Google announced on Tuesday that you can now access historical Street View imagery on Google Earth. Until now, you’ve only been able to access historical Street View imagery on Google Maps. Google says the launch will allow people to explore from even more viewpoints, whether it’s a bird’s-eye view or at street level.
Google is introducing the update to commemorate Google Earth’s 20th birthday.
The launch comes as there was a social media trend last year that saw people visiting Google Maps to virtually time travel and find their loved ones on imagery or see how a place evolved over time. Now users will be able to do so right from Google Earth, the tech giant says.
The company also announced that professional users in the U.S. will be able to access new AI-driven insights about the planet on Google Earth, such as tree canopy coverage for cities.
For example, in Austin, Texas, users can view areas with more tree cover and identify spots that might benefit from cooling approaches. They can also access land surface temperature data to see which parts of the city are hotter in order to inform urban planning decisions.
As part of Google Earth’s 20th anniversary celebration, the company reflected on the service’s history, noting that the platform was launched in 2005 and quickly went viral, achieving 100 million downloads within its first week.
Google says that in just the past year, people searched for places in Google Earth more than 2 billion times.
