to trump the others.
3. Many areas are named after people who may or may not still exist. America is named after an Italian explorer who is long dead, but nobody suggests renaming America.
4. The Islamic Republic of Iran is the successor state to Persia. The Persian Empire changed its name to Iran in 1935. The Persian Empire and now Iran was never culturally homogenous. What that has to do with nomenclature is unclear.
5. Current demography does not change place names. Tibet is still consider Tibet outside of China even though there are more Han Chinese in Xijang Province (as the Chinese call it) than native Tibetans.
6. Wholly irrelevant to nomenclature. The South China Sea borders more of Vietnam than China and the Gulf of Aqabah borders Jordan less than each of the three other countries to touch it.
7. See Response 1

Google maps has a special Markup Language file called KML that is a sublanguage of XML.

There is a tutorial at google.com to show how to make a browser embeding object(area) and how to make pop-ups and locations with the KML markup file types. See the related link for more information.

Google Maps shows you see maps of places and gives you directions. Map Maker allows you customize the map to your place and print out the map!

Google's Map Maker provides users with an interface to make corrections to the underlying map data used by Google Maps and Google Earth. The changes are reviewed, and if accepted, your edits/changes to Google's base map will eventually be reflected in Google Maps and Google Earth. Map Maker, however, is not available for editing regions in all countries. Google is actively working on opening up Map Maker for additional locations.

Visit Map Maker in related links below.

The images in Google Maps (and Google Earth) are updated on a continuous basis. The update cycle is typically twice a month but only a handful of areas are updated at a time.

It's hard to say exactly when an area will be updated because some areas may be updated more frequently than others (just because that data is more readily available). While most images are no more than 3 years old in high resolution areas, low resolution imagery in some areas may be older.

It takes months of post processing new imagery before they go online so bulk updates usually happen about every 2 weeks. Google Maps and Google Earth share the same backend image database and are updated together.

When will my area be updated?

Due to overwhelming demand when a given area will be updated Google has created a new e-mail notification service. Check out 'Follow Your World' in related links below.