The planet’s computer users have downloaded Google Earth more than 1 billion times, the company said on Wednesday in an official blog.
The programme, which offers users a customisable and navigable rendering of the world from Mars to the ocean floor, was bought by Google in 2004 when it acquired the company Keyhole, which invented the first version of the software in 2001.
To celebrate the one-billionth download, Google launched a new website at www.OneWorldManyStories.com, which features “people all over the world who use Google Earth to follow their dreams, discover new and distant places, or make the world a better place.”
“While it’s inspiring to see how Google Earth has touched the lives of so many, we know the best is yet to come,” said Brian McClendon, vice-president of Engineering, Google Earth and Maps.
