Google Maps is a web mapping service developed by Google. It offers satellite imagery, street maps, 360° panoramic views of streets (Street View), real-time traffic conditions (Google Traffic), and route planning for traveling by foot, car, bicycle (in beta), or public transportation. 

Google Maps began as a C++ desktop program designed by Lars and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen at Where 2 Technologies. In October 2004, the company was acquired by Google, which converted it into a web application. After additional acquisitions of a geospatial data visualization company and a realtime traffic analyzer, Google Maps was launched in February 2005. The service's front end utilizes JavaScript, XML, and Ajax. Google Maps offers an API that allows maps to be embedded on third-party websites, and offers a locator for urban businesses and other organizations in numerous countries around the world. Google Map Maker allowed users to collaboratively expand and update the service's mapping worldwide but was discontinued from March, 2017. However crowdsourced contributions to Google Maps are not ending as the company announced those features will be transferred to Google's Local Guides programme. 

Google Maps' satellite view is a "top-down" or "birds eye" view; most of the high-resolution imagery of cities is aerial photography taken from aircraft flying at , while most other imagery is from satellites. Much of the available satellite imagery is no more than three years old and is updated on a regular basis. Google Maps uses a close variant of the Mercator projection, and therefore cannot accurately show areas around the poles.

1. What is Google Maps?
2. When was it acquired?
3. From whom?
4. Who designed it?
5. What did it start as?
6. When did Google launch it?
7. As what kind of app?
8. What was canceled in 2017?
9. Where will it be transferred to?
10. Where do they get most of their images from?
11. Where is the other from?
12. What kind of view do they use?
13. How old is the images?
14. Are they updated regularly?
15. What projection do they use?
16. what programming language do they use?
17. Can you get routes for a bike?
18. Where is it not good for?
19. Does it let you know about wrecks?
20. How about trains?

Numbered answers:
1. a web mapping service
2. October 2004
3. Where 2 Technologies
4. Lars and Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen
5. a C++ desktop program
6. February 2005
7. a web application
8. Google Map Maker
9. Local Guides
10. satellites
11. aircraft
12. aerial
13. no more than three years
14. yes
15. a close variant of the Mercator projection
16. JavaScript, XML, and Ajax
17. yes
18. areas around the poles
19. yes
20. yes