Google Earth uses fantastic 3D graphics technology to show real environments and three-dimensional structures and accidents to the point that in certain situations you won't know how to differentiate an aerial photograph from a virtual representation. In this wonderful aerial viewer initially developed by the company 'Keyhole' you can walk around the planet through images taken by satellite and adorned by the company's inabarcable geolocated database.
There are also many free sources of parcel data ( URL) that Maptitude can map and that Maptitude can provide APN-based search for.Google Earth is one of the most ambitious developments by Google. Maptitude includes detailed demographics and accurate, comprehensive, average traffic speed data derived from billions of multi-year vehicle speed observations on every type of road. Of the four desktop COTS (Maptitude, BusinessMap, MapPoint, GE Pro), Maptitude ( is the last remaining commercial grade and affordable business mapping application ( URL) at US$395/year (the same as Google Earth Pro). Some even see the Esri product as technical software for mapping specialists, rather than as a commercial grade and mass market replacement ( URL). However, Esri’s “ArcGIS Earth” lacks the key business data removed from GE Pro. Some of the perceived inadequacies of the alternatives offered by Microsoft are discussed on the MapPoint discussion list ( URL, URL) and include inflexibility, limited features, and cost. For example, the Bing and Google solutions are considered far too expensive for most routing applications (which are almost by definition commercial in nature).Įsri killed their budget BusinessMap product several years ago but have now released a free competitor to Google Earth Pro. Microsoft recently killed Microsoft MapPoint, Streets & Trips, and AutoRoute ( URL, URL). Other major players have also made similar moves. Note that the parcel data coverage may not be the same as what was in Google Earth, and you can’t search for a parcel APN" ( URL). The lines are faint, so zoom in and look carefully. Google is offering few direct alternatives for their customers: "Google Maps shows parcel boundaries for many areas if you zoom into the cartographic basemap.
This app used your phone's built-in GPS to let you record and share the route you took ( URL) ( URL). Google will also discontinue the geo-app My Tracks after April 30, 2016. The traffic count data was widely used in retail for store placement, while the demographics were used throughout the business analysis community.
The features of GE Pro were popular in the real estate industry that came to rely heavily on the searchable property data that Google Earth has now killed off. Google Earth Pro previously cost US$399/year, and has been free since 2015 ( URL).
This is especially true among industries that require easy-to-use map software that resides behind their firewall, is affordable yet flexible and powerful, and has tangible business benefits.īanking and healthcare in particular have stringent controls on what can leave their corporate domain and on what can be used in the Cloud. The desktop business mapping sector is a traditional market that still remains popular.