title: What do parameters like a, y, h and t mean in regular Google Maps URLs?
body: <p>I've come across the following problem in Google Maps URLs which I can't find a solution for anywhere:
  When analyzing Google activity data, the MyActivities.json for Google Maps which results from Maps searches on an Android phone contains URLs like this:</p>
  <p><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@38.2816045,-77.5006055,1198.0381738992166a,30y,217.18h,45t" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.google.com/maps/@38.2816045,-77.5006055,1198.0381738992166a,30y,217.18h,45t</a></p>
  <p>When I enter this URL in a browser, the URL changes after a few seconds to:</p>
  <p><a href="https://www.google.com/maps/@38.2730197,-77.5089001,17z" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.google.com/maps/@38.2730197,-77.5089001,17z</a></p>
  <p>Note that latitude/longitude have changed slightly.</p>
  <p>I have seen the parameters a, y, h, and t before only in Streetview, see e.g. <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/28489214/google-street-view-maps-parsing-url-to-use-as-street-image">this question</a>.
  What is their meaning in &quot;regular&quot; Google Maps URLs and why do they change lat/lon?</p>
  <p>Thanks in advance for any ideas/help!</p>